The Future of Talent Management HR Technology

At this year’s HR Technology Conference, the world’s #1 HR technology event currently in its 12th year, focused on how the smartest leaders from around the globe are using and leveraging their HR Technology.

The conference agenda included the hottest areas for technology investment: Talent Management, Web 2.0 and Workforce Management/Analytics/Planning as well as customer experiences and case studies and discussion from numerous notable industry experts.  Unless specifically referenced multiple thought-leaders, experts and senior professionals expressed the following views and takeaways on the the future state of HR technology.

 

Don Tapscott kicked of the conference with his opening remarks titled "How the New Web and Net Generation Are Transforming Talent, Management and the Enterprise.” 

Key Takeaway #1: The ‘Net Generation’ (also commonly referred to as the “Baby Boomer Echo”, Millenials, or Generation Y) requires a change in recruiting process.   

• People under the age of 27 have 3 jobs by the time they are 27 (therefore why not create jobs that are 9 months in duration for young professionals and 3 year cycles for folks past 27?)
• Young professionals (Net Generation) want to go through interview process like they buy music: quick, simple, and fast.
• Email is yesterday’s technology. While previous generation’s grew up “Viewing” television the Net Generation is growing up “Interacting” with the Internet whether it’s adding videos and messages via FaceBook or doing research for a paper by chatting with online professionals.    

Key Takeaway #2: The HR Technology and Talent Management capabilities have arrived for small and mid-market enterprise. 

• On average large enterprises have purchased 2 to 4 HR technology solutions.  People buy in modules according to Bersin & Associates. 
• Only 3% of enterprises cannot build the business case according to the latest research by Bersin & Associates.  So while the vast majority realize the need for HR technology how they choose to select and use technology still varies widely.
  1. 1 in 5 integrates HR from ERP or other major LOB (Line of Business)  system. (60% evaluated but the available functionality from the ERP did not meet their needs!)
  2. 1 in 3 integrates using their core HRMS provider.
  3. 1 in 4 integrates multiple solutions.
  4. Only 2% cite IT as a barrier
• “Experience counts. The number of successful implementations in your vertical really does matter.” – Leighanne Levensaler, Director of Talent Management Research @ the Fall 2009 HR Technology Conference. A few more memorable quotes from Leighanne on evaluating and selecting a Talent Management partner:
• “Strong business partnerships have some of the highest satisfaction.”
• “A vendor can only optimize to serve two markets.”
• “There is no such thing as a ‘vanilla’ implementation. Implementation is highly dependent on organizational practices and cultural norms.” 

Although the adoption rates by small businesses has not approached those of larger enterprises the barrier is not the technology; the HR technology adoption problem is the mindset.  Adoption barriers include all of the following:

• Owners and executives have to shift their mindset in order to adopt and utilize ‘Net Generation’ technologies and “P&L Centric processes and thought patterns.”
• Lack of defined service excellence practices and implementation standards (there is no singular “best practice”)
• Data integration challenges.
• Configurable interface, functionality, and reporting without customization. 
• Lack of Web 2.0 and Social Networking features, and capabilities in the market place (i.e. there is a signifigant opportunity here to create wealth in the near-term)

Key Takeaway #3: The Demand for Predictability (i.e. Strategic Workforce Planning) has arrived because of today’s recruiting Challenge:  “To know where you’re going, where the talent is, how and when to get it better than your candidates alternatives.”  

Mere ‘replacement hiring’ is no longer accepted by top-performing organizations. But to date, only 5% of enterprises have a defined and holistic Workforce Planning solution (Bersin).

• Quality hires do not come from traditional online/offline job boards, but rather from referrals, sourcing, social networking.  Forward thinking organizations seem to be spending approximately 10% of their recruiting budget on social networking and digital sourcing.
• Labor demand/supply is a “pig in a python” due to the baby boomer’ echo.
• Many organizations choose to tackle recruiting with a “Bigger Hammer” approach -- i.e. spend more $dollar$ versus using the right combination of Sourcing, Social Networking, and Analytics techniques to drive higher quality outcomes.
• Retirement personality psychographics: the four types of retirement: a) Early bird’s that retire early, b) Calendar Counters, c) Unplanned, d) Early retirement, e) Leave and stay remote or “consultant”

 

Strategic Workforce Planning HR Technology Landscape Fall 2009:

 

Lessons Learned Summary Conclusion:

There are approximately 400 new vendors created every year in the human capital market place with less than 120 making it to month 13 according (StarrTincup). Of the new vendors created every year there exists less than 250 that leading analysts like IDC, Gartner, and Bersin actively track and monitor.  Certainly there still exists a plethora of opportunities for wealth creation, but a clear path it is not!

Comments

[Nash]

I like the idea that the jobs and interviews must change with the changing generation. The point of having timed positions based upon the age of the applicant sounds like a thoroughly innovative idea which would certainly be useful in the future.