Conventional employee profile applications have promised much, but failed to deliver real business value. Halogen’s Talent Profile is designed to succeed where traditional employee profiles have failed. With Halogens Talent Profiles you can: Capture any and all data that’s important to your firm. You are not limited to a set number of preconfigured fields.

You can create any number of highly secure and flexible views of your profiles so everyone in your firm (project leaders, recruiters, Executives or named individuals) see exactly what they should see. You are not limited to two views - public and managers.  You can create workflow around profile completion and upkeep to ensure information is kept current. The system reminds the employees to update their profile! And finally you can more easily find exactly what you are looking for with advanced and intuitive searching and comparison capabilities. You don’t have to wade through gobs of search results or be a database expert to get what you want. With quick links to the individuals email you can connect and collaborate with the right people – every time!

Halogen’s Activity Tracker is an entirely new social networking concept in the Talent Management space. It helps drive user adoption of talent management within the organization and delivers time savings for HR, management and employees. It was inspired by the news feed on Facebook, and updates on LinkedIn. Activity Tracker posts updates about a users’ activities within the system – and provides direct links to the details about the activity. You can customize your view and track the activities or people you want to track. It helps businesses understand what actions are taking place related to talent management such as: Are employees progressing on their goals? Their development plans? Have employees changed their profile? Created a journal note? etc…. Bill Kutik loved this new feature!

Over the last year, we’ve been focusing a lot on our learning management offering. During the SHRM conference we announced another great addition to eLearning Manager – a partnership with Skillsoft! We are working together to provide outstanding value to corporate learning centers. Organizations who select eLearning Manager as their LMS solution will get 10 best-selling e-learning courses from SkillSoft bundled and a brilliant ‘right out of the box’ user experience. All courses are fully integrated and pre-mapped to competencies in the Halogen system, eliminating tedious and time consuming tasks for training administrators. The combination of Halogen’s performance-based approach to learning with SkillSoft’s targeted and effective courseware helps organizations of all sizes get up and running quickly with e-learning - with no additional work required.

We work very hard to deliver real value to our customers. We’re particularly proud of these recent product announcements because they are key examples of our commitment to a brilliant customer experience.

Related posts

• Looking Ahead to 2009 - HR Trends in the New Reality - December 30, 2008
• Linking Learning and Performance - December 1, 2008
• Will Money Buy You Love With Employees? - October 10, 2007
• Why Focal Reviews are Better Than Anniversary Reviews - December 16, 2008
• Why Employee Performance Management Matters to CEOs - April 17, 2007

It’s a time honored office tradition – the staff barbeque. At some point this summer, you’ll all gather outside of your building and chow down on something that comes in a bun. I don’t know about you, but between my professional and private life, by July 4th I’m approaching barbeque overload. There are only so many burgers, dogs and veggie patties I can eat without having a distinct sense of barbeque déjà vu.

Too often maybe, the staff barbeque planning falls to HR, so why not take the time this year to spice it up? Here are a few ideas to escape the monotony of burgers and dogs:

• Create a Challenge: Too often, the barbeque can be a perfunctory 30 minute lunch time activity. Why not change it up and incorporate a challenge of some sort into the barbeque? This could be as simple as adding in a contest for the best homemade condiment, or a salsa tasting competition. You’ll probably be surprised at who shows up with something to contribute. You can then have staff do a blind test and vote on the items. Another challenge you could incorporate is the Iron Chef-style team builder. Or maybe even turn it into a chicken and rib cook off.
• Bring in the Professionals: Consider having your barbeque catered by professionals who can spice up the menu with different types of cuisine and up the ante on burgers and dogs. Popular options are southwestern or Asian style barbeques that include a range of tastes and flavors sure to please your team.
• Add a Community Flavor: So maybe you are going to go with burgers and dogs, but why not turn it into a fundraiser and invite the community to attend? It’s positive exposure for your company and all the funds go to a local not for profit organization. Employees are engaged in cooking and serving, while giving back to the community they work in.

How do you spice up the staff barbeque? Email us to share your ideas.

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Ottawa, ON, New Orleans, LA, SHRM Conference Booth 818 – June 29, 2009 – Market leader Halogen Software and e-learning provider SkillSoft (NASDAQ: SKIL) today announced that they will deliver 10 SkillSoft e-learning courses as a standard component of Halogen eLearning Manager™, providing outstanding value to corporate learning centers everywhere. In addition, organizations will benefit from the truly seamless user experience for performance-based e-learning.

