Advantage Sales & Marketing Puts Social Learning to the Test

Why a slow build approach is the best bet for organizations considering the use of enterprise social networking tools for their talent strategies

Last summer, we posted a blog about Knowledge Infusion analyst Jason Corsello’s take on the use of enterprise social networking and collaboration tools for talent management.  One of the tips he offered for businesses getting started with these tools was to identify quick wins vs. “big bang” deployments.  Not only does a lower investment lessen the pressure to demonstrate ROI, it also gives organizations an opportunity to adapt their strategies over time for broader distribution based on lessons learned.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Rolls Out a Global LMS

The international hotel & leisure giant talks about replacing its “tremendously unsuccessful” on-premise LMS, including its thorough software vendor search and internal change management process

Having a comfortable bed in a hotel room may seem like a no-brainer idea, but when Westin Hotels and Resorts introduced its signature Heavenly Bed in 1999, it was a game changer for the hotel industry.  It is this type of marketing-leading innovation on which Westin’s parent company, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, prides itself. 
 

One of the world’s largest hotel and leisure companies, Starwood owns, manages and franchises more than 1,000 hotel properties around the world under nine unique brands, including: W, Westin, Le Meridien, Sheraton St. Regis, Four Points, The Luxury Collection, aloft and element.  At the core of Starwood’s success is its commitment to creating a company that is a great place to work and provides wonderful guest experiences. 

Analyst Panel Shares Expert Take on Latest HR Technology Trends

HR Executive's Bill Kutik and top industry analysts from Bersin & Associates, Forrester, IDC and Knowledge Infusion discuss the down economy, social networks, succession planning, ROI measurement and more at Convergence 2009 

If you are looking for guidance and insights on the latest HR technology trends and best practices, then who better to talk to than an all-star line-up of the industry’s leading experts?  That’s exactly what we did at our recent client and partner conference, Convergence 2009. We hosted an expert panel entitled “Critical Trends in HR Technology,” featuring top industry analysts in the learning and talent management software space, such as:

Social Collaboration: The Future of Talent Management?

Knowledge Infusion analyst Jason Corsello explains the power of combining talent data with social tools – and how this is driving an evolution in talent management strategies

One of the more buzzed about trends at Convergence 2009 was enterprise social networking and Web 2.0 collaboration tools – such as blogs, wikis, communities of practice, instant messaging (IM) and more.  How can organizations use these tools to support their human capital management strategies?  Is there a measurable impact?  Or is it all just a bunch of hype?

Observes Adam Miller, CEO of Cornerstone OnDemand, “Ultimately, the point is to embed user-generated content with traditional data.  It is taking organizational data that everyone uses and meshing it with user-generated content to give you a holistic picture when making decisions about your talent as well as your business.”

Integrated Talent Management: Are You There Yet?

Kelly Services reminisces about its journey to deploying Cornerstone's global ITM suite - and shares tips with fellow HR and learning travelers - at Convergence 2009

Not too long ago, we announced Kelly Services as a new Cornerstone client.  Kelly is migrating to a global integrated talent management (ITM) system, with platforms for onboarding, learning, performance, succession, compensation and extended enterprise. What's compelling about Kelly's story is the size and scope of the implementation - at 659,000 users (650K temp and 8,900 FT employees) across 39 countries, it is likely the largest global SaaS deployment to date.

What do Pancakes Have to do with Training?

Pearson's Convergence 2009 Case Study Presentation Examines Training as a Profit Center

Did you know your LMS could potentially be used to create a new profit center for your organization?  This was the subject of Pearson’s case study presentation, entitled “Training as a Profit Center,” at Cornerstone's Convergence 2009 client & partner conference.

Pearson is the leading pre K-12 curriculum, testing and software company in the U.S.  One of these programs is the Pearson School Systems, which includes solutions for student information, assessment, reporting and business.  Because School Systems is filled with several features and functions –- and schools have a wide variety of set-ups and needs –- training is critical in order to understand how to use the products. 

Tales from Convergence 2009

A Look Back at Cornerstone’s Annual Client & Partner Conference

If you’ve been following us on Twitter, then you know we’ve spent the past week gathering with partners and clients at our annual Convergence conference.  Despite swine flu scares and reduced travel budgets, we were thrilled to welcome more than 150 attendees to Santa Monica’s Fairmont Miramar hotel for two days of expert-led presentations, product labs, networking and more.

The theme of this year’s event was “Grow Your Workforce without Growing Your Headcount.”  So, it was rewarding to hear all of the rich discussions taking place throughout Wednesday and Thursday, as HR and learning leaders from the U.S. and across the pond shared best practices and gained insight in to ways to make the most of their learning and talent management strategies. 

Workforce Restructuring:  Build or Buy?

In good times and in lean, the composition of your workforce determines business success.  To get the right workforce in place, should you build or buy?

As organizations wrestle with how to manage their workforces in turbulent times, it might be worthwhile to ask a question familiar to the software industry:  is it better to build or to buy?

For software companies, this question typically refers to the strategic plan for growing a company and product – is it better to acquire new technology or to build your products organically at home for the best overall integration.  At Cornerstone, we’ve taken the latter approach, building the entire integrated talent management suite in-house and not by cobbling the pieces together through acquisition.

The build vs. buy question can also be applied more broadly to organizations, as they consider their ongoing talent strategies under the damp blanket of frozen budgets and dire macroeconomic indicators.  The question here is about talent: can organizations meet their evolving workforce needs with internal talent (“build”), or must they seek new talent from outside (“buy”).

On-Demand Software:  A "Half-SaaSed" Approach Doesn't Cut It

This week Jason Corsello, on his Human Capitalist blog, raised the issue of the confusion that still surrounds real Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) for many buyers.  Not surprisingly, this topic is near and dear to Cornerstone.  The company staked its claim on the SaaS model from the beginning – the “OnDemand” in our name is not just a pleasant coincidence. 

Cornerstone satisfies the fourth level of the Microsoft SaaS maturity model referenced by Jason: true multi-tenant, multi-user SaaS.  This is not a meaningless observation.  It’s important to distinguish this approach from vendors of legacy, on-premise software that simply port over existing software code into a single-tenancy, hosted application environment.  Loading a client-server application onto Web servers all but completely misses the mark on why real, multi-tenant, multi-user SaaS is valuable.  It’s a half-SaaSed approach.

Don't Forget the Fundamentals

In a recent Chief Learning Officer Magazine article, Bersin & Associates’ analyst John Bersin raises a good point regarding the integration of learning and talent management in today’s corporate climate.  Josh observes the evolution of the CLO role within organizations and counsels readers to ensure that learning and development “aren’t overlooked or underfunded” in the move to integrate systems.