tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13832727070983053712024-02-21T08:27:09.913-08:00With the head in the Cloud............................................................................We are a mosaic of our experience and thoughts.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-28400174204475373112017-03-20T13:36:00.001-07:002017-03-20T13:49:04.438-07:00DisruptHR<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQALngaoWmPj227L04LjvYFL6ap_3Yu00RQmviSTgAB58T7PN_o_WxcufxK4MM4o3PKU0zhELtYsUjUM6KofTpDV0z7EyolFvqAFO62KAEk2sFFsVJ43atcHCoieVbcCiaGxO5Khg1Guae/s1600/DisruptHR.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQALngaoWmPj227L04LjvYFL6ap_3Yu00RQmviSTgAB58T7PN_o_WxcufxK4MM4o3PKU0zhELtYsUjUM6KofTpDV0z7EyolFvqAFO62KAEk2sFFsVJ43atcHCoieVbcCiaGxO5Khg1Guae/s1600/DisruptHR.gif" /></a></div>
<br />
<h2>
Are we Transforming or Disrupting HR?</h2>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://disrupthr.co/" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #8c68cb; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">DisruptHR</a>. It is an interesting approach to focus on the inevitable change occurring in HR and in all things related to how we are working, where we are working, what contracts we accept (or shouldn't), in short: how we deliver work and find the right talent that will provide the best input. </div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
I am proud to announce <a href="http://disrupthr.co/san-francisco/" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #8c68cb; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">our own event</a>. It will take place on April 27, 2017, starting at 5pm. We will take over the beautiful <a href="http://www.domenicowinery.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #8c68cb; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">Domenico Winery</a> in San Carlos (California), and you will get to be in the first line to watch change happen. I think that the Silicon Valley DiruptHR will be even more exciting and interesting, as we all sit at the center of change. We'll start with networking, and finish with another opportunity to discuss together all we have heard. Bring your business cards!</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
If you don't live in the <a href="http://extras.sfgate.com/img/pages/travel/maps/sfbay_std.gif" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #8c68cb; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">Bay Area</a> (we cannot all fit in here, although one would think we are trying to do just that if looking at the real estate...), please do have a look at how many <a href="http://disrupthr.co/city/" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #8c68cb; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">cities</a> are organizing a similar event, and by all means - attend one. These events are organized usually as non-profit, by volunteers; the events are sponsored and supported by the attendees by mean of a (relatively) cheap ticket (by the way, <a href="http://www.eventbrite.com/e/disrupthr-san-francisco-bay-area-tickets-32870502558" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #8c68cb; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">buy one</a> to attend our event!) and by local sponsors (thank you!!!).</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The format is like a condensed TedX dedicated to HR. 12 to 14 speakers, 5 minutes each, and slides rotate every 15 seconds - so there isn't much time for deep discussion (or for sales pitches, those being formally forbidden), but only the opportunity to share ideas. Each talk is recorded, and then shared on the DisruptHR website as well as on a dedicated Vimeo channel, where you can directly listen in if you want to get the picture.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
You don't have to be an HR professional to attend or to <a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9CSTPDM" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #8c68cb; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">speak</a>. Actually, it is almost better if you are not; the freshest ideas often come from looking at things with a new eye.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And... we still have place for additional sponsors! so if you are interested, do contact me. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-1516478118053455032015-07-29T14:53:00.000-07:002015-07-29T15:00:02.640-07:00S/4 and HCM cloudy relations<div class="MsoNormal">
A few months have passed since the official announcement of
S/4 HANA, and during SapphireNOW 2015 SAP executive held the Cloud Edition to
baptism. Guides, reviews have been published, and analysts offered their
opinions. Then in June, during the HR2015 conference in Nice, a specific
