HR Automation Trends - Onboarding & More

Customization Matters in Hiring Software Tools

2011-06-20T11:00:00.000-04:00

Although many businesses within a given industry have similar requirements for hiring and onboarding software, there’s something to be said for having the ability to fine tune an application to precisely meet your company’s needs. Workforce.com has an interesting article available about a major manufacturing and retail firm that discovered every cent spent on customized hiring tools more than paid off in profits. Luxottica Retail (the company that runs eyewear stores such as Pearle, LensCrafters, and Sunglass Hut) found that prehire assessment tests that are aligned with business objectives spell big bucks.

The cost to administer the prehire test is about $10 per candidate, so that’s not a big financial drain. The resources the company invested over the last ten years tweaking and perfecting the test are where the real expense came in. But this employer has found that stores staffed by high-scoring new hires consistently outperform those staffed by run of the mill candidates. On average, each employee in the top quartile brings in an extra $18,000 in sales per year.

Customization Isn’t a One-Time Effort

Luxottica constantly gathers performance information and feeds it back into the test optimization process. This doesn’t just perfect the test and make it a more accurate predictor of future performance; it also accommodates evolution as the marketplace continues to shift. Each Luxottica brand has its own customized pre-hire test to match associates with store cultures and customer demographics. The employer is careful to consult with legal counsel annually to ensure that changes to the assessment tests don’t restrict the hiring process in a way that could be viewed as discriminatory.

Onboarding Can be Tailored Too

Prehire testing isn’t the only type of hiring software tool that can benefit from customization. Acculturation onboarding is another area where constant improvement based on workforce analytics can yield benefits. Since an employee’s experience during the first 60 days on the job often have a significant impact on everything from productivity to retention, having the ability to update and refine an acculturation module could be very beneficial. For example, you might want to have an onboarding process that features different components based on job position. A manager would have additional training and development to complete while an entry level employee might be inducted into a mentoring program. To find out how our Acculturation Portal can help you customize the new hire experience at your company, contact Emerald Software Group today at 770-569-5122.

New Trends in Social Learning & Development Part 5

2011-06-17T10:08:00.002-04:00

This is the final post we’ll spend looking at the SkillSoft “The Eight Truths of Social Learning. Now.” white paper. To wrap things up, let’s take a peek at the final 2 “truths” and think about how they work from an onboarding standpoint.

Truth #7 – Don’t Forget Knowledge Preservation

Letting years of experience and knowledge walk out the door with retiring employees is a huge waste of irreplaceable resources. One of the most valuable opportunities presented by social learning technology is the way it allows you to capture the insights of your best employees to share with new hires. Make a point of reaching out to high-value workers and encouraging them to take a leadership role in developing your social platform.

When employees give notice (on good terms), they often feel a little guilty about leaving their coworkers in the lurch. Use this to your advantage by letting them know there is a simple way they can help ease the transition. The exiting employee can upload resources and advice to the social network where it will be available to the new hire who is replacing them. It’s a nice way for a worker to leave a positive mark. The person who is onboarded to take up that job role will feel especially welcomed by having customized learning materials provided by their predecessor.

Truth #8 – Target Simplicity and Security

In keeping with making social learning accessible to workers of all ages, you should pick a system that is intuitive to use. New hires who have access to Universal Onboarding are lead through a step by step wizard that makes sure everything gets done. A similar approach would work well for setting up a basic profile in the social network. The easier the platform is to use, the more people will get involved without extra prodding.

Finally, make absolutely sure you understand the security features of the social system you choose. This will dictate what types of information you upload. You don’t want competitors mining your social site for “goodies” or your hosting service selling data to marketing groups. At Emerald Software, we always take employee data privacy seriously. Check out Chuck’s blog for lots of great posts on this topic.

New Trends in Social Learning & Development Part 4

2011-06-16T10:04:00.001-04:00

We’re nearing the end of our journey through the SkillSoft “The Eight Truths of Social Learning. Now.” white paper. Today, we’ll investigate yet another “truth” as it relates to onboarding.

Truth #6 – You Need Multi-Generational Appeal

While you may be focusing a lot of recruiting efforts on Generation X and the Millenials, you still hire and onboard people from older generations as well. These workers may have a lot of experience to draw on that helps them get up to speed fast at a new job. However, the whole point of having a social learning and development program is to encourage people to keep on learning.

Older workers are just as likely as younger workers to appreciate the intellectual challenge of continual workplace education. It keeps things from getting boring. Picking up new information and honing skills also makes them feel that they are being given the same opportunities as young employees – an important factor in minimizing age-related discrimination claims. Any acculturation, orientation, learning, development, and socialization tools you offer in the workplace should take this into account.

Multi-media learning and development software has broad appeal since it lets workers choose their own style and pace for education. For example, someone who grew up in the age before YouTube and podcasts may feel that reading is the fastest way to learn. A 55 year old employee might feel they can absorb 5 times as much information by reading for 20 minutes versus watching a 20 minute video. In contrast, a 25 year old might find an all-text approach to learning too mind numbing to “stick”.

On the other hand, social contact is something pretty much everyone enjoys. It’s just a matter of letting employees have some control over the speed and frequency of interaction. One worker might enjoy a chat forum with instant responses while another prefers private messaging that gives them time to think.

In the final analysis, making sure new hires of every age get the help they need to make the most out of your social learning and development platform is the most important thing. The Emerald Software Acculturation Portal can play a role in helping new employees learn to use your intranet and social networking tools effectively.

New Trends in Social Learning & Development Part 3

2011-06-15T09:57:00.002-04:00

This week, we’ll continue our perusal of the SkillSoft “The Eight Truths of Social Learning. Now.” white paper with numbers 4 and 5. How can these “truths” make it easier for you to onboard and develop your new hires?

Truth #4 – Existing Employees are a Great Resource

Formal mentoring programs are a definite benefit to the workplace; but a lot of training happens when coworkers spontaneously step in to help others out. A social networking and learning platform gives these “helpers” an easy way to reach out and connect with new hires (and vice versa). People who are natural teachers enjoy the process of distributing knowledge. When they have an opportunity to do this at work, they tend to become very engaged. At the same time, new hires will feel less cautious about asking questions when they can readily identify coworkers who like being informal mentors.

Truth #5 - Searchability is Key

The downside of having an expansive resource library, an active forum, and lots of internal experts is that it can become difficult for new hires to find exactly what they need without wading through a lot of info. Indexing content and profiles so they can be searched by keywords/topics is essential for efficient use. Fortunately, today’s social platforms are designed to support keyword searching. This means you may just need to train/encourage users to tag their profiles and discussions to make them easy to find when a new user starts poking around to find useful information.

Our Acculturation Portal can be used to introduce your new hires to your team and show basic examples of how to use your company’s social network for a variety of self-led learning activities.

New Trends in Social Learning & Development Part 2

2011-06-14T09:53:00.002-04:00

Today, let’s take a look at some more “truths” from the SkillSoft “The Eight Truths of Social Learning. Now white paper with a focus on how this type of learning impacts new hires.

Truth #2 – Employees are Overloaded with Information

Albert Einstein is often credited as saying: “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” However, the folks at SkillSoft argue that one of the tools that inundates us all with way too much data can actually be used to help solve the problem of information overload. They might have a point. For example, a kind of collaborative sifting happens when a group of coworkers have access to the same library of learning and development content. The process tends to highlight the resources that have the greatest real-world value since those are the ones that people repost, “like”, and comment on. When a new hire is introduced to this system during onboarding, he or she can jumpstart self-directed learning by finding out what current employees find most useful.

Truth #3 – Social Learning should be Part of a Blended Approach

Here’s another 3 legged stool analogy that relates to blended learning strategies. Employers may see better results if they use in-person instruction, e-learning, and social learning together. That’s because the sum is greater than the whole of its parts when it comes to how people absorb new information. In-person instruction allows for face to face interaction to provide a sense of connection. E-learning offers participants the leeway to move at their own pace. Social learning presents a great environment for give and take both in real-time and as a follow on to initial instruction.

New hires who enter a work culture knowing that they will have ongoing mentor support from a whole group of coworkers via a social network may feel less stress during initial training. Our Acculturation Portal can play a role in introducing new employees into the social network. It interfaces with Microsoft SharePoint and other intranet platforms to provide a seamless transition into full interactivity.

New Trends in Social Learning & Development

2011-06-10T16:08:00.000-04:00

What’s going on with social learning right this very minute? SkillSoft offers some answers to this question in a recent white paper “The Eight Truths of Social Learning. Now.” It explores what the company has found in developing and implementing its own InGenius® platform along with practical suggestions for making any system function more effectively. Let’s look at the first of 8 “Truths” and how it might apply to a social platform used as part of acculturation onboarding.

Truth #1 – Social Learning Requires 3 Elements

According to SkillSoft, you need a solid platform, great content, and a thriving community to make this type of initiative work. This combination of infrastructure, information, and individuals is the three legged stool upon which social learning rests.

Infrastructure

The platform is the foundation. If your application isn’t easy to use, no one will want to spend time engaging with it. You may want to use a module that meshes with your current HR suite, or one that relies on an established, external social network. Cost and ease of implementation aren’t the only factors to consider. Your decision might depend on how much inside information might be revealed in the discussions that take place between coworkers. For a social platform that meshes with an advanced learning and development system, you might even go with a custom application.

Information

Content is the next stage – and this is where you have to look within your company to find talent. An outside vendor can set up your software, but only those who are embedded in your organizational culture can provide the “wetware” to make your site interesting. Don’t expect your employees to grow the network on their own. You have to lead the way. HR and managers may well have to generate 75% or more of the content during the initial phases. This is an ideal time to set the tone by focusing on business and employee development related topics rather than social chit-chat.

Individuals

A great deal of the community building happens organically once you have the first two legs of the “stool” in place. However, HR should also ensure that new hires are given an extra incentive toward participating. This can be done as part of acculturation onboarding by assigning social learning tasks. Virtual meet and greets are also a great way to generate content and discussion. If you have relevant educational information hosted on your platform, new hires will quickly learn that this is the place to go to learn how to fit in with your organization.

Is Core HR Changing?

2011-05-24T14:57:00.000-04:00

Workforce.com has an article available exploring how the perception of core HR software is changing as new players enter the market. It raises some very interesting questions about how HR processes and functions are evolving. Applications and features that might not have been considered “core” are now viewed as essential by many organizations. At the same time, traditional ways of delivering core HR applications are losing ground. Employers are getting used to the idea of hosting even the most basic aspects of personnel data on an HRMS in the cloud or on a server operated by an SaaS provider.

The most obvious difference between the HRIS of today and 15 years ago is advanced reporting capability. Companies aren’t content to simply use HR to administer a workforce anymore. True human capital management is coming into its own – and the decision-making process is driven by data, data, and more data. A core HR suite that doesn’t provide business insights is missing fundamental functionality.

SaaS Vendors Rely on Affordability to Build Market Share

For large businesses with an established on-premise HRMS, letting go of that substantial investment to go with an admittedly more cost-effective SaaS solution can sometimes be a tough call. There has to be a clear reason to switch based on if the suggested SaaS replacement actually improves HR processes and if it has a good ROI. However, for small businesses just starting up, the choice is a little easier. They can get affordable access to a greater variety of core HR products without having to worry about the IT side of things. Also, they may have fewer concerns about building interfaces with backend systems since their overall IT picture is typically simpler.

Greater Core HR Compliance Is Needed

One area where neither large enterprises nor small businesses can afford to skimp is HR compliance. This aspect of core HR software should be considered just as important as fancy reporting functions. However, many vendors are still lagging behind in building rules enforcement for things like records retention, E-Sign Act compliance, audit trails, and so forth into their applications.

At Emerald Software Group, we’re actually at the leading edge of HR software that focuses on increasing compliance. That’s one reason we consider our Universal Onboarding software a component that should be part of every core HR system. After all, new hire forms are where your HRMS data comes from in the first place. Eliminating errors and omissions in this part of the data collection process should be foundational – not an afterthought.

Why HR Analytics Matter Part 2

2011-05-09T13:40:00.001-04:00

This week, let’s continue perusing the Oracle/CedarCrestone whitepaper on HR Analytics. We’ll pay special attention to the ways onboarding practices and software relate to workforce data analysis. At the most basic level, analytics help organizations make better decisions. Information alone doesn’t provide this benefit. The data has to be packaged and presented in a way that makes sense. Otherwise, it’s just numbers.

Efficient Reporting is Essential

That’s why reporting functions play an important role in analysis. With a tool like Universal Onboarding, identifying bottlenecks in the forms completion process is possible because the amount of time new hires spend on each screen is documented. HR can view this information in aggregate and drill down for details to identify places where forms may require additional instructions for faster completion. On the acculturation onboarding side, analytics can be used to show everything from the success of orientation and training initiatives to which socialization activities are most popular with new employees.

The Oracle paper points to several areas of workforce management that are impacted by analytics. Here are a couple that matter most in onboarding:

Acquisition: Best practices in recruitment and hiring form the foundation of a strong workforce. Applicant tracking that highlights which recruiting sources consistently deliver quality talent is one example of HR analytics. In onboarding, analytics support decisions that speed new hires to productivity and lower costs. For example, an analysis might show that training and acculturation through the use of e-learning and other web-based tools is the best choice for a large workforce.

Compliance: Oracle’s focus on compliance deals with diversity and licensing. These are important metrics, but most non-compliance in onboarding is due to incorrect or incomplete forms and missed deadlines for completion/filing. Software such as Universal Onboarding not only allows HR to see that forms are completed fully and on time, it also enforces rules for compliance. This is the logical next step after analyzing current compliance levels. Since adherence to state and federal laws is built into the system, HR can easily compare it with old, paper based practices to see an immediate improvement in administrative processes.

Summer Seasonal Hiring is a Hot Topic

2011-05-04T14:30:00.000-04:00

Summer is approaching and lots of businesses are taking steps to cope with the influx of customers that is already occurring. Tourist hot spots around the country are definitely getting ready for the peak season. However, closer to home there are also retailers staffing up. Workforce.com points out that warm weather brings out the DIY home improvement crowd in droves. This means industry leaders like Home Depot and Lowe’s are in the market for lots of new talent. These companies have been planning for the big spring and summer hiring push since last fall. The process of hiring tens of thousands of part time workers began in March and is still ongoing.

Quality as Important as Quantity

Customers who go to a home improvement store are usually not there just to browse. They have at least a general idea of what they need – but not necessarily where to find it and which item will work best for their project. New hires in these stores have to learn very quickly how to assist customers. It’s not good enough to have dozens of employees on the floor if only one or two have the knowledge and experience to actually locate products and help customers make smart selections. Home Depot in particular is taking steps to standardize and improve training for new hires. That way, they can fulfill their role without the customer ever realizing they are talking to a “newbie”.

Online Learning Helps

Virtual training tools are making a huge difference in the efficiency and speed of training. Home Depot claims a 90% decrease in the number of training hours required per seasonal employee since implementing its own customized e-learning program. New hires can access their training materials via the web at home or at work and become proficient in basic job skills (like product knowledge and store layout) faster.

Emerald Software Understands Speed

Our Acculturation Portal and Universal Onboarding modules are designed to achieve greater speed to productivity for new hires. These tools make HR’s job easier – especially during peak hiring seasons when getting part time employees up to speed is critical for capturing seasonal revenue. Fortunately, our products are easily adaptable to any business large or small with pricing that makes it affordable for every client.

Why HR Analytics Matter Part 1

2011-05-02T13:18:00.001-04:00

At mid-sized to large companies, extensive HR software use is the norm. However, not all programs are created with the same capabilities; and even the best software doesn’t act as an effective business tool if it isn’t being used to its full capacity. Oracle and CedarCrestone have published a whitepaper about HR technology and processes as they relate to driving return on an organization’s human capital investment. The paper naturally focuses on the ways Oracle’s products support the effective use of HR analytics. However, the principles discussed can be used to evaluate your use of any current HR application and help you explore the value of new products.

The Paper’s Conclusions

• Businesses may experience significant losses of talent as the job market improves and employees leave to look for more satisfying work experiences or better compensation.

• Today’s businesses have access to software tools that can identify high value employees and factors that drive satisfaction. Employers need to start leveraging this information to retain talent.

• Businesses can make wiser human capital investments in areas like employee development with the use of more accurate HR analytics.

Survey Results

One part of this paper that you will definitely want to read is the section that offers information about performance for businesses that leverage existing and emerging HR technologies properly. This is the kind of data HR can bring into discussions with C-suite executives to make the case for investing in relevant HR technology. For example, the combination of ESS, MSS, and an automated HR help desk is linked to higher operating income growth compared to businesses that don’t implement these applications. Universal Onboarding is another self-service application that would dovetail well with the trend toward relieving the burden on HR and increasing worker satisfaction.

Next week, we’ll look at the ways HR analytics support best practices and how onboarding fits into the picture.

HR Software Selection Myths Part 2

2011-04-26T15:14:00.000-04:00

In the second part of this series, we’ll look at some more of People-Trak’s Software Myths and Legends (based on this informational article) from an onboarding perspective.

HR Department Job Loss

It’s understandable for HR staff members to feel threatened by the implementation of automation products. After all, there’s a long history in this culture of replacing people with machines that can do the job better, faster, and cheaper. But many organizations have a woefully understaffed, chronically overworked HR department to start with. Employers typically want greater efficiency and strategic improvement more than they want to cut their HR headcount. Automating a process like onboarding simply frees up HR to start using its own human resources more effectively. For example, HR staff can spend more time with each new hire making them feel welcome and comfortable instead of plowing through a stack of forms.

Implementation and Consultation Worries

As the folks at People-Trak mention, a small to mid-sized business shouldn’t have an excessively lengthy implementation for HR software. At Emerald Software Group, our onboarding software clients are typically medium to large sized businesses. However, there’s still a fairly modest time commitment involved for implementing the basics of Universal Onboarding (forms automation, policy acknowledgements, Payroll integration). Further interfaces can be phased in at a pace that is convenient for the client so that everything goes smoothly.

We do recommend collaborating with an HRIS analyst to speed things up. If you have an analyst on staff, that’s perfect. He or she will have a full understanding of your business, HR, and IT processes. If not, we can still work with HR and IT to make sure everyone is on the same page about things like system requirements and functionality. We’ve structured our onboarding products with ease of customization (such as look and feel) in mind. We also have a long list of interface solutions prepared for commonly used HRIS and Payroll applications. If you have non-standard back end systems, that’s fine too. We are always looking for more opportunities to expand our experience interfacing with new products.

HR Technology and Worker Privacy

2011-04-25T12:17:00.002-04:00

Workforce Magazine has a somewhat disturbing article online this week about the applications available to HR for monitoring employee activity on the web. These new tools go far beyond simply documenting worker use of company computers. Keyword recording software and firewalls that block access to certain sites are commonplace enough that they no longer raise eyebrows.

The latest generation of monitoring software takes surveillance to the next level. Besides taking screenshots of every web page an employee visits at work, it can also scour the web in general to dig up information about workers that might raise a red flag. It doesn’t matter if the employee (or someone else) posted questionable content at home on their personal time. If the employer can sniff it out, they may use it to make disciplinary decisions.

Examples of images and content posted on social networking sites that have resulted in suspension or termination recently include:

• Photos of a female employee at a bachelorette party (with live entertainment) posted to the internet without her consent

• Negative comments about working conditions including criticism of a particular supervisor posted by an employee on her own time

The employees in the widely publicized cases above ended up on the winning side of court cases against their employers. However, the battle over free speech and privacy vs. corporate interests is just getting started. Read the full article to get a feel for the arguments made on each side of this tense issue.

HR Tech Doesn’t Have to be Invasive to Provide Benefits

There’s no consensus, but the middle ground seems to be that encouraging employees to behave responsibly online is the safest, least invasive action employers can take. One way to do this is through acculturation onboarding that provides clear information about employer expectations. Assisting employees in participating on the company’s own internal networking platform could also give them a place to socialize during work hours without breaking any rules. Our Acculturation Portal supports both of these initiatives to help employers set healthy boundaries and communicate about appropriate behavior.

What’s Up With IaaS?

2011-04-19T11:59:00.000-04:00

Cloud services are typically grouped into 3 categories. Software as a Service is the best known option since hundreds of vendors in HR software and related business spheres provide their services via this model. Our Universal Onboarding program is an example of an application that can now be accessed in a cloud-based format for clients who want to get on board with this technology. Platform as a Service is becoming popular with both vendors and end users who need an affordable and readily scalable base on which to construct custom applications. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is the third category. This sector is poised for exponential growth as organizations migrate from legacy server systems to virtual servers.

