While UKG has yet to make an official announcement about the End-of-Life (EOL) date for UKG Workforce Central, most UKG service providers, including PredictiveHR, expect the EOL date to be set sometime in 2027.

This outlook has provided a renewed sense of urgency for HCM leaders and IT teams to assess their timelines for migrating from Workforce Central to UKG Dimensions. The migration process requires careful planning and preparation so that HCM teams can avoid a scenario where UKG is no longer marketing or updating the HCM platform they continue to use.

It’s no secret that many HCM leaders have already gone ahead and made the move from Workforce Central to Dimensions. Based on our experience as a UKG service provider who has already helped many organizations complete a successful migration to Dimensions, here are some of the most important factors HCM leaders should consider as they prepare.

UKG Engineers Made Data Migration Headache-Free

One of the most common hesitations HCM leaders have when it comes to moving from Workforce Central to Dimensions is the perceived burden of data migration. This fear is understandable as the thought of moving databases this large can seem daunting with even the most capable IT departments at your side.

Thankfully, UKG has carefully engineered Dimensions so that it can easily receive and populate data directly from Workforce Central. On close examination, it’s not surprising that data transfer was made easy considering UKG owns both Workforce Central and Dimensions. Undoubtedly, UKG leveraged their internal engineers to build a system that would ensure easy data migration between the two platforms. The result of this engineered compatibility between Workforce Central and Dimensions is most HCM and IT teams needing to do only minimal manual data migration tasks.

Take a Long-Term, Holistic View of HCM Technology Costs

The costs associated with moving from Workforce Central to Dimensions are dependent upon the specific configuration that is needed for your organization. These costs can range from out-of-the-box pricing on one end of the spectrum to highly customized configurations that include lots of optional features. Determining where on this cost spectrum your organization falls involves careful consideration on the part of relevant stakeholders throughout your company.

There’s no denying that the total cost for a migration from Workforce Central to Dimensions could be substantial, but it’s helpful to also consider the long-term cost of not making the move to updated HCM technology. The reality is there are ongoing costs associated with trying to maintain legacy HCM systems, especially when those legacy systems are no longer updated and supported by the vendor.

Despite Some Familiarity, Your Team Members Will Need Time to Adjust

Migrating from Workforce Central to Dimensions brings about change across your organization. Naturally, team members that are impacted by these changes will need some time to adjust and learn the new system. The good news is UKG Dimensions is designed to be highly intuitive and user-friendly. Since UKG owns Workforce Central, they were able to capitalize on years of user experience insights to inform the design, features, and functionality of UKG Dimensions.

These user experience best practices even extend to the robust mobile functionality of Dimensions as more and more HCM leaders and team members operate parts of the platform using mobile devices. Additionally, since UKG owns Workforce Central, new users of Dimensions will find much of the logic and functionality familiar and intuitive based on their past experience with Workforce Central.

Despite some familiarity of moving from Workforce Central to Dimensions, HCM leaders should take appropriate change management steps to ensure a smooth transition from the legacy UKG platform to Dimensions. New users in Dimensions will encounter replacements of some of the old modules, as well as more robust capabilities based on machine learning and AI. There’s no doubt that these new technologies will take some getting used to.

Partnering with a UKG Dimensions Service Provider You Can Trust

One of the most important aspects of a successful migration from Workforce Central to Dimensions is partnering with a service provider you can trust. An experienced UKG service provider like PredictiveHR will benefit your Dimensions initiative in several ways:

  • Lead your implementation and migration to Dimensions
  • Provide change management services during the adjustment period
  • Ensure effective training of your team members
  • Conduct rigorous testing of your new Dimensions platform to make sure it’s performing as expected

At PredictiveHR, we’re laser focused on the optimization and success of your HCM operations. That’s why we offer a comprehensive approach and customized pricing packages that meet your organization’s unique needs. We’re ready to do the heavy lifting of migrating to Dimensions so that you can stay focused on taking care of your most important asset—your people.

Schedule a consultation with one of our UKG Dimensions experts today!

Your enterprise’s greatest asset is its people. It’s the fuel and the energy behind your company’s success.  Human capital is simply the collective knowledge and skills of the employees within, and that’s something every company should invest in.

Human capital consulting can help you understand where your enterprise stands. It offers an outside, objective view of your business that can be difficult to find internally. This comprehensive analysis will take a look at your company’s structure, its people, and how well the two are working together.

Any plans to propel your business forward should start with Human Capital Consulting. This consulting is, simply put, a tool for maximizing the impact of your most valuable asset. Unfortunately, there are many enterprise leaders that don’t understand the value of human capital or human capital consulting. Could that be a driving force behind the recent Great Resignation?

Don’t fall victim to letting your top talent slip away or letting new top talent pass you over.

Here are the top benefits of investing in Human Capital Consulting for your business.

[bctt tweet=”Top benefits of Human Capital Consulting include a more engaged workforce, reduced turnover, and higher quality service for your clients. Need more incentive? See the latest article from PREDICTIVEHR (@TalentData): ” via=”no”]

Improving Employee Engagement & Satisfaction> Reduces Employee Turnover

Employee engagement impacts everything from productivity to retention and can drastically affect an organization’s success. Human Capital Consultingmakes it easier to acknowledge the effort of your hard-working teams, develop reward programs, and introduce or improve incentives for growth. When your team is engaged, the enterprise wins.

