On my way to SuccessConnect 2023. Here are the questions top of my mind:
Timeline for move to TIH (Talent Intelligence Hub) and how will it link to existing talent components. Specifically, how will existing customers leverage the functionality given their existing footprint in various talent areas.
New features/functionalities within the Talent areas, especially in the Performance and Compensation areas. When/will the new Goal UI be pushed to all customers? When will all gaps be filled between new and old UIs?
How will Onboarding module move to the next level? Some customers looking to know when the module will get a new, more flexible UX. Also, when will some key functionalities for the US like Veterans status and EEO forms be available out of the box?
We will hear a lot about AI but will be interesting to see how SuccessFactors have incorporated (or will incorporate) into the product versus talking buzz.
Any updates on new functionality for Employee Central Services Center (ECSC) The current integration with SAP’s CRM (i.e. Cloud 4 Customer, or C4C) is leaving some customers wanting more.
If you are at the event and want to chat, please DM on Twitter/X at @jeremymasters
Before embarking on implementing career development/planning functionality with your Talent Management system, you should be asking the HR team a few critical questions to baseline the design. Some of these important questions include:
Do you currently have a competency framework? Do you currently have a skills framework? If not, are you planning to introduce either a competency or skills catalog as part of the implementation?
Does your organization have a development plan (for tracking development goals)? If so, do you link your development goals to competencies (if you maintain them)? Do you link goals to learning activities (within your LMS)?
Do you currently manage career paths within your organization? If not, is this something you would like to do? Do you use career ladders and/or career lattices?
Is a mentoring program currently available for your employees? If so, what kind of mentoring programs do you offer (e.g. supervised, unsupervised, administratively setup, etc)
Do your current job catalog and architecture support the needs for your career planning processes (stated above)? If not, during the project you will need to ensure that the job architecture has career and development planning considerations.
Providing answers to these fundamental questions will provide your internal or external consulting partner with the necessary (broad) direction on moving forward with career planning and development functionality.
This three-part whitepaper on SAP query is something I have been meaning to blog about. There are plenty of SAP HCM customers out there who continue to seek information on how to leverage the query application in SAP. As it is one of the most underleveraged of tools within the SAP HCM suite, one of my colleagues, Susan Traynor, has written a three-part whitepaper on the subject.
Over the past 5 weeks, several industry colleagues and I have traveled in the US (Las Vegas and Orlando) and Europe (Copenhagen) meeting with over 50 customers from over 20 countries for a seminar on SuccessFactors’ Talent Management.
The below list is in no particular order but reflects some important themes, questions, and comments:
Integration is still a main concern. Integration has always been central to SAP’s value proposition. The recent focus on cloud cannot derail this. I was fortunate to spend these sessions with fellow speakers from SAP. From the messaging and interactions with them, I can confirm that SAP / SuccessFactors is committed to continued investment in integration (they term them “iFlows”). This is a very good thing for customers, to ease the transition for using cloud technologies where practical. Prashanth Padmanabhan, SAP’s Senior Director, has written a recent blog on the topics for talent hybrid and full cloud integrations. Revisiting my list of concerns from nearly two years ago,many of these items are being addressed. (That blog post alone has gathered over 3,000 unique page views since June 2012).
Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) will be the differentiator. Like other functional areas, the HANA Cloud Platform will be a critical piece for HCM to make the suite competitive in a very competitive cloud space (Workday, Oracle Fusion, Infor). The HANA Cloud Development environment is key to SAP’s eco-system. Worklogix is actively developing applications and excited about the opportunities here with the future HANA marketplace (think Apple’s App Store but for SAP).
In my opnion, HANA (as a database) is a distraction to HCM customers. Yes, SuccessFactors would like to dump its Oracle databases (and soon will), but we need to focus on the platform HANA so that customers and partners can develop apps on. This has been articulated by Vishal and Hasso as well, but hasn’t reached most customers yet. My hope is that this eco-system ramps up like salesforce.com has done.
Speaker Team in Las Vegas and Orlando
Can we crack the User Experience nut? Most hybrid customers have two (if not three or four) portals by the time they implement SuccessFactors. How will we truly make the user experience seamless? This is an area I have a lot passion in, as I have worked with employee, manager and HR self service since 1998 when I was a wee lad at Price Waterhouse. We cannot be in the business of building and supporting “Frankenstein” portals (my term). However, the reality is that we need to support customers with their own internal realities. (For example, many customers will have to make sense of how their intranet, SharePoint, NetWeaver, and SuccessFactors sites/portals all come together). This isn’t new but is becoming a pervasive issue as we venture into hybrid customers adding SuccessFactors into the mix. Putting simple (and single) sign on aside, we still need to team together to figure out how this all will be transparent to the end user.
Access control (security authorizations) is a major pain point for hybrid customers. Since authorizations won’t (and can’t) magically port over from SAP to SuccessFactors (or vice versa), we need to put this at the top of our list during design sessions. Especially with customers using complex structural authorizations (including context-sensitive structural authorizations). This will be – GULP – a big area for SIs and customers to work out together.