More Companies are Switching

According to CIO.IN, 25% of organizations are currently planning to take advantage of IaaS through third party providers like Amazon and Google. These companies use virtual servers to shift loads around the cloud and make the most of available resources minute by minute. This is in stark contrast to traditional data centers that typically have a great deal of infrastructure available at all times but rarely operate anywhere near peak capacity. Legacy data centers have to be constructed to factor in plenty of capacity for those times when demand increases, and customers pay for the assurance of this availability even when they aren’t using it.

The Cloud IaaS Difference

With cloud infrastructure, usage is metered. Customers pay for what they use and can scale up or back at any time. This is particularly useful for IT in the development and testing of new applications that may require additional server space on a temporary basis. The organization doesn’t have to invest in permanent infrastructure upgrades to avoid interfering with other processes on their existing servers. For inward facing applications such as HR, IaaS could offer an organization the ability to explore new training and development programs cheaply and effectively.

The corporations running the cloud infrastructure have access to such a massive quantity of server resources that available capacity for their entire customer base is more than adequate even when demand is high. At the same time, it costs a fraction of the expense of running a legacy server system in terms of energy. This means customers often pay much less than they would when running their own servers in-house or outsourcing to a non-virtual infrastructure provider.

HR Software Selection Myths Part 1

2011-04-11T13:39:00.000-04:00

People-Trak has an educational pdf available about HR software myths and legends. It offers a look into the mindset of the inexperienced software buyer. It’s definitely a thought provoking piece and worth a read. Here are some of the highlights along with how they apply in the field of onboarding software.

HR Software as the Unlimited Problem Solver

Just as HRIS won’t make all your blues go away, an onboarding system isn’t guaranteed to eliminate snafus. Not every software product for new hire onboarding is created equal. You need one (like Universal Onboarding) that will enforce rules regarding how each data panel is completed. Otherwise, HR will still spend hours dealing with exceptions in new hire forms. You also need to take a close look at all the policies you have new hires sign off on during onboarding. Your software can support you in collecting acknowledgements, but it won’t protect you from litigation if your policies are not compliant with labor laws.

HR Software Complexity and Expense

It is possible to overspend on HR software – if you don’t understand what you need. You should review both the actual functions of an application and how each function dovetails with your organization’s business strategy to determine whether a product is worth its price tag. For example, onboarding that enhances compliance and automates processes has a high value for any business. With SaaS options and a fee based on a “per new hire” schedule, the costs are minimized without sacrificing quality.

Extensive HR Training Requirements

People-Trak suggests that HRIS software should be designed to simply automate tasks and therefore should require little training. We agree that a well-designed system should be easy and intuitive to use. But it’s not true that automation is all an application should offer. If a software product does not actually improve the way you carry out HR processes, it’s probably not a Best of Breed solution.

HR Software Implementation – Who’s On First?

2011-04-06T12:57:00.000-04:00

Compare HRIS has a great article available about setup order for employers who are looking to implement multiple HR applications. The short answer to the question about which one goes first is “It depends”. As Clay Scroggin points out, typically you want to start with what’s most important. For a company that is making the switch from a paper based system to a paperless one, the obvious first step is a basic HRMS database. That’s because any data collected with other applications (such as ATS) will probably feed into this system. Plus, it provides the foundation from which other applications (such as Payroll) will draw their information.

Choose What Will Provide the Greatest Benefit Right Now

Assuming you’ve already got your basic employee database covered, you can branch out based on your business priorities. Your goals might include relieving some of HR’s administrative burden and increasing employee satisfaction by implementing an ESS. For some businesses, better performance management and employee development are the logical next steps. Or, you could automate onboarding to increase compliance and protect against audits, fines, and litigation.

Consider the Complexity of Implementation

Another thing to bear in mind is the amount of time and effort required for user adoption. For example, an MSS portal requires your organization to spend time training every manager on how to use the system and following up to make sure they use it consistently. With a module like Universal Onboarding, new hire end users don’t require any training – it’s a wizard based application that walks them through everything step by step. HR’s side is also straightforward since it uses tools like Adobe that most people already have some familiarity with.

Finally, there’s the issue of IT involvement. The more complex the implementation, the more time and effort it will take to complete. Employers may wish to begin with something simple to start the software project off on the right foot. At Emerald Software Group, we recommend a phased implementation for clients who want to interface onboarding with multiple back end systems. This approach gives HR tools like error and omission free new hire data collection and payroll integration they can use right away. These features capture most of the value and functionality of the application. The second phase allows completion of the remaining interfaces with excellent attention to detail and without the type of rushing that could lead to a poor outcome.

Making The Case For ESS And Onboarding

2011-03-24T14:33:00.000-04:00

Hagel and Company have put together an excellent article on how to build a business case for buying HR software. The arguments they make are designed to convince executives to invest in HR technology such as ESS even when the economy is taking a beating. Here are their arguments and some thoughts about how implementing an ESS and Onboarding at the same time might be an even smarter move.

HR Software Must Align With Business Goals

Pretty much all businesses want to increase productivity while lowering costs, so that’s a good goal to align your HR software purchase with. Reducing or eliminating paper forms is one way an ESS can help achieve this goal. It also means each employee is responsible for making updates to his/her own data directly in the database, saving HR the trouble of rekeying data into the HRMS.

Sound familiar? Yes, Universal Onboarding does the same thing from day one when most employee paperwork is typically generated. When you use automated onboarding, new hires will naturally adopt use of the ESS as well. It promotes a DIY culture that can minimize routine employee queries to HR. Interfacing onboarding directly with an ESS portal means no extra work for HR in setting the new employee up in the system.

Stop Wasting Time

Hagel and Company point out that 80% of HR’s time is spent on low value, routine processes. They don’t mention where they got that statistic, but even if your organization only spends 50% of HR’s labor hours on repetitive admin, that’s too much. Automating the transfer of ESS and onboarding data into an HRMS or other back end systems saves HR time and reduces errors. The time saved can be used to mine data from these applications to be used in developing better HCM strategies.

Positive Framing is Essential

Check out the full article for how the author suggests framing your business proposal. It involves steps like identifying the functional requirements for the system, explaining the shortcomings of your current system, and more. One step that differs is the ROI calculation. The author mentions the costs being loaded at the front end. That’s true for traditionally licensed software. With SaaS, the costs remain constant (and affordable) over time.

Combine Your Efforts

With either approach, there will be a time investment with IT and HR to implement the onboarding software. The time commitment varies depending on the number of integrations required. Assessing onboarding and ESS at the same time makes it possible to ensure the systems are compatible (Universal Onboarding is compatible with most ESS portals). Plus, rolling the two projects into one might make it easier to get IT to collaborate.

HR Software Metrics

2011-03-22T11:41:00.000-04:00

Now more than ever, HR is looking at hard numbers to make decisions about HCM strategies. This is becoming easier since HR software vendors are incorporating better tools for analysis and reporting into their products. These days it’s possible to measure in detail how a wide spectrum of workforce related decisions impact business outcomes. But evaluating the past in light of the present is just one way to look at the data. It can also be used for predictive purposes. Workforce.com has put together an article outlining how some companies are using workforce metrics for forecasting and planning – the latest strategic implementation of HR technology for employers who want an edge on the competition.

Adequate Staffing Requires Foresight

Predicting the need for and availability of labor is the most obvious type of HR analysis. Recruiters need to understand how a combination of factors such as future growth and potential attrition of key existing employees will impact staffing requirements and capabilities. This makes it possible to create retention and succession strategies targeting positions that are at the highest risk. Appropriate use of predictive HR metrics could also lead to better choices during recessions. Too many employers have found out the hard way that they laid off the wrong people over the last few years. Now, there’s a critical shortage in areas like development and middle management where employees are not easily replaced.

What Could Change for HR?

The emphasis on forecasting may lead to a greater demand for HR statisticians. The ideal candidate would be someone who understands software (like an HRIS analyst) so the best tools are implemented for capturing the right kind of data. This statistician would also have to understand how concepts like employee engagement intersect with hard numbers.

Onboarding is Ripe for Further Analysis

One area that is being studied for its ability to predict turnover is onboarding. According to information compiled by the Aberdeen Group, companies that have a well developed acculturation onboarding strategy fare better than their counterparts in retention of talent. Onboarding software plays an important role in ensuring new hires are fully equipped and engaged. Applications such as our Universal Onboarding and Acculturation Portal provide analytic tools to help HR measure outcomes and identify ways to increase efficiency in onboarding.

Oracle Brings Fusion To HR Software

2011-03-08T12:20:00.000-05:00

In the field of HR software, Oracle is one of the most readily recognized names. As a market leader, it’s long been the company employers watch to see which way the wind is blowing with advancements in HR technology. However, for a number of years Oracle’s response to the development of SaaS as a delivery model has lagged behind smaller, more agile contenders.

Perhaps the software giant didn’t want to acknowledge any advantages of SaaS because it would make their own licensing model look less desirable. Here’s an example of an article lambasting Oracle president Charles Phillips for spreading what the author describes as misconceptions about SaaS. These include several erroneous beliefs about what customers supposedly “want”. As the past few years have demonstrated pretty conclusively, Phillips was wrong on several counts. Customers want flexibility, cost efficiency, and vendor accountability – three features that are often lacking with traditional licensing but that are a core part of SaaS.

Oracle Announces Fusion Solution

Now, Oracle is finally catching up with the competition. The company is preparing to roll out a whole suite of HCM applications that will be available via SaaS as well as on-premise licensing. The Fusion elements will include 15 HR modules ranging from existing products like payroll management to brand new talent management apps. Some of the Fusion features were gained through acquisition of smaller HR software companies; others have been custom built specifically for the Fusion line. One primary focus is on promoting a user-friendly, highly visual experience for HR administrators and managers.

A possible effect of having a SaaS version of Oracle HR software available may be a shift in the customer base. If the pricing is right, smaller businesses that could not previously afford Oracle’s license fees might be able to try these web-delivered services at a lower cost. It remains to be seen whether Oracle will be able to evolve its software at the pace seen with other HR vendors who have been using the SaaS model for many years. Typically, the philosophy and strategy behind agile application development is something that the largest HR software companies struggle to grasp.

While these companies often have a comprehensive product base, they don’t necessarily have the Best of Breed solution in many areas. That’s certainly true of onboarding. Right now, there’s still no solution that even comes close to Emerald Software’s Universal Onboarding for speeding new hires to productivity while ensuring full HR compliance.

What Are The Benefits Of HRMS?

2011-02-24T14:37:00.000-05:00

Why is it that a company that is willing to spend big bucks on Enterprise Resource Planning software is sometimes reluctant to make a significant investment in a Human Resource Management System? There are usually several reasons:

• HR processes often receive serious attention only when things go wrong. Executives are used to taking a reactive approach rather than a proactive approach for handling needs and requirements in this department.

• Historically, HR has been given only limited access to the “strategy table” where long term business goals are discussed. Many HR professionals lack experience gathering objective data on HR processes, developing a strategy for improvement, and communicating this information to executives in a compelling way.

• Employers are well versed in outside market factors that can influence profitability but unaware of internal compliance issues that greatly increase financial risk.

A business that wouldn’t dream of using outdated technology to track customer orders or inventory may still be using a legacy system for HR. If an employer believes that HR needs only a database to store information on employees, this mindset makes a certain amount of sense. However, the functionality necessary to retain, distribute, analyze, audit, and leverage data to effectively manage a workforce is only available in an actual HRMS. A Human Resources department cannot reach its full potential without this tool.

HRMS Components & Benefits

Payroll, benefits administration, workforce management, and time/attendance are the four basic components Clay Scroggin lists in his excellent article on HRMS. Each one of these plays a role in allowing an employer to track and control costs. More sophisticated workforce management systems that incorporate applicant tracking, employee development, and succession planning features offer much more. They can be used to fully realize the potential of each worker and of the employee base as a whole. These programs may also include ESS and MSS portals that further reduce HR labor while increasing end user satisfaction.

The fact that more processes can be automated using an HRMS is one thing that makes it attractive to executive decision makers. This is an area that HR should focus on when making a business case to acquire an HRMS. Another important characteristic of a well designed system is that it increases compliance. For example, few employers know all the rules for retention of various types of workplace documents. At Emerald Software, compliance is our #1 focus. Our Universal Onboarding application is an example of a module that can be added to any existing HRMS system to decrease the risk of fines, penalties, and litigation.

More HR Tech Best Practices

2011-02-21T11:14:00.000-05:00

Last week we looked at a couple of items from Workforce Management’s latest technology whitepaper (go here to get your free copy). This time, let’s explore a few more concepts from the paper’s contributors and how they relate to onboarding practices and HR software.

Virtual Learning for Leadership

John Ambrose from Skillsoft points to the benefits of using online training to develop new leaders within an organization. The lower cost and higher convenience level of web-based education make this a popular option for many employers. It’s a particularly helpful technology for newly hired managers who need to get up to speed quickly without spending too much time away from the workplace.

From the perspective of social support, virtual interaction can be helpful in mentoring employees at every level to encourage leadership growth. Online training and skills testing implemented during acculturation onboarding can also make it easier for employers to identify high-potential employees early on. Emerald Software’s products support integration with virtual training vendors and internal social networking platforms to help achieve these objectives.

HR and Employees Benefit from Tech Trends

Sumtotal Systems offers a roundup of 6 trends that can dramatically increase strategic performance for HR. The move toward software that captures information for analysis is one of the most interesting. HR needs solid business intelligence data to boost productivity and decrease operation costs. In onboarding, this type of data can be collected and used to measure the average time to productivity for new hires and areas for HR process improvement.

Another trend is the implementation of employee self service portals. Putting an onboarding module in place is the logical first step for organizations that want to make workers more self-sufficient and ease the burden on HR. A well designed onboarding application can be set up to automatically distribute error and omission free new hire data to an ESS platform. From there, it can be updated by the worker as changes occur over time.

HR Tech Best Practices

2011-02-14T14:40:00.002-05:00

Workforce.com has a new whitepaper available on Best Practices in HR Technology. It’s free (registration required), so make sure to request a copy. The paper covers different aspects of technology selection and implementation with contributions from major players like SAP, Ultimate Software and Workday. The first segment is about questions HR should ask potential vendors. Not surprisingly, 2 of the 7 questions are about SaaS. Customers expect 24/7 accessibility and selecting a web-based application is one of the easiest ways to ensure this.

Ultimate Software also talks about the latest HR technology buzzword “unified”. So, you can expect to see more discussions comparing pros and cons of unification vs. integration – just like the current discussions about integrating vs. interfacing. Of course, as a suite software provider Ultimate Software has a vested interest in highlighting any problems with integrating applications from multiple vendors. There’s a balance to be struck between the ease of using a unified system and the strategic benefits of selecting and integrating Best of Breed modules. Chuck Ros talks about precisely this topic in his ere.net article here.

A Payroll Provide Weighs In

Perquest offers some interesting insights about the complexity of HR. According to a recent research study, human capital management at many mid-sized companies is as complex as it is for large organizations. The belief that the challenges faced by HR are directly tied to the size of the workforce is widespread but just doesn’t hold true. So, mid-sized employers may be allocating less money than they should to strategic technology initiatives for HR. This can have serious repercussions.

The fact is that a mid-sized company must meet the same standards as a large company for labor law compliance. The actual risks associated with non-compliance in HR may actually be higher for mid-sized businesses than for large businesses. A single costly incident can disproportionately impact an organization with less capital and fewer high-priced lawyers on speed dial.

Perquest noted that the complexity of compliance is one reason employers often outsource various HR and Payroll functions. However, there are some processes such as onboarding that can’t be effectively outsourced (since using a PEO doesn’t necessarily protect against non-compliance penalties). So, HR may want to use a blend of outsourcing and internal process improvements to achieve their compliance objectives. Implementing Universal Onboarding is a good place to start for mid-sized businesses since the costs are low, ROI is swift, and the benefits are easy to communicate to upper management.

What Is Your HRIS Input?

2011-02-09T11:21:00.000-05:00

HR software expert Clay Scroggin has an interesting perspective on one aspect of HRIS that some clients don’t think about until after they’ve bought a product – how much input will be required? He breaks down the topic into several different categories. First, there’s the data you will have to transfer as a one-time effort. This could include importing from other existing programs such as from a simple employee database into a full service suite. He points out that benefits data is often not directly transferrable and has to be typed in painstakingly by hand (although this is changing in the age of SaaS applications which often have a high level of built-in interoperability).

Then, there’s the data that needs to be updated on a regular basis. An interface can allow this to happen electronically; but there’s often still some human action required to set the process off. Even if it’s as simple as pushing a button to run the importing function once a week, that’s still something that HR has to remember to do - or IT has to set up a script to run the transfer of data automatically. There will always be differences in content between HRIS and other systems (such as Payroll) in terms of real time data unless they are actually fully integrated with one another. There’s a third type of input, but you’ll have to read Scroggin’s article to find out what it is.

What’s the Input for Universal Onboarding Software?

An onboarding module requires input just like any other aspect of HRIS. The first set of data is input by the new hire. Some of this information may actually be imported from a recruiting module if one is interfaced with the onboarding system – but either way that part of data entry is done by the job candidate or new hire rather than by HR staff. Once the new hire’s part is done, the forms are forwarded to the hiring manager and/or I9 administrator for review and final signatures. Input of information into e-Verify may be required at this time. The distribution of data to other back end systems can be carried out automatically based on internally determined rules. HR may also need to add new forms or update old ones from time to time (e.g. company policies). However, all government forms are kept current in the Universal Onboarding library by Emerald Software Group so HR doesn’t have to worry about that particular input.

How Can Onboarding Software Be Leveraged To Save Money?

2011-02-08T14:52:00.000-05:00

Over the last few weeks, we’ve looked at the ways HR software delivered via SaaS and cloud computing is attractive to business owners; but what about onboarding software in particular? Where does it fit in the strategic picture for IT, HR, and business leaders looking to cut costs? Are there any compelling reasons to add an onboarding module to a suite of advanced SaaS HR software that already has recruiting, training, benefits management, ESS, and succession planning functions?

Actually, there are several arguments that can be made for the value of an automated onboarding program no matter how good the rest of your HR software already is. First, the quality of the data in your HRIS database is only as good as the data entry that supports it. New hires often make errors in their paperwork or leave out critical information on electronic forms. If HR notices these mistakes, they may get fixed (requiring extra work). If not, data errors end up going into the system where they may be distributed to other applications.

For example, a W4 with conflicting elections will wind its way to Payroll where it can cause problems with tax deductions on an employee’s paycheck. With an I9, the issues might not become apparent until the ICE auditors show up – and then it’s too late. Automated Universal Onboarding software completely bridges the data collection gap between Recruiting and general HRIS. It eliminates redundant data entry and prevents new hires from making mistakes or leaving required fields blank on their electronic forms.

So, these are 2 of the most obvious ways onboarding software can be used to save money:

1. Eliminating errors and omissions in both initial forms completion and distribution of data to HRIS and other back end systems. This increases compliance with labor laws and with internal company rules.

2. Replacing an inefficient hybrid of paper and electronic systems with a fully automated virtual HR process for onboarding new hires. This cuts administrative costs immediately and supports corporate eco-friendly initiatives.

The SaaS and cloud based versions of Emerald’s onboarding solution also deliver benefits such as vendor-provided maintenance, high levels of data security, constant system availability, pricing based on actual usage, and immediate scalability during peak hiring seasons. Finally, increasing the efficiency of data collection during onboarding permits the implementation of tax credit forms that allow businesses to capture incentives from both state and federal governments.

What Do Employers Want To Know About Buying HRIS?

2011-01-31T11:20:00.002-05:00

Compare HRIS.com has an extensive knowledge library on HR and Payroll software topics. Some of their articles are more popular than others. So, they’ve taken a look at the top 10 most frequently read pieces. These offer a sneak peek at what business owners and HR decision makers want to know as they shop for HR software. Most of the topics that get lots of hits fall into 3 basic categories: money, IT, and functionality.

Money

There are two things employers want to know about HR software. First, how much will it cost? Second, how much will it save? Smart vendors generally answer both these questions by answering a third: How much is it worth? Author Chris Scroggin points out that it’s nearly impossible to do an “apples to apples” price comparison for HRIS software with an online search. That’s because companies that offer high value software typically choose to demonstrate that value to a customer before going into detail about price. As time consuming as it may be, it really is necessary for software vendors to consult with HR clients to identify their specific needs. Then, vendors can show how their HRIS software can be leveraged strategically to reduce administrative overhead and speed ROI.