announcement covered S/4 HANA and HCM platform(s) options and go forward
offerings.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But I still wonder: from the HCM point of view, is it hype,
or is it real? <o:p></o:p></div>
<h3>
Understand what is S/4 HANA<o:p></o:p></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After more than 40 years of focused, continued developments
to bring to reality what is arguably today the most complete suite of
Enterprise Business Software on the market, SAP has taken a hard look at two
issues: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->on one side, the massive amount of data
accumulated in storage has turned accessing and extracting it into a true
challenge<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->on the other hand, process complexity has
reached a zenith, requiring very extensive deployment projects and deep
expertise – technical and business alike. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While the original SAP’s value proposition was being an
integrated suite (with all pieces built in the same data format and structure),
this was lost with the addition of multiple mySAP complementary modules, such as EIC, CRM, SCM
and others - outside of the “ECC” core; in fact, from the HCM perspective, even
the Organizational Management (“OM”) module introduced the need for an internal
integration that made many data manipulations complex and required extensive
expertise.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With the launch of HANA, the recent in-memory database
brought forward by SAP and heralded by SAP’s founder Hasso Plattner, a new
generation of applications has become
possible. HANA is the foundation of the new version of the ERP, first with the
development of Simple Finance, and now with its extension into a full suite of
functional applications, with more to come in the future.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
R/3 was a new product compared to the mainframe-based R/2; S/4
is also a completely new tool. It carries through much of the same data
semantics existing in the SAP Business Suite we well know, with a simplified
data model, eliminating the complexities related to the previous database
performance and technical limitations. <o:p></o:p></div>
<h3>
What about HCM?<o:p></o:p></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unlike all other functional parts of the Business Suite, SAP’s
HCM has found its next generation tooling set in the SuccessFactors Suite. It
is a pure-cloud, SaaS product that will not be made available on premise;
similarly, there doesn’t seem to be a place within the S/4 suite for the
complex and never ending tables and data structures that made SAP HCM
infinitely flexible and complex. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
HR data fields exist in S/4 HANA, and are able to support
the integration of tools as well as the end to end processes to Finance and
other functions – leveraging the popular concept called a “mini-master”, but it
is important to understand that there is no HR Data Management, nor any HR
Processes built in S/4; in other words, no transactional layer. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Adding to the situation is the fact that ECC 6.0 mainstream
maintenance has been extended multiple times
- most recently until 2025, giving a good visibility and planning time. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So when we look to the options customers have to choose from
in SAP landscape, we can only outline:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Option 1:</b> Move to
the public cloud with your HCM requirements by leveraging the SuccessFactors
modules. The solution set provided is extensive and growing every quarters with
multiple developments; the missing functionalities are being considered for
development and prioritized, while being covered in the interim by strong
partnerships with external providers. From the Cloud HCM solution, extend the set
with productized integration available to S/4 HANA cloud edition; an
alternative productized integration with S/4 HANA on premise is being
finalized, expected availability before end of 2015. It remains a fact that in
this case, a separate solution will have to be found for Payroll, either by
using the EC Payroll (hosted, single tenant SAP HCM), or by outsourcing the
process. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Option 2:</b> Decide
to remain on premise, knowing that the cost of support will grow after 2025,
and keep informed on the solutions made available by SAP. Productized
integrations connecting S/4 HANA to the traditional on premise HCM are
announced and should be available in Q4 2015. In SAP’s mind, this step is only
