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New Years Resolution: Push Boundaries, Deliver Results
It's 2015! Are you dedicated to pushing boundaries and delivering results for yourself and your company? If so, you should attend the OHUG Global Conference 2015.
Taking place June 8-11, 2015, at The Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, the meeting will offer attendees various opportunities to build long-lasting business relationships while delving deeper into Oracle's extremely valuable Product Lines: Oracle E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft, and HCM Cloud (including Fusion and Taleo).
Register now!
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News from OHUG
Catch Up with the Oracle Applications User Experience (OAUX) Team
Register now for one of the Oracle Applications User Experience (OAUX) team's executive briefings for select partners and customers, where you'll see the strategy and roadmap for the Oracle user experience. Read the Voice of User Experience, or VoX, blog for more information, or go to the registration page directly.
The VoX blog also has a post on what's next for the Oracle Applications Cloud user experiences, and the Usable Apps Events pages shows where our team members will be in 2015.
Release 9: Head to the VoX blog for new posts with screenshots of Oracle HCM Cloud and Oracle ERP Cloud.
AT UKOUG APPS14 in December: The Oracle Applications User Experience team held several very focused events in the United Kingdom, timed to coincide with the UKOUG Apps14 conference. Visit the Usable Apps Storify channel for an overview in tweets and images called “In the U.K.: Special Events and Apps14 with UKOUG.”
Debra Lilley, OAUX Speaker and longtime friend of the team, also wrote an article on user experience for UKOUG's current issue of Oracle Scene online magazine.
UX DIRECT: The Oracle Applications User Experience team continues to take the pulse of our customers and obtain feedback on making usability a priority. The UX Direct site has been updated to include new design tools to help Oracle customers move toward cloud applications and understand how to simplify solutions. We have created simple checklists for UX Readiness for Cloud and Design Best Practices.
Whether you are deploying our applications as-is or customizing, extending, or building solutions to fit to your business needs, you will find our simple, user-centered process useful for increasing adoption. Download our best practices for introducing user-centered design thinking into your IT enterprise deployments. For Oracle partners moving toward cloud applications, we also have other new resources available online:
Customize Oracle Sales Cloud
Simplified UX Design Patterns for Oracle Applications Cloud Service
INNOVATE15 Registration Opens Soon!
In partnership with the Oracle (E-Business Suite and Hyperion/EPM/BI) Applications Users Groups of New Jersey and Metro New York (OAUGNJ and OAUGNYC), the Northeast PeopleSoft and NY/NJ JD Edwards User Group (NERUG) and the Oracle Financial Services Industry User Group (FSIUG), OHUG is co-sponsoring another exciting regional user group meeting on Thursday, March 19, 2015, branded INNOVATE15.
The formal program will begin with product-specific road map sessions. Gain insight into the current status of Fusion HCM, as well as Oracle's future plans. The agenda will also include Oracle ERP-specific HCM content, in addition to other HCM content applicable to all Oracle ERP product lines.
Enjoy a day of networking with your HCM peers and industry experts, and take advantage of that rare opportunity to be introduced to new concepts and exchange lessons learned, tips and techniques and best practices with fellow users, presenters and exhibitors.
Attend "hot topic" educational sessions that can help you optimize current system performance. Other sessions will help you integrate new technologies. See what service and solution providers have to offer in the Exhibitor Showcase.
Be sure to check out and continue to visit the new INNOVATE15 website. Registration is scheduled to go live in late January, once educational content details are posted.
Questions and requests for information on Exhibit and Sponsorship opportunities, benefits and pricing can be directed to Event Coordinator Joanne Brennan via email or by phone at 617.510.2578.
Oracle Requests Your Feedback: Peer-to-Peer Software Evaluation
Oracle would like to understand the value of sites that offer peer-to-peer software evaluations. Are you aware of these sites? Do you participate in them?
Please provide your feedback in a brief survey.
Reducing the Stress of Complex Employee Data Management
The biggest challenge for most human resources departments is the fact that the workforce is constantly changing. And the more people you have in any organization, the more change you must deal with. Managing data in relation to the lives of those engaged in the process of working in or managing the company is more than a full time job, it's a constant balance of critical information.
This case study walks through just one employee's term at a company from start to finish. Download the PDF.
Sierra-Cedar HR Systems Survey White Papers
The Sierra-Cedar HR Systems Survey is the longest-running industry research effort that tracks the adoption, deployment approaches and value achieved from enterprise HR technologies. Sierra-Cedar studies the roadmaps that organizations navigate and decisions they make regarding technology, integrations, processes and people when building an empowered HR function that serves the workforce and supports organizational outcomes.
