HR Technology Conference Takeaway: Social Performance Transforming HCM
As the dust settles on the HR Technology Conference, the big takeaway is clear: Social Performance is transformative.
Recognizing this paradigm shift, Human Capital Management (HCM) vendors are either incorporating or plan to incorporate social elements into their products. There are many different approaches to the social shift—and it’s still early in the revolution—but Social HCM is a concept that’s gaining fast momentum.
“Human capital will be defined more through the notion of community and how to manage that community. And your role in HR will be to continue the connections that define that community,” Tom Koulopoulos, president and co-founder of the Boston-based innovation consultancy Delphi Group and author of numerous books, including his latest Cloud Surfing: A New Way to Think About Risk, Innovation, Scale and Success, said in his HR Technology Conference keynote address.
Transparency, Collaboration, Innovation & Community
In the social enterprise, the goal is no longer merely minimizing the costs of hiring and firing—it’s about driving transparency, collaboration, innovation—and community. Social Performance drives community through informal and formal social feedback via activity streams, badges, recognition and other social rewards.
“The HCM technology market is undergoing a significant shift,” says Yvette Cameron, vice president and principal analyst at Constellation Research. “As we move from systems of transactions to systems of engagement, traditional ‘HCM’ processes will be redefined, and it is only natural that new solution providers emerge from outside the HCM space.”
At the heart of Social Performance—and a driver of the significant shift in the HCM technology market—is Social Goals. Social Goals lets employees, managers and executives create, publish and track goals among a community of workers. Instant feedback and real-time recognition follows, along with the ability to see how work from different teams and departments intersect. The end result is higher employee enablement and engagement, knowledge acceleration and productivity.
Social Performance Predictions
At the beginning of this year, WorkSimple’s Social Performance gurus predicted that that as the HCM revolution intersects with the Social Goals revolution, hiring managers will embrace the paradigm shift toward measuring results in 2012. That transition is currently underway. We also predicted the following:
- Although performance management won’t completely disappear from the workplace scene, the foundations of this 30-year old model will begin crumbling under the pressure of employee demand for more agile Social Performance tools.
- Companies will tap into Web 2.0 technologies to provide real-time employee feedback.
- Driving employee engagement will be a hot topic as employers look for ways to retain the best and brightest talent.
- Once solely the domain of Human Resources, in 2012 performance management will take a giant leap toward HCM thanks to the rise of enterprise tools.
- When it comes to adopting enterprise technologies, employees are increasingly making their voice heard. In 2012, we’ll see the same trend on the performance management front.
Those predictions came true and the Social Performance revolution is in full gear. Going forward, employees will continue pushing for social tools in the enterprise and executives will make stronger investments in these tools as they see the results of Social Performance Management and Social Rewards.
Social Goals is poised to not only disrupt the workplace, but also drive it to new levels of efficiency and effectiveness. And WorkSimple has the platform enterprises need to engage employees with Social Goals.
