HRE Column: Five Things I'm Looking Forward to at HR Tech #HRTechConf

I have been a little slack in posting links back to my monthly column over at HR Executive Online but fear not gentle readers, I have not abandoned this essential public service.

So without further delay, here is the link to my latest Inside HR Tech piece at HR Executive - 5 Things I'm Looking Forward to at HR Tech.

From the piece:

This is the last Inside HR Tech column prior to the HR Tech Conference in September and, since I am pretty well consumed at this point with the final plans for the event, I want to use this space to reflect on the HR-tech market and the themes that have emerged during this year’s planning for the event.

Great HR is simple and complex at the same time.

I’ve spent a fair amount of time in the last several weeks working on one of our featured sessions, “What It Takes to be a Most Admired Company for HR,” a panel discussion featuring the CHROs from several of the world’s most well-known and successful companies (Delta Airlines, Walt Disney Co. and Accenture, to name a few). After talking with each of these CHROs about their business, their challenges, and their approaches and philosophies about the role of HR, I’ve noticed two important things. One is that every one of these leaders spent most of our conversation talking about their company’s culture and the role of HR and the CHRO in building, strengthening and promoting their culture. 

The other is that, while each CHRO focuses intently on culture, how that manifests in specific HR and talent practices and programs is very different in each organization.

Succeeding with HR technology is paramount for HR.

I talk with many executives from the leading HR-technology-solution providers and, in the past year or two, the phrase “customer success” has come up more than ever. Now that cloud-based SaaS delivery of HR technology is the de facto industry standard, providers have been forced to focus on the success of their customers as a primary driver and metric. While that focus is a positive development for customers, it is not enough to ensure your organization is truly set up to succeed. And since the HR-tech market keeps growing, even understanding your options is becoming more difficult. This complexity and the importance of customer success with HR tech are why we focus so heavily on this topic at HR Tech, with a series of expert sessions covering both the “functional” elements of success (such as business case, vendor selection and implementation teams) as well as the more “technical” aspects (including cloud migration, integration and testing)....

Read the rest of the piece over at HR Executive Online...

And remember to subscribe to get my monthly Inside HR Tech column via email on the subscription sign-up page here. The first 25 new subscribers get a coffee mug personalized with a picture of me. Well, maybe. 

Finally, you can still register to attend the HR Technology Conference, September 11 - 14 in Las Vegas. Use my code STEVE300 for $300 off your conference pass.

Thanks and have a great day!

WEBCAST: Discovering the Next Great HR Technology Company Final Four Reveal #HRTechConf

Quick note for a 'I can't believe summer is almost over and the HR Technology Conference is only about two weeks away' Monday.

Today at 4PM EDT on a special LIVE Webcast I will be joined by George LaRocque, Lance Haun, Madeline Laurano, and Ben Eubanks - the experts who helped select the seven semi-finalists in the HR Tech Conference's 'Discovering the Next Great HR Technology Company' competition.

On the webcast we will reveal the Top Four vote-getting companies who came out on top of our online voting process and who will advance to participate and present next month at HR Tech. We will also, by random draw, pair up each Finalist company with one of our expert coaches who will help them get ready for the big stage.

Register HERE to see the Final Four companies revealed LIVE in this special webcast on Monday August 27th at 4PM EDT featuring expert coaches George LaRocque, Ben Eubanks, Madeline Laurano, Lance Haun, and host Steve Boese.

It should be really fun, hope you can join us at 4PM EDT today!

PODCAST: #HRHappyHour 335 - Discovering the Next Great HR Technology Company

HR Happy Hour 335 - Discovering the Next Great HR Technology Company

Host: Steve Boese

Guest Co-host: George LaRocque

Sponsored by Virgin Pulse - www.virginpulse.com

Listen HERE

This week on the HR Happy Hour Show, Steve is joined by George LaRocque of HRWins and host of the HR Market Watch Podcast to talk HR Technology and preview the Discovering the Next Great HR Technology Company Competition that is underway with voting open until Friday August 24 at the HR Technology Conference's HR Tech Insiders site - www.blog.hrtechnologyconference.com.

On the show, Steve and George introduced each of the seven semi-finalists in the competition, Butterfly.AI, CompensationCloud, Cultivate, DailyPay, Engage, Joyous, and Zeal. We talked about each solution, why each is interesting, innovative, and cool, and why you should consider giving them your vote for the Next Great HR Technology Company.

