HR Technology - Oracle by Sheila & Sapna

I & Sheila will be discussing Oracle's HR Technology in this Blog. The first half of the conversation is explained by me and I have included Sheila's Blog here with a link for the second half ( Thanks Sheila).


Bill Kutik had a conversation with Gretchen Alarcon (Vice President of Global HCM Strategy, Oracle) on different technologies out in open right now and some expected soon.

Gretchen A's Blog : human-strategies.blogspot.com

Gretchen A talks about integration of Web 2.0 technology in Social-networking ( Group Space, Wiki, Blog), Oracle, People Soft HCM etc. An example discussed is Tagging - Indexing document with a word or label to bring it up with it. Oracle will enable HR to use their technology how they want it and where they want it through their Web centre Product - part of Server Technology or Portal Technology - EDS & People Soft.

Gretchen mentioned that in Oracle Open World - Larry Elison said that Fusion HCM is bringing the best from Oracle and is expected at the end of 2008. Moving to Fusion HCM can a new implementation or an upgrade for the customers, EDS & People Soft will be upgraded as asked by the users. For E.g. In People Soft 8.9, New Talent Management will be a possible Integration option.

Gretchen discussed the three steps :

1. Emphasizing the need of timing the market to release the product when customers will need it and with the right complexities.

2. Involving the HR to regulate their reporting structure with it.

3. Discussion with Software Development Group on after doing the research - what needs to be built and why is it important.

The product management part decides what technology will be used, what to build and how will that look , an inbound look at the bound. The Strategic side looks at the outbound view of the product determining what is required and when will it be needed.

Here is a link to Oracle Website for their Hr Technologies http://www.oracle.com/applications/human_resources/intro.html

*** Sheila's Blog *** http://techlesslyhopeful.blogspot.com/2008/12/oracle.html

Kutik interviews Gretchen Alarcon, VP of Global HCM Strategy for Oracle. She talks about what Oracle is currently up to - which I will let Sapna handle. The interview then turns to her background and philosophies. Alarcon has a BA from Stanford and an MBA from the University of Michigan. Prior to pursuing her MBA, she was inspired by a professor who teaches at UofM. She came to understand that to be an effective human resources manager, she needed to become savvy in business, as well. I for one, agree completely! How can you manage a company's resources when you don't understand how the business works? This is what was meant by "HR not being the sharpest tacks in the box." Alarcon talks about her move from an HR practitioner to a strategist. She acknowledges her depth of domain experience has helped her but as a strategist, but broad skills are also necessary. She advocates research and the need to be analytical. She says one must be aware of how companies work in order to time what Oracle is investing (development) in and when the demand for those products will be. She says one of the first lessons she learned as a strategist is she cannot build software for herself, it must solve the client's needs. The interview ends with her discussion about mutual mentoring noted in my previous blog.

Six Steps to Company-Wide Adoption

Michael Idinopulos's Blog on Social Software in the Enterprise

Micheal has good explanation and a very realistic view about organization-wide integration and implementation of social software. He clearly explains why not one size fits all every time. As we have discussed before in this blog - technology is not the solution to our challenges, utilizing the technology in the best manner is.

Technology is evolving as we talk right now. Micheal tell us that the focus was on individual technologies (wikis, blogs, RSS, etc.) a year ago. However, the system is bending towards technology revamp as a whole in an organization. But this " Big Step" demands big efforts and a lot of strategic planning. Micheal gave us a brilliant example of US Presidential campaign - you're not really running one national campaign, you're running 50 state campaigns...or 5,000 regional campaigns. Each of those campaigns has its own local leadership, demographic profile, issues, and economics. The same line of thought applies to the change that comes with company wide adoption of technology.

Micheal's six pieces of advice to successfully implementing social software on a grand scale are :

1. Encourage a broad range of use cases.
2. Recruit energetic champions across the organization.
3. Launch the tools with hands-on experiences for new users.
4. Route repeated activities through social software.
5. Integrate with existing systems of record.
6. Leverage public communities.

Class 4 & 5

As I said in the class - " I've started to enjoy this whole process of discovering new things".

When I start something new - I like it and I give my best to it. Then, there's another degree of " liking" to me - Where I make time for it and every spare second that I have goes to my new " gig ". I discovered this new level of my interest in things when I started reading Dan Brown's - Da Vinci Code :) . I finished that book in straight 32 hours.

The new things I learn in our class now have reached the level when home work is not homework - it's a new topic of research to feed my curiosity. And so I say - " I've started to enjoy this whole process of discovering new things".

Naomi Lee Bloom Podcast

This Podcast is very informational and to the point. Naomi Lee Bloom has a deep understanding of what & how to ask & investigate when we are looking for a good product. Every point in this podcast made it's way to my checklist.

The most important factor to look for when looking into different products is the " Product Functionality & Architecture ". Assess the real situation and requirements and the vendor for a demo for the scenario. As Naomi says that bring an investigative reporter mindset and some knowledge of software archeology and ask a laundry list of questions to the vendor. Look into an organization's corporate culture and it's requirements - picking up the most important areas and going deep into them. Naomi also mentioned the 3 R's of a product - Rich, Rigorous & Robust.

