In a recent blog I discussed some of the impacts that cloud-based computing is likely to have on HR strategies and policies in the coming decade. The term cloud-based computing is actually used to cover a number of different aspects of computing – including infrastructure, platforms and the software applications themselves. These different variants are typically described as ‘something-as-a-service’.
The *aaS that has most immediate relevance to HR is Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). In this post I look at the specific relevance of the SaaS model in the HR field.
SaaS is the fastest growing part of the business software market and HR is one of the sectors where SaaS is having a real impact. Youmanage is an example of a SaaS company working in the HR space.
SaaS has a many widely-quoted benefits over traditional on-premise software, including lower cost of ownership, faster deployment cycles, built-in ‘future-proofing’ and no big, up-front license fees.
However there are also a number of specific reasons why SaaS makes sense in the HR field, over and above the generic benefits of this software model. The benefits of SaaS in the HR context include:
1. Democratising access to information. HR applications increasingly need to be accessed by every person in an organisation. The old HR software model, where all employee information was stored on a central database that only HR could access, is now widely recognised as inefficient and a barrier to good management. Managers need access to their team’s records or HR policy information, employees need access to be able to book holidays or update their personal details.
SaaS applications are typically built to be easily accessible by a broad population of users. With SaaS it’s far easier to roll-out a new application across an organisation. There’s no need to install software on lots of individual user’s PCs and laptops. All they need is the URL to access the service and their own unique username and password.
2. Enabling mobile workforces. Fewer workers now carry out their roles from a single, fixed physical location. It’s far more common for people to work from a variety of different ‘remote’ locations. HR users need access to their business apps and information wherever they happen to be – whether that’s at an external conference, a satellite office, at home or on a client’s site. With SaaS as long as someone has access to the internet they have access to all of their useful information and tools wherever they are. There’s no more need to bother with the hassle of setting up a secure VPN, which can be a major source of hassle for business users.
3. Easier use of external resources. Many companies today outsource some aspect of their HR. For a small business this might mean utilising an independent HR consultant on a retainer, for a large enterprise it could mean outsourcing a complete business process to an overseas provider.
Closed IT systems can often be a barrier to working efficiently with external HR providers. The use of a SaaS-based system makes it far easier to provide secure, controlled access to relevant data and processes to an authorised third party, without all of the security and IT hassles involved in enabling a third-party to access your internal network.
4. Better equipped end-users. SaaS-based services make it far easier for relevant value-adding content (e.g. training materials, legislative guidance, management tools) to be integrated within the software, thereby providing more comprehensive support to end-users.
An example is Youmanage’s own online HR toolkit, which offers up-to-date guidance on employment legislation and management best practise as an integrated part of the solution. This means that a user (whether that’s a line manager or an HR Business Partner) has easy access to relevant supporting information, at the specific point they are carrying out an action. The SaaS model enables all of this content to be centrally managed by the service provider, thereby reducing the load on central HR resources. This model would be impossible to deliver with traditional HR software, where there are multiple copies of software installed at each individual client site.
5. Less reliance on internal IT teams. HR is often the poor relation when it comes to IT projects for the simple reason that HR systems are not usually seen as mission critical. Therefore HR projects often get delayed because the IT department are busy with other priorities. SaaS-based services typically place no demands on internal IT resources therefore enabling HR teams to move faster and be more responsive to the demands of the business.
According to many of the analysts HR is one of the sectors in which SaaS is making the biggest inroads against the traditional software model. The reasons are easy to see. It's also likely that we're only just now scratching the surface of the transformational benefits that the cloud can bring to HR. Watch this space!
Monday, 12 April 2010
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
People Management In the Cloud
People management in the cloud? So what’s that all about then I hear you ask. Well it’s not a reference to managers who sit at their desks day-dreaming, or jet-setting execs carrying out a 1-2-1 review across the aisle of a 747 at 30,000 feet (it’s happened). Instead I’m talking about the impact of cloud-based computing on HR and people management in organisations.
