Special Advertisement: HR technology focuses on streamlining and ROI

Automated recruiting
    In the recruitment area, Web-based tools integrated with talent-management systems facilitate line managers' hands-on participation in the hiring process. "It is no longer the HR organization that's managing the hiring process from start to finish," says Laura Perkins, vice president of product strategy for Ultimate Software, a provider of payroll and employee-management systems. "E-recruiting tools are allowing hiring managers to take responsibility and have more interaction with the candidate than they did in the past." With recruiting tools on their desktops, managers are able to locate and screen candidates, thereby eliminating steps for the HR department.

    There also has been a demand for increased automation of recruitment tasks, which minimizes the human element in screening. Perkins points out that electronic questionnaires, for example, can be designed for objective analysis of applicants' skills. She says 50 percent or more of applicants for any given job are not qualified. It is much more efficient to screen them out by computer than by hand.

    There is also increased integration of online career sites, which widens companies' exposure to prospective employees. "We're seeing tools and technologies that make the process instantaneous instead of fragmented, such as live linking and broadcasting to major career Web sites," Perkins says.

    Although the employment scene has taken a turn from a candidate dearth to a surplus, some organizations are preparing for the tide to turn. Marcel Legrand, senior vice president of product for online career Web site company Monster, anticipates that in a few years the labor market will be tighter than ever. "I can't say when the economy will turn, but at some point, probably in 2003, the switch is going to flip," he says.

    Forward-thinking companies are courteous to job seekers even when they are not hiring. Automated screening tools enable employers to respond individually to large pools of applicants. "A lot of applicants are really upset that employers who are currently in a supply deluge are really not treating them well," says Legrand. "Progressive companies are better at treating applicants with kid gloves-they could be their employees of the future." Electronic tools that offer instant responses and status reports to applicants go a long way in giving prospective employees a positive attitude toward the company.

    While some companies see the downturn as a time to scale back on recruiting technology, others are ramping up hiring management to prepare for the future. "Now companies have the power," says Mark McMillan, director of strategy and business development for BrassRing, which provides e-recruiting and talent-management solutions. "Their challenge becomes one of discovering and keeping in touch with people."

    Legrand says Monster has seen an increasing number of HR managers who are interested in self-serve recruiting products. Yet he also sees companies that are riding out the candidate-surplus wave. He says companies that think they have the luxury of not focusing on hiring and retention will feel it when things turn around.

    As the Web takes a larger role in recruiting, there also has been a transformation in the way resumes are written and formatted. "The computer doesn't care about anything but reading the resumes based on skill," says Legrand. Monster offers tools to help applicants write resumes in line with automated screening tools that use, for example, keyword searches and Boolean logic.

    In light of security issues, risk management has also moved to the forefront of HR concerns. Companies want to avoid lawsuits or security problems. "Because of the climate we're in now, background checks have at least come into the radar of any company of any significant size," says Gary Cornick, president of LexisNexis PeopleWise. "CEOs of companies have pushed this up the ladder; they need to have a hiring risk strategy." He says companies are looking for technology tools to reduce claims associated with negligent hiring, negligent retention, discrimination, and workplace violence. PeopleWise, which conducted identity checks for the 70,000 employees at the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, provides products that integrate with HRMS systems and make identity verification and background checks quick and inexpensive.

    A process that used to be lengthy and tedious is automated with PeopleWise's InstaCheck(tm). "Right now from a desktop, our clients can within a minute and a half put in a request and do everything they need to do to order a complete verification, including criminal search reports," Cornick says. PeopleWise has seen a rise in demand for Web-based tools to verify such things as applicants' education, driver's licenses, criminal records, civil records, credit reports, employment history, and professional licenses.

    Monster's Legrand has also seen a surge of interest in background checks. He says some of Monster's customers are looking to screen large numbers of applicants. "It's not a fad," he says. "It will be a long-term trend."

    In light of risk-management concerns, more companies are adding automated check tools to their new or existing systems. Perkins from Ultimate says, "With the advent of heightened security, we will now see more linkage to systems for background checking and screening."

    In the current environment, employers are not consumed with finding large quantities of applicants. This means they can gear their hiring systems toward targeting quality candidates for future hires and also toward managing current talent.

    BrassRing's McMillan says that during the employee shortage, technologies to quickly acquire new people were hot. Now companies are looking for the best HR tools to manage the people that they have. "Even though there is a decline, companies are still interested in improving their processes and hiring systems," he says. BrassRing, whose single-platform solution helps assess, hire, retain, manage, and re-deploy current employees, as well as target future talent, hasn't seen a big decline in demand for its talent-management products. According to McMillan, this is because many companies are taking the long view. "It is about looking at recruiting in a strategic way and not as a point-in-time activity," he says. "It is about brand building and keeping relationships."

Analytics for strategic planning
    HR professionals are under constant pressure to justify ROI in workforce systems. This means not only making HRMS systems as efficient as possible, but also providing data to show returns on workforce-management tools and initiatives. By streamlining HR processes and integrating many functions into a single system, companies can get a better handle on outcomes.

    The more processes incorporated in one HRMS system, the higher the ROI, says Linda Miller, vice president of marketing for Ultimate Software. "A lot of companies are outsourcing payroll and may be using in-house HR and paper systems and then external services for recruitment," she says. "You want to avoid duplication and contradictions, and integrate everything from recruitment and payroll and HR processes through the employee life cycle." She says there are hard numbers to show that companies achieve reasonably rapid payback using Ultimate Software products to integrate HR functions and provide Web-based workforce data access. She cites one mall-management company with 3,000 employees that implemented a system with full Web capabilities and had a total return on its investment in less than a year.