IT

Information about how to work with IT in selecting and implementing HRIS is always a big draw for HR professionals. CEO Shafiq Lokhandwala from NuView HRIS Payroll, Inc. offers a tongue in cheek look at this topic in “IT is from Mars & HR is from Venus”. At Emerald Software, we encourage clients to enlist the aid of an HRIS analyst to help bridge the gap between HR and IT. This does wonders for ensuring successful implementation, integration, and interfacing with minimal conflict.

Functionality

As with any complex buying decision, sometimes you just don’t know what could benefit your organization until you realize what’s available. For example, it’s not unusual for an HR client to look at Universal Onboarding and discover that the application addresses compliance issues they didn’t realize they had. So, HR decision makers are looking for information that educates them about what they need and how to get it. It’s also interesting to look at what is important to other employers when they start shopping for an HRIS system. Check out this breakdown (by company size) of what HR typically views as the most and least critical software features.

Why Buying Specialized HR Software Makes Sense

2011-01-24T10:45:00.000-05:00

A recent HR software debacle at Wichita Falls ISD demonstrates that applications that try to do too much can be less useful than a series of well designed niche solution. The school’s CFO (Tim Turner) faced some tough questions recently from school board members about their $1 million investment in software from Prologic Technologies. The suite they bought includes such features as grade tracking, core HR, and paycheck issuance. That’s a pretty diverse range of functions to include in one software package.

Three years into the implementation, the WFISD’s CFO is very displeased with how much time he has to spend every week administering the software. He’s especially tired of dealing with glitches that cause misprints on paychecks. Turner admits that these problems usually crop up when there are errors or omissions in the information entered on the HR side. Since how teachers (especially substitutes) are paid can vary depending on many factors, getting the data right is challenging. The system apparently doesn’t include built in rules to help ensure that information is entered correctly.

Software Doesn’t Offer Full Functionality

One issue that the software vendor definitely should have addressed by now is the fact that Turner can’t generate the reports he really needs. This limits visibility into budget management – a huge concern for pretty much every school district in the country. The WFISD suspended payments to Prologic months ago because of ongoing dissatisfaction with the software’s performance. They want to give the vendor one last chance to get the bugs fixed. If that doesn’t happen, they plan to cancel their contract and review the original bids they received from other vendors in 2006 to find an alternative solution.

Why Looking at Outdated Quotes Isn’t Likely to Help

Given how fast the software landscape evolves, that might not be the best approach. To really get what they need, the board should take a fresh look at their specifications and expectations and clarify their requirements. The valuable lesson WFISD can learn from this experience is that they need to work with a vendor who understands the special challenges of the education industry and can create a tailored solution.

They may not be best served by a single provider either. Instead, they may want to have each function serviced by a separate SaaS vendor (with appropriate interfaces between applications). This could entail a couple of benefits. First, they won’t get so enmeshed with one vendor that they are stuck spending years putting up with less than satisfactory customer service. Second, they can select Best of Breed applications that limit human mistakes. As we’ve demonstrated with our Universal Onboarding software, eliminating errors and omissions is just a matter of making this a priority in the design stage.

Interesting HR Software Acquisitions

2011-01-20T13:35:00.001-05:00

If your organization does business with any of the major players in the HR software industry, you may see some new product offerings in 2011. Last year, a large number of firms made strategic acquisitions of products to add to their portfolio of applications. Here’s a quick look at a few that made the news:

Epicor Acquires Spectrum
This is a significant acquisition for a couple of reasons. It is a blending of separately developed Enterprise Resource Planning and Human Capital Management solutions to be distributed now through a single vendor. Epicor, in choosing to buy Spectrum is showing that web-based HR software is viewed as adding value to the business services software the company makes available to clients. Epicor is leveraging cloud computing and SaaS to make this end-to-end solution highly accessible for a global customer base.

Lawson Absorbs Enwisen
Another SaaS acquisition that hit the news in December is HR software provider Lawson buying Enwisen. Previously, Lawson was reselling Enwisen’s services to its clients. So, they knew the demand was healthy. The addition of this Employee Self Service application rounds out the company’s suite of HR and business solutions.

Administaff Buys OrgPlus
In an example of an HR services firm outside the software field buying up valuable tools, Administaff purchased the OrgPlus line of applications from HumanConcepts. This gives the PEO firm a useful tool to assist clients in planning and modifying their organizational structure. Mid-sized and small businesses may benefit from having access to this application to determine their staffing (or employee leasing) needs on an ongoing basis.

Buying Frenzy Still Ongoing

That’s just brushing the surface of all the deals that went down in 2010. Workforce Management has an overview of additional acquisitions in the talent management field. One aspect of all this buying and selling that may impact customers is the fear of service disruption. Fortunately, with web-based applications the transfer of responsibility from one vendor to another is often easier than it would be with on-premise licensing.

What is clear is that suite HR software vendors know there are still many niche product out there that are better than what they are currently offering their clients. That’s why they are rushing to buy them up. At Emerald Software Group, we take a slightly different approach. We focus on partnering with other firms that are offering their own Best of Breed products that interface with our AllegroHR applications. That way, our clients can choose exactly the services they need for their specific industry without paying for anything they don’t need.

Cloud Computing Primed For Expansion

2011-01-18T11:29:00.000-05:00

In 2010, HfS Research and the London School of Economics surveyed over 1000 organizations about their outlook on Cloud Computing in the business software sphere. The results clearly show that top level executives are buying into the concept of the cloud in record numbers. What’s interesting is that CEOs and COOs appear to be even more excited about this technology than CIOs are. They view the benefits of outsourcing portions of their IT infrastructure management and tapping into the Best of Breed applications available as the result of low-cost software development as key for promoting more cost-effective business practices.

This doesn’t mean IT executives are hesitant about adopting cloud-based software. In fact, according the HfS survey results, 1 out of 3 CIOs anticipate using a significant portion of their IT budget on cloud based business services in the coming year. Mid level IT managers are a little less eager to see their organizations make the switch. This might be because the need for employers to keep managers on staff to supervise low level IT personnel will decrease as more day-to-day maintenance functions are outsourced to cloud providers. Organizations may be looking to pare down their IT staff to a few good strategic planners and savvy trouble shooters. This, in turn, may make things easier for HR by reducing the demand for a steady stream of IT hires (a field where demand often outstrips availability of talent).

What Do Leaders Find Attractive about Cloud Services?

Both general business executives and CIOs are attracted to the cloud for many reasons. However, interest from non-IT executives is particularly high when it comes to the following benefits:

• Faster implementation of mission critical, best in class software applications that would have been unavailable or too difficult to access using a legacy system

• Less reliance on IT to create custom applications that support business goals

• Money spent on IT actually being used to improve business processes throughout the organization

Emerald Software Group has been keeping up with the latest trend by making applications such as Universal Onboarding available on one of the industry’s leading cloud platforms. You can read more about the benefits of the cloud approach to onboarding over at Chuck’s blog.

Is Fast HR Software Right for Your Business?

2011-01-14T13:41:00.001-05:00

Workforce Management has an interesting article online about the ways HR gets bogged down when it comes to software development. The piece focuses on a new concept called “Fast HR”. This approach to the development of training materials and other HR applications is based on the idea that it’s better to have something usable in a short time frame than something perfect that takes so long to complete that it is outdated by the time it goes live.

One software expert interviewed for the article noted that it can take almost a year of preparation to create a 1 week instructional course. That’s just too long when an organization’s needs change rapidly. In another example of the snail-pace of some HR processes, survey data collected from employees at large organizations may take months to analyze. By the time the results are turned into a final report, they are no longer representative of the current opinions of the workforce.

Fast HR Requires Clear Thinking

The key to shortening the time required to roll out new processes involving customized HR software is to focus on what’s important. In the software development industry, there’s a project management method called Scrum that offers a peek at how this works. This process includes making a wish list of required items, prioritizing them, and working in short bursts on the most critical pieces. This ensures that no matter when the project ends, it has resulted in the production of a useful solution.

For this approach to work in HR, an organization must be very clear on the goals of its software. That’s because it simply isn’t possible to include everything when using this agile development method. It also isn’t realistic to expect the results to be error free. This means that HR has to have a platform in place for receiving feedback about any issues employees experience in using a particular tool. Then, there has to be a commitment to follow up and fix the problems.

Pros and Cons

The benefit of this continuous approach to software development for HR is that it provides a solution quickly to move an organization toward achieving its objectives. The downside is that it is requires ongoing resources and attention. It will never be truly “finished”. Of course, with a field that keeps changing as fast as HR, no application ever outgrows the need for revision and updating.

Emerald Software Solutions

Both the Universal Onboarding and Acculturation Portal we offer lend themselves to ongoing customization. HR can add panels on an as needed basis – starting with the most important. Typical times to implementation are in line with Fast HR methodology while still promoting a high level of compliance.

Buffet Style Product Selection A Benefit Of Web 3.0 HR Software

2011-01-07T13:11:00.001-05:00

Robert Grey at Human Resources Magazine offers an in-depth look at cloud computing and how it will impact both software vendors and purchasers in HR. One area where web 3.0 applications may come out ahead of traditionally licensed suite software is in the way services can easily be split up and sold separately. The big names in HR software still focus on providing entire suites of applications. That’s a selling point for some employers. They want one-stop shopping for all their HR software and believe having it all sourced from a single vendor will make it easier to maintain. The up side for these vendors is that they capture all of an HR customer’s business and can sell them a bundled package that includes all (or most) of their applications.

Why Pay for What You Won’t Use?

The downside (from Grey’s perspective), is that many HR departments don’t really need all the modules they are being sold. So, they may end up paying for stuff they really won’t use. This doesn’t line up well with the drive toward lean and streamlined processes in other areas of business. As HR begins to rethink its software budget in light of which precise products it really requires, the perceived wisdom of purchasing a whole system may change dramatically.

Some traditional HR software suppliers are catching on to this by permitting HR clients to pick and choose from among their product offerings. However, this has only made it more apparent that the individual components of some of these suites lack the type of functionality HR is looking for. This leaves the field open for best of breed web 3.0 HR software providers to serve this growing customer base. Some employers may even choose to invest in their own PaaS platform that permits IT to develop specialized HR applications internally at low cost. Grey doesn’t see cloud base applications as replacing core HR systems. However, the future looks very bright for niche solutions such as new hire onboarding that can be readily interfaced with an HRMS.

Microsoft Talks SaaS

2011-01-04T10:39:00.000-05:00

Microsoft is a leading force in the cloud computing revolution, so it’s not surprising that they have an interest in educating consumers about Software as a Service. Their knowledge library includes helpful information for IT departments exploring the benefits of SaaS. The material presented is straightforward enough for decision makers outside of IT to grasp easily as well. So, it’s a good resource for HR directors and VPs who want a crash course on the topic.

Risk Reduction

One of the first areas addressed in the MS article on SaaS is on reducing risk for IT in software selection and implementation. Acquisition and deployment is a risky process for IT. Rolling out an enterprise-wide system is complex, time consuming, and costly. With on-premise software acquisition, it is not unusual to get partway into the project and discover that it will be significantly more difficult and expensive than originally assumed. However, it is often too late to turn back at that point because a substantial investment has already been made.

Implementing SaaS isn’t always a walk in the park, but it is much easier to walk away from an SaaS deployment if it isn’t working out. This increases the chances that the final outcome will be satisfactory rather than a compromise that was reached just to put a cap on a project that is turning into a “money pit”.

IT and HR Both Stand to Gain from SaaS

Microsoft makes a good point that SaaS offers IT an opportunity to shift its focus from administrative tasks such as maintaining software to more strategic initiatives. Instead of spending all its resources on supporting the software applications, IT staff can turn its attention to ensuring that the applications in question are actually aligned with the business objectives of their organization.

In the case of Universal Onboarding software, SaaS delivery accomplishes the goal of creating greater efficiency for both IT and HR. With this application delivered via the web to handle new hire processing, IT and HR can spend less time trouble shooting and responding to crises and more time finding ways to increase performance, productivity, and workforce satisfaction.

What HR Executives Want From SaaS

2010-12-22T12:40:00.000-05:00

SaaS vendor Plateau Systems and advisory firm Saugatuck Technology released the results of an interesting survey earlier this year. The 200+ HR executives who participated in the study made it clear that they have compelling reasons to choose SaaS. Plus, they know what they want in an SaaS vendor. Online software access has become common enough that the novelty of the delivery system is no longer a prime selling point. Businesses can source core HR software from among a broad field of competitors. So, executives can afford to make comparisons.

Up front implementation is one area where businesses are looking to save money. By now, human resource execs know that it’s easy for an SaaS product to look great in the slick sales brochure - but that everything will fall apart without appropriate interfaces. HR is are catching on to the fact that they can’t just contract with an SaaS vendor and expect IT to do the heavy lifting in making the application work. Employers expect vendors to provide implementation assistance and troubleshooting. Ongoing support is also a negotiating point at the HR table. In other words, they want the service part of the Software as a Service package to mean something.

Effectiveness Draws HR to SaaS

As the focus in HR turns more and more toward strategic planning, executives are realizing that their business performance is lagging compared to other departments. They have the right priorities but simply don’t have the right tools to improve operations. While core HRIS is a central feature of SaaS for HR, niche products are also being sought to address strategic needs quickly and efficiently. Talent acquisition, management, and retention are all key areas where HR is trying to close the gap.

Onboarding is an obvious area of potential improvement for the mid to large size businesses involved in the Saugatuck survey. From the perspective of service, Emerald Software Group makes it a priority to help clients ensure a successful onboarding software implementation by collaborating with IT and HR. We also address another top HR executive concern (data security) through adhering to industry best practices. For more information, contact us at 770-569-5122.

Can HR Negotiate Better Software Deals?

2010-12-13T14:58:00.001-05:00

The HR Capitalist has an amusing and insightful blog post up about why so many Human Resources professionals tend to be poor negotiators. Many people get into HR because they enjoy helping people – not because they enjoy driving a hard bargain. This generous attitude has its place in creating great employee relations, but it doesn’t serve HR well at the bargaining table when money is on the line. HR decision makers need to be ready and willing to negotiate with their software vendors to get the best product and the best deal.
Pricing Isn’t Always Set In Stone

For core HR software that can be purchased from many different vendors, pricing is usually a negotiable point. This is more likely to be the case with on-site licensed products than with SaaS. Vendors that use traditional licensing as their primary business model often have significant wiggle room if their pricing is inflated. Figuring out where the padding is can help HR determine where to ask for price breaks. Pricey ongoing maintenance/service packages allow many of these software vendors to generate a substantial portion of their revenue. This is an area where HR may be able to vigorously negotiate for better pricing.

In the SaaS market, the profit margins are not always as flexible. The vendor is already taking primary responsibility for all the software maintenance, upgrades, security, etc. Plus, these vendors are often pricing their products very aggressively to earn a larger market share in an industry still dominated by traditional licensing. However, with SaaS vendors who require a contract rather than a no-commitment monthly subscription, there is sometimes a potential to negotiate a longer contract term in exchange for a lower fee. It never hurts to ask.

It’s Not All about the Money

Niche and Best of Breed HR software vendors may be less likely to come down on their pricing because they are not in competition with as many other products. However, this doesn’t mean there is nothing on the table to negotiate. For example, your organization might need to interface the vendor’s software product with another application such as your HRIS, ERP, or a third party program.

A savvy SaaS vendor might have a vested interest in helping develop such an interface. Building a track record of successful interoperability with a broad category of applications gives the vendor a competitive advantage and widens their prospective client base. At Emerald Software Group, we are constantly adding to our portfolio of interfacing capabilities for Universal Onboarding. So, let us know your needs in this area – we are ready and willing to negotiate!

Newest HR Software Terminology – PaaS

2010-12-07T11:09:00.000-05:00

Software as a Service (SaaS) has become practically a household name in the HR industry. However, there is always a new development just around the corner and it’s hard to keep up with the technical lingo. The latest concept making its way into HR software vendor’s vocabularies is PaaS. Platform as a Service refers to more than the practice of offering a specific application over the web. With PaaS, Web 3.0 is in the mix. Software companies develop and run instances of their applications on the cloud computing platform. These resources are made available as a service by companies such as Amazon. Client data is hosted, stored, and transferred using virtual servers (this part of the picture is sometimes referred to as IaaS or Infrastructure as a Service).

What’s Different for HR?

The actual applications are still accessible via the internet just like traditional SaaS. The end user’s experience of the software doesn’t really change with a PaaS approach. However, there are other issues that can impact HR software choices from a strategic perspective. With virtualized servers and highly flexible platforms, it is possible to run an entire HRIS suite in the cloud environment. What was once the province of niche applications is becoming a standard offering from even the largest HR software vendors. IT and HR will need to collaborate closely to determine if and when moving the management of HR data and processes to the cloud is beneficial from a cost, maintenance, and security perspective.

The ability of smaller, niche HR software providers to serve clients is also enhanced with the advent of PaaS. Now, it is possible for them to run as many instances of an application as needed without increasing their costs for maintaining a permanent infrastructure. This server space and the computing capability being used can be scaled up and down practically instantaneously (which is why Amazon’s service offering is called the Elastic Compute Cloud). The ability to provide a separate instance of an application for each client also means SaaS vendors can offer greater customization without significantly adding to costs. Vendors can also serve a larger client base with rapidly changing capacity requirements.

Coming Soon?

There is speculation that Web 3.0 will make using multiple SaaS products together much simpler as interfacing between various programs becomes more commonplace. The popularity of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) in software development has already moved web-based programs in this direction. SOA makes applications more likely to be interoperable as a basic design feature instead of an afterthought. This advance will create more flexibility for HR departments that want to use many Best of Breed niche products for the highest level of functionality in all areas of human capital management. HR might eventually have the option of ditching outdated suite software that contains applications that aren’t needed or used and simply cherry picking the best tool for each job. Of course, at Emerald Software Group, we’re already offering Universal Onboarding as a PaaS option for our clients. It’s a great place to start!

Should HR Interface or Integrate Applications?

2010-12-06T10:58:00.000-05:00

Spectrum HR has an excellent whitepaper available online discussing the benefits of interfacing vs. integrating various aspects of HRIS. What happens when an HR department is rigidly determined to have as few software vendor relationships as possible? The organization may actually be shooting itself in the foot by choosing a partner that offers an integrated HR system as part of its product offering.

Payroll is obviously a highly specialized field and requires software that makes it possible to effectively manage all aspects of employee compensation from overtime calculations to leave accrual to tax withholding. The state and federal rules for payroll management are constantly changing, so outsourcing this function or hiring a specialist to run an in-house program makes sense. However, payroll software vendors aren’t really the best choice for HRIS. Their products are too narrowly focused and HR simply doesn’t get all the tools needed to manage non-payroll aspects of workforce management. Inevitably, HR must add other third party applications to pick up the slack.

An ERP suite software provider may have a more complex HR offering and the pricing is likely to be attractive as part of a package deal. However, key areas of functionality are still likely to be missing. This leaves HR struggling to develop workarounds that are inefficient and not agile enough to remain compliant with labor laws.

What’s the Answer

The conclusion reached by the authors of the Spectrum paper is that Payroll and ERP vendors simply don’t provide the solutions HR needs for human capital management. The obvious answer is to implement a Best of Breed HRIS product rather than trying to integrate critical HR’s processes with the limited functionality of software that is not designed with HR’s needs in mind. The HRIS can then be interfaced with the Payroll partner and the ERP application as needed to share data.

HRIS Still Doesn’t Have It All

The relationship between HRIS applications and onboarding software is identical (albeit on a smaller scale) to the difference between ERP and HRIS solutions. Onboarding is too often thrown in as an afterthought rather than being designed for compliance, efficiency, and practicality. That’s why Emerald Software continues to offer Best of Breed Universal Onboarding software for our clients to interface seamlessly with their existing HRIS program.

HR Versus IT: Rogue SaaS Applications

2010-11-29T12:41:00.002-05:00

One of the benefits associated with greater mainstream acceptance of SaaS is that it reduces the conflict between HR and IT. Business leaders in many different departments are often tempted to implement SaaS solutions without input from IT. That’s because the process of vetting software can seem to take forever. When strategic decision makers get tired of waiting around, they may move forward on their own. According to survey results floating around the blogosphere, IT often has no idea that managers are going behind their backs to contract with SaaS vendors. As you can imagine, when a CIO finally catches on to the presence of these “rogue software applications” this doesn’t go over well.

