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    Thursday
    Sep032009

    Time to Stop Digging

    This is what was said in the Enterprise Systems planning meeting:

    We have to expand the ERP system footprint, get more business processes integrated, really 'use' the system, and maybe we will start to see the return on investment that we've been waiting for.

    This is what is closer to the truth:

    We've sunk about $5M into this, we are in upgrade, maintenance, and crappy UI hell, so we better figure out a way to make this seem worth it to the executives or we're all in trouble.

    The exact amount of the sunk cost in the installed system is not really the issue, it's more the fact that whatever the (large) investment was, many organizations are at the crossroads.

    They've implemented big ERP systems for core HR, maybe payroll, tossed in a bit of self-service, perhaps dabbled in workforce management, but more or less have not really leveraged the capabilities of the massive system.

    To the left, upgrade the ERP, get on the latest release (a daunting proposition for many), and try to take advantage of the new capabilities and features that are available (that will never be backported to your release from 2002), and upgrade the UI to something that looks relatively modern.

    To the right, scrapping the upgrade, patching the legacy ERP together for employee tracking, payrFlickr - AidanBrooksoll, and benefits and looking to a modern SaaS-based platform for more strategic functions like Performance Management, Succession Planning, and Learning and Development.

    Now there is even a third option, tossing the ERP entirely and moving to a SaaS HR system that will over all of those processes like Workday.

    Obviously there isn't a blanket one size fits all solution for organizations in this predicament, and I won't offer any sweeping recommendations, but I will say this:

    When you have dug yourself into a deep hole, it's probably time to stop digging.

    Wednesday
    Sep022009

    HR Tech Chat - At a New Time

    The monthly HR Tech Twitter Chat is set for today, Wednesday September 2nd at 1:00 PM EDT.

    This is a new time for the Chat, as we thought we would try a time that might encourage more participation from multiple time zones.

    A quick review of how these Twitter 'theme' chats work:

    At 1:00 Bryon Abramowitz of Knowledge Infusion or myself will officially start the chat with a quick welcome message. Folks who are participating are asked to Tweet out their name and role so that we can all get better acquainted. 

    An example would be 'Hi, I am Steve Boese, HR Technology Instructor at RIT in New York - #HR_Tech'

    We will then get the discussion going around this month's topic - HR Measurement and Metrics.

    Some questions that could be explored:

    1. What are the key metrics that HR leaders need to measure?

    2. Are they succeeding in measuring these key items?  Why or why not?

    3. What vendors and solutions seem to offer the most robust and flexible solutions right now?

    These are just a few ideas, in reality the conversation will go where the group takes it and that is most of the fun of the chats.

    Some Tips for Chat participants:

    • You participate by Tweeting with the hashtag '#HR_Tech' included in your update (usually at the end of the Tweet)
    • Follow the flow of the conversation by tracking all Tweets with '#HR_Tech' using one of the following
      • Tweetchat - http://tweetchat.com/room/HR_Tech, you will need to sign in using your Twitter credentials, but this gives a nice overlay to the chat and will automatically append the hashtag to your updates
      • Tweetgrid - www.tweetgrid.com. Allows you to not only monitor the chat, but also your 'normal' Twitter stream and/or other search terms.  Takes a few minutes to setup but it is pretty neat.
      • Tweetdeck - If you are already using Tweetdeck just set up a new search column for the #HR_Tech hashtag. 
      • Twubs - I have not used this site yet, but I have heard many folks say it is pretty nice for following a 'theme' chat in Twitter. http://twubs.com/hr_tech.

    These chats can be really interesting and informative, but honestly they would be greatly enhanced if we get some more 'non-Tech' HR folks interested and participating.  So if you are an HR pro and have some questions or comments about Talent Management technology, or quite honestly any HR Technology, it is a great opportunity to corner at least a dozen HR Technology professionals at one time.

     

    Hope to see your #HR_Tech Tweets tomorrow!

    Wednesday
    Sep022009

    It's Carnival of HR Time

    The latest edition of the Carnival of HR is up at the HR Forum hosted by G.Neil!

    As always, lots of excellent posts by a cross-section of the HR blog world.  Some of the highlights from this edition:Flickr - Inkyhack

    Dan McCarthy’s post on 10 Ways to be a Great Follower

    Jessica Miller-Merrell's post about maintaining a Social Media Mullet (business in the front, party in the back)

    April Dowling on a story of exempt employees required to punch a time clock.

    And thanks very much for including my post “Help You, Help You” on taking a super agent approach to advocating for yourself in the corporate world.

    Check out all the great posts and enjoy!

    Tuesday
    Sep012009

    Too much information?

    I read an excellent post on the Savage Minds blog about college students and the need many of them feel to offer explanations or excuses when they know they have turned in substandard work.  That professor's take was essentially, 'Save the trouble of the explanation, don't admit the work is under par before I have had a chance to look at it, and if it is crap work, get over it and do what it takes to improve for the next assignment'.Flickr - The Kozy Shack

    I think that is good advice and wonder if it applies to managers as well. 

    As a manager when an employee is late for work, makes some careless mistakes, or otherwise is not really producing to their 'normal' or expected levels, how much do you really want of the backstory?

    How much of 'My dog is sick', 'My daughter has a loser boyfriend' or 'I stayed up all night playing World of Warcraft' do you want to hear?

    Or would you prefer they just shut up, do their job, and leave the drama for their mama?

    Monday
    Aug312009

    Small Business HRIS - a New Partnership

    Last week Zoho, a provider of a wide range of online productivity applications, (documents, wikis, CRM, projects, and many more) announced a new partnership with Vana Consulting, a Canadian consulting firm.

    The new solution branded as VanaHRM, is an on-demand HRIS built on the Zoho People platform and aimed at the small to medium sized market.

    One of the issues that I had seen during some limited testing of Zoho People was that it definitely required some technical skills to configure for an organization's unique needs.  In my opinion most small HR staffs would not have been all that comfortable or capable to really 'dig in' and leverage Zoho People's flexibility to develop and configure a solution that would support organizational specific business requirements.

    This is why the partnership between Zoho, the developer of the platform, and Vana, a Human Resources consultancy makes sense.  Vana seems to have simplified and organized the Zoho People solution  and packaged it in a form that is more understandable and accessible to the market.

    The VanaHRM solution supports the full range of Human Resources processes (employee tracking, talent profiles, performance management, recruiting, benefits tracking, self-service and more).

    A sample screen from VanaHRM is below:

     

    Pricing for the VanaHRM solution starts at $19/month for up to 10 employees and then increases with the number of employees; an organization of 100 employees is prices at $199/month for example.  Curiously, the prices listed at the Vana site are the same that are published on the Zoho People site.

    For small business in need of an automated HRIS solution, particularly those under 100 employees, VanaHRM is definitely worth a look.  It is a solution with the capability to handle almost all HR-related processes (save Payroll), is highly configurable, and reasonably simple to use.

    I would love to hear from anyone out there using VanaHRM or Zoho People in their organizations and have them share some of their experiences.