What is a Performance and Talent Management System?

 

Performance and talent management systems have been acquiring importance of late as management systems that help track employee performance in a more comprehensive manner than human resources management systems (HRIS). Where a performance and talent management system differs from an HRIS is that while the latter takes the physical aspects of the employee records into consideration; a performance and talent management system goes beyond just the numbers and incorporates the qualitative aspects of tracking everything from recruitment to retirement.

A performance and talent management system is meant to help overcome the shortfalls of an HRIS. An HRIS is primarily meant to input physical values relating to the employee, such as time in and time out, payroll, deductions and such other items. A performance and talent management system is more of a strategic inputter for the enterprise. It helps to locate, invite and nurture talent, and then helps HR to measure and quantify these and arrive at reasonable decisions.

The four cornerstones of a performance and talent management systemSince a performance and talent management system is more detailed and of a slightly different nature from an HRIS; it is built on a few cornerstones of its own. These pillars of a performance and talent management system, which help to round up the product and make it what it is, can be summarized into the following:

RecruitmentThe first important feature of a performance and talent management system is the one relating to recruitment. The performance and talent management system should have software that tracks everything about the employee’s recruitment, starting from the time she was a candidate, to the time of onboarding. It usually has an interface that tracks everything from the ad calling for the position to be filled up to the actual joining. The recruitment feature of a performance and talent management system also offers the opportunity to upload ads on the social media and the web. It is thus an important feature that helps to streamline and document all stages of the recruitment.

Learning and developmentAnother important element of a performance and talent management system is the way it helps to keep track of the employee’s training programs. It helps to identity the training needs of each employee based on the feedback HR gets from the reporting manager. It then documents the training that took place after the program was planned and executed, and finally, also the extent to which the training met its purpose. A performance and talent management system should have a learning module that familiarizes it with the latest learning trends in the particular industry and should help it initiate training needs that are best suited for the employee and the organization.

Performance managementOne of the other core features of a performance and talent management system is the one that helps management evaluate the performance of the employees. Employee performance is the most important criterion for judging an employee’s abilities, strengths and weaknesses. These days, the traditional annual appraisal methods are making way for specific task and goal-oriented assessments, because many organizations think that it makes sense to give a person a task to carry out and judge her abilities in relation to how she carried it out, rather than waiting for a whole year to do so. A performance and talent management system aligns perfectly well with this concept, as it keeps track of employee performance management during a defined training program or task, as well as in relation to a timeframe.

CompensationLike performance, the direction of compensation too, is changing to a more task related nature. A few organizations are no longer waiting for a whole year to add bonuses to employees who show exceptional qualities at work. They are quick at offering rewards more for specific tasks than over fixed durations of work. This is another area in which a performance and talent management system comes in handy, since it measures compensation on a task-to-task basis.

 

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Developing an effective HR compliance program

Organizations need to devote substantial time and effort into developing an effective HR compliance program. Development of an effective HR compliance program is a strong safeguard against unsavory and avoidable legal issues that could result from a shoddy HR compliance program or improper implementation.

Developing an effective HR compliance program is a must for organizations that could be in any business. A basic doubt in the minds of many people could be this: What has HR got to do with compliance? Isn’t compliance for only those in charge of implementing regulatory requirements? Yes, that is true. This is also what answers the question of why developing an effective HR compliance program is necessary: It is a regulatory requirement.

There are many regulations pertaining to HR. These regulations have come into existence because of the importance of proper hiring policies. Since HR is tasked with recruitment and everything else following this; HR compliance becomes necessary to ensure that the organization does not face legal hurdles vis-a-vis its hiring, working and firing policies. This is a primary reason for which developing an effective HR compliance program is a must.

Compliance is needed with various lawsOver the past few decades, successive US governments have enacted laws that have had a very major bearing on employment. Compliance with the various laws relating to employment, such as the Equal Employment Opportunities Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is mandatory for organizations that come under their purview. Further, there are laws such as The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which was enacted to ensure that the employee does not get exploited by getting underpaid for the work she does.

Similarly, the OSHA standards are meant to ensure that the workplace is free of hazards. Depending on the kind of workplace, many OSHA provisions have to be complied with. In short, there are a host of employment laws that organizations have to comply with.

Developing an effective HR compliance program has to take all these laws into consideration and has to spell out the way in which it will ensure that the organization complies with the laws.

HR compliance is not a fixed or limited action planThe starting point to developing and implementing an effective HR compliance program is the realization that an HR compliance program is a journey, not a destination. This is why: it consists of a set of processes that relate to the various HR laws. There should be process for implementing recruitment laws. Due diligence must go into the recruiting methods to ensure that no wrong step was taken in the recruitment process.

Then, there should be processes for the implementation of the next set of laws, those pertaining to employment conditions. When developing an effective HR compliance program, anti-discrimination laws, laws on sexual harassment, laws on dealing with violent employees or those who have addiction problems, laws on workplace safety and many others need be taken into consideration and carefully complied with.

Finally, there should be those dealing with legally tenable terminations.

Prerequisites for implementing an effective HR compliance programGiven the importance of developing an effective HR compliance program, the following are some of the conditions that will help to make it effective:

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