Why HR Might Circumvent IT

In many HR departments, just getting through the day-to-day pile of work is hard enough. Lobbying for support from IT to get new software implemented can take a lot of time and effort. Often, it seems that any suggestion regarding software improvement that doesn’t originate in IT is summarily rejected. Plus, HR may have a very small budget to spend on upgrading their processes. This makes the use of SaaS applications that don’t require IT involvement very appealing. SaaS vendors know this and will often use it as a selling point for their products.

Pitfalls of this Approach

When an HR director decides to go rogue and sign an SaaS vendor contract behind IT’s back, there may be serious problems ahead. A back door approach to implementation does nothing to strengthen collaboration between HR and IT. That may be bad news later when events transpire that lead to the discovery of the maverick software. This can happen if:

• HR realizes after the fact that the SaaS application requires customization to make it work for their organization

• The application interferes with other company software systems

• The software needs to be integrated with other, existing HRIS applications to make it really useful

• The vendor did not provide adequate security or data backup services and critical employee data is compromised

It may be easier to ask forgiveness than permission. But no HR executive really wants to have to go, hat in hand, to IT for help solving a problem with an SaaS application that IT didn’t approve in the first place. At Emerald Software Group, we encourage HR and IT to work together. We’ve got the expertise to speak their language as well as yours – so you have someone in your corner at the negotiating table.

Ease Of Training A Plus for HR SaaS

2010-11-22T13:30:00.002-05:00

Blogger Andy Porter from Fistful of Talent offers a particularly candid view of what HR executives really think about most HR software sales reps. His many pet peeves include the habit some vendors have of sending an entire entourage to make a presentation when only one person is really required. Fancy graphics that don’t really convey useful information is another issue causing Porter to feel angst. All he really wants to know from HR software technology vendors is:

• How easy it is to for end users to operate the system

• How it will help managers do their jobs better

In Porter’s opinion, software should be so easy to use that it doesn’t actually require training. It should be designed to be intuitive and self explanatory. To his way of thinking, offering extensive training on a system isn’t a plus. It’s an indication that the developer has not put the customer’s needs first in designing the system. SaaS applications have an obvious advantage in this area since basically every end user is familiar with web based software.

According to Andy, the benefits to managers should be simple enough to sum up in a few clear cut sentences. The answer shouldn’t be a long-winded explanation of what the software can DO from a bells and whistles standpoint. It should be about what actual results it creates for the client’s organization. Many SaaS HR solutions do actually give managers powerful tools for working more effectively. However, Porter is quite correct in his assertion that not all vendors know how to communicate this fact.

How Does Universal Onboarding Measure Up?

From the viewpoint of a new hire, Universal Onboarding is completely intuitive. The only instructional prompts needed are provided on screen as the user navigates this wizard based application. Training for HR administrators is pretty straightforward as well. The process of creating new data panels is one HR personnel will already be familiar with if they know how to use Adobe Reader. In the event that any in-person training is desired, this can be provided on site or at Emerald Software’s facilities.

How does this software help HR managers do their job better? Reducing the cost of onboarding, eliminating errors and omissions on forms, and increasing legal compliance are the three biggest ways our solution achieves this objective. That’s just the tip of the iceberg as you can see if you browse our Universal Onboarding product details.

Why Choose a Niche Product for Onboarding? Part 1

2010-11-17T14:48:00.000-05:00

Last week, we took a look at some of the HR software solutions Emerald has experience integrating our programs with. These include big names in the SaaS HRMS field (UltiPro, SilkRoad, etc). Many of these commonly used suite solutions provide some form of onboarding module. This means employers often have the ability to minimize or eliminate the use of paper in their new hire forms administration using the option offered by their suite software. So, why are customers who have already invested in software for the full range of HR processes still seek out a niche solution for their onboarding needs?

Greater Compliance

For employers who are really sticklers about compliance, every step of an onboarding process must be viewed in light of how it promotes this goal. Suite providers often grasp that electronic forms are needed. Some also automate the flow of data collected on these forms into other systems (such as Payroll) to reduce HR’s workload. However, not all systems go the extra mile to ensure that there are no errors or omissions and that the actual process of collecting data and signatures is done the right way. Employers have to ask these questions when comparing a suite solution with a niche product for onboarding:

• Which system provides a complete library of up-to-date federal and state required forms?

• Which system presents these forms in an electronic data collection format that enforces the government’s instructions regarding how the form must be filled out?

• Which system permits the incorporation of unlimited forms to cover all an employer’s policy acknowledgement and data collection needs?

• Which system prevents new hires from submitting electronic forms that are incomplete or incorrectly filled out?

• Which system complies with all the requirements of the 2000 e-Sign Act so that the legality of electronically collected signatures cannot be called into question later?

• Which system can be interfaced with e-Verify to enhance compliance with ICE best practices for worker eligibility verification?

These are all important questions because they impact an employer’s level of risk. Mistakes on forms don’t just lead to errors in how HR handles data. They can also have real consequences that may include fines and penalties in the event of an audit by a government agency.

In the next blog post, we’ll look at additional reasons why HR looks to niche products like Universal Onboarding for greatest ease of use.

Commonly Integrated Systems for AllegroHR & Emerald Green Office

2010-11-10T10:46:00.003-05:00

One of the most pertinent questions HR and IT can ask about our Emerald Software suite of products is “Will what you provide work with what we already have?” In most cases, the answer is yes. If we don’t currently have an integration solution on hand for a product, chances are there’s something in the works. We know that when customers have the ability to interface Emerald products with their existing enterprise software this is a big point in our favor. After all, our software is designed around the concept of automating as many processes as possible. This means the more interfaces we can successfully implement, the higher the value our product delivers. So, while we may be viewed as a “niche” software provider, this doesn’t mean that we don’t know how to “play well” with other vendors’ applications.
Below is an overview of some of the applications we have experience integrating our software with. We also have the capability to integrate with any third party that uses the HR-XML NewHire standard for interoperability. If you don’t see the software you currently use on the following list, don’t worry. Your personal Emerald Software Group business development consultant can fill you in on the complete list of 3rd party integrations we can currently perform.

• iRecruiter
• Kenexa
• SilkRoad
• OpenHire
• UltiPro
• ADP
• PeopleSoft
• Abra Suite
As you can see, these applications range from recruitment and applicant tracking to payroll and general HRIS. Since our own product offerings run the gamut from our always popular Universal Onboarding to document creation and business process management, we don’t just focus on integrating with other applications in the HR realm. We’ve also got a handle on interfacing with suite solutions such as EnterpriseOne. This means data can be delivered from our software to any area of an organization’s ECM system. The ability to transfer, compile, and analyze data from all applications across an organization leads to the development of more accurate metrics, improved performance, and controlled costs. So, don’t let your HR and enterprise data sit segregated in many different applications. Let us help you start connecting the data points today.

Can SaaS Work For Large HR Departments?

2010-11-04T11:50:00.001-04:00

While many current SaaS solutions are targeted at small to mid-sized businesses, there are a number of larger corporations that are testing these waters as well. Some challenges are unique to large businesses when using remotely hosted software both for niche services and enterprise-wide solutions. This is especially true in multi-national organizations where data privacy regulations in foreign countries may prohibit certain types of information storage and transfer.

Workday Takes On the Tough Questions

Author Stan Swete on Workday.com posted a blog article in September that highlights additional issues. He addresses many common concerns clients have about using SaaS and cloud computing for core HR systems in organizations with more than 5,000 workers. It’s a quick read and well worth a perusal. Below is our take on some of the questions he raises.
On the one hand, using a full suite of SaaS products from a single HR software vendor helps ensure ease of integration between the hosted applications. However, it also means that the SaaS solutions may “touch” many more applications throughout the enterprise structure. This can impact the cost and complexity of interfacing the HR system with other applications.

Far Reaching Service Reliability a Must

When faced with servicing a workforce numbering thousands (or tens of thousands) of employees, small-time SaaS vendors may not have what it takes to handle the workload. Those that are most likely to be successful from a scalability standpoint are taking advantage of the cloud platform to cater to clients of all sizes. For multinational employers, SaaS vendors must also be able to guarantee reasonably reliable access from any point on the globe. Not every country has high-bandwidth capability, so this must be taken into consideration during the planning stage for global integration of an SaaS solution.

Customization is Vital

In addition to scalability, multi-state and multi-national companies must have the capability to customize workflows within the SaaS application to meet local employment law requirements. This is critical from an HR compliance standpoint. Vendors who offer just an off-the-shelf solution or who run only a single instance of their application can’t generally supply this type of targeted service. However, at Emerald Software Group we have designed our Universal Onboarding system to be configurable for any unique business process you require. This customizability is built in to the system since we know that labor laws are constantly shifting and HR needs to be able to keep up.

SaaS Data Security for HR

2010-11-03T13:29:00.002-04:00

Not all of the concerns HR may have about the security of SaaS are necessarily unfounded. Although top notch HR software vendors can afford to implement the latest security measures both online and in their data facilities, not all SaaS vendors are created equal. Employee data is always highly sensitive. Employers routinely collect information that could be used to perpetrate identity theft on a massive scale if it falls into the wrong hands. The damage to employee/employer relationships in the event of a data breach (even if no fraud results) is massive.
According to this whitepaper slideshow from Softscape, the average cost of a compromise in the security of HR data is over 6 million dollars. That’s not a risk organizations can afford to take – and not one they should have to worry about when it comes to the security of their data in the hands of an SaaS vendor.

Investigate Before You Sign Up With a New SaaS Company

In the slideshow mentioned above, the folks at Softscape outline several security concerns that HR clients should explore with their IT department and potential SaaS vendors. For example, if a multi-tenancy structure is used (which is typical for SaaS), a closer look at data segregation is warranted. If all employee data for multiple customers is hosted in a single database, this increases the risk of data being unintentionally exposed to the wrong client. With niche vendors who have a small client base and little capital to work with, this is the kind of corner cutting that can lead to real problems.
An SaaS vendor that takes security seriously will have multiple layers of physical and virtual security measures in place to prevent both accidental data breaches and intentional attempts at hacking/sabotage. They will also work with each client’s own IT department to implement further measures as needed to ensure the application is truly secure.
For some clients, this is accomplished most effectively by providing an on-premise version of the software rather than going with SaaS. However, this is only the better option if the client’s organization actually has a highly secure internal data center. For the average customer, the costs of maintaining a state-of-the-art data facility are prohibitively high. So, most HR departments may actually be keeping data safer by relying on a best of breed SaaS vendor to host it off site. To find out more about the safeguards we put in place to keep our clients’ new hire onboarding data secure, contact us at 770-569-5122.

HR Software and Blended/Hybrid SaaS

2010-11-03T13:09:00.001-04:00

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been looking at a lot of the reasons HR may choose SaaS over on-premise software. This special report from Workforce.com offers an in-depth look at the options available for HR applications.

What is Pure SaaS?

This definition is, of course, open for debate. However, here’s one description of what a pure SaaS vendor might look like: The vendor would have data from multiple clients all stored in the same infrastructure and run on a single instance of the software leaving it somewhat vulnerable to catastrophic failure or security breaches. Little or no customization of the application would be possible for individual clients beyond basic settings options. All upgrades would be mandatory – regardless of whether they interfere with a client’s existing interfaces with back end systems.

The Reality of SaaS

Obviously, most vendors in the HR software sphere aren’t advertising products that have such serious limitations as those you might see with “pure” SaaS. They may work with one of a variety of different multi-tenancy structure approaches that securely segregate each client’s data and offer some flexibility in tailoring the application to the client’s needs. In addition, many SaaS vendors give customers the option of whether or not to deploy various updates based on the impact this would have on the client’s other systems.

Some SaaS vendors even offer a distinct instance of their application for each client that can be customized to match an HR department’s unique business rules. They also completely partition one client’s data and software application from the next by creating separate “virtual” servers. With the advent of cloud computing and server virtualization software, this has become a way for SaaS vendors to offer customization and higher security without driving up the cost of their products too much.

Emerald Software Group Offers Hybrid Options

A number of vendors in the HR field offer on-premise software, a multi-tenancy model of SaaS, and a dedicated instance of their application delivered online. However, in the onboarding niche this is not the case. Virtually all of Emerald Software’s direct competitors offer only an SaaS version of their onboarding software with no on-premise version available. We don’t believe in turning customers away when we can accommodate their needs by staying on top of clients’ demands for flexible options. That’s why we have so many different choices available including licensed, hosted, and managed versions of our onboarding software.

Why SaaS Is Working For HR – Part 3

2010-11-02T16:36:00.000-04:00

One of the primary reasons HR departments turn to SaaS solutions for niche applications is to avoid involving IT in the day to day support of these programs. However, there is simply no avoiding the fact that a really useful piece of software doesn’t operate in a vacuum. It has to be integrated effectively with the rest of the HRIS portfolio to fulfill its true potential. As this 2008 article from informationweek.com points out, it’s not installing an SaaS app that is costly and challenging – it’s the integration that can be problematic. Too often, employers end up footing the bill in terms of IT labor for this stage in the implementation process.

However, as customers become more aware of the potential hidden costs of SaaS solutions, vendors are being forced to step up to the plate. With a ‘pay as you go’ model, it’s just too easy for businesses to switch to a different provider if they aren’t satisfied. When very little integration has been accomplished, it is relatively simple for customers to extricate themselves from a relationship with a specific SaaS vendor. It is in the best interests of vendors to step in and take some responsibility for ensuring that their products can be readily integrated without a huge time investment on the customer’s side. The more systems an SaaS solution is connected with in a client’s software environment, the less sense it makes for HR to start over with another vendor.

HR Is Still In Control

Fortunately, one of the great things about SaaS for HR is that some of the most common problems are those that you don’t have to be an IT specialist to understand and anticipate. That puts HR in the position of being able to sniff out and avoid some potential problems before the stage where IT has to become involved. The fewer SaaS solutions IT has to evaluate and reject as inadequate, the less frustrated they are likely to become with the whole process.

So, HR clients comparing SaaS options would do well to ask about integration capability up front. Taking the vendor’s word that their product is “really easy to connect to other applications” isn’t sufficient. Specifics are much more helpful. Here are some questions that may help HR narrow the field of competitors:

• Do you have templates and instructions put together for how to integrate your software with other commonly used HR programs?

• Can your API (Application Programming Interface) be used to connect your program with any other software that also features an open API?

• Will we need to use one or more third party integration tools or services to connect your application with our existing software solutions?

• If I give you a list of all the programs we need to connect to your software, can you tell me whether you have successfully completed an integration involving each one of them?

• What role will your technicians play in working with our IT department to ensure a successful integration?

• Can you describe the steps in a typical integration process for me and the average time to implementation?

• Have you ever had an integration attempt that just didn’t work out? If so, what alternative solution did you suggest to your customer?

The questions and answers will get a lot more technical from there, but at least the vendor’s responses will give you an idea of how much thought they put into integration when they designed their software -and how hands on they plan to be in helping your company with implementation. If they hem and haw and give you vague responses, that’s not a good sign. Do you want to see how a really responsive SaaS vendor acts when it comes to delivering top service and excellent integration capability? Give Emerald Software a call at 770-569-5122.

Why SaaS Is Working For HR – Part 2

2010-11-02T16:30:00.001-04:00

In this second blog post about how HR is utilizing SaaS solutions, let’s take a look at another article that talks about our current topic. This is a piece from 2008 which may seem like eons ago in the fast paced world of technological evolution. However, it still makes some points that are relevant in 2010. Author Cindy Waxer at HR World contrasts the previous dearth of niche solutions with today’s array of choices for every application. There is really something for everyone, from performance management to new hire onboarding – any process HR wants to focus on improving can be addressed by a specialty program.

ERP vendors are struggling to keep up since rolling out upgrades for fast implementation by end users is not exactly their forte. However, some major players are offering more “off the shelf” functionality than before that permits HR to add on features as needed when their current suite falls short. Unfortunately, for clients using older versions, implementing these newer solutions can still be a very lengthy process.

That’s one reason newer businesses sometimes choose to build their HRIS from the ground up using SaaS solutions rather than investing in a system that will be outdated almost as soon as it is up and running. Companies with existing ERP systems are also choosing to add new features using products provided by SaaS vendors rather than launching extensive projects to revise their legacy software.

Will On-Site Licensing Persist?

In the future, a non-SaaS performance management solution outside those sold by the really big name vendors in HR software may be hard to come by at all. According to Waxer (quoting an IDC study) over 80% of vendors in that niche are already using the SaaS model to deliver software services to their HR clients. This doesn’t mean SaaS is always the best way to go. But as it becomes more prevalent, the momentum of the movement is likely to convince more and more employers that this type of solution has merit.

SaaS for HR Is Expanding in Scope

While SaaS has long been viewed as the province of niche software suppliers (including Best of Breed providers like Emerald Software), some vendors are beginning to expand their offerings to become more like traditional suite providers. It will be interesting to see to what extent these companies maintain their agility as their portfolio of product offerings grow. These vendors will need to remember that ease of integration with other solutions is still critical.

The more collaboration and cross compatibility we SaaS solution architects can generate, the better our chances of survival in a world where HR clients have an ever growing array of options. The days of crowding out everyone else are over – even for the giants in the HR software industry. This is why we focus strongly on building strategic partnerships. In the end, it is likely that those who cooperate the most effectively will be the most successful.

Onboarding Software And SaaS

2010-10-27T12:47:00.002-04:00

Last week, we took a look at Emerald Software Group’s traditional licensing option and why this is one of the choices we make available to our clients. Now, I’d like to talk a little more about our Software as a Service (SaaS) solution and why it is popular with so many of our customers.

Minimal Up Front Investment

With the SaaS hosted agreement, there is no license to pay for. Clients simply pay a set price per new hire per month for access to the software application and accompanying data storage. Maintenance and upgrades are included, so there are no unexpected expenses. Treating this software as an operating cost rather than a capital expenditure makes budgeting much simpler for some employers. ROI is easy to calculate and cost savings are often realized as soon as the client begins using the system.

Infrastructure Costs are low

When we host the software on our own servers, an employer’s setup costs are minimized in several ways. No hardware needs to be purchased or upgraded to implement the onboarding solution. The client only needs to provide internet access and a computer terminal – something every modern HR department already has in place. With our recent addition of a cloud computing option, each client’s access can be immediately scaled to handle a higher volume of new hires as needed. There’s no cause for IT to worry about purchasing additional server space or equipment.

Limited IT Involvement

With our SaaS option, IT does not have to invest significant resources in implementing and maintaining the software. It’s still necessary for IT to be involved in initial discussions to make sure everyone is on the same page regarding topics like data security and integration with backend systems. Fortunately, our products are designed to interface readily with most top brands of HR industry software.

HR clients appreciate the fact that they can finally automate their onboarding processes without waiting for IT to allocate a huge chunk of time to the project. We take care of the setup and maintain the software so your IT department doesn’t have to. This works well for:

• Small businesses that might have only one or two IT employees who can ill afford to spend time meeting HR’s needs

• Mid to large sized businesses that tend to adopt new technology slowly because the process for approving and implementing new software on-site is unwieldy

Fast Results

For HR departments that want to move quickly to reduce risk and increase compliance with labor laws, the SaaS option is often ideal. Speed to implementation and full adoption is very fast for most of our clients because they can leave so much of the process to us. At the same time, HR can be as hands on as they like in developing the electronic forms and workflow to ensure onboarding is carried out according to their company’s business rules every time. To learn more about Universal Onboarding and SaaS, go here.

Why SaaS Is Working For HR – Part 1

2010-10-25T11:50:00.001-04:00

HR is one industry that is on the leading edge of SaaS adoption. In this blog post series, we’ll dig into several questions:

• Why HR?

• Why Now?

• What’s Next?

To start things off, take a couple of minutes to read Tom Malone’s TLNT piece on “The Top 5 Myths about SaaS”. The author delivers an even-handed look at what SaaS currently does and doesn’t offer. For example, some people think that SaaS solutions aren’t an option for handling complex processes. In fact, any BPM software application (or set of applications) that could be hosted on a legacy server can be hosted in “the cloud” and have its functionality delivered via the web.

HR Can Integrate Processes

In addition, the best SaaS solutions are constructed using an SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) approach. This means they are modularly designed with integration capability built in rather than tacked on as an afterthought. This is one reason HR looks to SaaS to address evolving needs that involve interfacing with other applications. HR processes touch those of many other departments such as IT, Payroll, Production, etc. Data must be shared for purposes of scheduling, security, and much more.

An on-site ERP suite can often provide this type of inter-compatibility; but rolling out new solutions may sometimes take more than a year of work on the part of IT. Here’s a story about Chiquita (the banana company) that shows how one employer decided to ditch the snail pace of traditionally licensed ERP development for the faster, global ERP implementation provided by an SaaS vendor.

