Ready, Set, Go! A Game Plan for Talent Management in the Midmarket

Ready, Set, Go! A Game Plan for Talent Management in the Midmarket

Introduction Organizations that have survived the global economy of the past few years have experienced the new business reality: the dawn of the Human Age a time in which human potential has become the major agent in economic growth. 1 Midsize organizations know that having the right talent, in the right place, at the right time is no longer an aspirational desire it s a must-have ingredient in today s fiercely competitive business scene. The Human Age also brings new opportunities for progressive human resource leadership within midsize organizations, as HR leaders are being called upon to deliver higher organizational value within the financial and organizational constraints of the business. The challenges are complex: How can the midsize organization attract top talent in a tight labor market? How do I increase employee efficiency while operating under constrained budgets with limited opportunities to add head count? How can talent be mobilized globally and crossfunctionally to maximize business results? What is the true measure and depth of existing bench strength? Who are the future leaders, and how can they be developed for the business challenges of tomorrow? The answers lie in developing a unified learning and talent management strategy that s aligned to the business and automated with cloud-based technology. Midsize organizations that are considering technology to optimize their talent strategy are also well aware of the significance of this undertaking. It takes serious research and careful planning to ensure that your company can experience the highest possible adoption, effectiveness and long-term ROI from a unified talent and learning management solution. In this three-part series, we ll remove the mystery and lay the groundwork for planning, selecting and implementing technology to support the learning and talent management processes in the midsize organization: GET READY In this first report, we ll identify the steps necessary to develop a business case that will result in a green-light approval for pursuing a talent management technology solution. GET SET Our second white paper will outline the support you need to navigate the vendor selection process and help you prepare for the organizational changes needed to support your technology selection. ALL SYSTEMS GO In our third and final white paper in this series, we ll provide best practices for a successful system implementation and strategies for creating the ultimate in employee adoption and empowerment. 1 Joerres, Jeffrey. Welcome to the Human Age. Manpower Inc. 2011. 1

Get Ready Assemble a project team. While the impetus to pursue a talent management technology solution typically resides within the human resources function, the decision to move forward and ultimately the success of the initiative is dependent upon the involvement of many internal stakeholders. Few business processes impact as many internal touch points as talent management, so involve sponsors, influencers and key decision makers early in the process for the most effective support and stewardship. Once executive-level sponsors are on board, assemble a selection and evaluation project team comprised of members representing HR, multiple business lines and IT staff to oversee the talent management technology initiative. This team is responsible for stakeholder analyses to identify executive, business, employee and HR needs for the system. Key questions to be asked should include: 2 What key business problems are we trying to solve? What are the challenges and needs of line managers? What processes do we already have in place that require accommodation? How hard will the system be to learn, customize and administer? What key reports and dashboards must we have in place during the first phase of implementation? What reports do we use today that must be replicated? With executive sponsorship and a working project team in place, it s time to start building a business case for securing a talent management technology solution. 2 Bersin, Josh and Jones, Katherine. Talent Management Systems Buyer s Guide. Bersin & Associates. November 2011. To purchase the report, visit http://www.bersin.com/practice/detail.aspx?docid=14872&mode=search&p=talent-management 2

Build the Business Case Identify the sources of pain. Organizations that invest in effective talent management practices consistently outperform their industry peers. An even greater advantage is gleaned by those organizations that have more of a unified approach in which various talent practices inform and influence each other. 3 However, if your company relies on manual processes for talent and learning management, or if systems exist but are siloed and disconnected from one another, then you understand the pain points that inherently exist within either scenario: RECRUITING AND ONBOARDING speed of hire is dramatically reduced with manual or disconnected processes for sourcing, tracking and onboarding candidates. PERFORMANCE time spent completing manual forms, tracking approvals and filing paperwork is inefficient and ineffective. LEARNING increased travel costs, vacant training rooms and expensive training resources result from a lack of automated learning solutions. GOAL ALIGNMENT top-level strategic goals are not clearly cascaded throughout the organization, causing reduced productivity from time spent on work that does not directly support key business drivers. SUCCESSION successors are not proactively identified to fill critical role vacancies, exposing the company to potential disruption of business operations. DEVELOPMENT engagement, retention and productivity are diminished because future leaders are not effectively groomed. By implementing a unified talent and learning management software solution, you ll eliminate the painful experiences associated with manual people management processes. 3 Berger, Lance and Berger, Dorothy. The Talent Management Handbook, Second Edition. 2011. 3