When employee engagement is improved, so too is your employee retention. Human Capital Consulting can include team-building exercises that create an environment for communication and trust to thrive. Especially in this market of candidate focus, your talent is looking for value and opportunity within your organization to decide whether to stay or leave. Investing in Human Capital Consulting is your ticket to employee satisfaction and retention.

Human capital consulting can also help with succession planning. This is important because it allows you to have a plan in place for when an employee leaves or is promoted. By having a plan, you can avoid the disruptions that can come from not having someone trained to do the job.

[bctt tweet=”Improve Succession planning, reduce turnover, and other incredible benefits. PREDICTIVEHR (@TalentData) spells out the many ways Human Capital Consulting sets your business up for success:” via=”no”]

Client Engagement is Improved> Improve ROI

It’s a beautiful chain of events. When your employees are happy, they are more engaged and do better work, which means your clients are happier with their outcomes! Investing in Human Capital consulting often drives an influx in client engagement and satisfaction simply because they’re happier with the results your team can offer.

Consider this perspective: Every company is investing in their employees in some way already. You’re making that investment through compensation, benefits, training, development, cost of turnover, and cost of recruiting. That turnover also affects your clients and the quality of work you can deliver. Choosing to invest in your employees reduces turnover and the costs associated with replacing staff, resulting in a better return on investment than consistently bringing on new team members.

What are some of the benefits your company will experience by investing in human capital consulting?

  • A more engaged workforce
  • Reduced costs associated with turnover
  • Improved communication and collaboration among employees
  • Higher quality work for your clients
  • A better understanding of employee needs and how to address them.

 

Graphic repeating benefits of human capital consulting

 

Outstanding Company Culture> Increased Quality of Hire

Another benefit of investing in your human capital is the improvement of company culture. When your employees are satisfied and thriving within your organization, it shows. A strong company culture attracts better talent and more effectively retains that talent.

When people feel like they belong to an upstanding organization, they’re more likely to stick around for the long haul. That means lower turnover (and lower turnover cost), reduced lag of new hire training, and better communication and camaraderie throughout your team.

Top talent wants to work for companies that value their employees and provide a positive work environment. The recent labor shortage made that clear; candidates are no longer in the game of settling. When your company culture is thriving, you’re the company top talent is seeking out, not the company they’re leaving.

Human capital consulting can help you take a comprehensive look at your organization and develop a plan to improve your company culture. From there, human capital consultants can work with you to implement the changes necessary to create a more positive and productive work environment.

Human Capital Consulting now has an “Easy” Button: PREDICTIVEHR!

In the PREDICTIVEHR approach of Human Capital Consulting and Business Process Optimization, our expertise focuses on three primary principles: people, processes, and infrastructure. We can help tackle:

  • Addressing legacy systems or technology
  • Building out better total talent processes
  • Creating a data-driven retention and succession plan
  • Supporting the ebb and flow of people growth
  • Fixing and integrating multiple systems and technologies
  • System implementations and change management
  • Creating optimized processes for real-time reporting across the enterprise

PREDICTIVEHR consultants use healing, support, and elevation to bring the human element into consulting and help you look like a rockstar. Let’s get started. Book your demo today.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…

Well, that might be a bit dramatic. But, it does describe the landscape of talent acquisition right now. The workforce is not panicking, but it’s certainly approaching frenetic.

Those companies who know how to recruit quickly, manage service providers, and select an HR Technology stack, will be successful. However, the candidate pools seem to be dwindling. 

After all, unemployment is incredibly low, and in-demand candidates are well…it’s in the name. It feels as though no matter which recruitment or TA strategy you employ, it’s going to be hard to hit hiring goals.

As the business landscape continues to change, one of the top concerns for our new clients seems to be Talent Pipeline Strategy. Everyone has positions to fill, but not many are catching the eye of the top talent in their industry. 

What is a Talent Pipeline?

Talent pipelines are the steps potential employees take to become employed. They include the steps candidates take from leads to employees, for instance. As prospects move through the pipeline, they proceed to the next stage. As with other modern recruiting methods, talent pipelines were influenced by proven marketing and sales concepts. 

A talent pipeline is crucial for organizations looking to hire and retain top talent. Employees who feel that they are contributing to an organization’s talent pipeline are more likely to stay with an organization for a longer period than those who do not. In addition, they are more likely to recommend their company to others.

In every department that generates talent, such as customer service, sales, product, engineering, marketing, accounting, or human resources, talent pipelines should be set up. Then, talent will be available when you need it. 

A good talent pipeline includes people with deep industry experience who can move candidates seamlessly between your organization and your open requisitions. Rather than JUST filling open positions, you’re now focused on candidate relationship management. 

Developing a long-term talent pipeline is beneficial for any company, large or small. Among the many benefits of diversifying your talent pipeline are providing individual candidate experiences, enhancing the employer brand, and diversifying your applicant pool.