HR Can Address Critical Needs

Of course, niche HR products that address a specific process such as onboarding are also attractive options for companies that have already heavily invested in an on-premise ERP solution and simply want to add more functionality. When HR’s budget is tight (which is pretty much always), promoting the use of a single SaaS program delivered via the web can be a lot easier to negotiate than a full system overhaul. Depending on the application and the degree of customization required, the roll out time for an SaaS product can be weeks instead of months.

Onboarding Software and Traditional Licensing

2010-10-22T15:27:00.000-04:00

At Emerald Software Group, we believe in giving our clients options that will work for every situation. Our SaaS offering is very popular; but not every company is ready to have software solutions hosted offsite. This doesn’t mean they have to miss out on the latest innovations in onboarding automation. As a Best of Breed vendor, we differ from most of our competitors because we can and do license on-premise installations upon request.

When might this approach be appropriate? One determining factor is how much responsibility a company’s IT department wants to take for the software - and how much control they want to exercise. For example, they may have a risk management policy that precludes storing sensitive data on off-site servers. Or, they might simply want to have more ownership of each aspect of BPM development and integration.

Solutions are On Hand

There are a couple of different ways IT can meet these objectives with Emerald Software’s products. We offer both a licensed agreement and a managed arrangement. With an on-premise license, our software is run on client provided equipment. Upgrades and support can be negotiated separately from the perpetual software license. For a business with a fully staffed, experienced IT department, the ongoing labor required to deploy version updates and service packs isn’t burdensome.

As an alternative, we can pre-install the requested programs on an appliance server that is added to the customer’s data center. This managed option is billed on an annual basis, so it has a lower up-front cost. The level and types of support and maintenance that come with this managed agreement are determined based on the client’s requirements.

What about HR?

HR often doesn’t have the final say in which option to choose. Fortunately, your experience of using this onboarding automation software should be the same regardless of whether it is run on site or delivered via the web. This includes the ability to easily add new forms and data panels as needed.

Who Should Be On Your Acculturation Team?

2010-10-22T15:08:00.003-04:00

Workforce.com has an article up this week that is very relevant to acculturation onboarding. Author Kris Dunn (from the HRCapitalist website) has figured out the number one question to ask on employee engagement surveys to improve your corporate culture. It cuts through all the obfuscation and gets right to the heart of the matter. That $100,000 question is basically:

“Other than your current manager, if you could pick any manager in any department in the company to work for, which one would it be and why?”

Dunn speculates that the information you collect from this survey question would be a real eye opener. Coworkers talk amongst themselves and they all know who has the reputation as being the best boss to work for. However, what they value in a manager may be totally different from what business owners think of as most important. Getting a solid read on what rank and file workers want to see as far as management style and behaviors go offers insight into how to train current and future leaders for your company.

Developing Effective Onboarding

The “popular” managers are also the ones you want working with HR to develop your acculturation onboarding program. These talented and skilled individuals have created loyalty among their direct reports and gained the admiration and respect of employees who don’t even work for them. That’s the spirit you want new hires to get a sense of even before starting their first day on the job. The people your employees identify as top managers can be involved in everything from designing welcome materials to suggesting improvements to the mentoring program. Take a look at the features available in our Acculturation Portal to start brainstorming ways for your team of top managers to get involved with this onboarding creation process.

It Doesn’t Stop with Onboarding

Kris makes an excellent point that once you hand a new employee over to his/her manager you lose control over the acculturation process. You can do your very best to make the experience in HR wonderful, but it’s no good if the freshly hired employees get a rude awakening when they reach their department. So, once you have figured out what your best-liked leaders are doing right, it’s time to develop your other managers to meet this higher standard. If you want to turn great onboarding into great long term retention, that’s an essential part of the picture.

Acculturation Onboarding Mid-Project

2010-10-22T10:16:00.000-04:00

One of the main goals of acculturation onboarding is to speed new hires to productivity. With a job (such as entry level retail) that consists mostly of repetitive tasks, this can be done with a standardized training program. Once you’ve designed or selected a series of learning modules for that position, you can simply give new hires access and track their progress. However, with a more complex job that involves collaboration with others on a major project, the acculturation process may need to be more specialized.

In addition to introducing a new employee to his/her role within the department, it is necessary to provide an overview of where things stand on any current projects. For example, a new hire in an Engineering or R&D department would need to understand the phase of development or testing of each product currently in the pipeline. A sales employee might require a crash course in the current marketing/branding initiative.

Creating a Foundation of Knowledge

An agile onboarding solution that permits interfacing with other applications is an ideal solution in these situations. It should be relatively simple for a departmental director to conference with HR and update introductory modules to include relevant information on current departmental assignments. This might be as simple as uploading a pdf containing a project overview to the resource library. Or, it could include granting access to a third party educational program that other team members have already gone through in preparation for their participation in a project.

Obviously, the actual project details will be covered during meetings and in-person training. But when new hires go into their first departmental meeting with a grasp of the basics everyone benefits:

Management won’t have to spend time explaining the fundamentals of the project
The new hire will feel competent and ready to ask clarifying questions
HR will have done its part to prepare the employee to succeed.

When a key employee is replaced in the middle of a major project, this type of customized acculturation can significantly reduce the loss of productivity when a new hire comes on board. With the AllegroHR Acculturation Portal, creating a customized learning environment based on specific job assignments can be done efficiently – ensuring that time is actually saved.

Acculturation Onboarding & Employment Agreements

2010-09-07T17:58:00.001-04:00

Many companies are faced with a dilemma during onboarding when it comes to employment agreements. On one side of the issue is the desire to fully protect the organization's best interests at all costs. This is very evident in the way non-compete and intellectual property policies are written. Some employers take unprecedented ownership of every innovation an individual comes up with (whether at work or at home) as long as that person is an employee.

Who Owns an Employee's Creativity?

This has led to some hotly contested court cases over what a company can lay claim to and how. A recent case involving an employment agreement came down to a dispute over the exact wording used. In this situation, a worker claimed that his employer did not own an idea he came up with. The extensive agreement he signed did refer to inventions, designs, improvements, developments, processes - even "know-how". The employer's HR attorney must have cringed at having forgotten to include "ideas" on that list.

Of course, when employees are working in R&D or Marketing, the use of employment agreements makes sense. There is a high likelihood that an employee will come up with a useful and lucrative concept at some point. At the same time, workers in these fields are often well compensated so it can be argued that requiring such an agreement is not unfair or unduly restrictive.

However, there is some debate over whether every person in an employer's workforce should be required to sign such controversial agreements (and over exactly how they should be worded). Sure, you can get a new hire to sign almost any policy on their first day just because they are happy to have a job. But, starting people out by making them feel like they are signing away all their rights isn't necessarily going to endear you to them later on.

Acculturate Employees So They Want to Share

Is there a missing piece in this puzzle of how to get employees to value the success of the company they work for? In a recent Workforce Management interview with Dov Seidman, some interesting points about this "fortress" mentality on the part of employers came up. Seidman recommends encouraging compliance with policies that benefit your company by using inspiration rather than punishment/reward systems or authoritarianism. In this type of corporate culture, your employees would naturally bring their ideas and innovations to you rather than shopping them around to the competition.

This is one reason why acculturation is just as critical as gathering policy acknowledgement signatures in transactional onboarding. Your new hires should be introduced to a company that is interested in creating a win-win situation for everyone. Using the AllegroHR Acculturation Portal is a great way to start this process since it allows you to immerse new hires in your organization's history, current mission, and vision for the future in an easy-to-access online format.

Acculturation Onboarding for Executives

2010-08-31T16:06:00.003-04:00

Are you bringing in a new addition to your C-suite? Onboarding an executive can be a pretty involved process. These are often the only individuals in a company who are hired under contractual instead of at-will employment terms. Hammering out the fine print and ensuring all agreements are clear is an important part of the transactional portion of onboarding. Then, there is the acculturation side of things.

An executive is actually responsible for helping create the company culture - as well as upholding the norms and expectations that are already in place. Here are some ways to use the acculturation process to set your new executive up for success as a leader in your organization:

Networking at the Top

An executive needs to be integrated into the company hierarchy starting at the top. Arranging a conference with the newly hired executive's peers can help start things off on the right foot. Department directors should be included in discussions about the role of the new executive to ensure that the importance of interdepartmental collaboration is emphasized early on.

Connecting with Middle Management

Arranging for an in-person group introductory meeting with managers and supervisors sets an example for good communication. This is especially effective if one or more helpful suggestions from the managerial staff are implemented by the new executive within his or her first 2 months on the job. Creating a reputation for taking advice from those who have been around long enough to "know the ropes" is a good precursor to making other changes that the executive may feel are necessary for improving operations.

Getting to Know the Troops

The exec should also be introduced to your rank and file employees. At a large company (or one with multiple locations), this can be done online. A podcast, a video introduction, a guest post on the corporate blog, and other social networking tools can be used to make the executive approachable. With the AllegroHR Acculturation Portal, uploading fresh content is a simple process that can be carried out whenever a change at the leadership level requires updated messaging. Having your executive go through the same process of online tutorials and orientation as your entry level employees can also be helpful in making sure the new exec fully understands your HR branding and how workers perceive the company.

Organizational Personality and Acculturation

2010-08-31T16:06:00.001-04:00

The way your company goes about acculturating new hires has a lot to do with what type of "personality" your organization has. Author Vincent Natoli wrote an interesting whitepaper titled "The Organizational Personality & Organizational Performance" that offers a brief overview of workplace outcomes that are linked to different types of corporate cultures. Here's a look at each one and how acculturation onboarding could be improved in each situation.

Coercive

This type of organization is highly authoritarian and gains compliance from employees through punitive action. A new hire is likely to be called out publicly and berated for making mistakes instead of receiving constructive criticism in private to improve performance. Absenteeism, high turnover, bullying, and litigation are some of the negative outcomes that correlate to a coercive work environment. Using positive reinforcement instead of punishment based incentives and giving new hires more agency in decision making is one way to improve the onboarding process for this type of organization.

Normative

Non-profit businesses and religious organizations that rely heavily on volunteers tend to seek compliance by appealing to values that the members hold in common. Employees are encouraged to participate in decision making. There are a number of positive outcomes that are associated with this "personality" including job satisfaction and commitment. Oddly, this type of organization is also noted for retaliating against whistle blowers - perhaps because the high level of socialization leads to management feeling betrayed if someone is "disloyal" and goes outside the group to resolve a problem. Onboarding for new hires should ensure that rights and expectations are fully explained so the work environment remains professional while still being productive.

Utilitarian/Remunerative

According to Natoli, this in-between category is where most businesses fall. This type of organization promotes compliance by rewarding employees for performance. This practical approach may be supplemented by disciplinary action under the punitive model or enhanced by socialization under the normative model. New hires need to receive detailed orientation information on how their performance will be measured and what types of incentives they can take advantage of for career advancement.

No matter what organizational personality your company is aligned with, you can use the AllegroHR Acculturation Program to help new hires understand both the written and unwritten behavioral expectations in your corporate culture.

Acculturation Onboarding For Moms (Or Dads) Returning To The Workforce

2010-08-31T16:05:00.001-04:00

If you've been keeping up with the latest from Workforce.com, you may have read the recent article on stay-at-home parents who are transitioning back into the world of work. Women who have been sidelined for several years (or a couple of decades) by motherhood are a particularly sizeable group about 5 million strong. Many are looking for jobs now because their household income has fallen due to a spouse being laid off. Other moms are looking to get out of the house and land a career that offers payment and recognition - perks that are often sadly lacking in the endless job of being "mom".

If you are tapping into this talent pool of parents who are returning to the workforce, it's important to ensure their acculturation onboarding is a top priority. These highly motivated new hires are looking for a sense of connection with their coworkers and your organization as a whole. They also generally have a desire to excel as soon as possible and will be eager to access the tools to make this happen.

Connect On Values

Parents want to leave this world a better place for their kids and grandkids. This means they resonate with company values that stress community responsibility, sound planning for the future, and environmental sustainability. Make sure your HR branding and onboarding put these concepts front and center starting with the welcome letter and/or introductory video. Take advantage of the customizability of AllegroHR products to add links, text, and images to data panels that send a consistent message about your mission statement throughout the acculturation onboarding process.

Provide Pertinent Tools

Individuals who have been out of touch with the work world for a long time may have to get up to speed before becoming fully productive. They need access to plenty of information and in-depth learning modules. Make sure appropriate skill testing is performed early on to identify areas that could use improvement. The stay-at-home parent demographic is eager to get back into the groove and jumpstart their careers. The more readily available self-paced learning materials are the better. With Emerald Software Group's single sign-on approach, new hires can instantly access both in-house and third party training starting on their first day.

Acculturating for Policy Compliance

2010-07-28T18:49:00.001-04:00

The current issue of Workforce Week highlights the fact that transactional and acculturation onboarding are really inseparable when it comes to compliance. Reducing risk by making sure that all forms are completed correctly and signed appropriately is only part of the picture. Ensuring that employees (especially managers) fully understand what is expected of them and that they are motivated to comply is essential.

Author Stephen Paskoff reveals that the federal government expects more than signed policy acknowledgements from companies that are looking to sidestep liability for an employee's unethical or illegal behavior. Instead, the U.S. Sentencing Commission is looking for practical, firm enforcement and an overall culture that promotes compliance. Encouraging appropriate behavior has to be an obvious priority within a company's structure and practices. So, if "on the ground" leadership is being pressured to ignore policy for the sake of getting things done or if some employees are routinely given a pass on questionable actions, this must change.

Acculturation Onboarding Can Help

Having new hires attend a training class doesn't qualify as putting forth a sufficient effort on the part of employers. Presenting information is great, but following up and making sure it is absorbed is crucial. With the AllegroHR Acculturation Portal, it is possible to analyze new hire's retention and understanding of any and all company policies from permissible technology use to anti-harassment and safety training. Scheduling these follow up tests and surveys over an extended period of time and providing refresher courses as needed is one example of how to take compliance seriously.

The information should always be accompanied with practical advice on what to do if the employee witnesses a violation of policy. HR and management must have an action plan in place that they follow rigorously whenever a worker makes a report. There should also be proactive steps that the company takes to monitor and ensure compliance at all levels (with no one exempt from the rules).

Since the AllegroHR acculturation platform is highly adaptable, video and interactive modules may be included to provide "real life" examples or case studies of what happens when an employee fails to comply with rules. Seeing the far ranging impact on the company, coworkers, and one's own job can help make new hires take this more seriously - but only if they see the same attitude reflected in the actions and decisions of management.

Acculturation Onboarding for Executives

2010-07-28T18:47:00.001-04:00

Networking at the Top

Connecting with Middle Management

Getting to Know the Troops

Teen Workers Need Good Communication for Acculturation

2010-07-19T09:46:00.001-04:00

Do you hire high school students on a regular basis for part time or seasonal work? These employees need to be brought onboard with an eye toward the particular needs of their age group. This includes making the most of their youthful enthusiasm while taking into account that they may quickly lose interest in a new job. An exciting, informative acculturation onboarding experience can go a long way toward creating loyal employees out of teens who would otherwise see their job as simply a way to make some extra spending money.

Why is It Important to Make a Good Impression?

Responsible, hard working teens tend to hang out with peers who have the same characteristics. If you can convince your best teenage employees that your company is a great place to work, they will tell all their friends. Then, you won't have any shortage of high quality candidates to choose from to fill your open positions. The millennial generation really knows how to spread the word via social networking. You don't want your company to be featured on an employee's Facebook page under the heading "My new job sux!" So, make sure it doesn't.

Give Teens a Voice Internally

Since young people aren't always careful about what they say, asking them to comment publicly on a corporate blog may not be the best idea. However, they should have an online forum where they can vent without it being broadcast to the whole world. Invite teen employees to comment on the company's private discussion board to make suggestions for improvements in the work environment or processes.

Assign an HR staff member to follow up and respond to all comments within 48 hours so teens don't feel like they are being ignored. Make sure you have forum rules posted to prevent flame wars and to ensure compliance with all company policies regarding harassment and discrimination. This is SOP for most online forums, so enforcing these boundaries will generally be viewed as reasonable - even by teenagers.

Once a month, highlight the best suggestion on the corporate intranet website along with details about what the company is doing to make it a reality. This is a particularly effective approach for businesses with more than one location. It gives teens a sense of connection with other workers and makes them feel like part of an even larger team.

Immigration and Onboarding: Acculturating New Hires From Other Cultures

2010-07-07T16:28:00.001-04:00

The U.S. currently hosts a thriving immigrant population from all over the world. In 2009, over 740,000 of these individuals became naturalized citizens. Many more are here as permanent residents or have other types of legal status that permit them to hold jobs in the U.S. workforce. Some have been living here for decades while others have just arrived on our shores looking for opportunities to make a better life. This July 4^th week is a great time to talk about how employers can make these employees feel at home and integrate them into the U.S. workplace culture.

Diversity in Onboarding Starts with Language

On the transactional side of onboarding, making policies and forms readily available in a new hire's first language is the first step toward building trust and respect. When foreign born workers are met on their first day with an accessible onboarding experience (without having to jump through hoops) this sets the stage for good communication.

Policies Must Be Clear

A strong anti-harassment training program should be presented to all new hires highlighting the fact that discrimination based on national origin or ethnicity will not be tolerated. HR should take care to ensure that immigrant employees are aware of the complaint procedures to follow in the event an issue arises with a coworker.

Choose Enrichment Rather Than Conformity

Employers should bear in mind that foreign born employees (just like U.S. born workers) inevitable bring their own expectations and customs to the workplace. This can be especially evident if they live in an extended immigrant community that keeps their original language and traditions alive. An acculturation onboarding platform that permits the creation of individualized profiles is a great place for employees to introduce their coworkers to some interesting facts about their birth culture.

Some workers from other countries may express a strong desire to assimilate. They want to fit in and not have others focus on what sets them apart. However, others feel proud of their origins and aren't just here to learn to be "completely American" (whatever that might mean). Both attitudes should be respected and supported. Sensitivity and diversity training can help - especially if information is presented in a way that makes sense to U.S. born employees who haven't necessarily traveled to other countries.

Orientation Pitfalls and Onboarding Tips

2010-06-22T17:43:00.001-04:00

The ultimate goal of acculturation onboarding is to assist new hires in becoming productive as quickly as possible. This is accomplished by providing information, training, and socialization in a supportive environment. Unfortunately, many companies lose sight of these objectives when they develop an orientation program.

It's not uncommon for HR and management to make the mistake of focusing on tasks rather than goals. For example, Human Resources may dump too much information on the new hire in an attempt to get their part in the process over with so they can hand the employee off to someone else. The employee's supervisor and coworkers may view integrating a new team member as a distraction from their own work - especially in a fast paced environment. These attitudes and actions can create a chilly reception for an individual who would otherwise be excited about starting a new job.

New Hires' Need to be Recognized

HR author Barbara O'Toole offers a wealth of ideas for ways to make a new hire feel welcome in her article "Orientation vs. Integration" at about.com. Integrating an individual into your corporate culture isn't something that only happens on an official level. Each department member plays a role in creating a truly welcoming environment. However, this effort can be supported by management. For example, if coworkers are given an extra 20 minute break to eat cake and celebrate a valued addition to their team on the new hire's first day, this creates instant good will.

Training Should be Ongoing and Accessible

AllegroHR's Acculturation Portal offers a variety of opportunities for employers to provide training and orientation in a way that isn't overwhelming. For example, visuals, audio, and text can be used to demonstrate how the new employee fits into the corporate structure and the objectives/functions of his or her job. This is a great supplement for an in-person discussion about job expectations with the new hire's supervisor.

It is important for new employees to know that they can revisit this information online as many times as necessary so they don't have to memorize it all in one sitting. Alternating online orientation modules with face-to-face mentoring also provides some breathing room for individuals to assimilate information without feeling like someone is "breathing down their neck". This process can begin in HR and then continue for as long as necessary while the new hire is settling in.

Onboarding Recent College Grads

2010-06-18T00:02:00.001-04:00

College graduates are a unique workforce demographic with their own special onboarding needs in a corporate office setting. They generally come in three basic varieties:

Those who have never held a job before
Those who worked their way through college by taking jobs in the service sector (retail, restaurants, etc)
Those who have worked as interns in a "white collar" industry

Former interns usually have a realistic idea of how the corporate world works and won't have much trouble adjusting to office life. However, the culture shock for new hires in groups 1 and 2 can be pretty extreme. They may pick up on social cues to figure out how to act by trial and error. However, the number of times HR or management has to pull one of these "newbies" aside to give them advice on "how things work around here" can be minimized with a good acculturation onboarding process.