Mobility, mobility, mobility! Should I say it again: mobility! I don’t need to mention how important this area is for SAP HCM / SuccessFactors in order to keep up with customer demand as well as the competition’s offerings. How to offer one customer-facing (i.e., employee-facing) mobile app (or apps?) will be a challenge, and will be huge over the next 5 years. If/when SuccessFactors will go device-agnostic (e.g., HTML5) is to be determined. (Secondary question: how does SAP Fiori come into play here – if it even does?). Mobility is another passion of mine, and one that I will speak on during next year’s HR2014 conference. Here are the session details.
Speaker Team in Copenhagen
Proxy functionality needs to be killer. In fact, I will call proxy (or delegation) management the third (or fourth?) killer app (this is self-proclaimed, but where can I copyright this???). SuccessFactors has done a nice job with proxy management. You can both manage proxy assignments, as well as use the proxy functionality easily within the tool. Compared to SAP HCM functionality, customers will be enthused. On premise SAP HCM has always struggled with transactional and approval authorization (in part why Worklogix built the Proxy Manager product).
Social collaboration is great, but its benefits are not yet well understood. SAP Jam is a great tool (we use it internally, during our SuccessFactors trainings, as well as to share knowledge within the SAP/ SuccessFactors eco-system), but many customers don’t understand its context in the (corporate) world. They ask: “Why do I need a LinkedIn / Facebook for the enterprise if I have access to LinkedIn and Facebook?” We need to evangelize on the importance and power of team collaboration, especially with video at our disposal. (Can you imagine what the internet would be without YouTube, Vimeo, SlideShare, MOOCs, Khan Academy?). SAP has a huge asset with Sameer Patel who I think is doing a great job in this area. You should follow him on Twitter you are not already: @SameerPatel
Being clear with messaging around on premise and cloud innovation will be important for SAP/SuccessFactors. We need to be clear with customers that there is HCM innovation happening in both SAP’s on premise (e.g., SAP Fiori and HR Renewal) and cloud offerings (SuccessFactors, HCP, Jam). This is a good thing for customers, as they move to cloud at their own pace but are still looking for continuous improvement with their current HRIS investment. We know where massive innovation is happening, but we do need to remember that some customers will either never have an option to go to the cloud, or won’t have the opportunity to get there sooner than they wish.
I want to thank SAPInsider for supporting my idea back in February 2013 for this SuccessFactors seminar. It was a huge success and, as always, the events in all three cities were interactive, engaging, and educational for all involved.
Next week will be a fun one in Las Vegas, as I will attend and exhibit at both the 2013 HR Tech conference as well as SuccessConnect. If you are roaming the exhibit hall, please stop by to see me and my Worklogix colleagues at booth #119 at HR Tech and #304 at SuccesConnect.
Both events will bring their share of interesting information. At HR Tech, I am looking forward to perhaps one of the most exciting atmospheres yet at this conference, as all three major ERP vendors are fully entrenched in HCM cloud and selling its benefits. It will be interesting to again see the three ERP super powers with Workday, one of the conference darlings. There’s even a band called Wrokday. Perhaps we see an opening act by Ocarle? A few session have especially caught my attention:
The J&J story “More Than a Bandage for Johnson & Johnson’s HCM” will be an interesting one, as I have been a part of their HR transformation on the SAP side. The session title is definitely provocative. Of course, we also get to hear from a legend, Dave Duffield.
The “First Annual NextGen Influencers Panel: Getting Out From Behind the Baby Boomers” with my friend Jarret Pazahanick (Managing Partner, EIC Experts) will be a highlight. He is a knowledgeable dude and will be great to see him in action with some other great folks like Madeline Laurano (Research Director, Human Capital Management, Aberdeen Group), Trish McFarlane (Head of HR, Perficient; Blogger, HRRingleader.com) and Maksim Ovsyannikov (SVP Product, SmartRecruiters).
I am also looking forward the session ” Recognition Technology Gives JetBlue a Lift” with Michael Elliott (VP of Employee Relations, at JetBlue Airways) alongside Eric Mosley (CEO of Globoforce). JetBlue has been a longstanding client of ours, and is an overall kick-ass company.
Some veterans I hope to catch up with include Bill Kutik (his 16th and final year leading up this conference!), Naomi Bloom, Paul Sparta, Lexy Martin, Josh Bersin, Holger Mueller and Jason Averbook. Just a ton of great folks to see. There will be an HR Tech Meet / Tweet up which I will try to make, but it does conflict with some partner activities over at SuccessConnect, so not sure I will be able to, but this sounds like a fun event. Luke Marson is buying drinks for everyone….right, Luke? ;o)
At SuccessConnect, I am excited to be a part of the action where I believe SAP/SuccessFactors is in a position to share some more on their integration roadmap (i.e., hybrid deployment scenarios) as well as their additional plans for Employee Central. Employee Central is such a vital part of their cloud strategy – the sooner they build out the functionality, the sooner they compete head on with Workday for full HCM cloud. Of course, SAP’s got Workday beat from a Payroll perspective (by a mile), but it will be great to know about SuccessFactors’ plans with time management, benefits, and enhancing Employee Central Payroll.
