Low-Cost Integrated HR Solution Tailored for Mid-Size Companies

By MariaTollefson, Director-HR, Communispace

MariaTollefson, Director-HR, Communispace

Elimination of Performance Reviews Entirely

Our goal as we grow in Communispace, is to ensure we maximize the value of any time investment employees spend on projects that enable our business success. For example, though we have reduced the complexity of our performance review process significantly in the last few years, currently we are looking to eliminate performance reviews entirely, decouple merit cycles, and put our employees development squarely in their own hands—with the right support from managers and HR.

"Leading the business from a people perspective, in lock step with seniormost leadership’s priorities—is always the most important metric of success for any lead HR executive"

HR Solutions for Mid-Size Companies

We are a mid-size global organization (about 500 employees) that primarily uses an ATS system for talent acquisition, a payroll system with some employee reporting capability, and an online learning system for participant registration, tracking and e-learning modules.

We have not yet made investments in broader HR platforms or technologies to date. What we would be interested in exploring is an integrated HR solution handling all aspects of the employee lifecycle—talent acquisition, learning and talent management, rewards and recognition, staffing, and performance feedback—that is tailored for mid-size global companies and is low cost.Most solutions seem targeted to one or two areas, and are not cost-effective enough relative to other priority business investments we need to make.

Get the Employment Brand Right

HR needs to attract and retain high performing talent that has the skills to drive client and business success. The best companies want the “best” people—and the competition can be fierce. So getting our employment brand right for prospective employees across all media channels, driven by what current employees value and seek from us as an employer is a continuous area of opportunity. Just when you think you know where people are looking there is something else—so you need to be vigilant and proactive to stay ahead.

Business from People Perspective

Leading the business from a people perspective, in lock step with senior-most leadership’s priorities—is always the most important metric of success for any lead HR executive. Setting an inspiring vision, seeking ways to innovate practices while keeping the fundamental lanes of HR working smoothly—that is and has always been the challenge never more so than now, especially in business.

Identify Technical Solutions Suiting Company’s Culture

The process of listening to your company's needs for how to make day to day people processes work best, continues to be critical. Identifying which technical solutions will work in the short and longer term, that truly fit with your company’s culture is also key. It is important to challenge assumptions of what worked in the past, and forge ahead with creative thinking to find new, flexible answers. Solution providers should be ahead of us on that in order to be relevant. That is our combined challenge and opportunity.