First Time Job Holders

New hires fresh from college have a pretty good handle on socializing and will probably take to your corporate networking platform like a fish to water. However, they have spent the last 4 years (or more) surrounded by people who are roughly the same age they are. Learning to communicate with coworkers who represent a much larger age range may be a challenge. A strong mentoring program can help these young people adjust to working well with older, more experienced peers.

Rules about appropriate dress, punctuality, and other behaviors that impact how professionally the workplace operates should be addressed both in policies and in training/orientation. This can be done in a fun way so that grads see it as a way to fit in and be accepted as part of the team instead of a way their employer is trying to stifle their individuality.

Former Service/Retail Industry Workers

Not being under constant supervision can be a real change for workers who haven't held a regular office job before. They may perceive a lack of direction as a sign that they aren't valued (or that it's OK to spend time goofing off). Assigning multiple online acculturation onboarding tasks and following up via email can give these new hires a sense of purpose and direction. As they are recognized and rewarded for taking initiative and accessing various self-teaching modules, they will come to appreciate the greater autonomy provided by their new job.

The AllegroHR Acculturation Portal is a perfect match for recent college grads - many of whom have done at least some of their coursework online. Whether it is used for delivering information, providing opportunities for socialization, or presenting training/development materials, new hires can intuitively navigate the system easily on their first day of work.

Supervisor Onboarding: Workplace Harassment Training

2010-06-18T00:01:00.001-04:00

In both California and Connecticut, private employers with 50 or more employees are required by law to provide workplace/sexual harassment training for all new supervisors. In Maine, employers with as few as 15 employees must send supervisors through specialized harassment training within 1 year of their hire date. Employers must also keep records of how and when these requirements were fulfilled.

If you hire an employee to serve in any supervisory capacity, he/she should participate in this training as soon as possible. This is the best way to protect your organization from litigation. In California, especially, employers can be held liable for any act of harassment on the part of a supervisor or manager.

Best Practices for Providing Workplace Harassment Training During Onboarding

The type and extent of information that must be covered in these classes varies by state. The level of interactivity may also be specified. For example, Connecticut allows supervisors to go through training online if they have the ability to ask questions in that environment. This means employers in CT could readily automate the process of signing supervisors up for training with a third party agency as part of the onboarding process.

For all employers, ensuring that no newly hired supervisors slip through the cracks is important. Your acculturation platform should definitely:

Schedule workplace harassment training within the time-frame required by law
Automatically follow up and verify classes were attended
Ensure all reports documenting attendance are stored in an accessible format
Survey the level of knowledge supervisors retain on the topics discussed in training
Provide further resources for further self-training & remediation as needed

Acculturation - Making Out-Of-State Employees Feel At Home

2010-06-09T11:45:00.001-04:00

Acculturation onboarding gets interesting when you have employees at locations in multiple states. You want them to feel tied in with the culture at your company's headquarters. At the same time, you need to recognize that each workforce will have its own social customs and way of communicating. If you've ever had employees from the Northeastern seaboard on a conference call with coworkers in the Southern U.S., the differences in style are pretty evident.

It's sadly common for there to be some tension between the corporate office and satellite locations. The people at headquarters often think that their colleagues at smaller sites simply can't cut it (otherwise they would be promoted and relocated to the main office). Folks working at secondary locations view the bigwigs at Corporate as hopelessly out of touch.

Taking Steps to Fix This

Better communication of your organization's overall objectives and vision is critical for bringing all your employees together as a team. Giving everyone access to the tools necessary to get things done is also vital. For example, if the people at headquarters have all the latest technology, their compatriots at other worksites need to be equally well equipped.

When it comes to acculturation, the easiest way to provide the same level of access for all your new hires is through an online portal. Each employee will experience a smooth, easy first day with all the required forms and policy acknowledgements presented in a virtual format. This includes forms that are specific to their state such as W4s for income tax withholding selections.

By the way, if you haven't seen our brand new state tax forms map, I highly recommend it. We put together this complimentary resource for all employers to use - not just our customers. That's because being super-helpful is one of Emerald Software's core valuesJ

More on Acculturating Disparate Workforces

Ideally, everyone on your payroll should be using the same platform for interoffice communication. Our software integrates readily with intranet site products like Microsoft SharePoint that provide collaborative features and social networking tools. You can also build your own system from the ground up using our AllegroHR Acculturation Portal product.

Remember that employees love to connect with other people who share their hobbies. Special interest groups that can interact long-distance are one way to build bonds between your out-of-state workforces and the employees at your corporate office. Have someone set up a SIG for WoW and watch the networking begin. Just make sure they aren't playing on company time!

A strong online culture can actually break down barriers between people from widely varying backgrounds. Giving new hires the opportunity to socialize with coworkers at all your organization's locations helps them see the big picture. Remember to use this platform to instill your corporate values in new employees at all your locations through positive, consistent messaging.

Are Your Onboarding Videos In Need of an Upgrade?

2010-06-09T08:35:00.001-04:00

As with any new technology, there is a point at which novelty begins to wear a little thin. Video has been around plenty long enough for that to happen. In the distant past, it was a sign of modernity and creativity to greet new hires with an orientation video instead of just a brochure or slideshow during onboarding. These productions often cost a great deal of money and employers took well deserved pride in the results.

Now, any company can make a video - and employees are not impressed with "special effects". After all, we can watch Avatar in 3D. Our standards are higher than they used to be. Workforce communications consultant Fran Melmed goes so far as to declare "Death to Your Orientation Videos" in this scathing blog post. Her take down of the genre is spot on. Employers who try to be "hip" and "relevant" are failing miserably. Another blogger goes so far as to refer to the content in corporate orientation films as Fascist brainwashing.

In contrast, the employee-designed videos Fran links to make it evident where the real creative talent lies in most organizations. As a tool for introducing new hires to corporate culture in a fun way, it makes sense to enlist the aid of people who are actually in touch with it from day to day. Perhaps it's time to get your rank and file workers involved in the production of your onboarding videos.

This doesn't necessarily have to be part of the formal orientation module either. Do you have a YouTube channel or a corporate blog where workers can upload their own content (subject to approval)? New hires would probably love to spend time watching fun videos and seeing what their coworkers are up to. With AllegroHR's Acculturation Portal, you can add updated content and links to cool videos at any time - making it easier to change with the times.

Tips For Onboarding Older Employees

2010-06-04T10:31:00.001-04:00

As an employer, you've been bombarded with lots of information on how to attract Gen X and Y workers and incorporate them into the workforce. Not as much attention is being paid to effective onboarding for Boomers and other older new hires. However, since the 55+ age group is the most rapidly growing demographic in the U.S. and most of these people plan to continue working, they make up a huge talent pool. While you are revamping your recruiting and hiring process to make it more relevant to younger employees, it's important to ensure that it is still friendly to older workers. Here are a few areas to review:

Be Straightforward in Communication

Mature individuals have been around the block with more than one employer and won't be impressed with fantastic promises. They want information that is presented clearly, accurately, and believably. Leave the hype out of your recruiting spiel with these applicants and focus on what's important to them. Make sure the introduction to your company includes an emphasis on values that resonate with this age group - integrity, quality, loyalty, etc. Be prepared to back up these statements with a track record for being a trustworthy employer.

Provide Loads of Information

Older new hires should be offered lots of additional resources during onboarding that focus on getting the most out of health benefits, retirement planning, disability coverage, and life insurance. Senior citizens in particular actually read this stuff. They are past the point where they think they have all the time in the world to make the right decisions about these benefits.

Introduce Older Workers to New Technology Gently

If your acculturation program focuses heavily on the use of social networking and other modern technologies, don't assume older employees won't be interested in participating. Just be sure your onboarding module includes detailed instructions for how to use these tools instead of assuming that "Everyone knows how to use FaceBook and this is no different".

Prevent Intergenerational Conflict

For older workers who will be reporting to a younger supervisor, orientation should include a Q&A that focuses on how this age difference impacts the boss/employee relationship. Getting awkwardness out in the open where it can be dealt with is important.

The AllegroHR Acculturation Portal can assist you in making it easier to onboard older workers by providing:

A live chat feature that connects new hires to HR when they have questions about their benefits
The ability to link to news articles and awards to highlight the company's commitment to its workforce
Connection to training partners who can bring employees up to speed with the use of new technology as needed

The ability to track and analyze acculturation onboarding to make sure it is effective and highlight areas where older workers are not engaging fully

Acculturating Temps Can Minimize Workplace Friction

2010-06-01T11:22:00.001-04:00

According to Workforce Management, the University of Arizona has released a report about the negative effects of hiring a high percentage of temporary workers. Full time employees apparently don't take kindly to working in an environment where many of their coworkers are contingent labor. You might think traditionally hired workers would be happy to be among the elite few actually getting a full benefits package; but there is a downside to being a "permanent" employee surrounded by temps.

One challenge regular workers face is that of training new hires provided by a staffing agency. Temp jobs are usually fairly short term. This means turnover is high and full time employees may have to devote significant time to getting temps up to speed. They would probably prefer to apply this effort to advancing their own careers - or just handling their day to day workload.

It's also normal for "cliques" to form at work if regular employees feel their positions within an organization are at risk. When a company hires temps to perform tasks usually handled by full time workers, this can undermine the perceived value of the job in question. This can lead to temporary workers being given the cold shoulder - which is bad for everyone's morale. On a related note, temps who don't see any chance of being converted to full time status tend to be disengaged and may not have the best attitude. They feel like second class employees rather than part of a team.

Acculturation Onboarding Can Help Everyone Work Together

With a strong acculturation program, temporary staff members can receive more of their training and orientation online. This may lessen the mentoring burden being placed on full time employees. The AllegroHR Acculturation Portal can be integrated with most third party training vendors. So, new hires (whether temporary or permanent) can readily access the education they need to become productive using a single sign-on for all modules.

It is also important for contingent workers not to be treated differently than the regular employees. They need to go through a similar socialization process and be encouraged to participate in intranet based communications. For example, they should be invited to read and comment on the corporate blog even if it is assumed that their tenure with the company will be short. Welcoming temporary assignees into the team by including them in daily social activities and interactions paves the way for a transition to direct hire status for promising temps. These actions on the part of employers help quell potential suspicion and mistrust on the part of both full time workers and contingent labor.

Onboarding and Social Media - Where to Draw the Line

2010-06-01T11:21:00.001-04:00

A Workforce Management article published in December of last year points to a troubling fact about today's typical U.S. companies. Apparently, 1 out of 2 organizations still don't have a policy in place regarding the proper use of social networking technology. Why does this matter? Employees are using sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn both at work and at home in ways that can negatively impact their employers.

Simplistic Solutions Won't Work

It might seem like an easy solution to make accessing social network sites at work a violation of company policy. However, this can hamper efforts to modernize workplace communications. You can't realistically tell employees not to use Twitter when your HR department is using this medium as an adjunct to its other communication methods. In the same vein, encouraging new hires to build a company LinkedIn profile and then prohibiting them from actually using it to network doesn't make much sense.

Telling employees what they can or cannot say online when they are logging in from home is even more fraught with the potential for trouble. Can workers express an opinion about their workplace in a public forum? Yes. However, they must not be permitted to divulge sensitive information or represent themselves as speaking on behalf of the company in the process.

Policies Must Be Created or Updated Now

Companies need to stipulate in their confidentially agreements that online posting is a prohibited means of disseminating privileged information along with the consequences for failure to adhere to the policy. It must be made clear that this applies regardless of what account (personal or corporate) is used to carry out the activity and whether the employee is on the clock or not. At the same time, employers can't afford to get carried away with invasive monitoring practices - privacy rights for activities that take place off-site are still a hotly contested topic.

Employee Compliance Must Start with Onboarding

Unfortunately, according to a report from the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics, approximately 25% of employers have had to take disciplinary action against workers for inappropriate use of social networking sites. The first step in curtailing this type of behavior is having new hires read and sign your company's policy regarding this technology. Then, they should receive acculturation training that assists them in using your company's social networking tools appropriately. The Emerald Software Group suite of products including Universal Onboarding and AllegroHR Acculturation Portal support both of these best practices.

Acculturation Onboarding and Corporate Culture

2010-05-25T10:17:00.001-04:00

Socialization is something that can happen naturally even with new hires who are left to fend for themselves. People tend to adapt to their work environment over time by paying attention to the cues of their coworkers and management. However, when acculturation onboarding is done in this haphazard way, there is a much greater risk that new employees will feel frustrated and alienated as they struggle to "fit in". Using good communication that makes it easy for new hires to navigate your corporate culture is a much more efficient approach.

Know What You're Working With

Of course, in order to communicate expectations and an overall value system through an onboarding portal, an organization has to be clear about what its culture is. The folks over at WiseGeek have a good working definition of this term. They also make an excellent point that a corporate culture can be positive or negative. So, just having one isn't sufficient. You also need to look at the impact the shared beliefs, attitudes, and customs of your workplace are having on employees.

Do you understand what new hires really want to know about how your company operates? Take a look at this article by Randall Hansen regarding the questions he thinks job seekers should ask to "Uncover a Company's Corporate Culture". It offers a snapshot of the basics employers should communicate during recruiting and onboarding.

About.com also has a decent collection of articles on organizational culture. This one by author Susan Heathfield is particularly interesting. It points out that a work culture usually consists of many unwritten or unspoken "rules". However, it's important to note that there is no compelling reason that an organization's expectations have to remain a mystery to new hires. Why not get everything out in the open?

Communicating Through Onboarding

A mission statement is a fine place to start, but it usually doesn't cover everything (unless it is a really long statement). Instead of trying to cram everything onto one page, try sprinkling little pieces of advice and information throughout an onboarding module. These hints and clues help new hires build a comprehensive picture of your corporate culture.

For example, there might be a section in your orientation program about your company's policy of promoting from within. This is a great place to put a tip about how a new hire can get on the fast track to promotion by taking positive actions to qualify for advanced training opportunities. Or, you might add a short testimonial from a satisfied employee who has successfully worked their way up from an entry level position to a supervisory one. With the AllegroHR Acculturation Portal, you can readily customize each screen with this type of positive branding.

Acculturation Onboarding For The Next Generation Of New Hires

2010-05-13T13:21:00.001-04:00

Helping new hires become productive as soon as possible is one of the primary goals of acculturation onboarding. To accomplish this, you need to make sure new employees understand their role in the organization and get up to speed on current departmental projects ASAP. This is an area where an acculturation portal that is easy to customize and update offers your organization a huge advantage.

Knowledge Retention and Succession Planning

One of the most costly effects of turnover is loss of knowledge. Many companies don't realize what types of information are being lost until it is too late. Ideally, your organization should have succession planning down to a science and build knowledge retention into every key employee's job. These individuals should be developing training materials for the next generation of workers as one of their regularly assigned tasks.

However, most companies don't do this. So, when a valued employee gives two week's notice, his or her expertise is only available for a very short time. HR and managers should use this window of opportunity to ask the departing employee to put together a detailed description of how they get things done. This goes beyond a simple job description. It covers the type of issues and solutions experienced workers have learned through years of trial and error.

The employee should also outline where their successor will need to jump in and finish up any loose ends on outstanding projects. This type of information is invaluable to a new hire who will be filling the vacated position.

Start Getting the Information Out There

Job specific training materials can be easily uploaded for a new employee to access through a customizable online acculturation portal. These materials can be made accessible in the form of links to pages in an intranet library or as actual pdf documents - whichever option is simplest for HR and IT to implement using our AllegroHR Acculturation Portal.

Remember that this stuff doesn't have to be fancy to start with. Just begin by making knowledge retention and succession planning part of your organizational process. You can brand these training materials with your company's look/feel and add things like slideshows or videos when you have the basics down.

Targeted Acculturation Onboarding For Virtual Teams

2010-05-12T13:08:00.001-04:00

As the modern workforce becomes more culturally diverse and widely dispersed, the need to build teams that operate effectively regardless of location is of increasing importance. The Human Capital Institute published a relevant white paper in 2007 on this topic called "Comprehensive Onboarding Beyond Line-of-Sight: Integrating Global and Virtual Teams". Author Ross Jones shares a number of insights in this piece that relate to acculturating employees around the globe to form highly productive work units.

Ross reveals a very interesting statistic about how global corporations are currently handling acculturation. Only about 1 in 4 organizations make use of both location specific and internationally standardized onboarding processes to integrate new team members. He argues that more employers should make use of this blended approach.

Local Versus Global Acculturation

A one-size-fits-all program has obvious limitations. It doesn't take into account cultural differences - or the fact that different employees at the same site require varying levels of orientation and training that are specific to their job functions. For example, a worker who will interface with other team members around the world will have different acculturation requirements than one who is expected to interact only with other local employees.

However, when each location is solely responsible for creating and implementing its own onboarding program, corporate cohesion suffers. In order for virtual teams to collaborate, they must have a shared vision and understanding of the goals of the parent organization.

One solution is to use existing standardized onboarding as a starting point. The company's communication network and intranet portal should be accessible to all employees regardless of where they work. Cross-cultural interaction should be encouraged through the use of global team training initiatives. At the same time, each satellite location should have the ability to customize its acculturation onboarding modules to provide relevant information and tools to local workers.

With the AllegroHR Acculturation Portal, flexibility is built into the system making it an ideal solution for employers who mobilize virtual teams across the globe.

Multi- Level Acculturation Onboarding

2010-05-12T13:07:00.001-04:00

The doctor is in and he has diagnosed 15 errors that can kill an acculturation onboarding program dead. Dr. John Sullivan shares his view on common mistakes employers make and how to avoid them in this article from 2008. At #4 on this list, Sullivan points out that many companies lack appropriate customization of onboarding for each of the following levels:

Companywide
Location
Department
Team/Function
Individual

One of the most critical levels is team and job function onboarding. This is where organizations may fail to put processes in place to effectively integrate a new hire with his/her team members. Depending on the nature of the employee's assignment or job functions, these teammates may not actually be departmental coworkers.

For example, a staff member in Sales might be collaborating with counterparts at satellite locations nationwide to develop and roll out an innovative sales program. In these cases, onboarding should involve introducing new hires to individuals fulfilling similar functions at other sites. This ensures that these teams are fully connected and new members are encouraged to add their creative opinions to cross-location discussions.

Prescription for Efficiency

Dr. Sullivan also reveals his opinion on the "face to face" approach to acculturation in error #8. Although in-person meetings may be important for establishing rapport, Ross holds firmly to the viewpoint that as much orientation as possible should be delivered to new hires online. This reserves valuable face time for situations where personal interaction is required and will have the most positive impact.

At Emerald Software Group, we agree that new hires benefit greatly from access to online acculturation onboarding. It not only streamlines the socialization process, but actually ensures that employees can get more individual attention when necessary since resources aren't stretched too thin.

Acculturation Onboarding for Independent Contractors

2010-04-29T17:22:00.002-04:00

When a company hires an outside contractor, it can be tempting to skip the onboarding process altogether. After all, the independent contractor is covered under a separate agreement covering expectations such as non-compete and non-disclosure clauses.

It can be tempting to assume that, as a professional, the contractor has little need for any orientation or socialization that would typically take place as part of the acculturation process. After all, any hours spent on onboarding tasks are billable - and that can really add up. However, the very nature of contract work makes it essential that some level of acculturation take place.

Why Is This So?

Bringing in an independent contractor is intrinsically disruptive to the normal operations of the department in which the individual is assigned to work. For example, a high-level IT consultant might be sourced to work on a specific project involving the implementation of new software.

The existing IT staff members are already stressed with a tight deadline and the need to adapt to a modified system. Learning to work with a new team member poses an added emotional and psychological challenge during an already difficult period.

They may also resent the contractor if they feel the project was within their ability to carry out on their own. Or, they may feel that since the contractor will soon be leaving, they will be left to take any flack over later issues that may arise due to any errors made during implementation.

This means it is imperative for the consultant to not only understand the parameters of the job, but the corporate and departmental culture within which the project objectives will be carried out. Otherwise, the likelihood of miscommunication, non-cooperation, and lowered productivity may further increase the costs of the project in question. This may defeat the purpose of bringing in an outside contractor to ensure an optimal outcome.

Nip Problems in the Bud

Ensuring collaboration between the contractor and full-time staff members is critical. An acculturation module geared toward bringing contractors quickly up to speed with how things really work at your organization can be a sound investment of time and resources. With the web-based orientation available via Emerald Software's Acculturation Portal, contractors can begin familiarizing themselves with your company prior to meeting your team for the first time.

