Ready, Set, Go! · 2017-07-11 · CORNERSTONE ONDEMAND • WHITEPAPER • READY, SET, GO — A GAME PLAN FOR TALENT MANAGEMENT IN THE MIDMARKET –3– Organizations that invest in

Ready, Set, Go!A Game Plan for Talent Management

in the Midmarket

C O R N E R S T O N E O N D E M A N D • W H I T E P A P E R • R E A D Y, S E T, G O — A G A M E P L A N F O R T A L E N T M A N A G E M E N T I N T H E M I D M A R K E T

– 1 –

Organizations that have survived the global economy

of the past few years have experienced the new

business reality: the dawn of the “Human Age” — a time

in which human potential has become the major agent

in economic growth.1 Midsize organizations know that

having the right talent, in the right place, at the right time

is no longer an aspirational desire — it’s a must-have

ingredient in today’s fiercely competitive business scene.

The Human Age also brings new opportunities for

progressive human resource leadership within midsize

organizations, as HR leaders are being called upon to

deliver higher organizational value within the financial

and organizational constraints of the business. The

challenges are complex:

• How can the midsize organization attract top

talent in a tight labor market?

• How do I increase employee efficiency while

operating under constrained budgets with

limited opportunities to add head count?

• How can talent be mobilized globally and cross-

functionally to maximize business results?

• What is the true measure and depth of existing

bench strength?

• Who are the future leaders, and how can they

be developed for the business challenges

of tomorrow?

The answers lie in developing a unified learning and

talent management strategy that’s aligned to the

business and automated with cloud-based technology.

Midsize organizations that are considering technology

to optimize their talent strategy are also well aware of

the significance of this undertaking. It takes serious

research and careful planning to ensure that your

company can experience the highest possible adoption,

effectiveness and long-term ROI from a unified talent

and learning management solution.

In this three-part series, we’ll remove the mystery and

lay the groundwork for planning, selecting and imple-

menting technology to support the learning and talent

management processes in the midsize organization:

Introduction

1 Joerres, Jeffrey. Welcome to the Human Age. Manpower Inc. 2011.

GET READY — In this first report, we’ll identify the steps necessary to develop

a business case that will result in a green-light approval for pursuing a talent

management technology solution.

GET SET — Our second white paper will outline the support you need to navigate

the vendor selection process and help you prepare for the organizational changes

needed to support your technology selection.

ALL SYSTEMS GO — In our third and final white paper in this series, we’ll provide

best practices for a successful system implementation and strategies for creating the

ultimate in employee adoption and empowerment.


– 2 –

While the impetus to pursue a talent management

technology solution typically resides within the hu-

man resources function, the decision to move forward

— and ultimately the success of the initiative — is de-

pendent upon the involvement of many internal stake-

holders. Few business processes impact as many internal

“touch points” as talent management, so involve spon-

sors, influencers and key decision makers early in the

process for the most effective support and stewardship.

Once executive-level sponsors are on board, assemble

a selection and evaluation project team comprised of

members representing HR, multiple business lines and

IT staff to oversee the talent management technology

initiative. This team is responsible for stakeholder

analyses to identify executive, business, employee and

HR needs for the system. Key questions to be asked

should include: 2

• What key business problems are we trying

to solve?

• What are the challenges and needs of

line managers?

• What processes do we already have in

place that require accommodation?

• How hard will the system be to learn,

customize and administer?

• What key reports and dashboards must

we have in place during the first phase of

implementation? What reports do we use

today that must be replicated?

With executive sponsorship and a working project team

in place, it’s time to start building a business case for

securing a talent management technology solution.

Get Ready

2 Bersin, Josh and Jones, Katherine. Talent Management Systems Buyer’s Guide. Bersin & Associates. November 2011. To purchase the report, visit http://www.bersin.com/Practice/Detail.aspx?docid=14872&mode=search&p=Talent-Management

Assemble a project team.


– 3 –

Organizations that invest in effective talent manage-

ment practices consistently outperform their industry

peers. An even greater advantage is gleaned by those

organizations that have more of a unified approach in

which various talent practices inform and influence

each other.3 However, if your company relies on manu-

al processes for talent and learning management, or if

systems exist but are “siloed” and disconnected from

one another, then you understand the pain points that

inherently exist within either scenario:

Build the Business Case

3 Berger, Lance and Berger, Dorothy. The Talent Management Handbook, Second Edition. 2011.

RECRUITING AND ONBOARDING — speed of hire is dramatically reduced with

manual or disconnected processes for sourcing, tracking and onboarding candidates.

PERFORMANCE — time spent completing manual forms, tracking approvals and filing

paperwork is inefficient and ineffective.