Building or optimizing your talent pipeline strategy is a smart way to solve today’s issues and begin building your strategy for whatever comes next. But how? The good news is this: We’re here to help you stop being reactive and start getting predictive. Here is how to build and revitalize your talent pipeline.

[bctt tweet=”Check out PREDICTIVEHR’s 10 tips for building a strong #talentpipeline if you don’t already have one! @TalentData” via=”no”]

How to Create a Talent Pipeline

  1. Define talent needs. You cannot manage what you don’t measure. A tired adage? Sure, but not because it’s not true. The talent needs of your organization must be the first step in revitalizing your talent pipeline strategy. Why? Because requirements have changed, and so has the workforce. From your potential new hire’s desire to work in a hybrid environment, to your current team suffering from hidden burnout, it’s crucial to see your workforce and talent pool for what it is right now rather than what it was before.  
  2. Source talent aggressively. Just using LinkedIn will no longer cut the mustard. Every sourcing channel at your disposal should be in use. Search your ATS for candidates who “got away”, bring in an on-demand team to fill the pipeline, use alternative social sourcing methods, and network away (safely.) In order to have a healthy pipeline, you need to get the candidates in there, and moving. This will help measure against your current employees to assess culture fit, identify skills gaps and assist with succession planning (a part of healthy talent pipelines.) 
  3. Build relationships. If sourcing aggressively and building relationships seem to contradict one another, you’re not the only one. However, building relationships doesn’t have to be at odds with an aggressive sourcing strategy. In fact, once you have built your candidate experience roadmap, you can take every newly sourced candidate through it easily. Haven’t built one yet? Give us a call.  Even if you don’t have a formalized candidate experience journey or process, you can still ensure you are building relationships with every candidate touch (email, phone call, social contact, etc.) 
  4. Ensure talent experience is consistent across all stages of the recruitment journey. Speaking of the experience, how DOES talent make its way through your processes? Have you checked them in a while? Going through your own ATS, career site, interview rubric and more can really open your eyes to what candidates experience when they come through the proverbial door. When you see a screw a little loose, tighten it. When you notice a gap, fill it. This could be as simple as training your hiring managers on faster interviewing or implementing a simpler onboarding form.  
  5. Make the talent pipeline an integral part of the leadership team’s objectives. If leadership isn’t backing it, it will be extremely hard to continue to focus on talent pipeline strategy. Focus on getting your colleagues to buy into the concept NOW, when the pain is the most acute. Your actions and plans laid now will create a much brighter talent acquisition strategy overall tomorrow.  
  6. Optimize talent pipeline over time with talent analytics. When you can easily see your time to hire, cost per hire, velocity to hire, retention per manager, onboarding and training time, and all the talent analytics a good platform offers visibility into, you can more effectively tweak and optimize your talent pipeline over time. If you don’t have these analytics in place, work with a knowledgeable consultant to get them implemented while you focus on recruiting. 

 

FREE DOWNLOAD: 4 Common Misconceptions About People Analytics

 

  1. Stop thinking about talent like a transactional process and make talent central to company strategy. This is becoming more clear to leadership all the time. Company strategy depends on talent, from the boardroom to delicatessen, and we are all learning that right now. The issue is, many have short memories. Strike while the iron is hot to ensure that even when the candidate market gives us room to breathe, your talent strategy has become so interwoven with company strategy, it’s impossible to untangle them. How do you do this? One key initiative many of our clients are doing is to tie financial data to people data and find the correlations to help them make smarter, more proactive choices.  
  2. Make the talent pipeline part of the talent growth strategy. This seems obvious, no? But for many, talent pipelines are a “nice to have” and not a crucial part of the talent growth plan. We believe this is shortsighted and will ultimately backfire. Building a pipeline of talent is always a smart move because while a company’s memories are short, people’s memories are long. They remember how they’re treated and acknowledged during both good and bad times. 
  3. Look beyond talent acquisition metrics and build a talent management process. Talent pipeline doesn’t stop at the first-day orientation. It’s a longer play than that. Your current employees are also part of your talent pipeline whether you believe it or not. In fact, many of the Great Resignation numbers being touted in recent months are those who retired early or decided to stay home due to a need to care for a child, parent, or loved one. The recruiter inside me says those folks could be persuaded to make a move back into the workforce. However, if your company has poor talent management processes or drops the ball on engagement or retention, how can you expect them to return (or even entertain a referral conversation?) 
  4. Optimize talent pipeline through continuous improvement every day. You knew it was coming. What we do daily becomes a habit. Just like keeping clean data makes your business run more smoothly, so too does keeping your pipeline healthy and flowing. Some TA professionals do this by “batching”, managing all candidate info requests on one day, calling their “almost there” candidates another. Others focus on specific roles at specific times rather than where they are in the funnel. Still more focus on time since the last interaction. Whatever method you land on, just ensure you are keeping the talent flowing through the pipeline, lest they become stagnant. 

 

What if you already have a talent pipeline? Here are 4 steps to get your pipeline revitalized and ready to take on 2022:

Talent Pipeline Boost #1: Refresh Your Employer Brand 

It might be time to brush up on your marketing skills. Often the first step in building a strong talent pipeline is to rethink your company’s branding approach. High-quality candidates will come to you because of your reputation as an employer. Especially in a market that’s beset by a pandemic and is in need of greater racial diversity. Creating a brand that reflects the values, culture, and vision of your organization is essential.