International Merger Acculturation - When Workforces Collide

2010-04-29T17:20:00.002-04:00

Sometimes, employee onboarding happens with workers who have been on the job for a long time. That's the case when a merger brings together two separate workforces under the same employer "umbrella". A smooth transition is especially challenging when a merger involves companies in different countries (here's a great article on that topic). Due diligence may cover the financial and organizational aspects of the transition, but the human side of things is often given too little attention.

Everyone Has To Work Together....To Work Together

When two disparate groups of employees are expected to start collaborating, it's not just one side or the other that has to adapt. That's one reason to make acculturation onboarding a part of the merger process for both sets of workers. When everyone goes through a similar orientation to the newly blended company, employees are more likely to start seeing their international coworkers as part of the team.

Creating Connections

Since mergers often result in redundancies, employees are likely to have lost friends due to layoffs. This can make it difficult for them to open up to their new coworkers. That's where an acculturation portal that includes extensive networking features can be a valuable asset. Making it easy for workers to create new connections can pay off big in terms of restoring employee engagement to previous levels.

Get creative - use employee profiles and blogs to give workers a chance to talk about the hopes and challenges the merger is creating for them. This kind of brainstorming may yield surprising results as workers from completely different cultures reach out to help each other through this transition.

Expand SIGs to include topics and hobbies with international appeal to encourage participation that crosses boundaries. Remember that visuals are especially powerful. Employee-led production of workplace videos or slideshows that help each group get to know the other can be a fun and informal way to create feelings of camaraderie.

Don't Make It Complicated

Bear in mind that creating an acculturation portal from scratch may not be necessary. If you use Microsoft SharePoint or a similar intranet platform, you can build with what you have. That's especially helpful if both parties to the merger are already using this software. Then, employees don't have to learn a new system to engage in the acculturation onboarding process.

Acculturation Onboarding- Get Ideas From The Greats

2010-04-08T15:34:00.002-04:00

Are you interested in setting up an acculturation program that will introduce your new hires to your corporate culture? It's time to start putting together a vision of what you hope to accomplish and how to create an impressive presentation.

To get an idea of how the corporate giants set themselves apart in this area, visit their employment information sites. These are designed to begin socializing people while they are still in the job seeker/applicant phase. However, they still offer lots of great examples you can incorporate into your onboarding program.

Coca-Cola "Our Workplace"

This portal presents several aspects of the company to catch a potential employee's interest. It focuses not just on the individual worker, but how the corporation is positioned within the community on a local and global scale. One particularly nice touch is the use of employee testimonials.

You can accomplish the same effect with an AllegroHR Acculturation platform. Consider adding video or audio testimonials from current employees to your introduction module. This will really engage your new hires on an emotional level.

Life At Google

Google is considered hands down one of the coolest places to work. They have plenty of YouTube videos to browse (of course). They've also got a top ten list of reasons to work at their company. Putting together your own top 10 would be very easy. Just be sure to get opinions from the average employee on what they really enjoy. This adds authenticity that new hires will recognize.

Whole Foods "Why Work Here"

Whole Foods takes the approach of making employees feel good about being part of a larger movement to change the world for the better. The company also emphasizes teamwork with their Declaration of Interdependence.

Your acculturation portal should always be used to inculcate the values of your organization. This doesn't have to be "in your face". It can be subtly woven throughout the entire module using quotes and insights to accent the content on each page.

Cisco Inclusion and Diversity

Cisco harnesses the power of the press to demonstrate their commitment to creating an employee-friendly workplace. Check out the list of articles they link to about how great their company is. If your business has gotten some positive "ink", remember to link or upload copies of newspaper clippings into your acculturation onboarding program. This adds credibility to any claims your organization makes about being a superior employer.

Day One Provisioning and Acculturation Onboarding

2010-03-29T08:54:00.002-04:00

Employee satisfaction is a vital aspect of acculturation onboarding. Here at Emerald Software, we believe a user-friendly system that makes it easy to fill out all the required forms can deliver that first spark of happiness. Zipping through the transactional process at record speed also leaves the new hire with plenty of time to start becoming socialized on the first day. Making introductions is an important step, but the rubber really meets the road when your new hire sits down at his/her workstation for the first time.

Giving New Hires What They Need

You only get one opportunity to wow employees with your organization's ability to plan/provide effectively for their first day of work. Every time new hires have to sit and wait while you scramble to locate or set up something that should have been ready and waiting, they become more anxious. Here are some of the thoughts that may be running through their heads:

I really want to get to work and start making a good impression on my new boss. Will I be able to do anything productive or is this day a total waste?
Gee, I'm putting this person to a lot of trouble and inconvenience - was there something I should have done to prepare better?
These guys don't seem very organized - is every day going to be this hectic? I hope not.
They can't even find a trash can for me - and IT said they can't set up my phone until Wednesday. Did I make a mistake in taking this job?
Why don't they have safety equipment in stock for all their new employees? Does this company just not care?

Mistakes happen and sometimes people drop the ball. However, if there is a pattern of unpreparedness this is something that has to be addressed on a structural level. You need an actual business process in place for provisioning new hires. Do you have requisitioning software that makes it easy to plan ahead and hold each department accountable for doing their part?

The AllegroHR Staff Service Request (SSR) system does just that. It's not limited to tangible items - managers can requisition anything and everything a new hire might possibly need. You can even add fun stuff that's designed to acculturate employees and make them feel at home. Do you have water bottles or ball caps with your company logo? Make sure these items are included in your standard SSR for every new hire to welcome them to your team.

Dress Code Acculturation For New Hires

2010-03-23T08:41:00.001-04:00

Does your company have a dress code? Most organizations do, either formally or informally. However, not every employer has one in writing. That can be a big mistake since policies that aren't written down are basically unenforceable. An acknowledgement of the receipt and acceptance of your dress code policy should be included during transactional onboarding. However, if you really want new hires to take your dress code to heart, you need to acculturate them.

By their very nature, corporate dress codes are arbitrary. Some group of people has to sit down and come up with the rules. For industries that don't require employees to wear a uniform, even explaining definitions is tough. The questions (and complaints) are endless. What's business casual versus casual Friday? Why does it matter how employees dress if they aren't meeting with customers? Who makes these decisions anyway?

Get New Employees On Board

One way to increase acceptance of your dress code is by presenting it in a fun way. Most people are visual learners. Having them memorize a list of written rules probably won't work that well. It's easier for them to grasp the corporate aesthetic you are going for if you use pictures or photos. Putting together an online orientation module using our acculturation portal would be fairly easy.

A library of photos showing various outfits labeled "This Matches Our Look" and "This Doesn't Match Our Look" could prove very helpful. You might even categorize these pictures for different situations. For example, slacks would be tagged as OK all the time, jeans (without holes) as OK for casual Friday, and shorts as not OK anytime.

For extra fun, you could even incorporate a test with a series of different outfits shown side by side. The new hires would be asked to check a box to indicate which one follows the dress code. This not only makes the process interactive; it gives you data to analyze later to see how well employees understand your policy.

Special Notes:

Avoid using terms like "right" and "wrong" or "acceptable" and "unacceptable". That way, people don't feel like they are being judged for apparel choices they might make off the clock.

If you show photos of outfits during orientation, use an equal number of male and female examples. That way, one group won't feel singled out.

Always present information in a positive way. Focus on a message such as: "This is what we are hoping you can help our organization achieve with this dress code". New hires should feel like it is a team effort rather than an attempt by their employer to control them.

Make very sure that your dress code isn't discriminatory in regards to race, sex, religious belief, or any other protected status.

New Hire Acculturation - It’s Personal

2010-03-16T13:44:00.001-04:00

When you start planning your acculturation onboarding program, it's important to remember that each new hire has a unique path to productivity. Sure, there are some things that everyone has to do like going through training and orientation. You will obviously require participation in any activities that are essential to achieving your organization's core objectives.

Nudge - Don't Push

However, some of the other steps are more like suggestions. You don't want to force people to get involved on a social level. That's got to happen naturally (with some subtle encouragement). If a new employee just isn't interested in uploading a bunch of additional content to their profile on your intranet portal, continuing to push them in that direction isn't productive.

Instead, your onboarding system should be intelligent enough to generate prompts that nudge new hires in the direction they are already inclined to go. For example, your acculturation onboarding system might "notice" that an employee is participating regularly in commenting on your corporate blogs. Your BPM software could easily be pre-programmed to send that type of individual an email suggesting that they create a new blog as way to participate in the social network.

Everyone Learns Differently

When it comes to stuff your new employees absolutely must do, there are often multiple avenues that can be used to reach the same goal. Suppose you have a series of learning module new hires must complete during their probationary period. A successful acculturation portal might offer several ways to access the required information.

For example, employees who learn best from training manuals might use a login to complete one text based module online each day until they finished the entire course. Workers who want a more interactive environment might choose to participate in a live orientation webinar where they could ask questions. Both groups would be tested in the same way to ensure knowledge retention levels are high.

Providing multiple learning venues also helps highlight shortcomings in each approach. You might find that employees attending the webinar are consistently scoring poorly on a topic the instructor isn't covering in detail. Or, you could discover that your text based learning module needs to use clearer language so new hires aren't confused by terms they don't know.

Keep Score and Ask for Feedback

In addition to objective scoring, you should also seek ongoing subjective input. Ask new hires about their satisfaction with the onboarding experience and if they have suggestions for improvement. After all, these employees have a lot invested in becoming productive quickly. Most people take pride in doing well at a new job - it's personal. So, make it easy for them with a flexible, highly targeted acculturation portal that matches the needs of your diverse work force.

Acculturation - Making Out-Of-State Employees Feel At Home

2010-03-16T13:42:00.001-04:00

Taking Steps to Fix This

More on Acculturating Disparate Workforces

Onboarding New Hires in a No-Smoking Environment

2010-03-16T13:38:00.001-04:00

It's impossible to please everyone all the time - that's a fact that HR professionals know all too well. No matter what the rules are, someone will always be ticked off or feel singled out for persecution. Sometimes, employers can hide behind "It's the law" to deflect rancor.

That's the case now in Vermont where smoking has been banned in the workplace. No longer can employees ask to have an indoor space set aside for lighting up during the harsh New England winter. They must brave the cold or do without. Non-smokers are generally happy to have a smoke-free workplace. Smokers are likely to grumble but comply.

How do you help new hires keep a good attitude when some of your workplace rules aren't popular? A fun, interactive acculturation portal can make a difference. You will still need to obtain signed acknowledgements during the transactional phase; but this isn't where employees really get on board with the idea of fitting in with your corporate culture. That happens during the socialization stage.

Ideas for Successful Acculturation in a Non-Smoking Environment

Present your "no-smoking in the office" policy along with a link to an instructional sheet about the effects of second hand smoke on the body. Combine this with your organization's stated commitment to promoting employee health by maintaining a high level of indoor air quality. This information should be offered in a non-judgmental way. Smoking is still an individual choice and even non-smokers don't like employers sticking their noses into people's personal lives.

To prove that you are supportive of all your employees, provide a premises map that shows sheltered outdoor locations where smokers can gather when the weather is nasty. Follow that with an invitation to participate in an employer-sponsored smoking cessation program. Set up an SIG so smokers can share tips for quitting. This can be part of a larger forum where workers support each other in achieving their health/wellness goals.

Visual Branding and Acculturation Onboarding

2010-02-23T11:04:00.001-05:00

If you've been keeping up with the buzz in the Human Resources world, you have heard about the concept of HR branding. The idea is that consistency in visual content and messaging build trust. Employees who are exposed to a uniform experience tend to feel that the information being communicated by their employer is reliable.

Because of this, many companies rebrand brochures from benefits vendors with their own logo and mission statement. That way, employees aren't exposed to products from half a dozen different companies during enrollment. Instead, they see the same branding on everything. This helps them associate each aspect of their total compensation package with the employer's commitment to providing well for their workforce.

Self service portals are being designed in the same way. Workers access third party services through a web interface that is customized with their employer's messaging and design features. Some benefits firms even let client companies incorporate a custom greeting into the dedicated help line employees call to have questions answered.

We Have A Custom Solution For You

Emerald Software Group products are always at the cutting edge of HR trends. We've created an agile system that lets you adapt every aspect of our universal onboarding solution. Branding is a very important aspect of acculturation. After all, you are introducing new hires to your organization through the onboarding process.

This means consistency needs to start with the welcome screen and continue through the final training module. Always incorporate your organization's mission statement and values into your design. Do you want to position your company as being an eco-friendly place to work? Thank new hires in the welcome letter for helping reduce paper consumption by filling out their forms online.

Color, fonts, images, and your logo are just the start when it comes to customizing the visual elements of this platform. You can also decide how to structure your menu and the layout of each page to match your organization's specific requirements.

Don't forget that custom text, audio, and video content can be integrated throughout the system to give you even more branding opportunities. Promote your company's unique culture by adding fun and informative elements to each panel. Onboarding doesn't have to be boring!

It Takes a Group Effort to Acculturate an Employee

2010-02-18T13:57:00.001-05:00

HR isn't the only department involved in onboarding your new hires. Successful acculturation takes a concerted team effort. Your CEO should record or write a general welcome message that starts the onboarding process off on the right foot. Department managers need to be on top of requisitioning all the items necessary to make the employee feel valued. Each new hire's supervisor and coworkers should also be enlisted to create a welcoming work environment.

With a universal onboarding solution, there are lots of ways to make this happen. For example, you can implement "Meet Your Team" features via integration with Compendium Data Warehouse. Or, you can interface our product with your existing ESS intranet platform. That way, your new hires will be using the same programs as the rest of your workforce rather than being isolated in a separate system.

Promote Friendly Behavior

You also have complete control over BPM workflow and the ability to assign tasks. This means you can tag a new hire's coworkers with assignments that promote the acculturation process. For example, you can send out a department-wide email on the new employee's first Monday. Use this to encourage everyone to stop by and introduce themselves. Then, you can follow up with a reminder on Friday to catch any stragglers.

Or, you could request that several coworkers reach out to make contact with the new hire through your company's online social network. Having a few people post welcome messages or invitations to participate in SIGs can make a big difference in participation levels.

Development and Measurement

For employee development purposes, you can also assign specific mentoring responsibilities to a supervisor or senior coworker. Establish measureable milestones so your mentors can report on the progress of the new hire. This promotes accountability and helps you improve your informal training programs.

In general, asking a new employee's coworkers to evaluate how well the acculturation process is going can provide you with valuable information. You can use surveys to collect this data for analysis. This gives you an extra perspective outside the new hire's self reporting of job satisfaction and immersion in company culture.

The Benefits of Interactive Acculturation Onboarding

2010-02-17T08:12:00.001-05:00

During training and development, the more tools you have at your disposal the better. Videos, audio, and other media are easy to integrate with a truly universal onboarding system. Of course, multi-media is just one of the features you can incorporate into our AllegroHR Acculturation Portal. You can also activate live chat. This is an ideal solution for organizations with employees at multiple locations.

Often, in-house HR experts are centralized at corporate headquarters. There may be an on-site HR rep available to handle basic inquiries. However, new hires often have questions that go beyond the knowledge level of an HR generalist. In the past, getting these queries answered correctly might take days of emailing back and forth through a traditional helpdesk.

Now, your freshly hired employees can speak with a benefits specialist or other experienced HR professional at your central location without any hassle. The conversation happens in real time so any clarifications and further questions can be handled in a single conversation. When new hires can get immediate, comprehensive answers to their questions, this builds trust and speeds the acculturation process.

Training Partners

Emerald Software Group's onboarding system provides a perfect interface with training and development programs at companies like ExecuTrain and i3Logic. Your new hires can access these company's excellent training classes through our acculturation portal using a single sign-on. You can choose the best combination of virtual orientation and interactive employee development modules to meet the needs of your workforce.

For example, you could select an ExecuTrain team building workshop. This might be used to introduce your new employees into the existing collaborative process within their department. Or, you could ask i3Logic to create a custom training program that quickly socializes workers who need to be integrated into your organization after an acquisition. Of course, if you already have an acculturation portal or ESS (employee self service) system in place, our software blends seamlessly with these options as well.

The Benefits of Interactive Acculturation Onboarding

2010-02-16T10:25:00.003-05:00

Training Partners

Multi-Lingual Safety Training in Onboarding

2010-02-16T10:24:00.003-05:00

In an increasingly diverse workplace, you can't afford not to communicate effectively with your employees. Training and orientation are an important part of the new-hire onboarding process. How can you ensure that your entire workforce gets the most out of this experience? One solution is to use a highly flexible portal like our AllegroHR acculturation product.

Safety is Essential

Ensuring that employees understand each document they sign is important during transactional onboarding. These compliance issues are covered in detail on Jay and Chuck's blogs. However, comprehension is just as critical when it comes to acculturation and your safety training materials. The risks of ignoring language requirements in this area are too great to ignore.

When something gets lost in translation on a job site, a worker may end up seriously injured or worse. As an employer, your exposure may be extensive enough to put your company out of business. This type of catastrophic event is less likely to happen in the first place if you take responsibility for making safety instructions accessible to every employee. If a workplace accident occurs in spite of your best efforts, at least negligence during onboarding won't be the reason.

Regulations and Compliance

OSHA requires that employers present all safety training in a manner that workers can comprehend. For example, if employees are given day-to-day job instructions in Spanish, OSHA requires that their training take place in that language as well. Limited vocabulary must also be considered. This means it's a good idea to keep safety notices and instructions simple and straightforward. The AllegroHR Acculturation Portal is multi-lingual so you can tailor it to suit the needs of your workforce.

You should also note that written language isn't all that's involved here. OSHA's training standards policy statement points out that not all employees are fully literate. Handing a safety manual to someone who can't read or understand it is not adequate. That's another reason an Emerald Software Group acculturation onboarding system is so valuable. You can use it to present videos and podcasts in addition to text-based information. This will ensure that your safety messages come through loud and clear.

Are You Selling Your New-Hires on Onboarding?

2010-02-08T18:25:00.002-05:00

Acculturation onboarding, as I've mentioned before, is an art. You can track the percentage of new-hires who are really getting involved by counting how many follow through on the social objectives you set for them. This might include activating a networking profile, joining SIGs, or completing other socialization tasks. That's one way to measure success. But how do you convince new employees to do this stuff in the first place?

If you've got really low levels of participation, there is probably something wrong with your "sales" technique. The way to get employees involved is through suggestion and persuasion. People don't respond well to being told what they must do - even when they are just starting a new job.

You aren't paying employees extra to set up a LinkedIn or other professional profile. They aren't getting a promotion for joining the bowling club or commenting on your company blog. This means taking a hard line approach isn't going to cut it. Presenting new-hires with a long list of extra things they need to do in addition to all the other stuff they are coping with is a turn off.

Tips for Successfully Selling Acculturation

Take it slow - space out the assignment of socialization tasks over a period of several weeks or even months. You can do this using your BPM (business process management) system to send regular emails or assign new tasks as the new hire completes each previous step.
Make it look like fun. Present the opportunity to get involved as a benefit - not a duty. Getting onboard with such a great team of coworkers should be seen as one of the free perks of working at your company.
Use videos and other multi-media. Can you make a game out of the acculturation process? Great! The less the whole thing seems like "work" and the more it feels like goofing off the better.
Watch your language. Use positive wording during every stage of acculturation. In other words, don't use the word don't (like I just did). Phrase instructions as suggestions and solutions rather than orders. Persuade your employees that this is something they want to do and that you are helping them achieve their own objectives.

Now, use your measurement tools to track areas where you have improved participation. Are your numbers going through the roof? Give yourself a pat on the back - you have learned to sell new-hires on your onboarding process.

Supervisor Onboarding: Workplace Harassment Training

2010-02-04T11:10:00.003-05:00

Acculturation onboarding covers many aspects of training and orientation. Much of this instruction is designed to provide information and skills necessary for employees to be fully productive. However, there is a subset of acculturation that can actually be mandated by government entities.

In both California and Connecticut, private employers with 50 or more employees are required by law to provide workplace/sexual harassment training for all new supervisors. In Maine, employers with as few as 15 employees must send supervisors through specialized harassment training within 1 year of their hire date. Employers must also keep records of how and when these requirements were fulfilled.

If you hire an employee to serve in any supervisory capacity, he/she should participate in this training as soon as possible. This is the best way to protect your organization from litigation. In California, especially, employers can be held liable for any act of harassment on the part of a supervisor or manager.

