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.
Showing posts with label onboarding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label onboarding. Show all posts
Monday, June 20, 2011
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Why Choose a Niche Product for Onboarding? Part 1
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.
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.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Can SaaS Work For Large HR Departments?
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.
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.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
SaaS Data Security for HR
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.
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
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.
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.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Onboarding Software And SaaS
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.
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.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Why SaaS Is Working For HR – Part 1
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.
• 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.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Onboarding Software and Traditional Licensing
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.
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?
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.
“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.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Multi-Lingual Safety Training in Onboarding
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.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Supervisor Onboarding: Workplace Harassment Training
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
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
Friday, January 22, 2010
Continuous Improvement in Acculturation Onboarding
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.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
HR Onboading - My role at Emerald Software Group
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.
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