As the world moves towards a post-covid future, it will become even more crucial. Candidates can observe how organizations responded to the crisis. Ultimately, what matters is what we do, not what we say.

In difficult economic times, some of the “employers of choice” were among the first to announce furloughs and layoffs. As a result, awards and titles mean very little in the real world to candidates who suspect they may not be totally true.

Creating a great employer brand might seem like something you do when talent is a little easier to find. Why now, when you have enough on your plate? Well, employer brand is one of those things that can be tough to get off the ground but pays dividends well into the future. If you are reading up on talent pipeline strategies, you’re likely already familiar with employer branding and may even have a very well-established one.

Employer brand also takes a hit when companies cast large recruiting nets and then barely speak to candidates. Be tactful in how you nurture those relationships so when you approach a candidate, who has likely already heard from six other recruiters today, they feel recognized as a person and an asset instead of just a body in the building. 

That said, the market has changed so drastically, that many of the tactics used by successful “best places to work”  just a couple of years ago are now either outdated or just not currently useful. For example, UGC (user-generated content) as a cornerstone of your employer branding strategy may not work right now, because many of your employees are too busy to contribute. 

 

READ NOW: The World of Work Has Evolved—and So Should Your Employee Value Proposition (EVP)

 

On the other hand, working with an expert to revamp your candidate experience, assess and improve your Glassdoor rating, or taking the time to build a better showcase for your benefits or DEI programs might be just the ticket. Focus on what matters to candidates now, like meaningful work, companies who support causes they care about, benefits that impact their lives every day, and flexibility to learn and grow. 

The net takeaway here? Employer brand is more than just what’s on the glossy surface. Employers must dig deeper to understand what makes candidates come to the party and what specifically makes employees stay. 

[bctt tweet=”#Employerbrand is more than just what’s on the glossy surface. Employers must dig deeper to understand what makes candidates come to the party and what specifically makes employees stay. Check out PREDICTIVEHR’s tips for boosting your talent pipeline” via=”no”]

Talent Pipeline Boost #2: Identify High Priority Roles

Generally speaking, there are usually openings within a company that are more immediate than others or existing roles with higher turnover rates. Identify which roles take precedence and base your search on candidates whose skills fit those roles well. You may even consider internal candidates in more stable departments interested in moving to a more in-demand role. In order to identify these roles, try asking yourself and your team these questions: 

  • What are your short- and long-term business goals?
  • What skills do you currently have?
  • What traits do you need in your future employees to navigate the next crisis?
  • What skills do your current employees have that may be transferable?
  • What trends can you see in your industry?
  • What skills will you need in the future?
  • Which jobs may become redundant due to automation?

This strategy is two-fold because your current talent is at risk of leaving if they don’t see a future with your company. Allowing opportunities for advancement while filling your own high-demand positions is a win-win. 

DEEP DIVE: Learn more about Internal Mobility with our in-depth look!

Develop Your Existing Workforce

Speaking of your current talent, it’s a great strategy to start developing their skillset now. Ensuring your current workforce is equipped with the skills and knowledge to succeed is a great way to build a pipeline of talent you already know and trust. The next time an opportunity comes available, you’ll have the perfect candidate ready and waiting.

Talent Pipeline Boost #3: Simplify the Candidate Journey

Future applicants will thank you for streamlining the process. Real talk? Candidates are in incredibly high demand at the moment, and unemployment and inflation are poised to stick around for the foreseeable. The market WILL cool down, but until it does, no one is going to:

  • Send a resume and cover letter after they’ve been cold-sourced for a job
  • Dig around on your site looking for the careers section
  • Fill in an application that asks for the same information as is on their resume
  • Go through a multi-screen application and assessment that doesn’t save 
  • Apply for roles that aren’t upfront about compensation
  • Schedule several interviews during the workday
  • Spend more than 15 minutes on an application for a job they’re qualified for
  • Waste time on a company that never responds back

Imagine someone is actively looking for a job and starts poking around. Your resume parser takes ten minutes to fill out while the next company’s application process takes an hour. You could have an interview scheduled with this applicant before they even finish applying for the next job. Throw in automated scheduling, chatbots to answer questions about salary and benefits, quick start dates, and gamified assessments, and you’ve made an arduous task almost enjoyable. 

 

CLOSER LOOK: Talent Attraction: The Rules Have Changed, Are Your Recruiters Keeping Up?

 

Simplifying your candidate journey makes it easier for passive candidates to easily apply. If they’re gainfully employed, a mild curiosity may not be enough for them to complete that hour-long application, but it may be enough for ten minutes of their time. 

 

Revitalize your Pipeline Step #4: Partner with a Pro

You’ve likely tapped your network, and in this climate, you’re not alone. When you team up with a recruiting agency, you acquire their network as well. You receive professional, round-the-clock help in your efforts to fill your pipeline and your next open role. Managing a business is hard, but building a strong workforce is even harder. PREDICTIVEHR can help you gain access to candidates that you might otherwise never know existed.

