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Authors: Jim Lundy, David Mario Smith
Topic: Talent Management and Learning
Issue: Who are the Talent Management and Learning providers and how will they evolve?
Summary: Peoplefluent announced its quarterly results that showed a 96% increase in year-over-year revenue, due in part to Mirror, its video-enabled HCM suite.
Event: On July 13, 2015, Peoplefluent announced via a press release that it had delivered record results and customer wins due to its Mirror product line, which is a departure from traditional legacy HCM and Talent Management software.
Analysis
The Peoplefluent video-based Mirror Suite has been on the market for less than a year and customers are adopting it in record numbers (see Aragon Research First Cut). When it launched its Mirror Suite in 2014, Peoplefluent took a risk and placed a bet – that by offering an Interactive and Mobile Enabled Talent Management Suite, that customers would prefer that to the traditional legacy applications.
With the news from the recent quarter, that bet has paid off and shows no sign of slowing down. Peoplefluent indicated that a combination of expansion in existing accounts and record new business led to a 96% increase in revenue over the same quarter last year.
It is not a coincidence that the most recent leap in performance comes as the chief strategy architect, Charles Jones, returns as CEO of Peoplefluent. His proven ability to align strategy and execution, and his commitment to high customer touch and satisfaction, have driven new levels of engagement and confidence among management, employees and customers, as seen with the dramatic increase in bookings.
Video Recruiting is the Future
Peoplefluent has always been strong in Recruiting, but with Mirror, it now has a full Video Recruiting platform that is also integrated with the rest of its Talent Management suite. The overall video capabilities come via the deep integration of the KZO technology.
Many startups offer Video Recruiting, but many large Talent Management providers have partnered rather than develop their own offering. The investment by Peoplefluent in a full Video Content Management platform, which is what Mirror essentially is, separates Peoplefluent from nearly all the other major players, since Mirror is a suite play, not just a tactical bolt-on to a legacy offering.
The Race to Find Talent
Video interviews speed up the overall hiring process. They bring critical visual cues to the screening interview that a phone interview just can’t provide.
Video Recruiting is an invaluable tool in the search for talent, and enterprises need to take a step back, look at the current way they recruit and see how they can augment that with a Video Recruiting platform.
Video recruiting can’t be handled in a vacuum: it has to be tied into the talent management suite to be effective. Its focus should span the lifecycle of the employee from pre-hire to onboarding and then on to succession.
Video is an effective knowledge-transfer and communication tool through the entire lifecycle of the employee.
Video-Based Learning
Peoplefluent’s Mirror Suite also helps power its Learning and Leadership development offerings. Aragon has written extensively about the shift to Video Learning. Peoplefluent is one of many that have made the shift to offer more immersive learning. Others include Cornerstone OnDemand, IBM Smarter Workforce, Oracle and Saba.
Note that Video and Mobile are quickly becoming common in other markets, such as Cloud Office Suites (e.g., Google Apps for Business and Microsoft Office 365). The issue is that it is happening only sporadically in Human Capital Management. Other vendors will need to step back and evaluate how they will integrate video into their suites.
Peoplefluent: Next-Generation Platform
Peoplefluent’s growth rate is due to its next-generation product suite, which makes it a vendor to add to the short list of key providers to evaluate. Collaboration, Mobile and Video are becoming must-have parts of an enterprise software platform, including HCM and Talent Management.
Aragon Advisory
- Enterprises planners responsible for talent management should evaluate Peoplefluent’s Mirror Suite as a replacement candidate for their legacy Talent Management products.
- Make Video Recruiting a must-have set of capabilities.
- Ask your current Talent Management providers what their plans are for adding Interactive Video to their suites.
Bottom Line
The future of software is Interactive. The Talent Management market is changing along with the overall enterprise software market. Video will continue to be a critical content type that people want to use. Enterprises need to review their approach to Talent Management and look for providers that can help them recruit and engage their teams more effectively.