Our own Rob Bernshteyn published an article with the above title in the most recent edition of IHRIM.link.  It discusses the complex issue of how workforce performance management systems actually treat the employees and managers that are expected to use them. While terms like "human capital supply" are bandied about pretty freely, can we really treat people like supplies? Obivously, the answer is no – and Rob discusses the implications of this and alternative approaches in the article.

The complete version can be found after the jump.

Today’s Workforce Performance Management Systems:
Have we forgotten about the employee?

Introduction:
Many would agree that an exciting trend towards improved Workforce Performance Management is underway. The focus of Executive Management has finally shifted to the workforce as the next frontier of organizational efficiency. This accelerating trend is witnessed in the growing demand for Workforce Performance Management enterprise software and thus the proliferation of software vendors pitching their latest wares. We have seen vendor offerings positioned as everything from ‘Enterprise-Wide Talent Management’ to ‘Human Capital Supply Chain’ management. In many cases, robust features and functions promise huge returns on investment and impact on the organization. But, often missing is a real focus on the end-user. After all, the end-users are the managers and the employees of the organization. Are they not the ‘talent’ and the ‘human capital supply’ we are talking about? Can people really be managed like ‘supplies’ or ‘inventory?’ Most would agree that they can’t. The implications call for a radically different approach.

Avoiding New Intrusive Processes
Moving inventory around in a warehouse to get accurate numbers or counting cash received from customers does not bother the ‘cash’ nor the ‘inventory’ as they are not human and do not mind. But asking employees to complete convoluted, redundant, and often irrelevant systems-based performance assessments or goal plans is intrusive to their daily job duties and generally bothersome. Today’s Workforce Performance Management deployments should start by leveraging existing known business processes and making them easier, more streamlined, and intuitive for the end-user rather then introducing completely new ways of doing things right way.

Creating Usefulness and Win-Win
The first question on the minds of the end-user (manager or employee) is often: What will I get out of using this new system? World-Class Workforce Performance Management applications deliver capabilities that are immediately useful and valuable for the end-user. For example, since as the end-user I already manage a ToDo list, why isn’t the Goal Management capability offered by software vendors simply an extension of this ToDo list allowing me to map my daily tasks, milestones, targets, and metrics to organizational goals? Why can’t I then have limited visibility to the ongoing ToDos of my peers, superiors, and subordinates at some defined level of granularity? Will this not increase visibility and alignment across the company while not forcing me to adhere to some ‘NEW’ HR Process that may or may not get broad adoption in the months and years to come?

Delivering True Ease of Use
Traditionally, the enterprise software purchasing process involved gathering a long list of all possible features and functions that could possibly exist in a given solution. This list was then used to develop a comprehensive RFP for vendor selection. . The winner of the business would typically be the vendor with the most features in their product. In almost every case along the way, the focus on true ease of use was lost. This is evident in the increasing length of time required for HR to rollout training on new applications to their user communities. There is a very good chance that many of the users sitting in on this training have purchased books on Amazon.com or configured a laptop purchases on Dell.com or are running successful evening businesses on eBay.com. In almost all cases, these users never had training from Amazon, Dell, or eBay but are successfully using highly complex applications with no training at all. This is because these companies have made the user experience simple. Only truly World-Class Workforce Performance Management vendors have systems that can do this as well.

Overcoming Resistance to Change
We all know that the majority of organizations today still use Desktop Applications like MS Word and MS Excel for many of the capabilities that Workforce Performance Management applications were developed to streamline. Regardless of the obvious benefits of WPM software, the end-user has grown very accustomed to these desktop applications and requires a simple migration option to help them overcome their natural human tendency of resistance to change. For example, would you really want to introduce an entirely new Compensation Planning capability without offering the user the option of easily exporting data out to Excel? Even if the WPM system offers deep Analytical and Reporting capabilities, the end-user will likely not want to switch overnight until they have seen the sustained value of the WPM system. In the first Compensation Planning cycle or two they may still want to do some editing in Excel or maybe even ‘Print’ some data.

Maximizing Experiential Learning
Since we all know that ‘Experience is the Best Teacher’ why do we still insist on having a large percentage of our new user training provided in an out-of-context setting? World-Class WPM systems offer real-time learning videos and help in the context of any process in their systems along with introductory training for first time users. End-users and HR can then avoid all the coordination hassles associated with sitting in on long classroom training sessions or webinars that often deliver more information than will be necessary for any given user. As discussed earlier, today’s employees are also satisfied users of internet applications which offer a myriad of contextual and experiential learning. A great majority of this learning is delivered just in time for the end-user, thereby decreasing the amount non-applicable content they need to wade through to successfully complete their tasks in the system.

Delivering Proven Capabilities Quickly
We all know that of the hundreds of feature-level capabilities offered by enterprise software vendors, only small percentages are ever used. While in some cases, HR decides which feature-level capabilities are used, more often then not it is the end-user that determines which are truly usable and valuable. The priority then becomes understanding end-user behavior and expanding on key capabilities in each new release of the product. World-Class WPM vendors work in a Software-as-a-Service business model, delivering applications on demand. This approach allows them to continuously iterate on feature-level capability development and offer the best of the best capabilities in their products. Traditional vendors offering licensed software that requires onsite installation or even vendors that simply host customer applications are not able to take advantage of this ability to quickly iterate and deliver the best capabilities to their end-users.

Allowing Access Anyplace at Anytime
Dispersion of work groups to locations throughout the world is accelerating. These work groups are comprised of end-users that want the flexibility of accessing any and all of their personal and corporate information anytime and anyplace. Reviewing a subordinate’s self assessment or adjusting a goal plan should be activities available to end-users at all times and from any location. World-Class WPM solutions require nothing more than access to the Internet for end-users to be immediately productive. They are delivered completely over the internet with superior levels of encryption and advanced security measures. Effectively, having an internet browser becomes the only desktop application required for end-users.

Establishing Trust
Nothing destroys credibility more than constant changes to processes that were initially introduced as permanent. When HR introduces new WPM processes and then replaces software due to lack of user-adoption, the HR/end-user relationship is often permanently stained. Only a real structured process for a sustained period of time can build trust with the end-user. In addition, this sustained period of time allows users to gradually overcome initial resistance. As this resistance continues to subside, it is advantageous to begin introducing other fully-integrated processes and capabilities. World-Class WPM solution providers are able to deliver these capabilities On Demand to their customers and inevitability their customer’s end users. Therefore, choosing a WPM solution provider that can truly form an ongoing partnership with your organization is one way to ensure the trust required of end-users.

Conclusion:
Achieving significant increases in employee engagement and performance efficiency is a very real and timely challenge for the Human Resources community. The solutions required call for the right mix of process modification and supporting technologies. When selecting and deploying these chosen technologies it is critical not to lose focus on arguably the most important constituent: the end-user. After all, you, as HR, are simply making buying and deployment decisions on behalf of potentially hundreds or thousands of users. Only with such a focus can you expect to reap the rewards of exceptional time-to-value and a significantly more motivated, developed, and productive workforce. The employees will thank you, too.

By Rob Bernshteyn
Director of Product Marketing
SuccessFactors