Sierra-Cedar provides practical data on emerging and innovative technology trends and help organizations understand how they can capitalize on them. The company shares this research freely to assist organizations with developing their HR systems strategy, devising a plan, justifying investments and ultimately executing on their HR technology vision. All responses are confidential and only used in aggregate results.
Download the white papers now.
Industry News
Top 7 HR Predictions for 2015
BenefitsPro (01/06/15) Cook, Dan
Fierce competition for top talent is frustrating many companies seeking to hold onto and hire the people they need to grow. "Rapid growth of millennials in the global workforce, a 24/7 work environment and technology-driven transparency everywhere are redefining the entire nature of work," noted Deloitte Consulting Principal Josh Bersin. Leading human resources trends Deloitte predicted for 2015 include the probable continuation of performance management redesign, with a more agile and transparent feedback model evolving as many employees work in teams and new social tools enable people to more clearly share goals, recognition and work-related data. Also coming to the fore will be HR's need to address overburdened employees as a result of the technological inundation of the work environment. Another trend is the growing value of corporate learning programs and sources as skills become increasingly marketable, while HR would do well to capitalize on, refocus and re-engineer talent acquisition via network recruiting, brand reach and new technologies. Deloitte also said the time is ripe for HR to leverage reporting and analytics teams in recruiting, compensation, engagement, learning and leadership, and organize a workforce assessment plan with a holistic data perspective. Reviewing the tech plan, reducing core vendors and seeking new value-driving solutions should become priorities for HR leaders.
Oracle Innovates in HR Tech
Human Resource Executive Online (01/05/15) Kutik, Bill
Oracle has dedicated years to the development of Oracle Work Life Solutions, a new class of applications and features designed mainly for employees that Oracle plans to issue over time. Oracle HCM Cloud General Manager Chris Leone said Work Life Solutions "is designed to show a vision — that we're not just moving PeopleSoft to the cloud, but getting ready for the new generation of employees coming." The new category originated with the Workforce Reputation Management (WRM) app, which offers employees the choice of giving their employer access to their information. WRM delivers refined, multifactor analysis of an individual's social profile, graph, activities and content, with the eventual goal of including the major public networks. The app enables employees to promote their accomplishments and shows how their colleagues regard them in comments and the equivalent of retweets, while employers become more aware of certain workers and perhaps uncover hidden talent. Next up for release is the My Wellness app, which will compile data from wearables, online neuroscience testing and health-tracking devices and applications. The app is designed to provide employees with actionable insight to enhance their performance by tying that data to work actions, and potentially lower health care costs to organizations. Finally, the My Competitions app is designed to engage employees through fun and friendly competitions that will be mostly productivity-focused.
2015: Social HR Becomes a Reality
Forbes (01/05/15) Meister, Jeanne
The consumerization of human resources is poised to emerge in 2015, in which employees expect an "intelligent mobile user experience" to shape their access to HR resources, according to Jeanne Meister. "We can expect in 2015 to see more forward-thinking HR leaders make the connection between solid social media strategies and a competitive business model," Meister said. "And once they recognize that link, they will find themselves compelled to improve outdated HR policies." Meister foresees HR departments developing "social employer brand playbooks" to obtain a competitive edge in sourcing and developing top talent. Among the major social HR trends she expects in 2015 is the conversion of employees at all levels into social media brand ambassadors for the corporate brand. She also anticipates the growing penetration of wearable personal technology within the workplace, with more organizations trying out wearable apps. Another trend Meister is expecting for this year is the rise of massive open online courses in the enterprise, which should have a transformative impact on corporate training. She also predicted corporate apps and social learning becoming routine in 2015, as well as seamless and live across multiple devices. In addition, an expanding emphasis on using data analytics to source and recruit talent should work to the advantage of a host of big data recruiting companies. Meister also expects gamification maturing into a tool for employee engagement.
HR Survey Warns Cloud Move Can Take Longer, Cost More Than Expected
SearchFinancialApplications (12/15/14) Ring, Dan
Many organizations have underestimated and oversimplified what human resources migrations to the cloud projects entail, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of 268 companies. Almost 25 percent of respondents said the move took longer or was more costly than anticipated. Moreover, PwC's Dan Staley noted 118 respondents were unprepared for the shift in business processes necessitated by the cloud migration, and 113 were not ready or able to jettison their on-premises customizations and adopt a cloud mindset. "HR business and technology leaders are often told that cloud migrations can be achieved within several weeks or a few months," Staley said. "While this is sometimes true for smaller organizations that have moved off spreadsheets or manual processes, it is not quite that easy for larger, more complex or global organizations." Staley cited the need for more organizational commitment to due diligence before cloud system procurement, and companies must have a willingness to change business practices and embrace new processes. Recruitment and performance management are particularly popular processes to host in the cloud, while polled HR leaders reported relatively high satisfaction with the degree of configuration, especially for newer cloud processes such as core HR or workforce administration. PwC said client expectations could be brought into line with the change if more organizations created a business case beforehand.
