[http://knowledgeinfusion.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/ggenerationy.jpg]Generation 'Y' is defined by most as the cohort of people born immediately after Generation X, though the term is itself controversial and is synonymous with several alternative terms, listed below. It usually describes people born from the late 1970's through the 1990's.

With respect to United States (and also Canadian) generations, Generation Y is generally considered to be the last generation of people wholly born in the 20th century. Using the broadest definition commonly cited, Generation Y currently (as of 2006) includes those in their 20s, teenagers and children over the age of 6.

Here are some important functions in HR that by automation of processes as well as using best in class technologies will give your organization a radical edge over the competition.

Relationship recruiting - Great recruiting solutions have excellent functionality around Candidate Relationship Management

Employment branding - Important for all of HR to market themselves and their organizations

Candidate experience - The experience both online as well as to all of the forms of media about a company including blogs

Offer - Professional, focused on life benefits, stock options, family balance

Onboarding - Quickly employees decide whether they will stay in this generation

Mentoring - Focus on performance management and learning/development.  These employees expect that

Feedback - The once a year performance appraisal wont work for this group.  The performance cycle must be living and always on

Flexibility - Work from home, remote work, employee-manager direct access, portals, all important to this group

Career-pathing - Vision for the future.  Online succession planning, competency tools to grow etc.

This group of employees will make or break your organizations over the next 20 years.  You must have a talent strategy in place to deal with them.

[http://knowledgeinfusion.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/ki2.jpg]The outsourcing of functions within the HR organization have been around as long as HR departments have.  We had the opportunity to work with a client this week that was considering HR outsourcing; and in their eyes; it was equivalent to death.   

Before thinking that HR outsourcing is the end of the world (which even if the whole department and function was outsourced, the strategic component of managing people would still be required); you should ask yourself a few questions:

• Are we doing well in this given function today?

• Do people see this given function as one that drives organizational goals and behaviors?

• Will the organization lose revenue, customers, students if this function is outsourced?

• What area of HR could I focus on if I had more time?

• Are we outsourcing the function, the technology or both?

We often see clients become emotional over outsourcing and not realize that it does serve value in most organizations.  Whether it is outsourcing payroll, outsourcing benefits or outsourcing IT, each of these may be the right decision based on your organization and your existing infrastructure.

Outsourcing isn't the end of the world and can many times allow HR to reach its goals around becoming strategic in a shorter time than building an infrastructure internally that is already built elsewhere.

HR Technology 2006 gave attendees the opportunity to participate in many sessions, vendor shoot-outs, and the highly attended PeopleSoft customer panel. Over the last 2 weeks, Knowledge Infusion has received numerous questions and comments from press, analysts, vendors, and most importantly PeopleSoft customers on some tough issues brought up during the panel. I wanted to take a moment to clarify some of the most frequently asked questions and emphasize the STRATEGY approach that all PeopleSoft customers should be thinking about as they move forward with their HR Technology initiatives.

It came to my attention after the panel, that there are still clients thinking about leaving PeopleSoft for other HRMS vendors for because Oracle now owns PeopleSoft. I canâ??t see the acceptance of business case to throw out a multi-million dollar world-class HRMS just to implement another. The best way for HR to become strategic is to understand how best to leverage existing investments and move forward with strategic initiatives such as Talent Management. Spend the technology budget you have by making additional investments, not starting over.

Sure, there was some valid concern over the future of the PeopleSoft product line when Oracle initially bought PeopleSoft. Those fears however, have largely been addressed by Oracle. Today, PeopleSoft HRMS customers should feel confident that their investments in PeopleSoft will continue to pay off. Here's why:

â?¢Oracle has announced that not only are they developing PeopleSoft HRMS 9.0 but will continue to develop additional versions of PeopleSoft HRMS and enhance the product line going forward. This is a huge investment by Oracle, and one that shows PeopleSoft customers that they are committed to the HR/HCM space.