The likelihood is that cloud-computing is going to have a big impact on the way that organisations operate in the next decade and it’s something that those responsible for people management and HR strategies need to be aware of and planning for.
So what is ‘cloud-based computing’, (sometimes referred to ‘Software-as-a-Service’ (SaaS) or ‘on-demand')? The terms refer to the use of computing resources (i.e. software, storage, hardware) that are based out in the internet (“the cloud”) and typically managed by a third party and accessed by users via the web on a subscription or ‘pay-as-you-go’ basis. This is an evolution from the traditional computing model where companies pay big upfront sums to buy all of the hardware, software and networks themselves and then have all the associated costs and hassle of owning, managing and supporting that infrastructure.
Cloud-based computing is generally agreed to have many advantages, including lower costs of ownership, faster deployment of new services and increased flexibility. As a result it’s becoming an increasingly important part of the IT landscape.
According to research firm, Gartner, “Adoption of the on-demand delivery model has grown for nearly a decade, but its popularity has increased significantly within the last five years... As SaaS business and computing models have matured, adoption has become much more widespread.” Gartner also predicts that by 2012 20% of all businesses will own no IT infrastructure whatsoever.
Cloud-based services are already beginning to have an impact on HR (even if they may not recognise the term). A 2009 survey of large enterprises found that 44% were using cloud services in some part of their HR processes, most commonly in recruitment management.
Most of the debate about cloud-computing to date has focused on the IT benefits, however it is likely to have much wider implications for businesses, which in turn will impact many aspects of people management and HR strategy.
These impacts, and the questions they pose for HR, can be grouped under five main headings:
1) Improved knowledge sharing and collaboration within the enterprise
Cloud-based software makes it easier to open up access to valuable information and thereby dismantle the information silos that often create inefficiencies in organisations. So for example cloud-based services make it easier to give managers and employees direct access to information that was previously only accessible to the HR team – whether that’s employee data or guidance on relevant legislation.
This has many potential benefits – empowering people to be more effective, enabling time-consuming, manual processes to be automated and reducing the admin burden on the HR team. However it also presents new questions that need to be considered: What is the appropriate split of responsibilities between HR and business managers if access to knowledge isn’t an issue? Who should be allowed access to what information? How does the organisation ensure it’s meeting its data protection responsibilities?
Companies are also starting to use social media like Facebook to allow improved collaboration and communication internally. Again, this has many potential benefits – improved sharing of knowledge should enable increased productivity and improved customer service as well as encouraging more ground-up innovation. But information flows no longer follow predictable routes based on hierarchy or org structure. So how do you ensure employees are hearing the ‘important stuff’? How do you empower people to collaborate and innovate without creating anarchy?
2) Increased collaboration with other businesses
One of the implications of the cloud is that it becomes easier to share valuable data outside of the corporate network, which makes it easier for different companies to collaborate with each other on new ventures and initiatives. Some tie-ups may be long-term and strategic, others more tactical to address a single, specific opportunity. All have implications from a people management perspective.
More flexible organisational structures and resourcing policies will be required. Cross-company teams organised around specific projectswill be more common. On occasion employees may be working into a manager in a different company. How do you effectively manage employee performance and development in this environment? How should reward schemes be organised? What are the contractual implications – how do you ensure company IP is protected? Working in partnership will often require different skill-sets and behaviours – how do you ensure that you have the right competencies internally?
3) Greater use of outsourcing and a rise in the number of virtual organisations
For the same reasons that the cloud enables easier collaboration between companies, it will also make it easier to outsource a wide variety of activities, whether it’s heavy-duty transaction processing or more specialist knowledge worker type activities. The cloud is likely to further blur the already smudgy boundaries around an organisation.