Best Practices for Providing Workplace Harassment Training During Onboarding

The type and extent of information that must be covered in these classes varies by state. The level of interactivity may also be specified. For example, Connecticut allows supervisors to go through training online if they have the ability to ask questions in that environment. This means employers in CT could readily automate the process of signing supervisors up for training with a third party agency as part of the onboarding process.

For all employers, ensuring that no newly hired supervisors slip through the cracks is important. Your acculturation platform should definitely:

• Schedule workplace harassment training within the time-frame required by law
• Automatically follow up and verify classes were attended
• Ensure all reports documenting attendance are stored in an accessible format
• Survey the level of knowledge supervisors retain on the topics discussed in training
• Provide further resources for further self-training & remediation as needed

Acculturation Onboarding and Your Intranet

2010-01-22T15:59:00.002-05:00

Do you ever get the feeling that every vendor on the planet is trying to sell you something you don't really need? In the case of some acculturation portals, your instincts may be right on target.

When you socialize your employees, you want them to get comfortable with using the same communication platform and information resources as all your other workers. They don't need to be segregated into one program and then have to acclimate to another structure later on. That would be obviously counterproductive. But this fact doesn't keep software vendors from promoting just such an approach!

Work with What You've Got

If you already have your intranet up and running, there's often no point in setting up an additional program that duplicates capabilities you already have. Organizations that use solutions like the SharePoint platform from Microsoft don't need to buy redundant software. Certain employee self-service portals may also offer acculturation potential without the need for a separate system.

The more flexible your current solution is, the less sense it makes to add yet another program that you will have to manage and maintain. Instead, you can simply work with what you have to meet the changing needs of your company. You should only invest in an acculturation portal if it offers you something really special.

MS SharePoint

When your organization is a Windows Server user, you get the SharePoint program as a freebie. In this case, free doesn't mean low-quality. You can actually use this information management system for a huge number of applications.

The document-enabled characteristics of this program alone make it remarkably useful. As HR or other departments make changes to company documents (such as policies or training materials), the links in your onboarding portal are automatically updated to show the latest version to your employees. That's certainly simpler than having to get IT involved in every little tweak you need to make in your onboarding modules.

Windows Workflow Foundation is now part of the SharePoint package. The WWF can be integrated with your existing Business Process Management (BPM) system. This provides yet another opportunity to seamlessly connect acculturation and transactional onboarding functions. For example, you can encourage employees to become socialized by assigning them the task of filling out their personal profile in the SharePoint network. Then, your workflow rules can be set up to prompt the employee again later if needed.

Continuous Improvement in Acculturation Onboarding

2010-01-22T15:44:00.004-05:00

As I've mentioned in previous posts, one goal of acculturation is to get a new hire operating at full capacity as soon as possible. Shortening the time from the hire date to the highest level of productivity decreases the costs associated with turnover.

Many employers purchase an acculturation onboarding product to help them achieve this goal. However, without a system in place to actually measure the results it's hard to say if the investment is really worth it. You will also have no idea what steps to take to improve the entire process. It's time to take a clear-eyed look at what acculturation can do for your company.

Collect, Analyze, Improve...Repeat

Used properly, an acculturation onboarding program should gather data that allows you to identify areas that could be improved. This means you need some way of measuring, testing, and scoring employee performance each step of the way. Such data collection should take place during orientation, training, and subsequent development.

There aren't any limits to the type of information you can collect. You also aren't restricted in the creative ways you can go about taking measurements. For example, you might email employees a quiz that tests their knowledge of everything from safety procedures to company policies. The results would give you several pieces of information:

What percentage of your workforce is engaged enough to respond/participate
How well your employees understand company policies and best practices
Which areas in your training program need to be revamped to make them more effective

Measure the Envelope - Then Push It

To get the most out of any product or system, you have to know what the optimal outcome would look like. Generally, organizations have some objective standards in place that allow them to measure various aspects of productivity. However, many don't take this to the next level. Do you know what maximum productivity would really look like? It is possible that you are settling for less than your employees have to offer.

Developing your new hires to their highest potential is simplest when you integrate your acculturation onboarding software with each of your competency measurement systems. Fortunately, Emerald Software Group products are designed to interface with other platforms you already have in place. You can readily create a closed-loop process that promotes continuous improvement.

Accomplishing Acculturation Through Tasks & Training

2010-01-12T14:05:00.003-05:00

The welcome letter, meet & greet, and general business of making a new hire feel emotionally "at home" are all well and good. However, the one thing that will make an employee feel most comfortable is having a good grasp of how to perform his/her job. That's why training is such an important aspect of acculturation. The sooner workers are able to feel like they are really contributing to the greater team effort, the better.

Training is obviously something that doesn't happen all at once. The "Path to Productivity" has many steps as you can see in our Emerald Software Group graphic. Orientation and skills training generally involves face time with instructors so that new hires can ask questions in an interactive setting. However, there are a number of ways an onboarding software system can be used to pave the way for this ongoing employee development.

Easy Monday Job Description Module

Universal onboarding makes it possible to get all the paperwork squared away in short order. This means you will have time to jumpstart the acculturation process on that first Monday as well.

One of the biggest questions on an employee's mind is "What exactly am I supposed to be doing?" You can answer this question by providing a clear, detailed description of the tasks/duties involved in the position in question. This can be an expanded version of the job description used during the recruiting process.

If possible, enlist the help of the department manager as well as an employee who has filled the new hire's entry-level position in the past. They can offer valuable insights and tips for this section in the onboarding module. Keep the language relaxed and friendly - like you are just giving your new hires the "heads up" about what to expect. Format this page to be easily printable. That way, employees can run off a copy to use for reference during their first few weeks on the job.

Employee Acculturation - Working Together For A Cause

2010-01-04T13:40:00.003-05:00

As an employer, you know that building your workforce into a cohesive team is the key to maximum productivity. However, this isn’t something that just happens naturally without any effort on your part. Practicing employee alignment by matching individuals with jobs that match their skill set is important. Slotting new hires into departments where their personality is a good fit for their immediate peers is another way to facilitate acculturation.

The Broad View

Your company also has to have a vision that acknowledges the value of connection between people - not just cooperation between coworkers. One way to accomplish this is by becoming more involved in the local community. Don’t just pass the hat for a charity and pledge to match the amount raised.
For a refreshing approach that really gets people involved, promote volunteerism. Give workers a day off with pay if they are willing to donate this time to working for a local non-profit organization. Here are a few ideas for places employees might volunteer:

• Soup kitchen or food pantry
• Habitat for Humanity
• Animal shelter
• Roadside cleanup
• Walk for a Cure
• Big Brothers & Sisters or HOPE tutoring
• Nursing home visitation or Meals on Wheels

There are, of course, many more options depending on your location. Choose one or two causes that your company will support. Consider taking a poll and letting employees be involved in the selection process. If possible, pick an organization that has no religious affiliation so all your workers can feel comfortable volunteering there.

Get Your New Hires On Board with This Concept

During the onboarding process, introduce employees to the ways your company is connected with the community. You don’t have to pressure them to get involved. Just add a page in your acculturation module that includes photos of company volunteers working together as a team.
Include links to more information along with statistics on the number of hours donated. Include an overview of the difference this makes in the community. That way, when the next volunteer opportunity arises, your new hires will already be excited about participating.

Tweeting Your Way Through Employee Onboarding

2009-12-30T09:53:00.001-05:00

Twitter is a tool that does a very good job at the one thing it is designed for - pointing people toward other resources. If you expect tweeting to take the place of a corporate blog, website, email, or professional networking forum, you will most likely be disappointed. However, many employers are finding this application very useful as a way to communicate briefly, effectively, and continually with their workforce.

That type of constant contact is especially useful during a new hire’s acculturation onboarding experience. It gives HR staff, trainers, and department managers a way to stay in touch with employees and ensure they have the information they need to thrive. Here are just a couple of the ways you might use Twitter as an onboarding, orientation, and integration instrument:

Training and Orientation

Colleges are starting to use Twitter as a classroom tool; you can apply the same principles in employee learning environments. Send tweeted reminders about orientation class times, locations, or a brief description of what new hires will be learning in their next training session.

Having trouble getting new employees to follow your tweets? Tell them you will be sending out relevant test questions about their training materials via Twitter throughout the week of orientation. Let them know there will be a small prize awarded to the first 3 people to reply with the correct answer to each tweeted question.

Ongoing Acculturation Tweeting

Once people get hooked on following your Twitter feed, keep it interesting. Mix serious policy announcements with helpful advice, inspirational quotes, or links to other useful resources. These don’t all have to be directly related to work. They can be health & wellness news, money saving tips, or info about local cultural events employees can attend at low cost. If you have a company blog, invite employees to come read your latest posts and join in the conversation in the comments section.

Think Twice, Tweet Once

Before you start tweeting, you need to have a good grasp of what a sensible technology policy looks like. Your employees must sign an acknowledgement of your company’s social networking agreement as part of their new hire package. With our universal onboarding applications, this doesn’t add more paperwork. Employees can electronically sign this acknowledgment along with all your other digital forms.

HR Branding and Onboarding

2009-12-30T09:41:00.005-05:00

The Human Resources department is the most critical player in a new hire’s initial perception of his/her work environment. During onboarding, HR has the opportunity to solidify the image the company presents as an employer.

If you don’t develop and communicate a strong HR brand, you are leaving this process up to chance. At best your organization may come across as simply having a disorganized approach to employee relations. At worst, your HR department will be viewed as incompetent or uncaring.

Take charge and brand yourself instead. How do you want to be perceived as an employer? Organized, competent, employee centered, eco-responsible, teamwork focused, quality oriented, you can choose which qualities to highlight.

Here are some ways to promote your Human Resources brand during onboarding:

Technology

Use current technology to brand your HR department as efficient and effective. New employees notice whether your onboarding strategy involves streamlined electronic processes or messy, repetitive paper forms.

Employers who fail to upgrade their HR technology are sending a message to employees that the company’s human capital infrastructure is not worth investing in. Ironically, organizations actually save a significant amount of money by switching to a universal onboarding system - it makes no sense to continue using outdated methods.

Visuals & Message Content

People respond to images on a gut level. That means they will come to associate your company with whatever written messages are distributed under the corporate logo. This means you have the ability to mold the perception of your HR brand every time you communicate with employees. This includes the job offer letter, your company welcome page, and each training and acculturation module in your onboarding program.

Ensure that your messages are:

Honest
Accurate
Timely
Positive
Easy to understand
HR does have to use “legal speak” a lot. This means you must make an effort to communicate in layperson’s terms finding a balance between a professional and personal voice. Add interest with video and audio to capture your new hires’ attention more fully.

Two-Way Communication

Feedback is the key to improving HR processes. Always include a forum for new hires to communicate with HR about their experience during onboarding. This could take the form of a survey page, an email helpdesk address, or an HR blog where employees can leave comments.

Onboarding: Getting Your Employees “LinkedIn”

2009-12-17T08:30:00.004-05:00

LinkedIn has built quite a reputation in the business community as the place to be for professional networking. This forum offers enormous potential for you to connect and share ideas with other individuals in similar industries/specialties.

As an employer, it also provides an opportunity for you to build your brand presence among a sizeable pool of potential job candidates. In the struggle to attract top talent, you need to make the most of your company’s LinkedIn profile.

Promoting Participation
One way to achieve this is by ensuring your employees present a polished, united front as members of your LinkedIn group. You can accomplish this during the onboarding process if you approach it the right way. This involves making it easy for the employee to participate.

You should also present joining LinkedIn as an opportunity to become part of the team. For example, you can encourage new hires to browse the profiles of other employees at your company to find individuals with similar educational backgrounds or interests.

Step By Step
Set up LinkedIn profiles for new hires in advance of their first day of work. Populate basic fields such as name, company email address, and position. Also, add them to your company group so your logo will be displayed on their profile.

Keep the information private by clicking on the “edit my profile” link, then on the “Customize Your URL” button. Select the None/off option below the Public Profile heading. Then, the profile won’t be findable on the web until you have the new employee’s permission to publish it.

During the onboarding process, offer employees the opportunity to make their company LinkedIn profile public. Include tips or a template on how to get the most out of this professional networking tool by highlighting their skills and expertise. Provide a copy of their ID badge photo for use on the profile if they wish to display an image of themselves.

Integrating This Process
You can actually requisition the creation of a new hire’s LinkedIn profile using the Staff Service Request function in our suite of products. That way, you could assign responsibility for completing this task to HR or IT and ensure that it gets done.

Set up the new employee’s LinkedIn account using the same password as the one automatically issued to him/her for filling out new hire documents. Then, simply add a page in your onboarding system that allows the employee to accept or reject the opportunity to activate the LinkedIn account (along with step by step instructions on how to do so). That way, the employee has all the information necessary to log in and make changes to the profile immediately.

When does your New Hire Onboarding process End?

2009-12-16T16:56:00.004-05:00

In any industry, onboarding has two basic components. There is the transactional aspect which I’ve talked about in detail in the past. At its most basic level, this involves:

Gathering relevant new hire information and managing the flow of this data
Ensuring all documents are completed fully and correctly in compliance with law
Providing the employee with electronic access and any other items required for work

It’s pretty clear when HR has finished this step; the 3 requirements above have been fulfilled. Technically, this process could be completed within the first few hours of employment - especially if you are using employee onboarding software that streamlines each task.

Acculturation: The Softer Side of Onboarding
Acculturation involves orientating and aligning a new hire with your company’s vision and objectives. Because this process is unique for each company, it can be difficult to define. This also makes it hard to tell when this “warm and fuzzy” aspect of onboarding is complete. In that case, is it OK to just skip this step? Not if you care about retention, morale, and productivity. Integrating each employee into your team is vital.

Like the transactional side of onboarding, acculturation works best when it begins during the recruitment phase. If you have successfully branded your company, potential candidates already view you as an employer of choice. For example you might be known as a business that treats employees fairly, places a priority on environmentally conscious practices, and offers a superior product/service to its client base.

The first day of work offers an opportunity to reinforce this feeling of connection. You can intersperse acculturation modules with transactional onboarding tasks in the same software interface. For example, don’t miss an opportunity to include positive messaging in your welcome letter and policy agreements.

Add an invitation to join the company’s LinkedIn group and connect with other employees. Offer a tips section that highlights some of the “quirky” ways things work at your company. That way, new hires can prepare to adapt to your workplace culture. Point employees to your internal HR blog or a helpdesk where they can ask questions and give feedback. Keep touching base over the next few weeks (or months) as acculturation progresses.

Measuring Success
How do you know you’ve successfully brought employees onboard as a part of your team? Here’s a good sign that the acculturation process is complete: Your recently hired employees reach out to welcome the next wave of new hires and make them feel like part of the family!

The Science of HR: full steam ahead for HR transactional automation

2008-10-13T13:05:00.001-04:00

The Art and the Science of HR describes the two parts of the HR skill set. The Art of HR describes dynamic aspects of HR that involve problem solving, people handling, conflict management, and many other "Artful" skills. The Science of HR describes the transactional items and rules that can be easily understood, predicted, and often automated. I will use the Art and Science theme for my blogs until I get all aspects covered.

Today's HR department is a busy place. Recruiting, hiring, benefits, litigation avoidance, legal compliance, performance reviews, learning management, succession planning, employee retention, employee advocacy, corporate cheerleaders, mentoring programs, just to name a few! Also the demand on HR services is increasing. HR is expected to deliver more transactions that are more complex are required at a lower cost! Increased demands are coming from managers, employees and shareholders who want more services provided to them. Employees want self service, self selection available. Managers want employee data at their fingertips, and want automated processes. Shareholders want HR to align the workforce with the corporate strategies and goals. That is a lot to accomplish for any department! HR transactional automation can deliver on all of these goals.

High impact HR Science projects:

New Hire Onboarding
- Automate and go paperless
Benefits enrollment process
- New or update your benefits
Employee item Requisitioning:
- new cube, new computer, replace laptop, blackberry, etc
Employee Lifecycle event changes:
- Marriage, baby, raises, off boarding, etc.

Some of the benefits of HR automation:

Compliance
- get it done right the first time
Cost reduction
- time to complete, reduced errors, shipping, paper
Error reduction
- both compliance and reduce cost
New Hire satisfaction
- First impressions, quick paperwork, automated verified processes
Green initiatives
- paperwork reduction, shipping reduction
Communication
- automated communication really makes a huge impact on quality

Other transactional HR automation areas:

Employee self-service automation
Manager self-service automation
Job Application/Recruiting process automation
Benefits selection automation
360 Review automation
Learning Management automation

Emerald Case Study: Large REIT automates transactions and delivers a great ROI, and employee satisfaction results.

Our client wanted to focus on transactional HR automation in the New Hire process. We began by automating the existing paperwork with online panels and PDF forms generated to their document management system. We also sent the data to begin the HRMS processes and approvals. This alone paid for the project, but we also automated the offer letter process, the new & existing employee item requisitioning, intern onboarding, and more. This gave us more success to allow automation of employee changes for salary, job changes, and terminations. These HR transactional projects had a great impact on cost savings and new hire satisfaction. HR got low cost, compliant, error free automation, and the employee got high speed HR! The ROI was impressive.

Summary

Processes abound in HR, and here is where automation projects can revolutionize the impact of HR for all these customers. HR transactional automation provides the basic foundation for increased efficiency and can act as a key driver for HR success. HR organizations should recognize that technology can help them deliver best practices via automations and integrations that reduce the complexity and increase the delivery of HR services. Automating HR Science frees resources for HR to focus on projects related to the Art of HR. This will be the topic of my next blog. "The Art of HR: People, participation and huge paybacks for HR"

The Art and Science of HR

2008-09-29T09:25:00.003-04:00

Most people think of HR as the paper work generating hiring machine, or the benefits coach and supplier, or perhaps the big brother forcing rules or watching out for lawsuits. HR does have a lot of difficult tasks that must be repeated in every HR department. Recruiting, New Hire paperwork, Benefits enrollment, Employee changes are types of activities in what I call the Science of HR. These HR activities are well understood and can be repeatedly processed. Significant ROI can be found for HR projects here. Automated employee onboarding is a great example.

HR is also expected to employ savvy people skills and softer talents. Recruiting, employee retention, training programs, employee advocacy, and succession planning are just a few of the skills that define the Art of HR. These challenges require more internal experience, creativity, and less process to make successful. Corporate social networking is one trend in this area.

In the next several weeks, I will dive deeper into both aspects. The Science of HR is more automation friendly, and can provide a huge win for HR. The Art of HR requires more domain expertise, planning and strategy. Projects here are more difficult, but if handled well, can shift HR into a more pivotal corporate role.

How is this happening? Web 2.0 is providing a great opportunity for new HR projects and roles. New paradigm tools being developed help HR go way beyond traditional roles, into things that drive and automate HR science but an also allow HR to deliver powerful people driven HR solutions that are generating great results.

Main topics:

The Science of HR: full steam ahead for HR transactional automation
The Art of HR: People, participation and huge paybacks for HR

A deeper look:

HR Science: Recruiting and Web 2.0 for the automated HR
HR Science: Onboarding and the Science of transactional HR automation
HR Art: Onboarding and the Art of acculturation: getting a great start with your new company, job and team day 1
HR Science: HR-XML: Vendors dream of easy cross platform communication
HR Art: Onboarding and the Art of acculturation: getting a great start with your new company, job and team day 1
HR Art: Advanced artwork in employee retention, assessment, training, and team building through Acculturation and web 2.0

http://www.emeraldsoftwaregroup.com/onboarding/

mailto:jeff.hayden@emeraldsoftwaregroup.com

HR Onboading - My role at Emerald Software Group

2008-07-16T14:47:00.004-04:00

Here at Emerald Software Group we are pushing the envelope in the employee onboarding solution space. We are not trying to capture the monolithic HRMS vendor space, or the Enterprise talent acquisition realm. We are trying to be the best "best of breed" vendor in-between! We convert a candidate to an employee and make it paperless! Not only that, but we take other important aspects of HR pain and solve it also: Employee Change events, Life cycle provisioning of items for employees, and more...

To accomplish this we need great software, great integration, and raving fans as clients.

My business partner and friend since 1999, Chuck Ros has stayed with me through thick and thin. We worked together in several corporate names, but together started Emerald Coast Software in Gulfport, MS in 2003. ECS was moved to Alpharetta, GA and renamed to Emerald Software Group in 2007. We grew from the 2 of us in a 150 square foot room, to over 13 team members and growing.

I provide back office support for the operation including our SaaS data center, Product Management, Professional Service and more.

This blog is meant to provide my talking post for my work realm. I hope to keep it informative for clients, non-clients, co-workers and anyone who will read. I hope it to be a place to get some good HR info out to the world.