Create your road map. For a midsize company developing a talent management strategy for the first time, it s important to understand that there is no one size fits all approach to developing the best talent management processes, because organizations are as unique as the people and cultures within them. But there are best practices. To build a strong and credible business case, you need a clear understanding of your organization s highest-level goals, your unique business challenges, the operational priorities and a detailed road map describing how talent initiatives will meet those challenges. Once you have a strategy in place, a unified talent and learning management solution not only reinforces your talent management processes, it also helps you create a culture of empowerment within your company. Recommend solutions. As you build the business case, be prepared to identify and recommend solutions to address both short- and long-term talent challenges for your midsize company. The first question an organization must answer in its quest for talent management software is, What business problems are we trying to solve? The answer is not automating our performance management process but, rather, statements like: We want to save time in the performance management process. We want to capture higher-quality information on development needs to improve workforce skills. We want to implement a sound succession management process to improve our leadership pipeline. We want to implement a pay-for-performance program to improve workforce competitiveness. 4 Identify user needs. It is also useful to determine who in the organization will use the new talent management system. Identify their use in terms of their technical capabilities, what they will use the system for and how often, and what other technology tools or systems they are currently using to manage talent management-related responsibilities. Understanding the variety of users who utilize the new system will help you vet potential vendor solutions during the selection process. Anticipate roadblocks. It s also prudent to anticipate other organizational initiatives or processes that may hinder the talent management technology adoption. List any known or anticipated showstoppers by relevance and potential impact, along with logical ways to prevent roadblocks from having a significant impact on your progress. For example, coordinating the technology implementation to take place when no other initiatives would compete for the same critical resources. With an understanding of the business goals and a sound talent management strategy, you ll be better prepared to evaluate the systems, architectures, delivery models and implementation strategies available from talent and learning management software solutions. Many companies now realize that talent management systems have the potential to drive transformational business change they are no longer simply automation solutions. 5 4 Laurano, Madeline. Selecting a Talent Management Suite. Bersin & Associates. May 2010. To purchase the report, visit http://www.bersin.com/practice/detail.aspx?docid=12353&mode=search&p=talent-management 4

Tell the ROI and TCO story. With the economy in the slow lane to recovery, businesses remain cautious with capital expenditures. You need a strong and clear return on investment (ROI) plan developed before seeking approval for capital to fund new initiatives. The intent of an ROI plan is to clearly articulate and quantify the value the organization will receive from an investment in a unified learning and talent management software solution. A best-practice approach is to create a story that illustrates how the investment will add value and pay off over time, allowing executives and stakeholders to envision the direct connection to the business. This type of high-impact business case should include both direct benefits (identified through the outcomes aligned to specific measures) and indirect benefits (described as other business measures and descriptions of the user experience). 6 The deployment method you select for the technology solution will affect your total cost of ownership (TCO). Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) systems, rather than on-premise hardware solutions, provide the lowest TCO plus the additional benefits of: Reduced deployment time Minimal involvement from internal IT resources Reduced hardware and administration costs Vendor-managed maintenance and upgrades Predictable license-based expenses In order to create an ROI case, the TCO of the new solution needs to be estimated. This is the investment that is to be paid back in savings and margin increases. That payback period is calculated with the following formula with estimations for both one-time and recurring costs: 7 ROI Payback Time (months) = 12 х (capital investment) (est. annual savings) + (est. annual incremental margin) Today s HR organizations in midsize companies spend 7 percent of their budgets, on average, on various tools and technologies. 5 Bersin, Josh. Cornerstone OnDemand: Innovating in Client Success Management in the Talent Management Systems Market. Bersin & Associates. August 2011. To purchase the report, visit http://www.bersin.com/practice/detail.aspx?docid=14753&mode=search&p=talent-management 6 Johnson, Al. Talent Management Systems RFP Toolkit. Bersin & Associates. July 2009. To purchase the report, visit http://www.bersin.com/practice/detail.aspx?docid=10702&mode=search&p=talent-management 7 Iconixx Software and Cornerstone OnDemand. Whiteboard to Reality: Win Funding for Your 2012 Talent Management Strategy. http://www.cornerstoneondemand.com/archived-webinars 8 O Leonard, Karen. The HR Factbook 2011: Benchmarks and Trends in HR Spending, Staffing and Resource Allocations. Bersin & Associates. June 2011. To purchase the report, visit http://www.bersin.com/practice/detail.aspx?id=103314059 5