The virtual organisation is not a new concept but the cloud will facilitate a business model where all but the most core activities are outsourced. A recent survey by the Chartered Management Institute found that 77% of business leaders questioned believe virtual organisations will become commonplace over the next decade.
In this type of environment how do you create and sustain a sense of corporate identity? What do company policies mean and who do they apply to? How does an organisation decide which are its strategic resources and maintain control over its core competencies?
4) Accelerated timescales to launch new products and enter new markets
With most businesses being technology-driven these days, the biggest constraint when launching a new product or service is often the time taken to get the IT in place. With a ‘utility’ based computing model where new applications or additional seats can be purchased and deployed in days rather than months, companies can respond far more quickly to emerging business opportunities. This will force a faster rate of change on all companies as only the agile and fleet of foot will survive.
This has significant implications for human resources strategy. If HR is not to replace the IT Department as the limiting factor then more flexible resourcing strategies are required so that new teams can be identified and put in place quickly. Having mobile workers with transferable skills will be even more important. The organisation will need to ensure it is recruiting and developing the right generic competencies.
Companies are also more likely to find themselves operating in overseas markets, either directly or with partners, which will require new approaches to cope with different legislative environments, business cultures and languages.
5) An increase in flexible and remote working
As more IT resource is located in the cloud it becomes easier for people to work remotely from their company’s offices, whether at home, at a client site, or on the road. Studies show two-thirds of knowledge work today already takes place outside company facilities.
Most HR teams will already be aware of the formal implications of remote working – around health & safety, taxation, equipment, insurance etc – but some of the deeper issues remain unaddressed. How do you create the right line-manager/ employee relationship when they may only meet face-to-face once every couple of months? The good practices that are traditionally taught on management development courses may no longer be sufficient or feasible. How do you ensure that the employee is fully engaged when they are not party to traditional information sharing (the proverbial water cooler)? What new support mechanisms are needed? Some of the answers are likely to relate to the social media techniques mentioned in point 2 above.
We can't yet predict all of the ways that cloud computing will impact organisations and this article only begins to scratch the surface of the likely changes. Nonetheless its safe to say that the changes will be significant. This will present all sorts of new challenges for HR and the sooner that they start considering the questions, the more likely it is that they’ll find the appropriate answers.
I’ll be picking up on some of the question raised in this article in future posts. In the meantime for information on solutions that can help you realise the benefits of cloud-computing please check out http://www.youmanage.co.uk/.
Phil Brown
Youmanage - the online HR toolkit for managers
The likelihood is that cloud-computing is going to have a big impact on the way that organisations operate in the next decade and it’s something that those responsible for people management and HR strategies need to be aware of and planning for.
So what is ‘cloud-based computing’, (sometimes referred to ‘Software-as-a-Service’ (SaaS) or ‘on-demand')? The terms refer to the use of computing resources (i.e. software, storage, hardware) that are based out in the internet (“the cloud”) and typically managed by a third party and accessed by users via the web on a subscription or ‘pay-as-you-go’ basis. This is an evolution from the traditional computing model where companies pay big upfront sums to buy all of the hardware, software and networks themselves and then have all the associated costs and hassle of owning, managing and supporting that infrastructure.
Cloud-based computing is generally agreed to have many advantages, including lower costs of ownership, faster deployment of new services and increased flexibility. As a result it’s becoming an increasingly important part of the IT landscape.
According to research firm, Gartner, “Adoption of the on-demand delivery model has grown for nearly a decade, but its popularity has increased significantly within the last five years... As SaaS business and computing models have matured, adoption has become much more widespread.” Gartner also predicts that by 2012 20% of all businesses will own no IT infrastructure whatsoever.
Cloud-based services are already beginning to have an impact on HR (even if they may not recognise the term). A 2009 survey of large enterprises found that 44% were using cloud services in some part of their HR processes, most commonly in recruitment management.
Most of the debate about cloud-computing to date has focused on the IT benefits, however it is likely to have much wider implications for businesses, which in turn will impact many aspects of people management and HR strategy.