It boils down to how you plan, strategize, and use technology to support long-term business needs. Get ahead of the curve to hire better talent since the demand for the best candidates is only going to increase.

Recruiters ought to take advantage of this opportunity. The job market today is vastly different from years ago. Managing a business is hard, but building a strong workforce is even harder. PREDICTIVEHR can help you gain access to candidates that you might otherwise never know existed.

 

Contact Us to build your pipeline with the best in the industry.

As the global pandemic subsides, the competition for talent looks noticeably different. With a variety of work environments now available (on-site, fully remote, hybrid), candidates and employees have never had more choice and control over designing their own personal, family, and career trajectories.

It’s truly a talent-driven market, with prominent new priorities—among them, better life/work harmony and the ability to choose an employer with an Employee Value Proposition (EVP) that enables that balance.

The Value of a Great Employee Value Proposition

An employee value proposition answers the question: “Why should I work for your company?” Differentiators that strike a chord should provide compelling reasons to be seen as an employer of choice. These may include a desirable brand image, emotional rewards that provide a sense of purpose, or any number of factors that top talent considers important. A strong EVP can give your company the inside track in attracting and retaining your unfair share of the best talent out there.

A strong EVP is critical for:

Attracting top talent: According to CareerArc’s “2021 Future of Recruiting Study”, jobseekers prize employer brand and culture, critical components of an EVP, when evaluating current and future opportunities.

It’s no longer only up to candidates to market themselves. Employers are now being interviewed, too, since top talent candidates have more choice and leverage than ever before.

Retaining top talent: Historically, employees often chose to align to a weak EVP and stay with a company for the sake of a mortgage and bills to pay. In today’s labor market, that’s changing.

According to a report by Mercer, only two out of five employees believe their organization has a compelling EVP. In today’s world, not having a strong EVP can be a costly misstep, leading to an unnecessary turnover.

 

[bctt tweet=”There’s a lot riding on your employer value proposition—and it’s too risky to ignore this key differentiator. @PredictiveHR is your partner in this critical endeavor. Learn more! https://www.predictivehr.com/blog/great-employee-value-proposition-attract-talent/ ” via=”no”]

Components of a Strong EVP

A strong EVP covers several components:

  • Contractual Rewards: Salary, Healthcare Benefits, PTO, etc.
  • Experiential Rewards: Wellness Benefits, Retirement Savings, 401k Plans, Social Interaction in the Workplace
  • Emotional Rewards: Intangible but likely the most important.

These emotional rewards include things that make an employee feel like their work has a purpose, galvanize a sense of fulfillment, and create an emotional connection to work. Your EVP should also convey care and empathy—things that reinforce those emotional rewards.

The creation of your EVP should follow a data-driven approach that incorporates critical information, including information stored outside your HR technology platforms, such as focus group findings, labor market analyses, global employer surveys, and competitor analysis.

In the new world of work, benchmarks are a thing of the past and your snapshot of “now” changes frequently. With an evolving post-pandemic talent mandate, the best inputs to a strong EVP are tailored, actionable insights derived from “real-time” organizational and market data, along with predictive modeling.

Communicating Your EVP

As it turns out, only a small percentage of companies can articulate their EVP to candidates. Harvard Business Review reports that only 30% of medium and large businesses and 25% of small businesses articulate their differentiators to prospective employees. Furthermore, if your EVP cannot be clearly articulated to your main stakeholders—your current employees—you have no brand ambassadors to bring your EVP to life.

It’s not enough just to have a strong employee value proposition; it needs to be communicated with clarity and authenticity. And, with up to five generations in the workplace, this communication campaign is no simple undertaking.

[bctt tweet=”It’s not enough just to have a strong employee value proposition; it needs to be communicated with clarity and authenticity. Learn how with @PredictiveHR https://www.predictivehr.com/blog/great-employee-value-proposition-attract-talent/” via=”no”]

Getting Ahead of the Talent Mandate

In today’s world, there’s a lot riding on your EVP—and it’s too risky to ignore this key differentiator. It’s worth the investment now to partner with an expert team that can accelerate your capabilities. PREDICTIVEHR has proven capabilities in designing rapid, comprehensive, game-changing solutions that help our clients get ahead of talent management issues.

In a practical sense, insight from your tailored data analytics and predictive modeling can eliminate the usual reactive response, giving you control in crafting your response to disruption. The company’s reply affects the business, the employee experience, and the brand. Communicating this to candidates and employees shows that care and empathy are major components of your EVP and employees care about that more than ever.

As companies everywhere continue seeking top talent for post-pandemic recovery and to build for the future, they’re smart to first understand what they already have within their own workforces. They need to decide who can be upskilled, reskilled and deployed, versus immediately shopping for talent outside the organization. 

7 Common Missteps with Internal Mobility

Not understanding why people leave their jobs. Most employees leave their jobs because of opportunities elsewhere. If your company can show employees a clear career roadmap and growth opportunities down the road, they may feel compelled to stay.

