[http://knowledgeinfusion.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/ki1_3.jpg]Liz Ryan contributes a great article with a link below in this weeks BusinessWeek.  Here are a few clips from the article and some areas where I see HR technology playing a key role:

"Any analogy that you can think of to describe a typical business leader's assignment falls short under scrutiny. People say leading a department is like quarterbacking a football team. That might be true if the players constantly moved on and off the field, the rules regularly changed in midplay, and the entire coaching staff might decide to change strategic direction and abandon football for lacrosse.

Or people say that a business leader is like an orchestral conductor. That's nice and dignified, but I've never seen a real-life orchestra where the oboes were unexpectedly given the cellists' music to play, or where the audience might suddenly decide, en masse, that they prefer bluegrass music to the Beethoven concerto you're conducting, and depart the auditorium. When you think about what a business manager has got on his or her plate, you realize that a management career isn't for the weak-willed or wimpy. There's way too much at stake, from quarterly numbers and career paths to product launches and system crashes, to take the leadership role lightly."

THE ABOVE POINT TO THE NEED FOR DATA ACCESS, DECISION SUPPORT TOOLS, AND CONTENT AND COLLABORATION AT A SINGLE KEYSTROKE.

"Think, for instance, about the typical corporate performance-review process. As an HR person myself, I would think that a critical priority would be to implement the simplest and most time-effective performance-appraisal system ever. But that's not always what I see. Companies heap process on process and form on top of form, tying up managers' (and their teams') time. And that's a mistake. If we don't trust our managers to manage well, maybe what we need is new managers (or more trusting executives) rather than another time-sucking process. "

THIS CLEARLY SUPPORTS THE NEED TO AUTOMATE PROCESSES AND HAVE AVAILABLE FOR MANAGERS TO INTERACT WITH AS PART OF THEIR DAILY JOBS INSTEAD OF A PAINSTAKING TASK NOT PART OF THEIR WORK DAY.

The remainder of this article reminds us that what we do on a daily basis is not only to keep the lights on in the HR department, but to deliver tools and services to employees and managers to enable true human capital management and the strategy of optimizing the people asset.  As HR departments realize more that talent management technologies do make a difference, the better our managers will be equipped to deal with their difficult roles in an enterprise.

http://www.businessweek.com/careers/content/nov2006/ca20061127_568120.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_careers

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">!http://knowledgeinfusion.typepad.com/knowlege_infusion_blog/images/ki53.jpg![http://knowledgeinfusion.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/ki53.jpg]Now that youâ??ll be sleeping well due to the go-live of your HR, Talent Management, HCM project, itâ??s time for a phase of the project that you will not see addressed in any project methodology.  I like to call this the â??Vigilanceâ?? phase.  Dictionary.com defines vigilance as simply â??alert watchfulness.â??  I think this definition suits this phase well.  The vigilance phase canâ??t be planned â?? itâ??s almost all reaction mode.</span>

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Although itâ??s important to celebrate the important gains made thus far in your project journey, itâ??s even more important to remain vigilant.  It is at this point in many projects where previously unknown issues are discovered as more and more users begin to use the technology.  These problems can snowball and negatively impact the perception of the user community toward the system.   The Vigilance Phase is much more than â??Production Supportâ??, itâ??s an attitude.  In this post go-live phase, user perception is the key to your success.  Here are some suggestions on how to be vigilant:</span>

1. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"># Donâ??t discount any reports of problems or functionality glitches â?? not matter how seemingly minor.  Investigate everything!  Most issues will not turn out to be major problems.  If you can solve a problem early, you just might be preserving a positive view of the system by the user community â?? which will keep user adoption high.</span>#

1. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"># There will be some flame-ups (itâ??s inevitable).  These flame-ups may be technical issues, functionality issues, or expectation management/communication issues.  Have a SWAT team identified and ready to be called upon to stamp out flame-ups.  Address flame-ups quickly and communicate with confidence about solutions.</span>#

1. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"># Itâ??s not a failure when issues arise - Itâ??s a normal part of technology implementations.  Addressing these post go-live issues is just another part of the final phase of your implementation.  Be prepared to react quickly and decisively. </span>#

1. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"># Stay vigilant for a month (at least) after go-live.  Often problems donâ??t become clear until a large number of users exercise the application.</span>#

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<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">By recognizing the importance of the Vigilance Phase, you will be taking a major step toward insuring the success of your HCM project.  If you would like to discuss further; mailto:andrew.gebavi@knowledge-infusion.com.</span>