These impacts, and the questions they pose for HR, can be grouped under five main headings:
1) Improved knowledge sharing and collaboration within the enterprise
Cloud-based software makes it easier to open up access to valuable information and thereby dismantle the information silos that often create inefficiencies in organisations. So for example cloud-based services make it easier to give managers and employees direct access to information that was previously only accessible to the HR team – whether that’s employee data or guidance on relevant legislation.
This has many potential benefits – empowering people to be more effective, enabling time-consuming, manual processes to be automated and reducing the admin burden on the HR team. However it also presents new questions that need to be considered: What is the appropriate split of responsibilities between HR and business managers if access to knowledge isn’t an issue? Who should be allowed access to what information? How does the organisation ensure it’s meeting its data protection responsibilities?
Companies are also starting to use social media like Facebook to allow improved collaboration and communication internally. Again, this has many potential benefits – improved sharing of knowledge should enable increased productivity and improved customer service as well as encouraging more ground-up innovation. But information flows no longer follow predictable routes based on hierarchy or org structure. So how do you ensure employees are hearing the ‘important stuff’? How do you empower people to collaborate and innovate without creating anarchy?
2) Increased collaboration with other businesses
One of the implications of the cloud is that it becomes easier to share valuable data outside of the corporate network, which makes it easier for different companies to collaborate with each other on new ventures and initiatives. Some tie-ups may be long-term and strategic, others more tactical to address a single, specific opportunity. All have implications from a people management perspective.
More flexible organisational structures and resourcing policies will be required. Cross-company teams organised around specific projectswill be more common. On occasion employees may be working into a manager in a different company. How do you effectively manage employee performance and development in this environment? How should reward schemes be organised? What are the contractual implications – how do you ensure company IP is protected? Working in partnership will often require different skill-sets and behaviours – how do you ensure that you have the right competencies internally?
3) Greater use of outsourcing and a rise in the number of virtual organisations
For the same reasons that the cloud enables easier collaboration between companies, it will also make it easier to outsource a wide variety of activities, whether it’s heavy-duty transaction processing or more specialist knowledge worker type activities. The cloud is likely to further blur the already smudgy boundaries around an organisation.
The virtual organisation is not a new concept but the cloud will facilitate a business model where all but the most core activities are outsourced. A recent survey by the Chartered Management Institute found that 77% of business leaders questioned believe virtual organisations will become commonplace over the next decade.
In this type of environment how do you create and sustain a sense of corporate identity? What do company policies mean and who do they apply to? How does an organisation decide which are its strategic resources and maintain control over its core competencies?
4) Accelerated timescales to launch new products and enter new markets
With most businesses being technology-driven these days, the biggest constraint when launching a new product or service is often the time taken to get the IT in place. With a ‘utility’ based computing model where new applications or additional seats can be purchased and deployed in days rather than months, companies can respond far more quickly to emerging business opportunities. This will force a faster rate of change on all companies as only the agile and fleet of foot will survive.
This has significant implications for human resources strategy. If HR is not to replace the IT Department as the limiting factor then more flexible resourcing strategies are required so that new teams can be identified and put in place quickly. Having mobile workers with transferable skills will be even more important. The organisation will need to ensure it is recruiting and developing the right generic competencies.
Companies are also more likely to find themselves operating in overseas markets, either directly or with partners, which will require new approaches to cope with different legislative environments, business cultures and languages.
5) An increase in flexible and remote working
As more IT resource is located in the cloud it becomes easier for people to work remotely from their company’s offices, whether at home, at a client site, or on the road. Studies show two-thirds of knowledge work today already takes place outside company facilities.