Not realizing your top talent is in high demand. With the new work-from-anywhere reality, recruiters are now scanning the entire nation (and even the world) to find the best talent. That means your company’s top talent is a target. Actively focusing on internal mobility is the best way to keep them in place. 

Taking too narrow a view of functional roles. When employees leave a company, a large percentage (about 30-40%) go into totally different roles. For example, a marketing person may jump into sales. Or an HR person may transition to finance. It’s smart to realize that many employees are open to cross-functional moves—so don’t write off these possibilities.

Avoiding employee check-ins. The best way to stay up-to-date with employees is to keep your finger on the pulse. By doing engagement surveys, periodic pulse checks, open development conversations and 360-degree feedback sessions, you can tap into your employees’ perceptions and aspirations for career growth pathways, which can encourage internal mobility.

Failure to post jobs internally (or providing ample time to apply). Sometimes companies post jobs externally without ever posting internally, which precludes internal applications and causes frustration from would-be applicants. Other companies post jobs internally, but don’t give ample time to accept applications. By the time the job posts on LinkedIn or Indeed, it’s often too late for employees.  

Not encouraging employee referrals. Generally, hires from employee referrals improve the quality of candidates who apply, reduce hiring time and costs, and increase retention rates. According to Jobvite, 47% of referral hires have greater satisfaction and stay longer with companies. 

Focusing too heavily on today (and ignoring the future). Many companies are so attuned to their immediate business needs, they fail to consider whether their current workforce can help them achieve tomorrow’s strategic goals.

     Promoting talent from within provides a number of valuable benefits: 

  • It drives engagement and retention. Actively recruiting internally sends a powerful message to employees that you care about their professional development. This helps build a culture of trust, which in turn increases engagement and encourages retention.  
  • It offers a broader perspective. The ability to look at internal and external talent pools together provides big advantages in understanding how to hire efficiently and cost-effectively.
  • Hiring is quicker. Screening calls and executive interviews aren’t always necessary when hiring internally because recruiters and hiring managers can easily find out about an employee’s performance. This minimizes your hiring stages and speeds the recruiting process.
  • It shortens onboarding times. Everyone needs time to settle into their new jobs, but current employees have a head start: they are already acquainted with your processes and company culture.
  • You’ll save money. Drawing on internal talent, you can avoid the cost of job board fees, sourcing costs or payments to hiring agencies. Some statistics show that external hiring may cost 1.7 times more than internal hiring. 

Considering all the good that can come from hiring internally, why don’t more organizations do it? Or have more success? Oftentimes, it boils down to several common missteps that can result in missed opportunities.

The Bottom Line
If you’re seeking top talent, you’ve likely got more options within your walls than you know. To optimize internal mobility, you need the skills, cutting-edge reporting tools and talent acquisition team that knows how to navigate the process to keep these valuable employees feeling appreciated, engaged and committed to growing with you. 

If you’re a manager at a company with separate human resource and workforce management systems, you’ve probably experienced the agonizing time-suck of entering the same employee information into both platforms—again and again. What if we told you there is a better way? A technique that makes it possible to enter data into one system and see the same data appear in the other system in real-time? It’s not magic, my friend. It’s something real and very possible—it’s integration.

Integration in a Nutshell

HR systems are central warehouses for employee information. Workforce management systems cover time, attendance, leave, advanced scheduling, and more. When you integrate these two systems, you set them both up to seamlessly connect. As a result, the data in both systems sync automatically and continuously. For example, if you promote an employee and update their information (e.g., job title, pay rate, etc.) in the HR system, the same updates apply to your WFM software.

If you’re like most managers with full plates, we probably had you at “stop entering things twice.” But there are three even more critical reasons that integration makes good business sense. Integration can free up time and money, stop data-entry mistakes in their tracks, and increase your data quality.

1. Save time and money

Entering info twice, cross-checking, and making updates and corrections are all time-consuming activities. And, perhaps you’ve already heard, time is money. When you integrate your HR and WFM platforms, you enter information once, and both systems will show real-time data. One and done.

2. Reduce the risk of human error

Accurate data is critical, and humans make mistakes. When companies depend on employees to enter the same data into multiple systems, the odds of an incorrect entry increase. That’s not just annoying and time-consuming—errors could also affect the bottom line. Imagine the ramifications of an extra zero, if you will. When you integrate your HR and WFM platforms, you enter information once, and both systems update across the board.

3. Improve your data

Being a data-driven organization requires having quality data. When you integrate HR and WFM, you eliminate data silos and gain a complete picture of your employees and their work. Only then can you genuinely make data-driven decisions to keep the company moving forward.

The thought of integrating your HR and WFM systems might sound confusing, but we love this stuff, and we’d like to help you with it. The Workforce Consulting Group provides tailored solutions and support for companies ready to integrate their HR and WFM systems. We listen to your needs, adapt our services, and deliver world-class results. Contact us today to speak with an expert.

2020 brought significant change, especially for the US workforce. Telecommuting or remote working had slowly been on the rise prior to this past year, however, with the COVID-19 global pandemic, businesses had to transition from in-office to almost exclusively remote almost overnight.

