Social HCM – Video and Profiles Emerge

As I sit on the plane, returning from HR Technology and SuccessFactors SuccessConnect 2013 conferences in Las Vegas, I thought of a couple extra themes that emerged. HR Technology was held at Manadalay Bay, while SuccessConnect was held at The Venetian. We covered the major theme in Cloud Migration in HCM and ERP: Start With A Strategy. However, starting with HR Technology, it was clear that Social networking capabilities  such as profiles and Video were strong themes weaved throughout the week that continued through to SuccessConnect 2013.

Social HCM – The Rise Of Video Recruiting

While recruiting continues to be a major theme at any HCM or HR event, the emergence of video into the process has enabled some key benefits that can’t be ignored. We noticed a new wave of vendors on the HR Technology expo floor that were displaying their video recruiting capabilities. A majority of these vendors were not there last year. Aragon is preparing our own Video Recruiting Globe report that will delve deeper into this market and rate the key vendors.

Strategic video recruiting vendors will have deep hooks into HCM processes for managing talent and integration into the ATS (applicant tracking system), while providing some lightweight features of their own. Video is also a key asset and capability for learning. As video is utilized more in recruiting and learning, the management of it as an asset will grow to be a crucial requirement. A video content management strategy will have to go along with your video recruiting and learning initiatives.

Social Networking And The Power of The Profile

Probably the most consistent theme throughout both events this past week was social networking. There was clear emphasis placed on the fact that HCM is about people. We heard it from the stage and also in executive one-on-one meetings. This is a major tenet of the SuccessFactors Social HCM offering.

As I thought about what this means, it became clear to us that the power of the profile cannot be ignored. Whether it is profiles of internal employees, candidates or partners, the profile is at the heart of HCM processes. Strategic Social HCM vendors will be challenged with aggregating people profile data from across various business applications.

Social Context Is King

Along with the power of the profile is the idea of context. Maintaining the profile across a range of applications will provide well needed context as users work together or collaborate around business processes. Merging social, real-time and asynchronous collaboration with business processes brings context to people at the point of which it matters to get their work done.

Look for our Globe reports on Video Recruiting and Video Content Management respectively in Q4.