In the middle of the podcast - Naomi has put a great emphasis on the importance of networking which strengthens my belief that we should keep our group together much after the class is over and keep learning from each other.

My favorite quote from the podcast - " Everyday is a process of discovery ".

HR's struggle with Web 2.0

HR's struggle with Web 2.0

This article seem to have been written keeping my workplace in mind. To add to it - we are a Web 2.0 technology company and 80% of our employees are engineers. Still, we are not a tech savvy company when it comes to HR.

We have planned a few projects in past to better facilitate the documentation process and information sharing for HR, however, it never materialized. After joining this class, I spoke with my manager about how using technology will save us cost (less paper & work hours) and improve the whole system. We are still storing every document in paper form in employee folders.

When employees or managers ask for a piece of information from these folders, HR is unable to respond back quickly. When we join all dots, we see how technology can benefit us.

On the other hand, technology is not the answer to any question. We need to use the technology & tools available to find the perfect solution. There are so many social networking sites mushrooming all over the internet and some of them are extremely successful. We need to learn from their models and learn to use our technology better.

The Machine is Us/ing Us

This video is very informative and on both practical and conceptual levels, it inspires me. It makes me think in a "Paradigm Shift" way. I totally agree that internet is among the best inventions made by mankind. However, I also think that in the process of simplifying things, we are making them simply complex. We've lost the track of small & big, everything now is big in small. We hear so often now - nano this - nano that.... and then we think. It all started simple and came so far. Books were how we shared information, social gatherings were how we made friends and a face to face conversation was how we interacted with people. Then came internet, we do all this in abundance by a single click of our mouse. The internet evolved over time ( as the video talks from html to Xml and so on) and is now too big to believe.

New 2008 Social Technographics data reveals rapid growth in adoption

I throughly enjoyed reading this article. I could see myself falling into multiple categories of creator, critics and collectors.

Technology is touching everybody life these days in ways we don't realize. Some of us are actively involved and a few contribute to it passively. If I compare myself with my partner, he will be an active participant, however, I've recently upgraded myself to being an active participant (creator) as well. Looking back, I can see my graph of graduating from being a spectator to creator over the years and every step has been a learning of its own kind.

All of these categories are so important as they are. The article says that social contents ranks high in searches now because it's always changing. The critics are like filters who are updating spectators everyday. The creators are keeping the internet alive, collectors keep it organized and the joiners are the new blood.

The need for information is growing as I'm putting my thoughts here and with that will increase the number of people looking for it and the ones sharing it. The inactive will become spectators and the spectators will become joiners, the joiners will be collectors, the collectors will become critics and the critics wil be creators too and all of us together will keep the circle going.

Fast Forward: 25 Trends That Will Change the Way You Do Business

This article is like a peek into the future a few years from now, however, I think we can already see the changes happening around us. The work force is more global & diverse than ever, the very definition of 'loyalty' to the employer is changing rapidly, the mode of communication reach places they have never before, "Work hours, Work Place & Work environment" are flexible terms now.

The article clearly indicates that change is here and nothing is beyond imagination. The companies are not limited to a region or a country to find the best talent or to expand their businesses. Businesses are looking all over the globe to find the 'Perfect match'. At the same time, employees are no more just figures on a payroll sheet, they are considered assets and the companies are ready to invest to take proper care of their assets. Flexible Work Hours, Innovative Benefits and tailor-made employee solutions will enable the organization to be able to tap into the huge talent pool of workforce which has not being utilized to its full potential by now. More women will continue their careers with the help of child care benefits, Flexible work hours will show an increase in number of consultants.

Where is your organization on the CMM?

My current Company is between CMM level 1 and 2, People CMM Level 2 and HR systems Maturity Model Level 1.

The company is a few years old and is still in the start up mode. Added Responsibilities are added to the Job Descriptions based on Process Requirements and Employees are rewarded accordingly. However, We have a structured process for Project Management and a dedicated Test/Quality Function.

The Mid-Management is responsible for managing and developing the workforce. Our Performance Management cycle is 6 months and we emphasize a lot on training & development to keep our staff up to date with new technologies. All decisions pertaining to staffing requirements are made my managers for their own projects.

The company is in HR systems Maturity Model Level 1 because we use little to no technology for HR. We are using paper for all documentation purposes and day to day requirements.

Project Charter

The company is a relatively new startup and has HR in two different locations.

· Problem Statement: Communication between personnel in two locations with different time zones. There is a lack of real time interactions. When all the information is communicated through e-mails, part of it is lost due to different interpretation. It takes multiple e-mail exchanges (Between HR in different offices and Mangers involved) for one decision which uses Man hours adding to the cost. We also do not have information available at one place for Employee and HR to use for a quick reference.

· Customers : HR, Managers & Employees.

