Social Media in HRO Needs to be NICE

To work my way into the topic of social media, I am going to start outside of HRO. IBM recently launched a Social Media Boot Camp for its small- and mid-market business partners and clients.

The social media boot camp is globally available for qualified candidates, including those from emerging markets such as China, Australia, and Saudi Arabia. It is designed to develop the skills and ideas that will enable participants to sharpen their social networking capabilities and build stronger and more interactive ties with their clients. The online course includes an eight-week session with live coaching. It is produced in conjunction with Profitecture and is available for up to 75 participants each quarter. The Q2 2012 classes are already full, and enrollment has started for Q3 2012.

The IBM-led conversation on social media provides a broader view in using new media channels. According to Ed Abrams, IBM vice president of mid-market marketing and strategy, “…remember that social media is all about conversation. You don’t want to use this forum for press releases, or collateral- type materials. You need to remember that social media is very much like a face-to-face conversation. People want to engage, they want the chance to participate.”

Starfire Technologies is one of the early business partners to complete the boot camp. Mary Spurlock, Starfire’s Vice President of Marketing, says that social media is a 2-way street and that while it is important to publish, share, and deliver value when using social media, it is also important to listen, read, and follow what your customers are doing with social media.

There are very practical aspects as well. In RPO it is already critical for a service provider to be on the leading edge of leveraging the latest social media trends, functionalities, and tools. For now, let’s stay with the broader view.

The use of social media in HRO needs to be NICE.

• New: Use social channels to offer something of unique value. Don’t simply repeat the same content offered elsewhere, and keep it fresh—update, update, update! Offer something unique (or at least a unique take) in the content.
• Interactive: Offer multiple ways and levels of interaction. Providing a “comments” section is not even table stakes today. People know how to find your corporate website. If they are on Facebook, they are looking for new ways to connect with you. Be creative.
• Connective: Take advantage of the opportunity to interact with the intended audience to continue, extend, and expand the conversations and weave connections across multiple channels into a whole. Each media channel should have a specialized point, purpose, and voice.
• Engaging: Social media provides a unique opportunity to bring your brand attributes to life in ways that create enriched longer-lasting relationships. Here, “engagement” does not mean “interactive”; it means being invested in a mutually beneficial relationship.

How NICE is your use of social media?

Linda Merritt, Research Analyst, HRO, NelsonHall

Interested in reading the latest HRO news from NelsonHall? Subscribe to our newsletter by emailing amy.gurchensky@nelson-hall.com with “HRO Insight” as the subject.

Moorepay and NGA get even more SaaSy in the U.K.

The one question that I always have after acquisitions is, “How does it work out over time?” Some M&As put emphasis on “synergy” (i.e., consolidation and cost recovery). Others focus on skills and footprint in new geographies. NorthgateArinso (NGA) is one of the HRO service providers that use acquisitions in new markets as one type of growth strategies. Moorepay is a payroll and employment service provider in the U.K. with over 10,000 clients and it is one of those NGA acquisitions.

Growth through accretion of revenues and clients in new geographies – along with the access to in-country knowledge to service MNC clients – is a good rationale for M&A. But does the overall vendor system become stronger? Are new capabilities leveraged across opportunity areas? I have lived the life of trying to create change, fighting against the not-invented-here syndrome in the corporate world. This is one of the more subtle reasons for using HRO—to circumvent this internal tug of war.

Now back to Moorepay and NGA. Moorepay just released its newest service on March 12th, a SaaS HR and payroll platform that it will use for the small-employer market. I asked if the underlying technology was based on SAP or Oracle. The answer is “neither”; it is based on Preceda, a proprietary NGA system stemming from the 2010 acquisition of Neller in Australia. Preceda is already in use for ~4,000 clients and 500,000 participants in Australia, Philippines, and New Zealand, and now it is expanding to the U.K. Yeah, synergy, re-use, and leverage to improve capabilities and services for the underserved small-business market halfway around the world!

HRO SaaS is a proven cost-effective alternative to fully customized systems. Its very nature lends itself to offering needed benefits to the small and midsized employers (SME). SaaS brings the illusion of customization through configuration at an affordable cost. These are important attributes, especially important for the employer with less than 500 employees.

Moorepay is fully using the benefit of configuration to launch the new service with four pricing levels from the most basic HR and payroll that gives the option to easily turn on additional services like time and attendance, recruiting, and learning modules.

HR and payroll platforms also bring self-service for employees and streamlined HR processing for managers. According to Ann Fitzpatrick, Moorepay managing director, existing and prospective SME clients are asking for the same level of services that have been in the market for years for the large-employer market.

If the launch goes well, and Moorepay turns the rising demand and its first-mover advantage in the U.K. SME market into new and profitable growth, expect to see new NGA Preceda-based SaaS HRO offerings pop up elsewhere around the world.

Linda Merritt, Research Analyst, HRO, NelsonHall

Interested in reading the latest HRO news from NelsonHall? Subscribe to our newsletter by emailing amy.gurchensky@nelson-hall.com with “HRO Insight” as the subject.

ADP Puts HRO Strategy into Action

Strategy is not a plan, it is action. A strategy defines what actions a company will take to achieve its goals. With the just announced acquisition of Asparity Decision Solutions, a privately-held supplier of patented employee benefits decision support tools (DSTs) and analytics, ADP provides a good example of strategy in action.

It is part of ADP’s strategy for growth to expand the depth and breadth of its benefits outsourcing services. It is also core to ADP to provide clients “insightful solutions that drive business success,” and “turn knowledge into insight.”

ADP’s acquisition of Asparity is an all around win-win. This is an excellent fit for ADP, which continues to expand its value proposition by enhancing its benefits and human capital management business process capabilities in a manner well suited to its strengths. Together, ADP and Asparity will be able to provide knowledgeable insights into managing the rising cost of health care and link its services to creating broader business value.

Asparity provides web-based proprietary technology to Fortune 1,000 companies and public-sector organizations, including the Federal Employee Health Benefits program. Its interactive DSTs include personalized data to engage and assist employees in making complex health care and benefits selections. All the more important given the changes and challenges in navigating health options and costs that are increasing for employees as well as for employers. Employers receive in-depth data to analyze employee health care actions and conjoint analysis is available to determine prioritized employee preferences, both of which can help employers manage total health care costs.

The addition of Asparity is one more in the steady execution of its strategy. In 2010 it acquired Workscape and its enriched benefits capabilities. Also, ADP has just formed the new benefits Strategic Advisory Services Group to help mid- and large-market clients maximize the value of the in-depth benefits data and analysis that ADP will be able to provide.

ADP is moving into the kind of consultative service arena that can create business results well beyond lowering HR operating expenses, and enabling it to establish itself as a strategic business partner in balancing the total cost of benefits with the impact on talent management and the bottom line.

According to NelsonHall’s 2010 benefits market analysis ADP including Workscape is among the top ten providers in both participants and revenues. These new strategic moves, if well executed, should strengthen ADP’s growth in a very competitive benefits outsourcing market.

Other HRO vendors that continue to think of ADP as “only” a payroll provider may well be surprised when it pops up as a serious competitor in their market. How aligned are your actions with your strategy?

Linda Merritt, Research Analyst, HRO, NelsonHall