<span face="Times New Roman"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt">!http://knowledgeinfusion.typepad.com/knowlege_infusion_blog/images/ki3.jpg![http://knowledgeinfusion.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/ki3.jpg]</span>

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Even my grandmother is using the internet on a daily basis.  She reads her favorite websites, emails friends and family, orders groceries online, checks weather reports and even emails me pictures of men that would be more appropriate in a firemenâ??s calendar than in my company email.  Like other internet savvy 72 year olds, she expects the websites to be user friendly and provide up to date information.  Itâ??s no wonder that HR organizations are feeling the heat from their customers to provide better employee and manager direct access.  People are accustomed to websites that update information immediately and allow them the ability to control their own personal information.  You donâ??t have to be a software developer to know that if Delta Airlines can provide accurate on-line flight status, then HR and IT organizations should be able to provide employees and managers with basic HR information and services that are accurate and timely.</span>

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><span face="Times New Roman">As HR Organizations look to improve their technology services and delivery channels for employees, they frequently re-evaluate their Employee Portals.

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><span face="Times New Roman">The evaluation of the Employee Portal quickly becomes bigger than the bread box and organizations find themselves in analysis paralysis as they try to determine how to accomplish it all.  Single sign-on, personalization, accurate data and effective integration with corporate white pages are just the basics.  When you tack on performance management solutions, talent acquisition services, learning management solutions and connect these Talent Management components for the end user; the list of hot ticket items quickly becomes long.  Creating an Employee Portal with the above end user functionality can be daunting.  Espe<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><span face="Times New Roman">cially for organizations that are accustomed to lengthy and highly structured development approaches.

<span face="Times New Roman"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The organizations that are having the most success creating Employee Portals are eating the elephant one bite at a time.   Rather than focusing on the end dream solution for the Employee Portal, organizations are shifting to rapid deployment approaches.  This doesnâ??t mean skipping the typical analysis, design and documentation.  It does mean delivering basic functionality, putting it in front of the end users, evaluating what works and then quickly modifying the technology solution to include enhancements in regularly scheduled releases.  Creating a release strategy that gets something out there even if itâ??s an evolutionary product helps organizations move in the direction of successful Employee Portals.  However, many HR departments fear that if they donâ??t deliver the dream end state solution then they will lose credibility and ultimately end user usage of their Employee Portals.  In the mean time employees are wondering why amazon.com and expedia.com provide real time information and their HR departments canâ??t provide accurate phone numbers that were changed via a paper form 4 months ago.</span>

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><span face="Times New Roman">In the past the HCM technology solutions that were successful were those which had detailed business requirements and functional specifications that were created over lengthy review cycles and buy in from the functional owners. This model is changing as HR technology solutions begin to be created for the casual user and not the HR Generalist or HR SuperUser.  Although it continues to be important to understand the business requirements and take into account the usability of the Employee Portal, itâ??s also important to start delivering services to the customers. This means breaking the technical work into small, do-able pieces that help to establish credibility with the employees. Employees understand that the website where they view their paycheck may not be as sophisticated as mortgage calculator on Yahoo but as long as their paycheck is accurate, secure, timely theyâ??ll be okay without single-sign on to enroll in their upcoming training class.

<span face="Times New Roman"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Like my grandmother, employees are accustomed to evolving technology and services.  As long as users start to see some value-add in the short term, theyâ??ll be back in the long term to see the cool bells and whistles of the Employee Portalâ?¦ maybe even a corporate calendar with personalized content that even my grandmother would be interested in viewing.</span>

<span face="Times New Roman"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Send me an email with comments: mailto:amber.lloyd@knowledge-infusion.com</span>

<span face="Times New Roman">This week we were able to meet with at least five VPâ??s of HR who have and continue to change their focus as leaders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>This change is exactly what the profession needs and is very refreshing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>I thought I would share with you a few traits I have seen in these modern day HR leaders based on a week on the road:

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<span face="Times New Roman">* Thinking differently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">*  </span>* HR leaders of today, in order to survive, are thinking about business results.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">*  </span>* Examples are things like:

<span face="Times New Roman">** How can I sell more product?

<span face="Times New Roman">** How can I raise customer satisfaction?

<span face="Times New Roman">** Why are people the company leaving and what is the impact on our customers?

<span face="Times New Roman">** What is the opportunity cost of leaving a position vacant?

<span face="Times New Roman">** Who are the future leaders of the company and how do we secure them now for the long-term?

