New Trends in Social Learning & Development Part 5

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.

Why HR Analytics Matter Part 2

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.

HR Software Selection Myths Part 2

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

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?

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 Implementation – Who’s On First?

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

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.

Oracle Brings Fusion To HR Software

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?

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.

What Do Employers Want To Know About Buying HRIS?

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

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

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.

Is Fast HR Software Right for Your Business?

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

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

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

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?

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

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?

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

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.