LEARNING — increased travel costs, vacant training rooms and expensive training

resources result from a lack of automated learning solutions.

GOAL ALIGNMENT — top-level strategic goals are not clearly cascaded throughout

the organization, causing reduced productivity from time spent on work that does not

directly support key business drivers.

SUCCESSION — successors are not proactively identified to fill critical role vacancies,

exposing the company to potential disruption of business operations.

DEVELOPMENT — engagement, retention and productivity are diminished because

future leaders are not effectively groomed.

Identify the sources of pain.

By implementing a unified talent and learning management software solution, you’ll eliminate the painful experi-

ences associated with manual people management processes.


– 4 –

For a midsize company developing a talent ma-

nagement strategy for the first time, it’s important

to understand that there is no “one size fits all”

approach to developing the best talent management

processes, because organizations are as unique as the

people and cultures within them. But there are best

practices. To build a strong and credible business case,

you need a clear understanding of your organization’s

highest-level goals, your unique business challenges,

the operational priorities and a detailed road map

describing how talent initiatives will meet those

challenges. Once you have a strategy in place, a

unified talent and learning management solution not

only reinforces your talent management processes,

it also helps you create a culture of empowerment

within your company.

Create your road map.

As you build the business case, be prepared to iden-

tify and recommend solutions to address both

short- and long-term talent challenges for your midsize

company. The first question an organization must an-

swer in its quest for talent management software is,

“What business problems are we trying to solve?” The

answer is not “automating our performance manage-

ment process” but, rather, statements like:

• “We want to save time in the performance manage-

ment process.”

• “We want to capture higher-quality information on

development needs to improve workforce skills.”

• “We want to implement a sound succession manage-

ment process to improve our leadership pipeline.”

• “We want to implement a pay-for-performance

program to improve workforce competitiveness.”4

Recommend solutions.

It is also useful to determine who in the organization will

use the new talent management system. Identify their use

in terms of their technical capabilities, what they will use

the system for and how often, and what other technology

tools or systems they are currently using to manage talent

management-related responsibilities. Understanding the

variety of users who utilize the new system will help you

vet potential vendor solutions during the selection process.

Identify user needs.

It’s also prudent to anticipate other organizational

initiatives or processes that may hinder the talent

management technology adoption. List any known or

anticipated “showstoppers” by relevance and potential

impact, along with logical ways to prevent roadblocks

from having a significant impact on your progress. For

example, coordinating the technology implementation

to take place when no other initiatives would compete

for the same critical resources.

With an understanding of the business goals and a

sound talent management strategy, you’ll be better pre-

pared to evaluate the systems, architectures, delivery

models and implementation strategies available from

talent and learning management software solutions.

Anticipate roadblocks.

4 Laurano, Madeline. Selecting a Talent Management Suite. Bersin & Associates. May 2010. To purchase the report, visit http://www.bersin.com/Practice/Detail.aspx?docid=12353&mode=search&p=Talent-Management

Many companies now realize that talent management systems have the potential to drive transformational business change — they are no longer simply automation solutions.5


– 5 –

With the economy in the slow lane to recovery,

businesses remain cautious with capital expen-

ditures. You need a strong and clear return on invest-

ment (ROI) plan developed before seeking approval

for capital to fund new initiatives. The intent of an ROI

plan is to clearly articulate and quantify the value the

organization will receive from an investment in a uni-

fied learning and talent management software solution.

A best-practice approach is to create a story that illustrates

how the investment will add value and pay off over time,

allowing executives and stakeholders to envision the direct

connection to the business. This type of high-impact

business case should include both direct benefits (identified

through the outcomes aligned to specific measures) and

indirect benefits (described as other business measures

and descriptions of the user experience).6

The deployment method you select for the technology

solution will affect your total cost of ownership (TCO).

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) systems, rather than

on-premise hardware solutions, provide the lowest

TCO plus the additional benefits of:

• Reduced deployment time

• Minimal involvement from internal IT resources

• Reduced hardware and administration costs

• Vendor-managed maintenance and upgrades

• Predictable license-based expenses

In order to create an ROI case, the TCO of the new solution

needs to be estimated. This is the investment that is

to be paid back in savings and margin increases. That

payback period is calculated with the following formula

with estimations for both one-time and recurring costs:7

Tell the ROI and TCO story.

