Know What the Future Holds

The best part about playing make-believe is that the rules change as you see fit. In the real world, you don’t have that luxury. Whether the economy is good or bad, you have to work with what you have. As economists predict economic recovery in the near future, albeit a slow recovery, you need to plan for the changes that will take place during this time period. Perhaps you will be able to rehire for positions that were eliminated out of necessity. Retirement-age employees who decided to stick around a while longer may decide to retire. Unsatisfied workers who were happy to just be employed may now start looking for other positions. Though the future is uncertain, there is no reason to be unprepared for it.

When you are trying to both optimize your workforce to be efficient now and prepare your workforce for the future, you need a quality HRIS with state-of-the-art talent management and succession planning tools. With employee history from application to retirement, an HRIS like SPECTRUM Human Resource Systems Corporation’s iVantage^® helps you see the big picture. Not only can you track an employee’s history with the company, including performance reviews, but you can also see an employee’s training and qualifications, in addition to what training or qualifications they are currently working towards. Now is the time to start identifying your top performers and preparing them for leadership roles in the future. Your HRIS can help.

Mind the gap

Experts have been talking about it for a while now – the leadership gap that will appear when Baby Boomers start leaving the workforce en masse. While the recession actually helped push this off for a time, with many retirement-age employees making the decision to stay in the workforce, a strengthening economy will once again put companies at risk of not having qualified managerial candidates. Avoid this risk by planning now. With the big picture view your HRIS offers of your workforce, you can work with managers to identify key employees who, with just a few additional skills, could succeed in leadership positions. Create succession plans for these candidates so your company will not be caught in a lurch when top-level employees start to retire. Utilizing your HRIS to track employee history back to application, you can identify all potentially qualified employees for advancement and find candidates by specific skill set.

Gray skies are going to clear up

Another concern when the economy begins to pick up is voluntary turn-over from unsatisfied employees. According to The Company Board, only 45% of employees are satisfied in their current job. While it is highly unlikely that 55% of your workforce will exit stage left as soon as they perceive a growing job market, it is best to be proactive to make sure it doesn’t. Chances are you haven’t been able to offer salary increases or bonuses, and perhaps company morale is lower than usual due to layoffs and budget cuts. Ensure retention of your top performers by offering ways for them to meet short-term professional goals that will only help increase their potential. Let employees know that you are already considering their future within the company and want to help them find success. Using iVantage’s succession planning and talent management tools can give employees tangible goals to work towards, help them visualize their progress and show employees how working towards their goals helps their department or company reach goals as well. With the ability to track the progress of smaller goals towards a larger end goal, employees can feel more invested in your organization.

Unlike stand-alone talent management software applications, using an HRIS for talent management gives you more versatility in keeping employees satisfied and engaged. For example, iVantage allows you to create total compensation reports for each employee. Even if your company is not in a position to offer pay increases, you can show employees the full monetary investment, including the cost of benefits and training, your company is making in them. Allowing employees to see their total compensation value may help settle dissatisfaction over budget freezes. Additionally, your HRIS can increase employee satisfaction by giving them more control over certain information, including what accounts their paychecks are direct deposited into, and giving them instant access to details of their benefits and absence plans.

A quality HRIS like iVantage also allows employees to identify themselves as potential candidates for internal positions. Employee Self-Service allows employees to easily browse open positions within the company and see what skills will be needed to transition to other areas. If employees find a position they are interested in working towards, your HRIS can help them identify key skills, training and qualifications they will need to be eligible for that position. Employees can browse through trainings the company is currently offering and even enroll themselves in classes they might need to prepare for the future. Increase employee satisfaction by empowering them to set goals and explore potential career paths. When employees decide to apply for a position, you already have their entire employment history at your fingertips within your HRIS. This helps reduce data entry and paperwork, and makes it easier for managers to make internal hiring decisions.

Use your tools wisely

Knowledge is power. The more information you have about your workforce, the more power you have to strengthen your company and prepare it for the future. Your HRIS is important because it manages and organizes this information. Now is the best time to take advantage of the powerful talent management tools an HRIS such as iVantage has to offer. Identify strengths that can be fostered and used appropriately. Identify weaknesses and create solutions to compensate for them, such as training a competent yet unqualified employee. A full-service HRIS gives you all the tools you need for your company to succeed both now and in the future, including tools such as: staffing and recruiting management; candidate, employee and manager self-service; training and development; and talent management. As an added benefit of integrating talent management into your HRIS, employees and managers are more likely to consistently and effectively use talent management tools if they are already comfortable and in the habit of using your HRIS for other processes such as absence requests.

Be prepared

Many of Spectrum’s employees have a human resource background. We know the challenges you face every day, and have designed an HRIS that helps you face those challenges. With complete talent management and succession planning functionality, iVantage can help you today be prepared for tomorrow. We understand how to develop talent, and we’ve created technology that makes it easier for you to do so.

Whether the economy stays stagnant or begins to grow, iVantage can help you make the most out of your talented workforce. Optimize, reorganize and energize your staff with iVantage’s talent management tools. By being productive now, you can stay competitive in the future. If you’re looking for a best-in-class HRIS with full talent management and succession planning functionality that can help you find and develop the talent within your workforce, you’ve found it in iVantage.

To learn more about how iVantage can help you with all your talent management needs, call us at 800.477.3287, or find us online at www.spectrumhr.com.