Analyze This: Debunking the Myth of HR Technology Analysts
Posted on October 29, 2013 Leave a Comment
With the HR technology marketplace seemingly evolving at the speed of a tweet, companies selling into the space are increasingly employing sophisticated techniques to increase both share of mind and, subsequently, share of market. Trends like big data, social media and mobile enablement have become ubiquitous not only in product roadmaps but also in market positioning.
Despite these seismic shifts in product strategy and sales, however, one time tested tactic remains at the center of almost every vendors’ competitive playbook, a critical competency and competitive differentiator for an increasingly competitive (and lucrative) industry: effectively working with third party analysts.
Tool Time: Three Sourcing & Recruiting Technologies Worth Watching
Posted on October 25, 2013 Leave a Comment
The HR Technology Conference serves, for our industry at least, as the debutante ball for talent technology, the annual ‘coming out’ event for dozens of new systems, solutions and services jockeying for their fair share of recruiting organizations’ annual spend. This year, over 170 vendors issued event related press releases, and I’ve sat through literally 51 briefings before, during and after the conference.
Now that we’re over a week out, and the dust has finally settled on another HR Technology conference, here are some of the tools & technologies that, for me, stand out as among the most intriguing tools and technologies in talent acquisition. As a caveat, not all of these vendors actually exhibited or participated in the conference, but are worth following – and, if you’re a practitioner or decision maker, are worth a look when finalizing 2014 budgets.
Behind the Buzz: Video Interviewing
Posted on October 18, 2013 Leave a Comment
I had to write a post on video interviewing, because somehow, this has become an integral part of HR Technology, and that’s the beat I pretty much cover. And I’ve been hearing for two years how my skepticism can be overcome, how I just don’t understand the technology behind video interviewing (really complicated) or some other boilerplate product marketing solution selling technique.
But I’ve seen dozens of demos at dozens of video interviewing vendors over the past couple of years, an astonishing number of competitors for a category that I categorically believe to be specious at best, hucksterism at worst, and fundamentally unnecessary to exist as an independent point solution (if at all).
Rethinking Candidate Experience
Posted on October 16, 2013 1 Comment
One of the most pervasive, and ubiquitous, topics permeating the recruitment and talent acquisition industry agendas is that of candidate experience, a focus reflected throughout the HR Technology Conference’s agenda and ancillary events, including the Third Annual Candidate Experience Awards.
The recipients of these awards, and the companies considered on the cutting edge of candidate experience, are without a doubt helping change perceptions and create best practices around this elusive yet extremely important issue, and these awards provide valuable validation – and recognition – for employers taking the time to get this critical recruiting competency right.
Millennials Drive Like This: The Why of Gen Y
Posted on October 14, 2013 4 Comments
What if I told you that a sketch comedian and a capitalist came together to basically invent an entire category of HR theory? That’s not a joke – that actually happened. Before the term Gen Y was first coined in Ad Age (1993), or Douglas Coupland first strung together the words “Generation X” (1991), William Strauss and Neil Howe got together and captured what probably was not a zeitgeist as much as a good old fashioned tent revival-style bid to part that fool and his money.
Strauss, you see, was at the time a member of the Capitol Steps, which is like the dinner theatre version of that “I’m Just a Bill” Schoolhouse rock video. And Howe? He was an economist for the Blackstone Group, which is to say, the ultimate Wall Street guy, a banker’s banker, credible, sure, profit hungry, well – that’s the entire point of private equity, and its sole agenda.
Snark Attack 