What if there was a Yelp for HR Software?

I'm a little late on this since some of the big tech news sites like TechCrunch and CIO.com covered this back in February, but over the weekend I finally got around to checking out a site called G2Crowd, and the simplest way to describe it is as a 'Yelp for Enterprise Software.'

By now we are all familiar and possibly reliant on the crowdsourced reviews and ratings paradigm popularized by sites like Yelp for restaurants and bars, TripAdvisor for travel destinations, and certainly Amazon.com for books, music, heck just about everything. There continues to be tremendous popularity and value for sites to gather, interpret, and categorized real live customer experiences with products and services for just about anything that can be purchased. But while consumers and users love these sites, as they generally provide neutral, unbiased, and sometimes massive amounts of information about the quality and value of a product/service, many suppliers have come to fear and loathe these sites, as one or two poor reviews can sometimes cause serious damage to a business' reputation and sales.

HR Software Comparison

But for whatever reason despite there existing a 'Yelp' equivalent for seemingly just about everything, there really isn't a large, successful manifestation of the crowdsourced review and ratings site for Enterprise Software. That is the gap that G@Crowd is trying to fill, providing a platform and frameworks for enterprise customers and users of technologies like CRM, ERP, Accounting, and yes HR Technology as well, to enter product reviews and ratings just as people do for the local BBQ joint on Yelp.

The process to create a software product review on G2Crowd is familiar to anyone who has used Yelp or TripAdvisor, but with one important difference - G2Crowd requires the reviewer to log in with their LinkedIn credentials, which serves a few important ends. One, (with limited exceptions), reviewers identities are not anonymous; two, G2Crowd 'knows' based on the LinkedIn profile, at what company and in what role the reviewer was working in at the time of the review; and three, G2Works can police phony reviews left by people working for or against any of the software companies themselves.

The idea is simple really, a set of unbiased ratings and reviews of enterprise software solutions like Salesforce, SAP, Oracle, etc., that can be aggregated, (over time, and if enough scale is achieved), produce a valuable and previously unavailable resource for organizations that are evaluating software for themselves. In addition to the individual product reviews, G2Crowd has started to create, based on the review data, their own version of the 'analyst grid', positioning competing firms in a given market segment in comparison to each other, the most famous of which is the Gartner Magic Quadrant. But rather than a Magic Quadrant that represents, in the end, the opinions of one or a few analysts, the G2Crowd grid would reflect the collective experience and opinion of potentially thousands of users. In theory not necessarily a 'better' way to compare vendors, but certainly a different one, and one that if G2Crowd can continue to keep the reviews clean, would potentially be more important, (and accessible), than what the traditional analyst firms create.

Will G2Crowd catch on with enough users and customers to generate the kind of scale it needs to be a truly valuable resource to the enterprise software buyer?

Hard to say. It is a new site, and there seems to be some decent traction and volume on the CRM market. If you spend some time checking out the HR software reviews you will see they are a little thin.

But how about this? How about if everyone who reads this blog and is a current user of one of the big HR software solutions heads over to G2Crowd this week and drops a product review?

That might be a way to get this kind of endeavor a little more attention for the HR market, and perhaps also show how all of you as users of these solutions really do have the power to influence the market.

What do you think - would a site like G2Crowd be helpful to you and your organization?

Cleaning off the bookshelf

I have been getting a ton of books lately, mostly sent by publishers or PR folks looking for help to spread the word about their latest works and even occasionally to pitch their authors as guests on the HR Happy Hour show.  

I spent quite a bit of time in the last few days trying to work through some of the growing pile of books that have come in, and since no one (including me) wants to read a week long series of book review posts, I am going to rip off some mini-reviews of the last five books that have been sent my way.

Must-reads

Get Rid Of The Performance Review - Samuel A. Culbert with Lawrence Rout

Culbert offers a no-nonsense evisceration of the traditional employee performance review as a one-sided, boss-dominated, ineffective, and emasculating process that serves almost no positive purposes. Rather than take the common position of 'performance reviews themselves don't suck, rather badly done performance reviews are the problem', Culbert recommends their total abolition, to be replaced with what he calls the 'performance preview'. The performance preview stresses looking forward, eliminating barriers to performance, and shared accountability between boss and employee. 

The Why of Work - Dave Ulrich and Wendy Ulrich

In 'The Why of Work' Dave and Wendy Ulrich describe the importance of understanding the deeper motivations of employees and by extension organizations in crafting jobs, strategies, and structures that will lead to more meaningful and enduring success. This is a almost a kind of spiritual take on traditional workplace issues like job fit, teamwork, and even performance management. Dave and Wendy attempt to offer proof of the importance of organizations and leaders as 'meaning makers' and not just 'profit makers' and offer a roadmap to build those capabilities. 

Good reads

Get A Life Not A Job - Paula Caliguiri

The most important message in this book is simple - there is no more loyalty between employers and employees, the 'psychological contract' between the two is forever broken, and you and you alone are responsible for your own career trajectory and satisfaction.  Since no one is 'looking out for you' any longer, you have to look out for yourself, and subsequently need to craft a series of what the author refers to as 'career acts', defined as 'simultaneous and stimulating profitable activities'. There are plenty of practical recommendations for discovering motivation, professional development, and personal security.  

What I did not like about the book is that is comes off a bit elitist ' I teach, I write, I consult, I give paid speeches, see I am living this story', and it also tends to send a message that the things we do for fun and leisure (hobbies, travel, blogging, whatever), now all need to have an element of 'profit' in them, or they really aren't worth pursuing. Maybe in a terrible economy that may be true, but it still is a hard pill to take.

Multipliers: How The Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter - Liz Wiseman with Greg McKeown

In 'Multipliers', the central thesis is one that is easy to agree with - some leaders get the best out of their teams, making everyone feel able and willing to contribute their best, while others tend to actually diminish the motivation and capability of the team, mainly due to a relentless pursuit of personal power. I think most of us have encountered leaders and managers on both ends of the 'multiplier/diminisher' continuum, with most people falling somewhere in between.  The book offer some solid advice for managers to better self-evaluate their own behaviors to assess their performance as leaders that need and should strive to 'raise the game' of all the team's performers. 

Best Book of the Bunch

The Killer Angels - Michael Shaara

You know the story of Gettysburg, a devastatingly brutal and important battle in the American Civil War. Perhaps you have seen the movie adaptation of the book.  The Killer Angels puts context and insight into the leaders and men that fought in the battle, one that holds such significance in American military and political history.  A classic book, a fast and compelling read, and lessons that all Americans should understand.

Well that's it for now, until I get through the next batch of books comes in!

Note : I did receive free copies of all the above mentioned books.  In exchange I promised nothing - good deal huh?  Seriously, many thanks to the authors and publishers.