Most HR teams will already be aware of the formal implications of remote working – around health & safety, taxation, equipment, insurance etc – but some of the deeper issues remain unaddressed. How do you create the right line-manager/ employee relationship when they may only meet face-to-face once every couple of months? The good practices that are traditionally taught on management development courses may no longer be sufficient or feasible. How do you ensure that the employee is fully engaged when they are not party to traditional information sharing (the proverbial water cooler)? What new support mechanisms are needed? Some of the answers are likely to relate to the social media techniques mentioned in point 2 above.
We can't yet predict all of the ways that cloud computing will impact organisations and this article only begins to scratch the surface of the likely changes. Nonetheless its safe to say that the changes will be significant. This will present all sorts of new challenges for HR and the sooner that they start considering the questions, the more likely it is that they’ll find the appropriate answers.
I’ll be picking up on some of the question raised in this article in future posts. In the meantime for information on solutions that can help you realise the benefits of cloud-computing please check out http://www.youmanage.co.uk/.
Phil Brown
Youmanage - the online HR toolkit for managers
Friday, 22 January 2010
Beat the Recession By Empowering Your Managers
The role of line managers has been a hot topic in recent years in HR circles, but the recession is making it even hotter.
Under scrutiny is the question of who should take most responsibility for people management in an organisation – HR or line managers?
As the recession has bitten this year, and businesses have been forced to work more efficiently and reduce their overheads, this question has become more important.
Good people management has a proven direct effect on a company’s bottom line – and in some cases it can make the difference between a business surviving or failing in tough times.
When organisations are making cuts, they need to ensure that employees remain motivated, engaged and focussed on clear business objectives to drive productivity and profitability forwards.
So who will be driving this? Step forward the line managers.
In tough times the line manager plays a critical role in motivating employees and many organisations are now recognising that if they are to weather the economic storm and come out of it well-placed to make the most of the recovery, they need to fully empower their line managers to take accountability for people management.
This drive was evident even before the recession. A 2007 survey of UK HR directors revealed that while responsibility for people management was split 50:50 between line managers and HR, most thought the ideal split was 80:20.
And a 2008 survey by the Employment Review found that two-thirds of organisations were expecting line managers to take more accountability for people management in the immediate future.
The power of good line management was revealed in what is probably the biggest ever research exercise into factors which influence organisational performance. Gallup’s 30-year long study spanned 114 countries and included 10 million interviews with employees and managers in 41 languages.
From these, Gallup identified 12 key factors influencing employee performance – and many relate to the activities of front-line managers – such as giving employees clear targets, regular recognition and praise, frequent updates about their performance and encouraging their personal development.
The evidence shows that good people management can increase profits – one study showed that achieving a 10 per cent improvement against 12 key management practices led to an increase in profit of £1,200 per employee – but there is another solid reason for empowering front line managers: risk.
Any business process is only as strong as its weakest link and unfortunately in many situations front-line managers, through no fault of their own, are that weakest link. The role demands a daunting array of skills and not every line manager has them all. If managers are not doing the right thing – from asking the right questions at interviews to carrying out checks on a new starter – then organisations are exposed to risk.
So how do you empower your front-line managers to be successful at the same time as protecting your business?
Based on our experiences working with clients, we have found 10 golden rules for making the most of your vital assets, the front-line manager.
- Get senior management buy-in – This is vital. Senior managers need to act as role models for the desired behaviours and they also need to create the headroom that allows managers to devote an appropriate proportion of their time to people management.
- Set clear, readable frameworks to support managers. Dump the 20-page, jargon heavy documents. Present clear, action-oriented guidelines.
- Educate line managers about the impact of their behaviours. Don’t assume they will all instinctively understand what constitutes good management. This is where senior HR managers can help, by raising awareness among line managers.
- Relate good practices to business outcomes. Motivate line managers by showing how good practice will help them achieve personal and team targets. Avoid resorting to ‘because that’s what the policy says’
- Provide coaching and mentoring programmes. Individual managers need to know it is OK for them to admit they don’t know how to handle every situation. Coaching and mentoring allows them to ask for help in a non-threatening, low-risk way.
