Kirkness Associates

This blog belongs to Kirkness Associates a Canterbury, UK, based firm concerned with the management of all Stakeholders in a business - Employees, Applicants, Clients and Prospects

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How to Choose (HR) Software...

So, you finally have the go ahead to purchase a shiny new HR system (or indeed any other business application) and you suddenly realise you have no idea how to go about it - where do you start and how do select from the seemingly huge range of suppliers?

Most advice on this topic will advise you to start by writing a Specification of Requirements, Invitation to  Tender (ITT) or similar which can be given to potential suppliers for their written responses. If you believe in this approach then you can stop reading here!

1. Find out What's Possible (the Education phase)

In my view, your first task is to actually find out what is possible (given your budget - you do have a budget in mind, right?). The best way to do this is to select a range of suitable suppliers (web searches, recommendations etc) and ask them to visit and demonstrate their product's strengths. Make careful notes because it is VERY easy to get confused about which systems do what (which can lead to disappointment later).

Before doing demonstrations, most decent suppliers will want to have an idea of the areas you want to cover and the business issues you are trying to solve - be open with them and you will get the most from the sessions. Be wary of any suppliers who don't try to understand your business before a demonstration - if they don't understand now they probably never will!

After a range of suppliers have shown you what they can do, you are now in a position to build a proper list of features you are looking for - and if you want you can rate them and come to a decision about a shortlist for further review (maybe 3 suppliers).

2. Evaluate your Shortlist (the Comparison phase)

This is the stage where you produce your ITT, isn't it?

If you are in an industry where you have to have competitive tenders from a range of suppliers then, yes. If this is the case, the next section is for you...

2.1 Using an Invitaton to Tender

ITTs come in many shapes and sizes. Some are tick lists (with comments sometimes). Some are huge lists of narrative questions. Almost all of them ask suppliers whether their solutions can do something. The reality of this approach is that almost all decent systems (and certainly those on your shortlist) will be able to meet your requirements and so suppliers will all basically answer YES to almost everything!

I expect you've spotted the problem - how to choose between suppliers who have all given the same positive answers?

The answer is to ask different questions!

Instead of asking "Can your system calculate holiday entitlements for part time staff, including those that change their hours during the year", try asking "Please describe how your system caters for the calculation of holiday entitlements for part timers who change their hours during the year (with screen images)?"

Note that this approach is much more work for both you and the supplier and the answers will be much longer - so only use this approach in areas which are really important to you unless you want to read hundreds of pages of responses!

I am sure that you can see that this approach will highlight differences between systems and show you where some may be cumbersome of unworkable. 

2.2 Using Scenario based Demonstrations

You will certainly want to have another look at your shortlisted suppliers and, whether or not you use an ITT process, you will want to be able to differentiate between them in key areas. Just asking for another demo will likely just be a repeat of your first experience (although you may be better educated and ask better questions).

A great approach is to ask suppliers to demonstrate how their systems deal with a range of typical scenarios - for example, how to handle your appraisal process, how to take a person from application through appointment and induction or how your own letters can be produced for your maternity process. PLEASE give them warning of this and allow them time to prepare (and allow them to discuss and clarify points with you) - the extent to which they prepare a great demonstration will tell you a lot about how keen they are for your business and their understanding of your requirements as well as the capability of the system!

3. Taking up References

NEVER buy a software system of any value without taking up references in some way - this could be in the form of online testimonials and reviews or, better still, actually talking to users. But what to ask?

Key issues for references revolve around the relationship and support offered by the supplier, are they responsive, do they listen to user requests etc. Of course you also want to know whether the product performs well and is reliable but don't necessarily expect a demo (if you visit). This is where you find out if the supplier lives up to the image portrayed by the sales team.

4. Making a Decision

You've had the demos, spoken to customers, had the quotations - it's time to decide!

This, I'm sure, is where you will expect me to say that you should add up scores from demo and reference checklists and award the order to the highest scorer!

In reality, my experience from 25+ years in the HR software business is that where people use scoring systems they are usually (sub-conciously) used to back up their subjective decision - in the end, despite any formal processes, you will almost certainly buy the system you actually want so why not go with the flow, using all the stages above to highlight any showstoppers and allow you to get under the skin of the suppliers.

5. What comes next...

My next post will be on the process of implementation and the emotional roller coaster that usually becomes!

If you would like any assistance choosing your next HR solution then please get in touch with me and I would be happy to help.

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Culture and Technology

Yesterday, I had one of the most interesting experiences of my career!

I've never sung at a conference before (thank god all who have heard me would say!) - but I have never had so many interesting conversations of heard so many informed presentations either. It really helped confirm my view that this technology 'wave' (i.e. social) will form the foundation of the majority of business solutions in the future.

One of our breakout sessions discussed whether technology was leading to cultural change of vice-versa. Our conclusion was that the two go hand in hand and that by implication we are seeing the beginning of a huge shift (or maybe accelerated change) in the culture of work supported by contemporaneous advances in social technology.

In my last blog post, just last week, I explored how a social business platform like Podio could start to answer some of the critics of social media in the enterprise by providing practical solutions to information management problems (specifically in HR on this occasion) in a social context. The idea is simply to encourage collaboration that relates to our business activities, customers, projects, employees or indeed any other issues.