“We know that for e-learning initiatives to be truly successful, they have to be easy to use and produce a measurable return in the areas they are targeting,” said David Mallon, senior analyst, Bersin & Associates. “The Halogen and SkillSoft partnership gives users an experience in which the whole process is completely seamless – the first we’ve seen of its kind. From assigning a development plan during the performance appraisal process, to registering for and completing courses, and signing off on learning activities, HR, learning leaders, managers and employees should find this closed loop experience to be extremely efficient and effective.”

The combination of Halogen’s performance-based approach to learning with SkillSoft’s targeted and effective courseware helps organizations of all sizes get up and running quickly with e-learning - with no additional work required. All courses are fully integrated and pre-mapped to competencies in the Halogen library, eliminating tedious and time consuming tasks for training administrators. The tight integration also means users can select an appropriate development activity to address a particular skill gap, and even launch an e-learning course right within the employee’s performance appraisal or development plan, without ever having to login to another system, or switch between user interfaces.

“We chose Halogen eLearning Manager because of the way it tightly links performance and developmental plans with learning,” said Michael Schott, Vice President Human Resources, Swank Audio Visuals. “This will make it much easier for managers and team members to address career progression during their mid-year and annual reviews. In addition, the accessibility of the appropriate training resources from within the team member’s appraisal section will be a viable tool for all. The SkillSoft courses will be a great addition to our learning portfolio.”

The SkillSoft courses included with Halogen eLearning Manager have been specially selected and vetted by business experts to help develop key competencies. Industry-specific e-learning bundles have also been created for healthcare, professional services and financial services organizations. Customers will also be able to purchase additional SkillSoft courses that will map seamlessly into the application.

“The Halogen-SkillSoft integration provides organizations with an immediate way to derive value from their e-learning investments,” said John Ambrose, Senior Vice President of Strategy, Corporate Development and Emerging Business, SkillSoft. “Learning is a critical component of any successful talent management strategy, and this combined offering levels many of the hurdles companies traditionally face.”

“We work very hard to deliver exceptional value to our customers,” said Donna Ronayne, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, Halogen Software. “This partnership and the inclusion of valuable SkillSoft courseware with Halogen eLearning Manager is a perfect example of our commitment to deliver a world class customer experience.”

About Halogen Software

Halogen Software is recognized as a market leader by industry analysts and is strongly endorsed by the thousands of HR professionals who use their Talent Management solutions. The company offers a complete suite of web-based products that automate, simplify and integrate performance appraisals, 360 degree feedback, compensation management, succession planning and learning management. Halogen’s offering makes HR best-practices accessible to companies of all sizes and its healthcare, financial services and professional services specific suites meet the unique needs of these industries. Halogen is consistently recognized by the industry and its customers for its exceptional implementation and support services. Halogen was named a leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Employee Performance Management Software in 2009 and has won multiple awards for its corporate leadership and product innovation, including HR Technology Product of the Year. For more information, visit www.halogensoftware.com.

About SkillSoft

SkillSoft PLC (Nasdaq: SKIL) is a leading SaaS provider of on-demand e-learning and performance support solutions for global enterprises, government, education and small to medium-sized businesses. SkillSoft enables business organizations to maximize business performance through a combination of comprehensive e- learning content, online information resources, flexible learning technologies and support services.

Content offerings include business, IT, desktop, compliance and consumer/SMB courseware collections, as well as complementary content assets such as Leadership Development Channel video products, KnowledgeCenter(TM) portals, virtual instructor-led training services and online mentoring services. SkillSoft’s Books24×7(R) product offering includes access to more than 20,000 digitized IT and business books, as well as book summaries and executive reports. Technology offerings include the SkillPort(R) learning management system, Search-and-Learn(R), SkillSoft(R) Dialogue(TM) and virtual classroom.

SkillSoft courseware content described herein is for information purposes only and is subject to change without notice. SkillSoft has no obligation or commitment to develop or deliver any future release, upgrade, feature, enhancement or function described in this press release except as specifically set forth in a written agreement.

Media Contacts:

SkillSoft:
Donna Keenan
PR Manager, SkillSoft
T; 603-821-3211
E: donna_keenan@skillsoft.com

Halogen :
Connie Costigan
Director Marketing Communications
T: 613-270-1011 x 526
E: ccostigan@halogensoftware.com

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The webinar was focused on performance management and employee engagement - why they work better when they are fully entwined together. Steve argued that to truly engage employees, organizations must meet their need to be “in the game” - they don’t want to feel like commodities; they want to feel productive and satisfied from work, and actively manage their future using good information. That’s why performance management must hinge on an always-active, people-centric process. Otherwise managers and employees are just going through the motions - and too often that ends up with managers humming one tune while employees write their own lyrics. Sort of like the webinar on sculling that Donna blogged about last week. If we’re not all pointed in the same direction, we’re just on a treadmill.