    The integration concept extends to contingent-worker and diversity management as well. In a move to combine tools for procuring and managing contingent and permanent labor, workforce management technology provider Peopleclick recently acquired Itiliti, Inc., a provider of vendor management solutions for contract workers. James Grundner, senior vice president of marketing and product management for Peopleclick, explains that with the combined capabilities, a company can meet its hiring needs quickly without dealing with separate technology platforms or point solutions.

    Diversity management can also be integrated with talent-management systems to maximize efficacy. Peopleclick's solutions help companies to go beyond compliance for overall workforce diversity that is a talent pool with the right mix of skills and experience. For this purpose, Peopleclick offers affirmative-action planning products with analytical capabilities.

Self-serve meets the dream
    Despite budget concerns, companies are continuing to expand Web-based delivery of HR. More and more companies are creating Web portals for HR domains that allow employees to conduct self-service tasks for functions like benefits enrollment and training, as well as give them access to an array of company information. With roles-based access that tailors delivery to users, employees and managers have HR tools at their fingertips.

   Self-service not only drives up process efficiency, it also increases employee satisfaction. HR Web portals are expanding the type of information and services they offer. Ultimate Software's Perkins says her customers have increased their retention rates with self-service tools. She cites as an example the high-turnover retail business. By offering features like Web access to internal job postings, retailers are able to empower employees to take control of their career advancement, resulting in lower turnover.

    As more employees gain Internet access, HR systems are extending more services through Web portals. "Five or six years ago we wouldn't have imagined the extent of Internet access," says Ted Malley, vice president of technical strategy for Ultimate Software. "Now almost everyone has dial-up, and broadband is taking hold; it's becoming commonplace."

    Web-based systems are becoming not only more ubiquitous but also faster. "Another trend that has been enabled by the onslaught of Web services is the ability to connect complementary functions in real-time," says Malley. "Everything from time sheets to payroll and HR information is instantly processed, whereas before there was a batch time delay."

    Malley adds that wireless technology is also taking hold. "It is becoming more and more of a 24/7 workforce," he says. "More of today's knowledge workers will be connected in a distributor fashion with wireless devices."

    Beyond streamlining processes and empowering employees, Web-based HR technology is increasing the visibility of HR, says Joel Summers, senior vice president for Oracle Corporation. "We realized years ago that if we're going to make the workforce a strategic advantage, we have to make it more visible to line managers and to the organization in general," he says. "Self-service means managers become sensitized to the HR process. It makes the manager part of it." Oracle's HRMS module integrates with its enterprise resource planning system. A system that provides key workforce metrics as part of organizational data analysis takes visibility to another level.

    In addition, many HR organizations have long endured a shortage of resources for transactional tasks like payroll, benefits, policy, law, and other day-to-day transactions. With automation of those transactions, the HR function is able to concentrate on strategic workforce decisions.

    Summers points out that workforce is either the second or third biggest expense of a company, and increased visibility of HR data helps an organization to analyze the value of its people. Workforce data metrics help HR managers show ROI in workforce systems, while data-analysis capabilities put HR in line with organizational objectives.

    Summers says that when a body of intelligence is provided on the desktop, workforce objectives can be better aligned to corporate objectives. "This is what you need to manage HR in an agile manner," he adds.

    The more sophisticated that HR data metrics become, the greater the possibilities. "It's an exciting time in my field," says Lisa Harpe, industrial psychologist for Peopleclick. "We have a chance to move beyond solutions that are just better administrative tools." Peopleclick systems allow users to apply workforce data to critical HR planning tools.

    Peopleclick's Grundner says, "What we've been doing is bringing together a single platform for acquiring, managing, and analyzing talent in a diversity management and compliant manner. In contrast to having several individual solutions for managing these processes, one system brings it all together."

    In the diversity arena, Peopleclick integrates EEO and recruiting processes, which are not traditionally connected. "Normally, recruiters are not good at tracking the selection process," he says. "With integrated, intelligent solutions, you can build that in. The system integrates the process of recruiting candidates with diverse backgrounds."

    Such data-analysis tools are equipping HR people with the information they need for workforce management and planning. "It is critical that HR managers have all the information so they can work with the executives," says Ultimate Software's Perkins. "Things like their turnover trends, benefit cost analysis-it's not just information that HR is most concerned with but really the entire executive group. It gives them the ability to bring the data to the table."

    With Web delivery, managers can easily access information and compare and contrast data within an organization-wide or global context. "HR has to look at how do I make great business decisions based on integrated data solutions?" says Peopleclick's Grundner. "It's interesting to make a good hire, but what do you do if that hire doesn't stay for a long time? Are they promoted? Are they wildly successful? Our tools bring the information together in full workforce management."

    Another area of talent management that continues to grow is Web-based training. "The e-learning piece is the current excitement in the industry," says Oracle's Summers. Oracle combines a learning-management system with training administration and HR management for a system that identifies individual and group gaps and delivers learning programs to close those gaps. Although online learning is all the rage, Summer adds, "e-learning and instructor-led training has to be blended."

Avoiding a catch-up game
    Peopleclick's Grundner says he continues to talk with HR managers who are frustrated by lack of investment in HRMS. "Often you'll see that there isn't an automated method in place, or it is a decade old," he says. "HR managers and IT organizations are actively looking for new solutions because the one they've got is outdated or they have nothing at all." With HR technology advancing at a rapid clip, companies that don't stay in pace are likely to be playing catch-up in the near future.