Some good news for the HR technology and Talent Management technology vendors in the space based on informal poll.

A few things to remember:

• Don't go out blindly, be prepared with new business processes before speaking with vendors
• Try to bundle purchases into "suite" type approaches compared to single, siloed solutions
• Look for true "business" value adds and roll out functionality immediately instead of waiting till the end and doing "big bang"
• Focus, Focus, Focus on both efficiency and effectiveness - big overall trend in 2010 as recovery begins
Another infusion of knowledge...

Click below to get a list of this week’s webinars from KI.

These are a compilation of Human Resource, Talent Management, Staffing and Recruiting as well as Best Practices around Change Management (or Deployment Excellence) as we call it.

As it continues to be difficult to travel to events, these are a great opportunity to learn and discover areas to take immediate action.

We hope you enjoy and look forward to your comments and feedback.

Another infusion of knowledge…

Don't Miss This Week's Webinars!

I thought I would make the newsletter available in the blog for those of you that do not receive.   Our monthly newsletter is received by a tremendous amount of people each month, and wanted to cross polinate the blog with the newsletter. ENJOY!

I hope you find the newsletter helpful each month.   This is just a small portion of the information available in the newsletter.  To register, click here.

Another infusion of knowledge…

Last week as part of my role at Knowledge Infusion,  I had the opportunity to present during 3 different webinars that had “live” attendance of over 700 people collectively.  When you get the rare opportunity to speak to that many people in a given week; live or via “today’s live” it is a true treat.  A few things I wanted to call out about these specific events.

• The webinar that I was lucky enough to be able to present in collaboration with HR Executive Magazine had the added benefit of helping the audience understand the power and significance of Twitter.  As part of the event, there are at least 100 new Twitter users that are following me on the tool.  If each week each of us could impact 100 people in that manner, wouldn’t the world be a better place.  For those that want to follow me on Twitter, CLICK HERE and then click the FOLLOW button.

• Jason Corsello and I had the opportunity as part of the Knowledge Infusion Optimize series to present to an audience via webinar the topic of User Experience and Adoption in today’s world.  As a result of that webinar, we have received an overwhelming number of discussion topics related to how HR can better help the workforce USE the tools that are being made available and better MARKET them for use by the masses.

• Lastly, I had the opportunity to present to a large HR technology class on Friday afternoon.  This is a class of undergraduate students moving into the HR world and as part of one of the Knowledge Infusion values of “partnership” and growing the future of the space, we discussed the ever-changing role and what they can do to ensure that when they enter the workforce, they are prepared for the changes coming in the future of work as well as the expectations that will be put on these future leaders as “business leaders” and not just “HR leaders”

Check our website often and register for these events when they are made available.  In a time when travel budgets are tough and the cycle speed of the world is changing faster than ever, webinars are a great way to continue your learning and understand the world we work in today.

I would love to hear what “topics” you would like to see presented at future webinars and what “topics” your executives would be most interested in learning about.

Another infusion of knowledge….

Please leave your comments/suggestions below..

I was lucky enough today to meet with two Executive Vice-Presidents of Human Resources.

• One was from an organization of 500 employees, profitable, growing and in a good position even in hard economic times
• One was from an organization 100x larger than the previous, profitable, looking forward to recovery and ready to take advantage of its strength in global markets

What I found fascinating about these two meetings today was the following:

• Both EVP's of HR were concerned about both cost savings "efficiency" and value creation "effectiveness"
• Both EVP's of HR were looking at ways to structure HR now to be in the best position for the future
• Both EVP's of HR felt that they have taken a "backseat" to how the organization spends money on technology and say they cannot afford not to invest any longer
• Both EVP's of HR question their ability to truly deliver what their "boards" are looking for based on infrastructure today
• Both EVP's of HR are looking to change their processes drastically from traditional HR processes to truly business embedded "value add" processes

On the airplane tonight, it got me thinking. Each of these organizations is looking to do the same thing, but there are also some variances.

• US only vs. Global
• Easy decision making vs. Large "political" infrastructure
• Not much legacy investments vs. huge legacy investments in HR technology
• Not many failed deployments vs. some failed deployments

So, "does size matter in HR technology?"

One of the most interesting things on my mind after today is that when looking at HR technology and its ability to impact organizational change, where the "key" differences are truly lie in the cultural aspects of change and the complexity around governing processes, not the actual technology itself. Each of the organizations mentioned could work with a common core HR solution, a common payroll solution and some common talent management solution if:

1. They were willing to make their processes "common"
2. They were willing to fight legacy philosophies and push changes
3. They were willing to brand and deploy HR technology in a new, sexy manner

It is a Friday night, sitting on the airplane drinking a beer, looking forward to seeing the family - and at the same time, cannot get out of my mind how amazingly different these two companies are and at the same time, how similar their needs truly COULD be.

What are your thoughts? Does size matter?

Another infusion of knowledge...

I wanted to take a second to let you know that from a Knowledge Infusion or myself personally point of view, I have NOT stopped blogging by any means.  The frequency of blogs is much greater now using Twitter as one of the main mechanisms.  I will continue to update this site with new content and blog entries on a weekly basis at least, but at this point, using Twitter as a daily blogging mechanism.  If you are not already, please follow me at:

http://www.twitter.com/jasonaverbook and click the follow button.

From a Knowledge Infusion standpoint, we will be doing a class for HR and IT professionals on how to use Twitter.  This will be an online class for 90 minutes that will get you started into this fascinating world.  If you are interested, please email me at jason.averbook@knowledgeinfusion.com as we are currently taking registrants for this online event.

Twitter is one of the best ways to learn "real-time" happenings in the HR technology and Talent Management technology space and will be a tool used by our community for years to come.

Your homework for today:

1. Set up a Twitter account at http://www.twitter.com
2. Click register and setup simple account
3. Using the above link, FOLLOW me today

Look forward to you following me.  I will Direct Message you back later in the day and look forward to collaborating.

"Tweet' soon and remember, let me know if interested in our online class as to how to use this fascinating technology.  Drop me a note at jason.averbook@knowledgeinfusion.com

On my flight back from the HR.com Employers of Excellence and HCM Investors Forum I had the opportunity to sit next to a gentleman who was working on workforce reductions.  A few things to note:

• During the flight he had 9 glasses of wine
• He was using a notebook with all of the names
• He had their ages and was using that as a factor
• He was crossing out names and then erasing the lines
• He asked me if I had ever had to do this
• He said he was told to cut 20%
• He was basing it on who could get a job somewhere else the easiest

This got me thinking more than ever about the economic downturn and the loss of jobs.  Take a read of the BusinessWeek article here.  Fascinating article about what companies should be thinking about as they swing their axes.

By the way, this amazing loss of jobs is the most exciting thing that has happened in talent management in ages.  Now is the time, it is here for HR to stand up and realize that people have been cut that shouldnt have been and HR has to prepare for how to optimize the workforce.

• Will we ever hire these people back at the same number?  NO
• Will we hire more contractors than ever in history?  YES
• Will we hire people back during 2009?  NO
• Will CEO's open the pocketbook easily in 2009 to rehire people we just let go?  NO

Take a read and put in place a 2009 Talent Optimization Strategy.  It is a new day, everything has been thrown out the window and it is time to start over and truly manage talent like a company needs, not like HR has done.

Another infusion of knowledge...