You can learn more about each solution, see videos and screenshots, and plenty more over at the HR Technology Insiders site as well as vote for your Final Four solutions who will advance to the big stage at the HR Technology Conference. 

Listen to the show on the show page HERE, on your favorite podcast app, or by using the widget player below:

And you can also catch a live webcast where the Finalists will be announced on Monday, Aug. 27 at 4PM EDT - register for that webcast HERE.

And remember to subscribe to the HR Happy Hour Show on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts - just search for HR Happy Hour.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Voting for the Next Great HR Technology Company is Open #HRTechConf

The competition for the Final Four places in the 2018 Discovering the Next Great HR Technology Company Competition at the HR Technology Conference is on!

Head over to the HR Tech Insiders site to read profiles, view screenshots, and check out videos for all seven semi-finalist companies vying for a place in the Final Four at the Next Great HR Technology Company session at the Conference in September.

From there, you can register your selections for your favorites in our online voting and on August 27 learn which four companies have advanced to the finals.

Good luck to all the companies in the Semi-Finals.

Voting will close at Midnight EDT Friday, August 24, so don’t hesitate – vote today!

Succeeding with HR Tech, Five, Make it Six Things HR Needs to Know

I did a Human Resource Executive Webinar on Tuesday titled 'Suceeding with HR Technology, Five Six Things HR Leaders Need to Know (and an HR Technology Conference Preview), and while it would be hard to share the information shared in webinar in full, I thought I would pull out the FiveSix 'Remember This' kinds of takeaway slides to share here, along with a little of the pithy commentary I dished out on the live Webinar.

Also, if you head over to www.hrtechconference.com, you can probably access a recorded copy of the webinar when it posts in a day or two.

(Email and RSS subscribers may need to click through to see the images)

Number One: In the Pre-Contract stage of the project, here's my one thing you need to know/remember:

Always. Be. Negotiating. Don't fall in love with the first demo you see or with the vendor that takes you out to the swankiest dinner at HR Tech. Play the long game if you can. You have just about all of the power before the contract is signed.

Number Two: In the Planning stage of the project, here's my one thing you need to know/remember:

We, all of us, humans primarily, are terrible at estimating how complex most undertakings actually are, and how long they will take to complete. Planning for HR tech projects is not immune to this phenomenon. Take your time, find some experienced implementers, challenge your assumptions, and be realistic about your organization's willingness, capability, and capacity for change when you set goals and milestones down. And it might not hurt to add another 15% for 'you never knows'.

Number Three: In the Teambuilding stage of the project, here's my one thing you need to know/remember:

One of the surest ways to limit your success with HR tech projects is to fail to devote the necessary resources for the needed time to the project, and get them some relief from their normal, day jobs. Almost every large project struggles with this to some extent. Getting a resource for 10 hrs/week does not automatically free that resource up from their normal duties, and you just may have added 20% workload to a key person you are counting on for the project.

Number Four: In the Managing Relationships stage of the project, here's my one thing you need to know/remember:

Your HR Tech project team will likely consist of a slew of different groups and organizations - core team, project sponsors, vendor staff, external consultants or SIs, and maybe even independent contractors. Managing the ownership, accountability, and communication across and among these different groups is so important, and a skillful and savvy project manager spends a ton of his or her time in this area.

Number Five: In the Technical Considerations stage of the project, here's my one thing you need to know/remember:

While many of the technical tasks have migrated from customer-owned to vendor-managed in the HR Cloud environment, most medium to large scale HR Tech projects have important technical considerations, chief among these are the integration needs from cloud solutions from different vendors, as well as the integrations from HR cloud solutions to legacy and sometimes on-premise downstream or upstream systems. And be mindful of the Planning Fallacy from a few steps ago when planning, scoping, and finding resources for your integration tasks.

Number Six: In the User Adoption stage of the project, here's my one thing you need to know/remember:

Most people don't like change. We like what we know, but maybe would not mind it if things were just a little bit better or faster or easier or more enjoyable. A good approach to user adoption is to couch and describe the change you are creating as the beginning of a movement towards something better, not necessarily a complete overhaul of systems, processes, and the way people work. We like 'better'. We don't always like 'different'. It's a subtle difference but maybe one that will make user adoption efforts and results more effective.

Ok, that's it for my Top 6 things to remember. If I would have had more time on the Webinar I could have come up with more, but these are a decent starting point. We will be hitting all of these topics in much more detail at the HR Technology Conference in September - use my code STEVE300 to get $300 off the best rate available when you register here.