5 Bersin, Josh. Cornerstone OnDemand: Innovating in Client Success Management in the Talent Management Systems Market. Bersin & Associates. August 2011. To purchase the report, visit http://www.bersin.com/Practice/Detail.aspx?docid=14753&mode=search&p=Talent-Management

6 Johnson, Al. Talent Management Systems RFP Toolkit. Bersin & Associates. July 2009. To purchase the report, visit http://www.bersin.com/Practice/Detail.aspx?docid=10702&mode=search&p=Talent-Management

7 Iconixx Software and Cornerstone OnDemand. Whiteboard to Reality: Win Funding for Your 2012 Talent Management Strategy. http://www.cornerstoneondemand.com/archived-webinars

8 O’Leonard, Karen. The HR Factbook 2011: Benchmarks and Trends in HR Spending, Staffing and Resource Allocations. Bersin & Associates. June 2011. To purchase the report, visit http://www.bersin.com/Practice/Detail.aspx?id=103314059

Today’s HR organizations in midsize companies spend 7 percent of their budgets, on average, on various tools and technologies.

ROI Payback Time(months)

= 12 х (capital investment)

(est. annual savings) + (est. annual incremental margin)


– 6 –

Most midsize organizations rely on a legacy HRMS

to run their core HR processes such as payroll,

benefits administration and compliance reporting.

In fact, 60 percent of U.S. organizations are using

multiple HR systems. The majority of those systems

are stand-alone, meaning there is little or no sharing of

data across the systems within the organization.9 But

because many of these core HR systems are commonly

integrated with the company’s financial management

tools, it’s unlikely that they’ll be easily replaced by a

talent management system. However, fewer than 15

percent of all buyers want to buy a talent management

module from their current HRMS vendor.10

It’s important to understand the scope and integration

points of any existing technology before bringing on

additional software. A better approach may be to

seamlessly connect a fully unified talent and learning

management software solution to your existing

core HRMS.

Take Inventory

9 Ibid.

10 Bersin, Josh and Jones, Katherine. Talent Management Systems Buyer’s Guide. November 2011. Bersin & Associates. To purchase the report, visit http://www.bersin.com/Practice/Detail.aspx?docid=14872&mode=search&p=Talent-Management

HR

MS

Sys

tem


– 7 –

Once you have a clear understanding of your

midsize business’ strategy, you can start to identify

which talent management initiatives will support the

talent needs today versus in the next three to five

years. Prioritize your talent and learning management

software strategy based on the business impact that is

needed most for today’s pressing business challenges.

For example, midsize companies in the early stages of

developing a talent management strategy will benefit

from introducing technology to create efficiency by

automating the performance management process.

For organizations that are further along the talent

management maturity path, using robust technology

tools to create detailed development plans that are

aligned with organizational succession planning

initiatives may deliver the most impact.

Clearly detailing the functional requirements needed

from any technology solution is an important step

in the selection of software. Not only will this help

you identify and prioritize the functionality that’s

necessary, it also informs potential solution providers

of the most important features you require from a

talent management system.

Finally, based on your company’s business require-

ments and growth plans, any talent management

software should provide you with the “legs” to support

your organization’s strategy for at least the next five

to seven years to realize the full value of your capital

investment. Systems should be easily customizable,

scalable and allow for the integration of additional

solutions as business needs change.

Identify the Core Learning and Talent Management Components

9 Ibid.

10 Bersin, Josh and Jones, Katherine. Talent Management Systems Buyer’s Guide. November 2011. Bersin & Associates. To purchase the report, visit http://www.bersin.com/Practice/Detail.aspx?docid=14872&mode=search&p=Talent-Management

RecruitingCloud

PerformanceCloud

LearningCloud

ExtendedEnterprise

Cloud

Recruiting Cloud

Performance Cloud

Learning Cloud

Extended Enterprise Cloud


– 8 –

Midsize businesses that are ready to embrace

the "Human Age" understand that reaching a

level of talent management maturity doesn’t happen

overnight. Organizations typically evolve to this level

over a number of years, progressing through a series of

stages. Once you’ve developed your business case for

an automated, unified learning and talent management

solution, we’ll help you get set for the next step in

the process — evaluating vendors and addressing

changing management needs — in our second white

paper in this three-part series.

Conclusion

About Cornerstone OnDemand

Cornerstone OnDemand is a leading global provider of a comprehensive learning and talent management solution.

We enable organizations to meet the challenges they face in empowering their people and maximizing the productivity

of their human capital. Our integrated software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution consists of the Cornerstone Recruiting

Cloud, the Cornerstone Performance Cloud, the Cornerstone Learning Cloud and the Cornerstone Extended

Enterprise Cloud. Our clients use our solution to source and recruit top talent, develop employees throughout their

careers, engage all employees effectively, improve business execution, cultivate future leaders, and integrate with

their external networks of customers, vendors and distributors. Visit us on the Web at www.csod.com.

Documents

Ready, Set, Go! · 2017-07-11 · CORNERSTONE ONDEMAND • WHITEPAPER • READY, SET, GO — A GAME PLAN FOR TALENT MANAGEMENT IN THE MIDMARKET –3– Organizations that invest in