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<span face="Times New Roman">* I met with at least 3 VPâ??s of HR who are taking long, hard looks in the mirror and trying to understand how their competition is beating them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">*  </span>* The world of HR right now is a game that no VP feels they are winning or leading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">*  </span>* The benchmarks are not traditional HR benchmarks either, they are IMPACT ON BUSINESS benchmarks

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<span face="Times New Roman">* More and more, VPâ??s of HR are technology confused.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">*    </span>* This is not a bad thing, but it requires that everyone in this position surround themselves with people who understand technology today and MORE IMPORTANTLY, where it is going tomorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">*  </span>* The skill set of this technology leader in HR consists of:

<span face="Times New Roman">** The ability to COLLABORATE with IT

<span face="Times New Roman">** The ability to understand a company/organization strategy and turn it into ACTION

<span face="Times New Roman">** The ability not to get caught up in vendors jargon, but really look at what is important to the organization

<span face="Times New Roman">** The ability to network outside of HR and work with business leaders to understand needs and requirements

<span face="Times New Roman">** The ability to understand marketing and the importance of marketing in deploying HR initiatives.

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<span face="Times New Roman">* Lastly, I have seen VPâ??s of HR saying to themselves; â??It is OK to outsource functions, but I am going to be dang good at the strategic parts of HR.â??.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">*  </span>* This is a strategy that I expect to see continue over time as HR gets out of the back office support mechanism and steps up to the front lines.

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<span face="Times New Roman">I had the opportunity to deliver a webinar to some of the largest companies in the world this week as part of our Knowledge Infusion Talent Management JumpStart series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>Here is a link if you are interested in listening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>There were great questions from the audience that once again supported the notion that HR is changing and changing rapidly.

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<span face="Times New Roman">Keep the comments coming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>Reply to this posting on how you think HR is changing today!!

[http://knowledgeinfusion.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/ki1_1.jpg] Anyone who owns economically sensitive stocks (e.g., retailers) likely took a hit to their portfolio on Thursday. I was reading a story on TheStreet.com (see Gold Up on Dour Data) today about a spike in gold prices due to the soft or hard economic landing that may be upon us. The storyâ??s focus about a commodity whose price goes up when the strength of the dollar goes down was not particularly compelling to a management consultant like me. What struck me was news out of the Labor Department driving the fear that the Federal Reserve might have to put the brakes on our economy with further inflation-fighting interest rate hikes.

What news, you ask? The Labor Department reported that productivity in the third quarter was flat, as the tight labor market led to less output per worker. Economists Embedded in the productivity report, unit labor costs rose 3.8%, higher than the 3.4% rise that economists expected. The jump means unit labor costs are rising at a 5.3% pace year over year -- the highest level since 1982, and well above the 20-year average of 1.9% according to the report.

So does this mean that talented people are really getting harder to find? I think itâ??s an indicator. While the numbers above represent just a few data points marking what occurred in a 3-month period, anecdotally, I can tell you that a lot of the clients Knowledge Infusion works with have more openings than qualified people.

Do the higher wages mean that employees are gaining leverage with their employers? The ones with the right skills and experience are.

Does it mean that US companies have stretched the limits of business process re-engineering and outsourcing work or starting new operations in regions where wages are lower? No. But the shortage of qualified people in this country will far outstrip what multinationals can reallocate for years to come as Baby Boomers opt for a gold watch (i.e., retirement). Research from a variety of credible sources like The Conference Board, The Economist, and Knowledge Infusion (You probably guessed Iâ??m partial to this organization! You can download the results of a benchmarking study we did on the impact of Baby Boomer retirement, how a shortage of talent is hindering shareholder value at a lot of companies in many different ways, and how organizations are dealing with it here or just email me at mailto:mike.brennan@knowledge-infusion.com so that I can send it to you.).

Is this good news for smart HR and non-HR managers who are adept at efficiently managing talent (i.e., attracting, developing, deploying, and rewarding skillful people)? You bet it does. And it is also good news to the technology and services vendors who can help.

Am I painting the picture with broad strokes here? Absolutely. I realize the tight labor market is not universal, not every organization is starved for senior leadership, and that not every talented person has a great job and 3 offers from other employers. However, Iâ??m not just reading about a talent shortage. Iâ??m hearing it from clients every day â?? from the retailers who canâ??t find enough people to open new locations to a global financial services firm who would like to fill 6,000 positions yesterday.

WHAT DO YOU SEE HAPPENING AT YOUR ORGANIZATION? ARE GOOD PEOPLE TOUGHER TO FIND? ARE WAGES GOING UP? IS PRODUCTIVITY AT RISK? IS HR BEING CALLED UPON TO HELP? SEND SOME COMMENTS!