With a COVID-19 vaccine becoming available, many organizations are asking themselves “when are things going back to normal?”, The short answer is, we likely won’t return to “normal” as we knew it. Despite the angst present with state shutdowns, changing rules, and social distancing, many Americans were able to benefit from the flexibility and convenience of working in totally virtual environment. Additionally, companies have seen benefits as well, such as lower real estate costs, equal or better productivity, and fewer restrictions on where they can look for talent. What was once feared by companies, is now being embraced as a new opportunity to evolve.

A new model companies are moving towards in 2021 is not just remote, it is a work-from-anywhere model. This model requires people and processes to operate seamlessly when people are not co-located and that requires technology to fill the gaps. The key to work-from-anywhere success, therefore, will be securing the right technology stack that is flexible and customizable to fit your organization’s unique needs.

Companies are assessing how best to assist and complement their people and processes with technology and the truth is, there is no playbook. There is a lot of great technology out there, but each company will need to optimize it differently to fit the needs of their business. We are all still trying to achieve the same outcome, to optimize our workforce, but how do you do that in a work-from-anywhere model?

Some key considerations for EVERY organization:

Digital Transformation

The make-up of your office will change, taking into consideration items like remote vs. in-office, salary vs. hourly, full-time vs. contract employees. Many companies will move to a “hoteling” model, where most employees do not have an assigned desk but will identify available desks when they are in the office. This means, on most days, employees will be working from anywhere else there is internet. This may impact your policies and procedures, on boarding, training, and development.

Communication

At any given time, you may have employees in the office, employees at home, or employees in a different time zone. Setting up communication channels and expectations is imperative. You will want to consider how to ensure transfer of knowledge, how you will foster collaboration and innovation, as well as what systems and tools you will deploy to make this happen.

 

Culture

Company culture remains a hot topic, as many are worried theirs will diminish with more and more employees working full-time out of the office. It might look different, but there are new approaches you can try out to keep the culture alive and employees engaged.

 

 

Talent Attraction & Internal Mobility

The way you attract talent will change, with the need to promote a remote workforce with extremely clear career paths. Transparency and the ability to clearly define for employees how they fit within new and changing structures is key.

Productivity

You may determine that the current measures you are using to track productivity will need to change with this evolution. The first step will be to identify the right Key Performance Metrics (KPIs) that make sense for tracking in your organization and how the organization will measure results.

Automation & Outsourcing

In this shift, we have seen a surge in new technologies that allow for automating certain tasks, as well as a desire to outsource historically not transformative tasks. Companies are taking more chances in outsourcing and automation and the ROI is proving to be worth it.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion

An inclusive work environment does not just happen, it requires sustained effort. There will be greater opportunities to look across a broader geography to reach your diversity goals. Leaders will have to work harder to ensure that all employees are included and have equal opportunity.

 

Data Privacy

Data security has always been important, but security in a distributed environment will be even more important. Be sure you have the right system in place to protect you, and your employee’s information.

 

Expense Controls

Are you right-sized from a real estate perspective? Should you invest in physical locations in the future and where is the best country, state, or city to do so? Continuous review of expenses will continue to be critical.

Organizations can, and will, make this shift into a hybrid or work-from-anywhere model provided they have the right technology, tools, reporting insights and processes in place. Follow along with PredictiveHR, as we dive deep into the roadmap for workforce optimization in 2021.

Finding Mental Health Professionals in the Era of COVID-19

 

Over the past few years, we’ve seen Americans put a spotlight on their mental health. Terms like “self care” and “wellness” have become a part of our regular vernacular, highlighting the need to take care of ourselves during difficult situations. Now, after almost a year of dealing with a global pandemic, the mental health industry is experiencing even more exponential growth. According to Mental Health America, the number of people looking for help with anxiety and depression has skyrocketed with a 93% increase in 2020 compared to 2019.

It’s not hard to understand why. The COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting economic depression, has negatively affected many people’s mental health with worry, tension, and isolation–not to mention the existing group of people suffering from mental health issues who now have a new set of barriers to overcome.

The need for mental health professionals is expanding.

Whether someone is now out of work, lost a loved one, or just working from home trying to get by, there is not one person in America that hasn’t recently needed to check-in on their mental wellness. Even before the pandemic, the Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that employment of substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors was expected to rise 22% from 2018 to 2028. The disruption in behavior and the uncertainty has led to a lot of anxiety. Now, more than ever, there is a need for mental health services and professionals across all lines of work.

The problem is, there’s a shortage of mental health professionals.

The need for mental health professionals is at an all time high, and will only continue to grow. Shortages can be attributed to dwindling supply and growing demand. In general, the main issue is people are aging out of mental health fields faster than younger generations are replacing them.

 

You need a partner that specializes in recruiting for the mental health space.

PredictiveHR’s behavioral and mental health recruitment service will help your business deal with these issues. With over 20 years of experience in recruitment, and with a focus on the mental health industry, our team has the deep understanding necessary to help organizations successfully navigate through these transformative times.

Why try our Behavioral and Mental Health Recruitment Service?

  • We are dedicated to only delivering the highest quality of candidates.
  • We have a network of mental health professionals at our fingertips.
  • We specialize in executing high-volume workforce needs.