- Use technology-based tools to help guide managers through processes and provide guidance when they need it. This allows them to be more self-sufficient and reduces the administrative burden on the HR team. Typically, managers can deal with 70 to 80 per cent of the issues they face if they just have better access to information, documentation and relevant guidance. Giving them this frees up valuable HR time for the occasions when managers truly require their expertise.
- Be prepared to let go. Accept some mistakes will be made, and do not have HR step in every time there is a problem. In the long term it is far better to coach line managers on how to handle issues themselves.
- Use training to improve skills and raise awareness – but don’t expect it to solve everything. While training is great for skills development, it is not so good for imparting knowledge. People tend to forget facts, figures and policies over time if they are not used regularly. Back up classroom training with on-the-job support tools.
- Use rewards and performance management to encourage good practice. If a manager is only judged on operational targets, that is where they will focus on, so set objectives for managing and developing staff.
- Shout about the successes. Nothing breeds success like success. Line managers will be inspired to adopt desired behaviours if they see other managers achieving successful results. Find positive examples in your organisation and publicise them widely.
For more information on equipping managers to be effective please check out the papers and articles at www.youmanage.co.uk.
Friday, 15 January 2010
Research shows what we all already knew - good line management matters
Recent research from the Institute for Employment Studies has reinforced the importance of the employee-line manager relationship. 2009 reserach into the impact of line managers on employee engagement came up with 'identical conclusions' to a 2004 study into line managers as developers of people, which is that the employee-line manager relationship is crucial. Various other research down the years (e.g. Gallup, CIPD etc) has consistently said the same thing.
I don’t think these results will be a big surprise to anyone, although it's always useful to see empirical back-up for what most people instinctively know to be true, which is that good line management has a massive impact both on short-term employee performance and the longer-term realising of an employee’s potential.
The IES auditors have created a practical framework for managers to follow based on their research and again little of this will be surprising to anyone involved with people management at some level. However the real issue for most organisations is not about knowing what managers should be doing, it’s creating the conditions in which they actually do those things. This requires a number of factors to come together.
Organisations themselves need to create the right climate in which good people management is valued and positively promoted (as opposed to just paid lip service to) – and a lot of this has to come from senior management – both acting as positive role models and also creating the necessary headroom for managers to manage their people, alongside delivery of their functional tasks.
Managers also need to be better equipped to do the job required of them – this means giving them the right training but also the right on-the-job tools to be genuinely effective. Too often organisations talk about greater line management accountability and empowerment but fail to equip them to do the job well.
For some white papers on the subject of enabling and empowering line managers check out www.youmanage.co.uk/pages/resources.asp.
Phil Brown
Youmanage - the online HR toolkit for managers
http://www.youmanage.co.uk/
I don’t think these results will be a big surprise to anyone, although it's always useful to see empirical back-up for what most people instinctively know to be true, which is that good line management has a massive impact both on short-term employee performance and the longer-term realising of an employee’s potential.
The IES auditors have created a practical framework for managers to follow based on their research and again little of this will be surprising to anyone involved with people management at some level. However the real issue for most organisations is not about knowing what managers should be doing, it’s creating the conditions in which they actually do those things. This requires a number of factors to come together.
Organisations themselves need to create the right climate in which good people management is valued and positively promoted (as opposed to just paid lip service to) – and a lot of this has to come from senior management – both acting as positive role models and also creating the necessary headroom for managers to manage their people, alongside delivery of their functional tasks.
Managers also need to be better equipped to do the job required of them – this means giving them the right training but also the right on-the-job tools to be genuinely effective. Too often organisations talk about greater line management accountability and empowerment but fail to equip them to do the job well.
For some white papers on the subject of enabling and empowering line managers check out www.youmanage.co.uk/pages/resources.asp.
Phil Brown
Youmanage - the online HR toolkit for managers
http://www.youmanage.co.uk/
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