At the intersection of managing performance and engaging employees is the sweet spot for strategic HR. A performance management process needs to help your managers and employees have the most fulfilling conversations. Because reviews should not be scary, and they need to be tangible. They should be focused on doing - on next steps and where we go from here.

Employees disengage if they’re not challenged. So the old adage of “he’s not ready” won’t work in today’s workplace. To truly engage employees, you have to challenge them. And then with a talent management process that’s ongoing, you can track their process, and remediate where needed, before any major mis-steps can be made. Goals can be constantly re-assessed and mini-steps on the road to success can be rewarded.

At the end of the day, an employee has spread his wings; the organization has managed risk, and guess what? You’ve got employee engagement!

Kathy Anthony backed up this theory with some great results from her recent employee satisfaction survey, completed after using automated talent management processes. She said that all responses were higher than past years, and in particular:

• I believe my pay increases are related to how well I perform:  up 34%
• I understand my performance expectations and how I will be evaluated: up 13%
• I have received helpful coaching and career guidance from my office’s management team: up 13%

The numbers speak for themselves! Does your organization focus on employee engagement from a performance management perspective? Let us know how you keep employees in the game.

Related posts

• Why Focal Reviews are Better Than Anniversary Reviews - December 16, 2008
• Why Employee Performance Management Matters to CEOs - April 17, 2007
• What is HR’s Value? - December 13, 2007
• What is Enterprise 2.0? - June 9, 2008
• Using Talent Management to Weather the Downturn - Part 2 - April 22, 2009

Ottawa, ON – June 25, 2009 –Talent Management leader Halogen Software today announced Activity Tracker; the industry’s first consolidated feed that alerts Halogen users to any activity taking place in the system related to their performance or development, or that of their employees. Activity Tracker offers a familiar Web 2.0 experience for all end users. Similar to the news feed on social networking site Facebook, and network updates on LinkedIn, Activity Tracker posts updates about users’ activity in one view with links to the details about the activity.

The first status update feature of its kind within a Talent Management solution, Activity Tracker has been designed in response to a real business requirement – the need to understand what actions are taking place related to performance within the Talent Management system. Activity Tracker enables HR, management and employees to see activities and updates in one consolidated, real-time feed. Users can now more easily track if items such as goals or development plans are being updated, performance journal notes are being entered, and the overall engagement level of employees and managers with the system. Not only does the tool save users time in terms of not having to search for information updates, but like Halogen’s newly launched Talent Profile, it has been designed to drive application stickiness and adoption and entrench talent management processes more strongly within the organization. Activity Tracker has been well received by customers as a perfect way to gain quick insight into the updates taking place within the system.

Amanda Easton, Employee Education and Development Manager with SNL Financial which has over 1,000 employees using the Halogen the system, states “both HR and managers can benefit from a consolidated feed of all recent activity taking place in the Halogen Talent Management Suite. The notion that updates are housed in one central feed delivered to managers directly sounds like an ideal solution.”

Three views are available with Activity Tracker: my view, which allows users to see relevant activity related to their performance and development; a direct reports view, which enables managers to see updates by their employees; and a second-level management view; which enables senior managers to see activity two levels down within the organization. Activity Tracker preferences can be set to turn views on or off.

Activity Tracker is available as part of Halogen’s new Talent Management Suite 9.1 which is currently scheduled to begin shipping in September 2009, and comes as a pre-integrated component of Halogen’s Talent Management applications.

Halogen’s Activity Tracker feature will be showcased in presentations at Halogen booth 818 at the SHRM Conference in New Orleans next week.

About Halogen Software
Halogen Software is recognized as a market leader by industry analysts and is strongly endorsed by the thousands of HR professionals who use their Talent Management solutions. The company offers a complete suite of web-based products that automate, simplify and integrate performance appraisals, 360 degree feedback, compensation management, succession planning and learning management. Halogen’s offering makes HR best-practices accessible to companies of all sizes and its healthcare, financial services and professional services specific suites meet the unique needs of these industries. Halogen is consistently recognized by the industry and its customers for its exceptional implementation and support services. Halogen was named a leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Employee performance Management Software in 2009 and has won multiple awards for its corporate leadership and product innovation, including HR Technology Product of the Year. For more information, visit www.halogensoftware.com.

Media Contact:
Maggie Patterson
PR Consultant, Halogen Software
T: 613-989-1866
E: mpatterson@ripnet.com

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