CHRU4 was an inspiration, great fun and I can't wait for the next ConnectingHR event! 

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What about a Social HRMS?

One of today's hot topics is undoubtedly Social Networking within the enterprise and how to build employee engagement, share information and otherwise build a collaborative culture. But what about actually applying this new software paradigm to business applications such as HR Management Systems - what effect would this have?

Many software vendors are now looking at the impact of social technology - and are adding a layer 'on top' of their applications or simply adding a 'stream' at the front end. However this isn't really a game changer at all.

Tools like PODIO allow us to build truly Social business apps and deploy them in the cloud - this technology really does bring about a shift in working practice encouraging collaboration and social interaction around actual business data (rather than in isolation). In many ways, HR is the perfect place to begin this revolution - so many processes are fundamentally collaborative (think of recruitment or staff appraisal for example).

Our PODIO based HR app, called KA Staff Management, offers a comprehensive set of features and an ideal template from which to build your own solution (or we can help you make any changes you need). The really interesting part is that, once implemented, your HR data can then be accessed and used in other PODIO apps (such as CRM or Project Management where employee involvement can link to their HR records).

This gives your HR information more visibility (in a secure way) within your organisation and has real strategic value - for example making sure that people involved in a project have the correct training.

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Are CRM systems the whole story?

For many years Customer Relationship Management has been the order of the day - enabled by many excellent software solutions such as Siebel, Microsoft CRM and Salesforce. But who are the relationships actually between?

I have spent most of my working life in the HR Software business and the issue within HR is how to make HR more strategic - and from a system point of view, how to gain competitive advantage from your HR data?

Several years ago, the company I lead built a fully integrated HR and CRM application which aimed to answer both of these questions by identifying that the relationships with customers are actually between your people and your customer's people. Initially, this project started from the premise that both CRM and HR solutions share a large amount of common functionality (bulk mail, workflow, customisation etc).

From humble beginnings then, my ideas around Stakeholder Management Software were born. Expanding beyond the idea that people are the real connection between you and your customers, this now includes suppliers, partners and other interested parties.

Social and Mobile technologies are a great enabler for this and we've been using PODIO as a platform to build on the idea and create a collaborative environment which encourages partnerships between you, your team, your partners and clients. Managing your people, sales and projects in a simple and effective way which can adapt to meet your needs as they change.

Other solutions are possible - how about checking the suitability of staff for a client project from your mobile device and all from within the Project Management / CRM / HR solution!

In one easy step, this concept adds strategic value to HR and builds a framework to really manage the real relationships with your customers (i.e. between your people and their people).

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Is information hiding in your organisation?

Everyday we hear how wonderful Social Technology is don’t we? How can we use it to expose and share information about our customers, staff, prospects and partners?

If we’re honest, most of us have been wondering what the relevance was for business - particularly internally. The idea of creating an internal social network is great for encouraging a ‘cool’ working environment but how does it directly help you run your organisation?

This was certainly my view before coming across PODIO last year. This is a platform which enables you to collaborate and share information and ideas in a business context. You build your own apps (or talk to a partner like us to help you) which are structured for the way YOU want to work.

This is game changing technology and can greatly improve internal communications, manage information flow, encourage collaboration (both internally and externally) and help you get to grips with email tyranny. Shortly after first seeing PODIO, I decided to replace the main system used in our recruitment division with a Podio ‘workspace’ configured to meet our particular needs - and have now become PODIO partners.

We are able to offer apps to clients covering a range of areas from recruitment, staff management, project management and crm - along with advice and guidance to help you role it out.

Other software vendors are catching on - and adding social elements to their applications. Whilst this is to be celebrated, these features are usually just a veneer. PODIO is collaborative and social from the inside and is currently unique in offering an app building and social platform combined.

Break free of all those tracking spreadsheets and little databases and start making use of all the valuable information hiding in plain sight in your organisation.

We are holding seminars in the next few months to introduce this concept - it really could change the way you work - if you would like to attend please click here: http://bit.ly/yal4mN

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What is the future for HR - the debate rages!

20-12-2012

For years, it was Personnel, then HR was all the rage and now the debate is moving on again - Human Capital Management, People Management or what?

Surely we should be considering the role 'HR' professionals play in an organisation rather than simply focussing on the name given to the function?

For as long as I have been involved in the HR world, there has been a spectrum of interpretations of the term HR. Still in many organisations the HR function is little more than an administrative and compliance function - an insurance policy if you like. At the other end of the scale, more enlightened organisations seek to develop their staff in line with the strategic objectives of the business, and their HR team are at the leading edge of the initiative.

But what of the impact of modern working practices and technologies - how can HR embrace these and help their organisations innovate - especially in the key arena of collaboration and employee engagement?

The younger generation coming into the workplace (usually referred to as Generation Y) are used to communicating and sharing ideas with their friends and others using tools such as Facebook and YouTube, yet when they enter the workplace we offer them email and a telephone. Innovations in this area are moving fast with tools specifically designed for use within businesses. Tools which enable people to collaborate with each other, with clients and other stakeholders in ways in which we could scarcely  imagine 5 years ago.

What an opportunity for HR - helping to lead their organisation's move into this collaborative world - and building an highly motivated and engaged workforce at the same time. 

Julian Kirkness

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