Workstream Inc

SaaS-y Talent Management

The leopard in the above photo appears nimble, ready to deploy at a moment’s notice.  In this way it parallels Software as a Service (SaaS), the sassy model for software delivery, that is causing significant disruption in the industry and fundamentally changing the way vendors and their customers operate.

That SaaS is causing organizations of all sizes to pounce on new solutions like cats to mice speaks to the nature of business in 2007 – global and fast.  While SaaS is commonly and accurately associated with low-cost, subscription-based software, what makes the new delivery paradigm sexy for large and mid-size businesses alike is the ease with which it can be deployed quickly to users all over the world.  If yours is an organization with disparate offices and staff whose roles are interdependent, the ability to coordinate goals and activities easily across time zones is invaluable. 

Talent management and SaaS go hand-in-hand for this very reason.  Employee recruiting, compensation, performance and development are not local issues of interest to one or two people in an organization.  Who a company hires to run product development in France impacts the engineers it may interview in the UK, Russia, Germany or Australia.  And how much the organization pays a marketing director should correlate to that person’s performance, a point that is difficult to gauge when the director has worked in multiple divisions and geographic regions over the last year.

Advanced talent management systems mitigate these challenges by enabling users from any location to access the data they need, when they need it.  So, the staffing manager can easily determine whether to hire Java programmers to support the new product development manager, and the marketing vice president can track how well a director executed a new advertising campaign, even if he didn’t supervise the director personally.

SaaS-y talent management contributes a number of other business benefits, too.  Companies can eliminate the use of spreadsheets for managing employee recruiting, compensation and performance, a problem that continues to plague even the largest businesses.  Not only are spreadsheets inefficient for handling key talent management processes, but they expose a company to regulatory risks as well. 

As more businesses expand globally, technology solutions that automate and integrate key processes and help companies find and retain top talent will become even more popular.  And that’s why talent management is SaaS-y!

~  Kevin Haugh, Senior Director, Product Marketing, Workstream

Talent Management Takes Off

It seems this mad rush among U.S. businesses for talent management software can be attributed at least partly to the talent shortage industry experts are ominously predicting for the coming years. 

According to a recent report from market research firm IDC, “There is ample evidence that a war for talent is approaching and in some cases already being felt. There will be a shortfall of three million workers between the projected workforce and the number of jobs required by 2016 in the United States.”  The report goes on to state that, “These factors will drive growth in talent acquisition and staffing services through 2011.”

No kidding.  Since businesses have caught wind of the impending talent gap, there has been an increased focus on technology solutions that drive employee recruiting, compensation, performance and development – also known as “talent management.” 

Backing up this claim is a report published last year by software analysts from Yankee Group, who forecasted that the global talent management software market is experiencing exponential growth and will reach more than $4.0 billion in revenue by 2009. 

Poised to capitalize on this opportunity are providers of unified, on-demand talent management suites, the foundation of which are advanced solutions for managing employee compensation, performance and development.  Businesses have come around to the notion that these systems – which increase the likelihood that a company’s best employees will remain with an organization – provide significant competitive advantages that outweigh even the efficiency and compliance benefits which are expected.

Fueling this fire was a report from Gartner, earlier this summer, that claimed the “market for employee performance management (EPM) software is intense,” and that “EPM is an important linchpin in an emerging broader suite of talent management applications.”

Crystal clear business benefits, the rise of on-demand software, and a limited supply of top talent, are converging to launch talent management into the stratosphere of the hottest and fastest-growing software categories on the planet.  For a peak at one of the leaders, check out who Gartner thinks is among the category’s most promising vendors.

~  Gary Damiano, SVP Marketing, Workstream

The HR Consigliere

A recent blog post on SystematicHR.com brings to the fore an interesting point about the perception of HR as simply an overhead function.  Why is it that HR traditionally has not been empowered to help dictate the business agenda that drives a company? 

Part of the answer has to do with some of the more mundane tasks with which HR typically is associated.  After all, this is the group most workers contact first when they want to alter their payroll deductions or adjust the make-up of their 401(k). 

Overcoming the flawed perception of HR as nothing more than a cost center has long been a challenge for industry professionals. Fortunately, the transition from tactical HR to strategic talent management is beginning to take place, and technology is a big reason why.

