Yammer Update

My co-workers have officially given up on Yammer. Although I tried to sell it to everyone as tool for business purposes only, it ended up becoming a time waster. People would post something like, "I'm off to lunch, please forward my calls to Tom." and others would reply "Great." or "Have a nice lunch." I was hoping that Yammer would be a tool that would keep us all informed about issues in the office that are note worthy, but not urgent, since communication seems to be an issue for our small office. I was thinking that we could post items there for everyone to see instead of repeating ourselves 6 times in order to make sure everyone in the office is up to date.

Hopefully I can come up with a tool that is more effective. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

HRIS - UC Berkeley Extension

I cannot believe that we are one class away from being done with the HRIS. I have to say that it is bitter sweet. Although I look forward to not driving nearly two hours to get to class on time, I will miss the insightful and fascinating lectures. This class makes me feel so...cutting edge. As if I'm on top of the technology as it relates to business and HR. I don't consider myself a technological savvy person, but the fact that I am twitting, blogging and doing my own research for advances in technology says a lot for what this course has taught me.

I was thinking the other day, "How will I know how to stay up to date when this class is over?" I am planning on keeping my Twitter account and keeping it as a professional tool to keep me informed. I am hoping that Jun will also keep using Twitter until the next new and improved social networking, web 2.0, website is created. Will that be enough though? In my office, I feel like I am leading the technological revolution, but again I reiterate I am not a technologically savvy person. I am worried, but at the same time hopeful that I will be able to lead our office into the Web 2.0 world with success, having learned a lot in this class.

I have a feeling that I will be back in a few years to take this class again, when Web 3.0 emerges (if it ever does...). Who knows what new and exciting technologies will have been created by then.

Looking forward to the future of technology in HR.

Best IPhone Apps for HR Professionals

The author of the blog begins his passage with the statement: "I can't understand why so many HR folks have blackberries." The response from the blogger below was straight forward and obvious: "...as long as my company keeps paying for my BB, I'll keep it." Many professionals, HR professionals included, have their Blackberry service fee paid for by their employer. Why would anyone want to pay for something, which is already being paid for by their employer, especially if it is work related?

Blackberry was cutting edge when it first came out, but now it has been technologically surpassed by other cell phone makers offering more options. Blackberry and other cell phone makers need to change their model if they want to stay in business. Apple, which is actually known for making computers, has penetrated many markets, including the lucrative and competitive cell phone market. By offering applications that can help people and professionals stay productive, who’s to say that employers will soon be paying for IPhones instead of Blackberrys. Why wouldn’t an employer want their workforce to be as productive as possible?

The blog also touched on a very interesting fact; many people do not have IPhones. I would love to have one, and put many of the suggested applications on it, but my cell phone provider does not sell the IPhone, therefore this is irrelevant to me. Too bad, because many of the suggested applications would probably help me professionally & socially. Oh well, maybe I switch carriers some day.

Taleo Reviews

Last week in class we had a demonstration of how Taleo works. I was interested in finding out what users actually thought of this product. Most reviews were positive, and I was only able to find one negative one. I would like to discuss the issues that the users had, and the positive aspects of the product.

"Taleo Business Edition™Summary: From the beginning of our relationship with Taleo we experienced trouble and miscommunication with their sales team as well as customer service. If their product fits your current workflow it might be a better match as we struggled with its inability to be customized. They improperly scoped our company from the beginning costing us an extra $500 in implementation fees with a third, outside resource. Although we pay for upgraded customer service, they insist on all initial contact being through email and often take 48-72+ hours to respond. They also had numerous server failures with no apology to users who went without service for hours and on occasion, days. They don't currently have any integration with Monster, CareerBuilder, Dice, LinkedIn, etc. Overall we have had major problems with the way they choose to conduct their business and haven’t been impressed by the product. Would not recommend."

This user clearly had issues with Customer Service, which I feel is the backbone of their discontent with the product. Had customer service been more responsive to their needs, maybe, they would have been happier with the product experience. As for the integration with Monster, CareerBuilder, Dice, LinkedIn, etc., I thought that that is something that can be integrated into the system. If I am incorrect, that is something that the company should have looked into before they purchased the product. There are other products that can do that, like Avature. They also talked about the fact that you cannot customize it. You can customize it, within limits. It's a SaaS based product, that is much less expensive than a tradition ATS. You cannot have it all, customizability and low cost.