Disrupting HR in 2015
Human Resource Executive Online (12/16/14) Boese, Steve
Human resources leaders are on the cusp of a transformation driven by technology, according to HR expert Steve Boese. Making the best HR technology choices can help enable organizations to meet their business goals, support and engage employees, draw and engage desired talent, fuel workforce decision-making with data and sustain workplace evolution. Boese cited three areas of concentration for HR leaders offering organizations a disruptive opportunity for their HR and talent processes in 2015. Mobile recruiting will enter the mainstream, but less than one-fifth of large organizations have invested in fully mobile-enabled recruiting sites and candidate-application support. "2015 should be the year when you ensure your organization no longer has to talk about 'mobile' recruiting — it will just be 'recruiting' and it will work on every device for every candidate, recruiter and hiring manager," Boese said. He also said the Affordable Care Act will require organizations to gain an accurate view of employee scheduling enabled by real-time data analysis and an effective means to report on this data to ensure and document compliance. The third area of focus should be workforce diversity, Boese said. "The challenge for HR leaders going forward ... will lie in how, where and to what end to delineate talent management strategies (talent attraction, development, retention and rewards) to improve diversity and to track these results with the end goal being to improve business performance," he said.
Investment in HR Technology on the Rise
Employee Benefit News (12/15/14) Giardina, Michael
Human resources technology investments are maintaining their growth across the board, and Computer Economics President Frank Scavo thinks the recent growth in use of human capital management systems may be partly due to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). "The leading category of HCM systems for investment over the next 18 months is workforce management, and that would be impacted by the ACA because you have to track employee hours very carefully," he said. "Workforce management systems are exactly what do that." Research by Computer Economics found gradual but steady growth among HCM investments across all enterprises, with 2 percent year-over-year expansion in 2014 owing to greater ease of use and the reasonable cost of HCM solutions, according to Scavo. "I think also the cloud deployment of these solutions makes it much easier for smaller and mid-sized businesses to take up," he said. HCM systems help organizations contend with central HR functions such as staff data and benefits administration, payroll, recruiting and all facets of workforce planning and analytics. Scavo predicted HCM systems will be used more often by retailers, wholesale, health care and financial services because of their requirements for compliance issues, employee training and certification. "Not every company needs supply chain management, but every company needs human capital management," he said.
HR Technology Trends in the Workplace in 2015
Forbes (01/06/15) Higginbottom, Karen
Achievers' Steve Parker predicted the advent of two major human resources technology trends in 2015: transparency and a step toward resolution of employee disengagement. In the first instance, Parker said employees will start using social media and other tools to characterize and assess their organizations' true employment brand. He noted such tools cut both ways, in that they can enable employees to voice positive as well as negative feedback. "In 2015, HR will start embracing technology that creates this transparency and fosters an open culture where employees can easily recognize and communicate the great things that happen every day in organizations," Parker said. In terms of the disengagement conundrum, Parker foresees HR technology that helps organizations create a nurturing, productive environment maturing. "Organizations serious about increasing their performance will begin to focus more on taking action on employee engagement by providing people with tools to connect across functions, catch others in the act of doing things right and stay aligned to what's most important," he predicted. Meanwhile, KPMG's Tim Payne said the generational divide in workplaces may become harder to contend with in 2015 as organizations struggle with the need to embed new technology at the speed employees desire. "The challenge will be whether organizations can adopt new technologies quickly enough to satisfy employee need whilst ensuring everyone is able to get the most out of it," he said.
Goodbye Talent Management, Hello People Management
Diginomica (01/07/15) Milne, Janine
Human resources analyst Josh Bersin predicted an HR software market shift from the concept of talent management to one of people management in the face of changing customer needs. He said the talent management software industry cannot continue in its present state of integrating standalone talent tools into combined software talent packages, and must adapt. Basic needs are ceding to organizations' broader requirements, which Bersin described as engagement, empowerment and environment. "Integration is giving way to impact — and companies now want systems that change the way people work," he said. This conviction is rooted in the idea that engagement, leadership and productivity are the biggest challenges facing organizations, which exceed the scope of traditional talent management. By considering employees as people instead of talent, HR will benefit the organization as well as employees, Bersin said. He noted talent management seeks to identify and incentivize top talent while people management focuses on empowering and improving performance across the board via coaching and management. Another difference is that people management views each employee as an individual and attempts to nurture an environment in which the individual wants to contribute to business objectives in a manner that suits them; talent management considers people by value-adding ability and trains them so they can deliver against business requirements.
Millennials Replacing Baby Boomers in HR Software Market Signals Shif |