Predictive HR offers a customized recruiting service for mental and behavioral health providers who are in need of additional staff to serve clients. Whether you are in need of full-time, contract-to-hire, or direct hire employees, our team will take the exhaustive burden of finding the right mix of talented individuals for your organization.

 

UKG Dimensions (formerly Kronos Workforce Dimensions) has drawn increasing interest over the past year as many Workforce Central users are finally considering to make this leap. No doubt, new challenges brought on by the COVID-19 response these last several months have created a pressure test for businesses across all sectors. Leaders of these businesses are drawn to the idea of implementing adaptable, mobile-friendly workplace solutions for their new working realities. Dimensions fit that bill.

We recommend keeping a few crucial points in mind when considering a migration from Workforce Central to Dimensions.

Data Transfer Is Largely Optimized

That has got to be a huge relief to hear! Even at launch, Dimensions offered impressive compatibility for transferring data directly from Workforce Central. Often, just the thought of transferring the entirety of an enterprise’s data between solutions is a massive inhibitor to making this big leap! UKG has put in the groundwork to minimize manual data migration efforts between Workforce Central and Dimensions. One less reason to be hesitant.

Still Plan for an Adjustment Period

As with any migration between solutions, you and your employees will need some time to understand your new digital environment. Dimensions is designed to be intuitive by drawing on mobile-first best practices, and this should help lend some initial familiarity to features and functions. Still, the change between interfaces, replacement of specific modules, and beefed-up capabilities of others—often made possible by newer automation, machine learning, and AI integrations—will require some getting used to.

Proper preparation before migration and ample training and support post-migration can all help expedite your team’s successful adoption—and keep your adjustment period minimal. This is a large part of what we do to help our partners successfully complete their migrations by working with teams upfront to set important expectations and then bringing them all onboard through platform training once their implementation is complete.

Now Is a Great Time to Adopt Dimensions

As we near the end of 2020, so to draws the end of the Adobe Flash plugin. Dimensions offers a distinct advantage by being engineered from the start without Flash integration, simplifying some of IT’s struggles in trying to phase out these soon-to-be-obsolete features across their entire enterprise—at least as far as their workforce management solution is concerned.

Not only has Dimensions made significant strides since its launch in 2017, but UKG has a roadmap planned for the platform’s future. UKG will share insights into this roadmap next month at the first UKG Works conference (previously KronosWorks). This year’s fully digital format offers free registration for anyone with a UKG solution ID so that you can join the roadmap session, network with solution pros, and more, all from the safety and comfort of your office or home.

Eager for a 1-on-1 conversation about what migrating Dimensions would look like for you? Schedule a consultation with one of The Workforce Consulting Group’s implementation specialists today!

Human Capital Management System Consulting Company one of the few companies accredited by Ultimate Software and Kronos

Boston, MA (October 15, 2020): PredictiveHR, a leading provider of customized human resource outsourcing and consulting services, announced today a partnership with Workforce Fusion, which provides Kronos consulting services and solutions across multiple industries. The partnership makes PredictiveHR one of the few companies to offer both Ultimate Software and Kronos product implementation capabilities.

The PredictiveHR and Workforce Fusion partnership follows the merger earlier this year between Ultimate Software and Kronos, now officially known as UKG, which created one of the world’s largest HCM and Workforce Management companies.

Workforce Fusion is accredited in these Kronos products:

  • Workforce Force Dimensions (Q4 2020)
  • Workforce Central (All versions up to 8.1.7)
    • Timekeeper
    • Absence Management
      • Accruals
      • Leave
      • Attendance
    • Advanced Scheduler
    • Workforce Integration Manager

In adding Kronos capabilities and products, including Workforce Dimensions Suite to its UltiPro-certified personnel, PredictiveHR is now a one-stop shop, noted PredictiveHR CEO James Troiano.

Predictive HR has UltiPro-certified personnel in the following areas:

  • Launch System Consultants (Core HR/Payroll)
  • Project Management
  • Talent Acquisition
  • Talent Management
  • Benefits Prime
  • HR Service Delivery
  • UltiPro Learning
  • Perception
  • Business Intelligence
  • Data Conversion

Workforce Fusion is very excited to become a value-added partner to the UKG team. We are excited to collaborate with PredictiveHR to provide our combined subject matter expertise in both Kronos and Ultimate products.” Peter Sperlongano CEO and Founder Workforce Fusion

About PredictiveHR PredictiveHR is a Boston-based company with a combination of more than 100 years of Human Resource practitioner experience. PredictiveHR’s consultants take a customer-focused approach to support companies in understanding Human Capital Management. Are you working towards a new HCM system implementation? Maybe you need better utilization of an existing system? Let PredictiveHR be your trusted guide through the process.

Learn more by visiting https://www.predictivehr.com.

About Workforce Fusion

Workforce Fusion Founder and CEO Peter Sperlongano is a seasoned Kronos product suite subject matter expert with over 30 years of extensive experience in project management, configuration, implementation, and product optimization coaching. Workforce Fusion has over 11 years of experience implementing, upgrading and optimizing Kronos solutions across all industries to provide the best value and most efficient workforce management processes to Kronos customers.