"As a user of Taleo Business Edition for over 4 years I have found it to be an excellent product. The entire system allows me as a Recruiting Manager to modify the system to fit our recruiting workflow and practically anything else we need to do. It also allows us to have an additional career site so that our own employees can apply through the system before we post to the outside world. I find the interface to be very simple to use and to configure. Our old system required us to call the vendor every time we wanted to add a new custom field, e-mail template or just to change the recruiting workflow. After getting hit with surprise charges in the $1000's several different times we are definitely happy we switched to Taleo. They don't charge us for these changes that only take me a minute to make! I have used Taleo software as the only recruiter at a technology company and then later as part of a recruiting team at consulting firm. I was able to easily make adjustments and changes to the software and customize it to each environment."

This user was much happier with their choice of product. They felt that the customizability of it was what set it apart from their old system. They also felt that they got a deal in comparisons to what they were getting charged for with their old system.

I believe that every company has different needs, and those needs should be explored thoroughly before any decision is made regarding the choice of an Applicant Tracking System. We have seen two demonstrations so far, and I have thought about which system would be better for my company, but I would like to see more so that I can make a confident choice when that time comes. I have already made the mistake to purchasing software, which is very difficult for me to customize. I do not want to make that same mistake again.

Comprehensive Immigration Reform on the horizon

The article "Comprehensive Immigration Reform on the Horizon" was circulated in my office last week. When I read it, I became interested in what it had to say. Basically, what it tells us is that employers are obligated not to knowingly employ people who do not have the legal right to work in the US. During the Bush administration, the "No match rule" was proposed which basically said that employers would have to fire employees whose social security numbers did not match the records of the Social Security Administration. That rule never went into effect because of oppositions in Federal court by advocates for immigrants and businesses. Because of that businesses can only do their best in trying to not employ people who do not have the legal right to work in the US.

On September 8, 2008 the Obama Administration which will require businesses that solicit or win federal contracts to use the government electronic database to verify their employees' employment eligibility through a web based program known as e-Verify. e-Verify works by comparing I-9 data to Social Security Administration Data & the Department of Homeland Security databases. The results are returned within seconds. Although this move will only affect businesses who deal with government contracts, there may be a move for all businesses to verify employment eligibility using this system.

The government has come a long way with respect to the technological advances and the ease at which information can be obtained. What is unfortunate is that there are limitations to the utilization of these technological advances because of "red tape". I am all for employee rights with respect to employment opportunities, but what good does having technology if you can't use it?

It is very awkward when I have to tell someone whom we have employed through our company that there social security did not match. It's almost as if I'm accusing them of doing something illegal, which is not the case. We have had instances where people's identities have been stolen and Social Securities have been mis-entered into our system. As an employer, we are just doing our jobs. I hope that this will get easier with time, or government will think of an ethical way to handle these situations.

My Project

My project has been on my mind for over 2 weeks. Initially I had planned on developing a method to streamline the performance review process at my office. I thought this would be a good idea because there really is no system of record or follow-through from one performance review to another. Then I began to think of another problem at my office; communication. We try to get messages to everyone, but it just seems like we are always missing some important ones.

I attempted to implement Yammer, and it was successful for about a week, but I noticed that the people that were not using it were the most senior members of the staff. These 2 people are burdened everyday with information. Some of it relevant to the office, and some irrelevant to the office. I thought that I would start with them regarding the communication problem. Try and think of a filter system for them where they will be able to determine what everyone in the office should know.

I thought of weekly meetings with these 2. Then I thought maybe they both need a personal assistant. Someone who will read their emails, scan their phone calls and ask for updates after every call or meeting. Then I thought about the cost associated with hiring 2 personal assistants. We are a small staffing company that does not have the financial resources to hire personal assistants.

Honestly, I am stuck. I want to help with the flow of communication, I feel like I am doing my part, but I don't feel that everyone is.

Looking for some insight...

HR Comparison.com

I recently took the HR Comparison Survey and was amazed to see that it actually provided relevant HR Software Solutions for my specific company. This resource may be a good idea for companies who are in the market for an applicant tracking system. Comparing them side by side could be helpful because a company should weigh all options before making a decision. Before making a decision, a company must first have a plan, and know exactly what direction it wants to take with regards to its HR function.

I found this sight helpful for me because it gave me four options. I went in several times and changed my parameters slightly. The four options that were given to me did not change, which was interesting.

I liked the option to request a demo. This is an easy and quick way to contact a sales representative to learn exactly how the product works, again having the opportunity to view and decide if that specific product is right for you.

For me, I would want to consult with my employer before I start choosing the parameters. I would want to make this as relevant and concise as possible, which is the whole point of this. I do wonder, however, how companies are chosen. I was surprised to see that Avature or Taleo were not among the choices for my company. Do companies have to pay to be a part of this? I would be curious to find out.

Any thoughts?