Take Inventory Most midsize organizations rely on a legacy HRMS to run their core HR processes such as payroll, benefits administration and compliance reporting. In fact, 60 percent of U.S. organizations are using multiple HR systems. The majority of those systems are stand-alone, meaning there is little or no sharing of data across the systems within the organization. 9 But because many of these core HR systems are commonly integrated with the company s financial management tools, it s unlikely that they ll be easily replaced by a talent management system. However, fewer than 15 percent of all buyers want to buy a talent management module from their current HRMS vendor. 10 It s important to understand the scope and integration points of any existing technology before bringing on additional software. A better approach may be to seamlessly connect a fully unified talent and learning management software solution to your existing core HRMS. HRMS System 9 Ibid. 10 Bersin, Josh and Jones, Katherine. Talent Management Systems Buyer s Guide. November 2011. Bersin & Associates. To purchase the report, visit http://www.bersin.com/practice/detail.aspx?docid=14872&mode=search&p=talent-management 6

Identify the Core Learning and Talent Management Components Once you have a clear understanding of your midsize business strategy, you can start to identify which talent management initiatives will support the talent needs today versus in the next three to five years. Prioritize your talent and learning management software strategy based on the business impact that is needed most for today s pressing business challenges. For example, midsize companies in the early stages of developing a talent management strategy will benefit from introducing technology to create efficiency by automating the performance management process. For organizations that are further along the talent management maturity path, using robust technology tools to create detailed development plans that are aligned with organizational succession planning initiatives may deliver the most impact. Clearly detailing the functional requirements needed from any technology solution is an important step in the selection of software. Not only will this help you identify and prioritize the functionality that s necessary, it also informs potential solution providers of the most important features you require from a talent management system. Finally, based on your company s business requirements and growth plans, any talent management software should provide you with the legs to support your organization s strategy for at least the next five to seven years to realize the full value of your capital investment. Systems should be easily customizable, scalable and allow for the integration of additional solutions as business needs change. Recruiting Cloud Learning Cloud Performance Cloud Extended Enterprise Cloud 9 Ibid. 10 Bersin, Josh and Jones, Katherine. Talent Management Systems Buyer s Guide. November 2011. Bersin & Associates. To purchase the report, visit http://www.bersin.com/practice/detail.aspx?docid=14872&mode=search&p=talent-management Recruiting Cloud 7

Conclusion Midsize businesses that are ready to embrace the "Human Age" understand that reaching a level of talent management maturity doesn t happen overnight. Organizations typically evolve to this level over a number of years, progressing through a series of stages. Once you ve developed your business case for an automated, unified learning and talent management solution, we ll help you get set for the next step in the process evaluating vendors and addressing changing management needs in our second white paper in this three-part series. 8

About Cornerstone OnDemand Cornerstone OnDemand is a leading global provider of a comprehensive learning and talent management solution. We enable organizations to meet the challenges they face in empowering their people and maximizing the productivity of their human capital. Our integrated software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution consists of the Cornerstone Recruiting Cloud, the Cornerstone Performance Cloud, the Cornerstone Learning Cloud and the Cornerstone Extended Enterprise Cloud. Our clients use our solution to source and recruit top talent, develop employees throughout their careers, engage all employees effectively, improve business execution, cultivate future leaders, and integrate with their external networks of customers, vendors and distributors. Visit us on the Web at www.csod.com.