Later this fall, I am lucky to be doing the SuccessFactors Talent Management seminars with colleagues Prashanth Padmanabhan (Senior Director with Solution Management at SAP), Kellie Fitzpatrick, CEO from Symphony Consulting, and Venki Krishnamoorthy (my co-author on 2 SAP PRESS books, who is a manager in the SAP / SuccessFactors practice of Deloitte Consulting). It’s great that we have Prashanth there, so he can articulate the SAP roadmap directly to attendees. Kellie and Venki come to the table with a ton of experience and knowledge. Check out Prashanth’s blog as well , as he has been posting some really neat stuff too. I love the drawings – all 100% his own sketching.
I hope to see you next week in Vegas. Please stop by the booth and say hello. If you can’t make it, I will be on Twitter so please follow me @jeremymasters and I am sure the Twitterverse will be on fire with hastags #hrtechconf and #sconnect.
Alright, maybe the title is a bit extreme, but I have seen a lot of excitement lately around mobility and HR. The question is not if mobility will hit mainstream HR platforms (be it on premise or SaaS), but rather how fast it will catch on.
So first things first, do you remember this?
Motorola DynaTAC8000X
It’s the Motorola DynaTAC8000X. For those old enough, the DynaTAC may be best known for being used in the 1987 movie Wall Street, starring Michael Douglas as corporate raider Gordon Gecko. Whether or not you were a fan of the movie, it’s pretty amazing to see this phone in action.
We have come a long way from the Motorola, having lived through the rule of Blackberry in the corporate world, until Apple came along with its iPhone and iPad innovations and flexed its muscles…
And now I reflect further on mobility, as I am getting ready for my HR Forum Q&A on the SAP Insider Learning Network, for Wednesday, April 17, 2013 at 12:30-1:30pm EDT. The session title is Leveraging HR mobile apps: Mobility with SAP ERP HCM and SuccessFactors. (Please register for this ahead of time – you can also go ahead and leave questions already on the site.)
During my session at HR 2013 in Vegas, I felt a strong connection with my audience. Lots of interest – as well as – lots of questions around what SAP and SuccessFactors has in their offering. During my session “Guidelines and Best Practices for Deploying ESS and MSS on Mobile Devices“, (which I am also presenting at the SAPInsider Europe conference in Amsterdam in June), I was able to articulate a few themes that seemed to resonate well with colleagues.
Performing HR transactions on a mobile device?
Yeah! Performing HR transactions on a mobile device will become the norm and not the exception in the not-so-distant future. In 2011, Gartner predicted that 40% of ESS and MSS transactions will be performed on a mobile device by the year 2015. Whether or not we will achieve this number is not the point here. Another interesting stat: In 2015, projected sales of smart phones/tablets will be 1.7 billion units, whereas the projected sales of PC/laptops will be 400 million units. Definitely makes you scratch your head.
Bring Your Own Device
BYOD is leading the charge where consumer IT is the pioneer. We demand our HR apps to work a certain way since we use Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Amazon, and Google on a daily basis. In fact, on the same device we shop Diapers.com, we can also update our performance management plan, or approve leave requests, or look at the current headcount numbers. Pretty amazing.
Consider This!
If you are going mobile for HR, here are some quick consideration areas:
Functionality – will depend on several factors including your device type (tablet, smart phone) but think about what processes actually make sense to be on a mobile device and what processes don’t;
Size/User Experience – screen real estate matters; be sure to think about the user experience when operating a smart phones or tablet;
Connectivity – between WiFi and cellular networks, you can connect just about anywhere (work, home, airport, plane!);
Security and Infrastructure – understanding options around MDM (Mobile Device Management) software like SAP Afaria, and MEAP (Mobile Enterprise Application Platform) like SUP (Sybase Unwired Platform); and lastly,
Deployment Model: Are you developing native applications or web mobile applications? This is an ongoing debate that has no winner. Some are of the ilk that there is no match to developing native mobile applications (using Objective C for iOS, Java for Andriod, etc.) so as to fully unearth the powers within the device (including its hardware, like camera functions). And then, there are others who believe HTML5 is the holy grail and browser-based access to applications is the most efficient and sensible option (e.g. for upgrades). There are pros and cons in both camps.
The Store is Open for Business
Last, did you know SAP has a store just like Apple has iTunes, Google Android has Google Play, Windows has Windows Store, and BlackBerry has AppWorld? You can find it at http://store.sap.com/. There’s also a mobile app for it on iTunes.
SAP Mobile Application Store
In addition to the SAP-built applications, the SAP vendor eco-system is also pushing the envelope and making some important innovations in this area as well. My company, Worklogix, has created some incredibly powerful mobile applications that our clients are loving. See below screen shot of Worklogix’s Mobile Desktop – which gives HR and Managers the ability to view their team (span-of-control), and initiate or approve transactions such as promotions, changes in position, termination, and hire/rehires.
Worklogix Mobile Desktop
Have any questions on the above? Please don’t hesitate to leave a comment, or contact me directly. Thanks!