· Business Case :

1. Communicate on Skype, Gtalk or such real time communication channels.
2. Share our documents with Google talks so both the parties can work on them together.
3. Utilize Google Groups to make the communication easier.
4. Create a Wiki for quick reference.

· In Scope :

1. Communication & Sharing Documents among Employees.
2. Data Security.

· Out of Scope : Monetary investment in solutions.

· Success Metrics :

1. Less e-mail exchanges & more real time communication.
2. Faster & more reliable communication
3. Relationship building among Employees
4. Cost Cutting ( less billable hours)

· Deliverables

1. Group Groups
2. Skype Ids
3. Google Docs
4. Wiki
5. Communication Plan
6. Training Plan

· Resources

1. IT Function
2. Project Manager - Sapna Aggarwal

· Core Team

1. HR Personnel
2. Managers
3. Key Employees

Topic for the project

My company has employee in California, India & China. We are currently facing a lot of challenges when it comes to communication with the HR employee from an office in a different location. The biggest challenge is to communicate any changes, training & getting a feedback. Because of the time zone differences, the employee feels disconnected with the personnel here as their is no real time communication or face time involved in the interactions. I will try to bridge this gap in the HR function as my project

Class III

Class 3 was good in a lot of ways. Everyone discussed about a new technology piece and in less than two hours, I knew almost 10 new tools. If I were to sit down on my own and read through them, it will take me days and will loose interest number of times in between. But in class, the presentation had every bit of my attention all along. So Group Learning rocks!

However, There was a little opportunity to improvise on how we utilize our three hours together. I think Group discussions are an amazing way to learn but at the same time, It's important to stick to the subject and not deviate too far. I will also appreciate if everybody chimes in to the discussion than a group here & there.

Will join everyone again tonight for three more hours of positive learning.

Second Class

I remember Jun saying that this will be the most we will talk about technology. Considering that I think it was very important to know all those technologies, though I did feel a little over whelmed at times in that class :) . Heard a few terms I was aware of and a few I would love to know more about. The benefit: Now, When I read through a tool and the terms come up - I'm able to co-relate them to what I learnt in that session.

in class Assignment

Name: Remember The Milk

Comparable Technology: Tadalist

What is it: a more organized way of managing your tasks online

What problem is it designed to solve: Manage task from anywhere/get email SMS,or IM reminders/share your tasks/access from your phone/manage tasks offline/use with Google calendar/add tasks from iGoogle.

Pros: everything in one place, prioritize tasks, share tasks with others (even PC to Mac)

Cons: Duplicates tasks that can be tracked in iCal or Google Calendar.

First Class, Web 2.0 and the problem.

Let me start with the first class - loved the energy and the enthusiasm in everybody to share what they know and learn from everyone. I'm glad to be a part of this class. The introduction was very engaging and I was surprised that I remembered all the names & faces in just one session.

I've always been curious about new technologies so there could not have been a better subject for me. The schedule for every class looks very interesting but at the same time, I'm waiting for specific modules that will equip me with knowledge to resolve my current challenges at work.

Web 2.0 seems to be the new fad among geeks and I'm all ears for it. This new trend of modulating technology in a better & more user-friendly way is the new revolution.

My current company is too small to buy any tools to facilitate HR function which is why we totally depend on paper. It is very time -consuming, not very effective and very restrictive at times. I look forward to introducing technology ( especially the free and wonderful tools ) available online to make the day to day HR activities a breeze for Employees, Managers and HR.

Why We Hate HR

An interesting article about HR's reputation as people who do mudane tasks & stick to a " same to everyone" policy. HR consists of a huge talent pool of any company that can be utilized for more strategic requirements.

Companies have started to change their opinion about HR as " Non-revenue Generating - just a cost to company" to " Care Takers. Talent is the new competitive edge to any company and HR takes care of that talent. So HR should be more involved with Business Groups in decision making than just doing administrative work.

For now, the lack of strategic readiness in HR function does not facilitate optimum utilization of Human Resource - finding, nurturing, and developing talent. The article also mentions how HR can improvise on their " ways of working". One size fits all is a good example of such scenario - This Universal approach "is partly about compliance, but mostly because it's just easier." One Size doesn't fit all anymore. The changing economy, work force demographics and all other external - internal factors have changed that equation drastically.

I firmly believe HR is an integral part of the success of the company - when it is used with genuine hard strategic thinking. So it's time that HR is seen and taken out of the cocoon of it's current involvement and engaged in a more strategic way.

Bill Kutik Podcast #13, Jason Averbrook.

Jason Averbook described the possibility of improving the HR function of any organization by utilizing Technology in an appropriate manner.

All of us understand that Technology is the future, however Just buying technology will not resolve anything. We need to tailor it around the requirements of a company and better use it equip the employees. Employee will then express themselves, their future views and interact with HR. For Example, as he said " Linked in & Face Book knows much more about an Employee than the HR & CEO of the company" shows a lack of initiative somewhere. The Technology is growing everyday and getting better - Organizations now should leverage that kind of technology ( Web 2.0 revolution) for a real time, more user-friendly way to capture information & interact with Employee.