Workstream Inc

One Size Does Not Fit All Customers

A recent blog from SaaS expert and ZDNet.com blogger Phil Wainwright regarding the launch of Workstream 7.0 has generated significant attention among technology pundits in the blogosphere.  SmoothSpan publisher Bob Warfield is one of many to comment on Workstream’s use of virtualization technology in its new 7.0 talent management suite.  Specifically, Bob raises issues around customization of enterprise applications within a single-tenant environment.  Bob’s case in support of multi-tenancy is a reasonable one, and while Workstream agrees with some of the thinking outlined in Bob’s post, the Workstream philosophy is and will continue to be to provide the best solution for each customer, whether that means delivering talent management solutions in a single-tenant or multi-tenant fashion.

Workstream 7.0 (and prior releases) has been architected in such a way that is highly configurable, and we have developed an extensive set of configuration tools to exploit this. If and when we experience an important functionality gap for a client that cannot be handled through existing configuration, our implementation and development model allows for incorporation of new client needs into the core code base.  As a result, today we do extremely little customization. Among other things, this addresses the historical problems faced by companies that manage many different, customized code bases (including upgrading and code support challenges).

We leverage multi-tenancy extensively where it is appropriate, and strong and rapid configuration is key to this model as well. But, even when a company addresses the configuration issue as Workstream has, there are other powerful drivers that argue for single-tenant, virtualized environment.  These include elegantly addressing thorny concerns over security and data partitioning. For some clients, these concerns are paramount. A very real example is the use of talent management solutions by government agencies involved in law enforcement or intelligence gathering.  For these enterprises, multi-tenancy simply is not an option.

SaaS is a relatively new phenomenon in the talent management arena.  While virtually all of our recently added clients have purchased Workstream solutions as a service, Workstream—and many other talent management vendors—continue to have clients that have deployed on-premise and have not yet taken advantage of the benefits of SaaS and virtualization. As these companies migrate to the new SaaS model, Workstream will continue to grow its ratio of software-to-services revenue.

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

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.

The Good, The Bad, The GREAT of Compensation Planning

On Wednesday this week, Workstream hosted a Webcast, "Compensation Planning – Serious Business for Mid-size Companies". Turnout was phenomenal, which was expected, given the critical need mid-market companies have to improve the process by which they manage total compensation. Attendee feedback centered around the desire mid-market firms have to limit compliance risks by avoiding compensation data errors, and the advantages of streamlining and accelerating total compensation planning by eliminating spreadsheets. Webcast participants were also treated to a sneak preview of the new Workstream Compensation Professional solution, launching soon. Finally, mid-sized businesses can get the same benefits that Workstream enterprise customers have enjoyed for a long time!

How to Generate a Positive Return on Talent

We’ve all heard of return on investment.  Well, how about return on talent?

Far more than the HR marketing term du jour, return on talent is a very real and important concept that impacts businesses of all shapes and sizes, particularly those in the mid-market.

Return on talent speaks to the critical need companies have to retain and develop their best people.  Unlike anything else, top-notch talent is an asset whose value increases over time, as employees contribute to new and different parts of the organization.  Therefore, the longer that top employees remain with a company, the better it is for that business, and the greater is that company’s return on talent.     

Generating a positive return on talent requires a focus on the issues that influence employee satisfaction, and a review of the business processes that enhance satisfaction.  For example, employees who understand clearly what is expected of them, how they fit within the company, and how they are intended to develop and thrive over time, are more likely to be content in their jobs.  A common concern is that the best employees are the first to leave when they realize a growth path has not been thoughtfully outlined for them.   

Avoiding this problem requires a change in the processes companies are using to ensure employee satisfaction.  Too often, businesses are reactive rather than proactive when it comes to addressing employee career needs.  Only when an employee gives notice does the company make an effort to address issues like compensation, performance and growth.  By then, the employee already has one foot out of the door.

Frequently, though not always, the same companies still are using spreadsheets and other manual tools to track and manage employee development and performance, as availability and awareness of alternative methods was limited.  Until recently, technology solutions that automate key talent management processes have been available only to the largest companies, due to their high price points and complexity, leaving mid-market firms mostly out in the cold. 

That all is changing with the availability of Workstream Professional solutions, the first fully integrated on-demand talent management suite for mid-sized businesses.  Companies targeting an immediate return on talent will be delighted to find that Workstream solutions are easy to use, fast to deploy, and spreadsheet-free.  Included in the suite are solutions that automate recruiting, performance, compensation and development, in a manner that is consistent and auditable.

Much like return on investment, measuring return on talent is easier when business processes have been automated and integrated.  Implementing a talent management suite from a single vendor rather than multiple niche providers will enable companies to improve employee retention rates, drive higher levels of productivity, and generally execute better.  These are the metrics mid-market companies, with limited room for error when choosing technology solutions, should be asking vendors about. 