State-of-the-art talent management software is providing HR with new and previously unavailable insight into the strengths and weaknesses of their organizations.  Beyond the efficiency and compliance benefits commonly associated with advanced talent management software, the latest systems also provide a cross-functional view into recruiting, performance, compensation and development data.  When HR can evaluate this content as a whole, rather than in pieces, their ability to make strategic business recommendations and adjust to changing company needs quickly increases significantly.

Through increased visibility, HR becomes a coach to the organization, a consigliere .  The strategic HR advisor is attuned to the organization’s highest priorities, and understands the competencies and skills required to meet them.  When the company states its desire to expand R&D in a particular product area, HR is uniquely equipped to assess whether the organization needs to recruit new employees, or if the requisite talent already is on board.  Likewise, if the company must decide whom to promote to an open senior management position, HR has unparalleled insight into how each candidate has performed historically and what is their preferred development path.

Talent management systems alone won’t make HR a more strategic advisor, but the depth and breadth of data now available will empower the most forward-thinking professionals.  Leveraging this resource, HR can make great strides toward clarifying misconceptions about the value of HR to an organization.   Check out more information on increasing the strategic value of HR in your organization within the Workstream podcast series.

~  Gary Damiano, SVP Marketing, Workstream

Aspen Skiing Company hit the slopes with Workstream

If you haven’t yet seen this, Workstream announced today that Aspen Skiing Company has decided to hit the slopes with Workstream mid-market solutions for performance, development and succession planning.  This is an exciting new customer, as it demonstrates the strong business case that can be made for Workstream’s mid-market solutions.  Aspen Skiing Company is proof that mid-size firms can compete effectively with larger businesses for top talent, provided they have access to talent management systems that are affordably priced, easy to use, and seamlessly unified.  Because Workstream mid-market solutions embody these characteristics, Aspen Skiing Company is now better equipped to grow by leveraging its employee assets, while limiting high costs associated with recruiting and turnover.  Now that’s a winning combination for any business!

~ Gary Damiano, SVP Marketing, Workstream

One-to-One Talent Management

The impending launch of Workstream Compensation Professional – the first-ever on-demand compensation solution designed specifically for mid-market companies – got me thinking about the various talent management challenges mid-market firms face in growing their businesses.
  

Talent management is crucial to a company’s success, as it impacts an organization’s ability to hire and retain top employees. In an increasingly competitive job market, the best and brightest candidates are snatched-up quickly, putting pressure on every firm – particularly those in the mid-market – to step-up recruiting, compensation, performance management and development efforts.

As has been discussed in this space before, managing processes as complex as talent management is a logistical nightmare with spreadsheets and other paper-based tools. What companies need, of course, is a comprehensive, easy to use and unified suite of applications, which can be “personalized” for one-to-one talent management down to the every manager, every employee level.

Here’s what I mean by one-to-one talent management. Managers know best what their employees need to be successful, and so talent management solutions should provide managers up-to-date company information and flexibility to accommodate each employee’s unique situation. For example, compensation likely varies across a manager’s group. That manager needs easy access to data regarding company guidelines for salary, stock and variable pay, as well as the flexibility to make exceptions to suit the needs of specific employees. This same scenario applies to development goals, performance management and all parts of talent management.

Advanced talent management suites, such as that which is offered by Workstream, provide managers access to tools that help accomplish this balance. Workstream in particular puts critical budget information, powerful in-line analytics capabilities for planning purposes, and the flexibility to offer a variety of compensation options, at the fingertips of every manager.

Going forward, businesses leveraging Workstream will be able to provide employees access to a centralized, personalized dashboard for reviewing performance metrics, total compensation opportunities, job descriptions, and more. The result is visibility and transparency between employees and employers, and agreement on what is expected to happen today and in the future.

To learn more about one-to-one talent management, take a look at the Wall Street Journal’s article entitled, “The new goal for human resources: establishing a workforce of one,” or the HR.com blog article entitled “Managers: a key factor in employee retention.”

Unified talent management systems that drive one-to-one experiences are key to competing in the global marketplace. With Workstream solutions for mid-market companies, accomplishing this goal has never been easier.

~ Stephan Millard, Director, Product Marketing, Workstream Inc.