â?¢Oracle is demonstrating its commitment to Talent Management with continued investments in PeopleSoft ePerformance, Talent Acquisition Manager, Enterprise Learning Management and in release 9.0 new and existing Talent Management modules in core HR.

â?¢Oracle has announced that they will continue to support the PeopleSoft HRMS application with tax updates, patches and regulatory enhancements into the future. Another huge statement by Oracle that shows commitment to PeopleSoft customers.

â?¢Oracle continues to lead with PeopleSoft Enterprise HRMS in many new sales opportunities; they even showcased PeopleSoft Enterprise at the HR Technology â??shoot outâ?? against SAP (and won).

â?¢Oracle is working with many customers to gather feedback on what customers want to see in the next releases of PeopleSoft HRMS as well as Fusion. This shows that Oracle is continuing to listen and learn from the PeopleSoft customer base; something many were concerned about but shouldnâ??t be going forward.

â?¢Oracle has amazing talent in the organization led by individuals such as Gretchen Alarcon, Tracy Martin, and Carolyn Cozart--all PeopleSoft veterans looking out for the best interest of the client base.

â?¢Oracle continues to listen and put in place new support programs and policies to insure customers are receiving the highest level of support in the marketplace today. There will always be customers unhappy with support from software vendors, such as a few in attendance at the PeopleSoft panel, but from what we see Oracle is providing similar if not better levels of support compared to other software vendors in the HCM space.

So once again, what should PeopleSoft clients be doing other than thinking about re-platforming to another vendor:

1. Enhancing their foundation by using more of the PeopleSoft product line they already own - most clients only use 20-30% of the functionality.

2. Continue to invest in products to drive Human Capital/Talent Management results such as performance management, learning management and e-enable their HR foundation using the PeopleSoft direct access (self-service) applications.

3. Continue to INTEGRATE and use the PeopleSoft foundation to leverage web services and eliminate manual, legacy interfaces.

4. Deliver meaningful metrics and information through the PeopleSoft reporting tools to employees and managers enabling them to make better decisions in the workplace.

What organizations shouldnâ??t be doing is leaving one HRMS vendor for another, tossing years of work, experience and training away - starting from scratch, with little business value to show for it. At some point in the future, a change might make sense if an organization is truly going to consolidate on one enterprise solution such as Oracle EBS or SAP. Or perhaps, in the future, a wholesale change might make sense if new disruptive technologies and applications such as those being created by Workday based on SOA sweep the ERP landscape as client-server did to mainframes. But today, there is no reason to believe that Oracle is not going to continue to be a leader in the HR/HCM space for years to come based on their continued efforts and focus to serve a broad, diverse customer base.

STRATEGY ! Focus on what will allow HR to drive business results into the future, not the underlying technology. Deliver new programs that show the value that HR can bring to the enterprise and finally, focus on how to leverage your existing investment to drive a new level of result to your organization.

CNN has revealed the 10 Biggest Sins of a Boss.  They are as follows:

• Tries too hard to be everyone's friend

• Micromanages

• Ignores conflict

• Arrogant

• Wishy-washy

• Impulsive

• Unable to delegate

• Impatient

• Stubborn

• Unprofessional

Organizations more and more are using Performance Management, Goals Alignment and Portal/Communication technology to insure that bosses (managers) can become better leaders in organizations.  If you are looking at Performance Management technology; use it to solve many of these issues, not just automate a manual process.  Do you managers a favor, for National Bosses Day, give them tools over the next year to help them become better leaders and your entire organization will benefit.  See link below to complete CNN article:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/10/16/pf/boss_sins/index.htm?postversion=2006101613

HAPPY BOSSES DAY!!

Today we see the acquisition of Virtual Edge by ADP.  This consolidation continues and is a good and bad thing for our industry.  While companies need to provide great service to clients, technology innovation is important as well.  Lets never lose sight of this as HR and Technology professionals as this is the only way that HR will truly become strategic long-term in a sustainable way.