The net-net is that talent is scarce and the ability to keep it is mission-critical to a company’s success.  But knowing that is only half the battle; establishing the optimum return on talent demands that a company align employee objectives with those of the company, using the most advanced talent management solutions available.  When, and only when, this happens, will companies realize the return on talent benefits they need to grow.

~ Michael Gioja, CIO, Executive Vice President, Products and Services

Mitigating Mid-Market Madness

The last few months at Workstream have been a whirlwind of activity, as the whole company has been gearing up for the launch of the new Workstream Professional series of on-demand Talent Management (TM) solutions designed specifically for mid-sized businesses with between 100 and 2,500 employees.

The best part about this process has been the opportunity it’s provided me and many other Workstream employees from engineering, sales and marketing to get out and speak directly with customers and prospects. Of course, this is something we do anyways as a natural course of business. But the conversations lately have been more valuable than usual, because we’ve had the chance to hear firsthand from mid-market companies about the critical need they have to automate and integrate key HR processes, and the dearth of one stop solutions available to them today.

There is a definite sense of frustration among mid-market companies, a massive group that has for far too long been underserved by the technology community. Like larger companies, these businesses have a dire need to eliminate manual processes; hire, develop and compensate their best employees properly; and remain compliant with federal employment regulations, among other things. But unlike large enterprises, mid-market companies have limited financial resources for technology systems, and far less room for error if a system doesn’t pan out as expected.

In the process of preparing for our launch, we heard from mid-market companies whose employee data was mainly on spreadsheets or in disparate applications, making it near impossible to run accurate reports and access information quickly. I spoke to one company that was using email and paper documents to manage hiring. The HR team was simply overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork and email trails they were tracking. Rather than focusing on finding and hiring the best job candidates, potential employees were slipping through the cracks.

On top of everything, the company felt horribly exposed as regards compliance with federal employment and financial regulations. Managing these issues is disproportionately difficult for mid-market companies. As their businesses grow, a lack of auditable, traceable processes presents a very real and serious danger to the entire organization.

We also heard that a large number of mid size companies have gone with niche vendors for recruiting and performance solutions and are looking for a one stop shop to meet their TM needs; a vendor who offers end-to-end integrated suite. They realize that they don’t have the time, money, and resources to manage multiple solutions hosted by different vendors; not to mention the quality of service issues dealing with different vendors. They are looking for a one stop shop and this is exactly what we provide.

It was also interesting to find out that most vendors have taken the approach to offer lower end functionality products to mid-size businesses. These businesses are not only complex but are also growing organically or through merger/acquisition therefore their needs are always changing. They are finding that their current solutions are so low end of functionality that they are unable to meet their evolving needs without upgrading to an enterprise version of the products with their existing vendors. This generally entails a major technology upgrade requiring substantial investment and risks and a lengthy implementation. Prospects told us that they are looking for a solution that can grow with them without the need for an upgrade. This convinced us to pre-package our current enterprise product and offer it to a mid-size customer providing quick and fixed price implementations, functionally rich products, and above all a solution which can grow with them as mid size customers’ needs change.

Listening to these customer stories convinced us that we are truly unique in our offering of an end-to-end integrated suite of talent management solutions and pre-packaging our existing enterprise solutions to deliver quick value to our mid size customers. This allows mid size companies to start from something which is out of the box and easily configure it to meet their evolving needs.

There were plenty of other interesting stories. From companies that failed to drive management initiatives through the organization because they lacked a system for measuring employees performance against key initiatives, to others that were losing their best people because no system was in place for clearly and concisely articulating employee development plans.

These stories and many more like them crystallized for me the need to deliver a suite of on-demand HR solutions for mid-market businesses. Which is why today, we are announcing Workstream Professional Talent Management suite that includes Recruitment, Performance and Development. These systems are unlike any in the market today. They are smart, easy to use, painless to deploy, seamless to integrate, intuitive for compliance, and spreadsheet-free. Mid-market companies can finally realize the same HR process automation benefits that larger companies have been experiencing for years. And the best part: we are offering these with a 30-day free trial, so you can test drive the solutions before making any commitments.

What salesforce.com has done for on-demand CRM, Workstream is doing for on-demand HR. And few would argue that the need to automate and integrate HR processes is critical to every organization, which is why the market for HR applications is among the fastest-growing of any software category. So, if you haven’t already, please take a minute to check out our new web site – www.workstreaminc.com/midmarket – and kick the tires on the new solutions. We think you’ll find that Workstream is uniquely capable of meeting your HR process automation needs.

~ Deepak Gupta, Workstream CEO