taken to help customers needing more time to migrate to cloud solutions, so only as an intermediate step in your eventual move to the cloud.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Participation in User Groups and associations (such as <a href="https://www.asug.com/" target="_blank">ASUG</a>,
DSUG and many others, full list: <a href="http://www.sap.com/communities/user-groups.html">http://www.sap.com/communities/user-groups.html</a>)
can support you in keeping aligned to the product roadmap and possibly influence
it; it has never been more relevant than in times of change. <o:p></o:p></div>
<h3>
Important points<o:p></o:p></h3>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">User Interface is being harmonized across all
systems. Fiori was launched in 2014 as a set of design guidelines for
applications, and was quickly adopted as a harmonization tool. First the On
Premise tool was “fiorized”, the SuccessFactors’ applications alignment is
announced for this year, and S/4 has been built on these principles from the
start. So independently from the tools that will best fit each customer’s
landscape, the user EXPERIENCE can be end-to-end.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Choice of delivery. While SuccessFactors is
offered only as a public cloud solution, S/4 HANA is available today in both on
premise (so on customers’ hosted premises, with yearly innovation packages) and
Cloud Edition, benefiting of the accelerated quarterly release cycles. </span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Integration packages developed for SAP On
Premise have been designed around the mini master record concept, and will
remain the basis of the integration of SuccessFactors to S/4 HANA.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">SuccessFactors solution to payroll – EC Payroll,
is strongly based on the original on premise powerhouse. I am not aware of any
plan to introduce an S/4 HANA payroll… although one can only hope. </span></li>
</ul>
Interestingly, there is no HR sitting at the board on this capture: is that for lack of graphic space?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1igrbtWRLEWDHXeiLKXnOpTWsqSYq3d9tyvYfbTEyacOTVj53DLofnVU8RPJGUHW3VABxlDIm0WzSMk7VKuFC1RakgavX91GCtx3ENJQF63lXQ6i68vcSYOuYA_YUT0tK6fRiFOHTkiiG/s1600/boardroom.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1igrbtWRLEWDHXeiLKXnOpTWsqSYq3d9tyvYfbTEyacOTVj53DLofnVU8RPJGUHW3VABxlDIm0WzSMk7VKuFC1RakgavX91GCtx3ENJQF63lXQ6i68vcSYOuYA_YUT0tK6fRiFOHTkiiG/s320/boardroom.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /><div>
<h3>
For more information</h3>
<div>
Harvard Business Review: <a href="https://www.suiteonhana.com/assets/18529_HBR_SAP_Report_Feb2014.pdf" target="_blank">Making the Real-Time Enterprise a Reality</a> (Feb 2014)</div>
<div>
<a href="http://discover.sap.com/S4HANA#" target="_blank">S/4 HANA overview</a></div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.sapevents.edgesuite.net/s4hana/pdfs/SAPS4HANAExternalFAQ_May2015v3.pdf" target="_blank">S/4 HANA FAQ</a> (May 2015)</div>
<div>
Constellation Research review of <a href="http://enswmu.blogspot.com/2015/05/in-depth-sap-s4hana-qualities-by.html?q=sap" target="_blank">SAP S/4 HANA</a></div>
<div>
<a href="http://blog.ciber.com/2015/10-reasons-why-sap-s4-hana-is-the-hottest-thing-right-now/" target="_blank">Ciber's HANA blog</a></div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.asugnews.com/article/is-there-a-simple-plan-for-hr-in-sap-s-4hana" target="_blank">ASUG's review of HCM and S/4 HANA</a></div>
<div>
David Ludlow's own blog on the <a href="http://scn.sap.com/community/erp/hcm/blog/2015/06/18/hcm-solution-options-for-s4-hana" target="_blank">S/4 HANA HCM options</a></div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.jeremymasters.com/2015/07/27/s4-hana-your-deployment-options-with-sap-hcm-sf/#.VblAc_lVhBd" target="_blank">Jeremy Master's comments</a></div>
<div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-76439583886458001572014-05-03T12:00:00.000-07:002014-05-03T12:00:09.746-07:00Visual CVs - a comparison and a pollA new toy has appeared since some time in the Recruitment world - tailing the end tail of the infographics' visual appeal: the Visual CV - or in other words, your resume reduced (or improved) in its infographic format.<br />
<br />
Multiple options have appeared, with different level of visual complexity, options and ease of use. I want to compare 4 options, rating 1(low) to 3 (high) each of these elements:<br />
<ul>
<li>is it Representative of the data that we want to see portrayed?</li>
<li>is it Useable? (is it possible to import data, from LinkedIn or a CV? how easy it is to customize?)</li>
<li>Is it Relevant - does it bring new information, or a new light?</li>
<li>and is it Aesthetic? (of course this is a lot more subjective, so I will stick to a gut feel of the choices and options available) </li>
</ul>
<b>1. <a href="http://www.visualcv.com/" target="_blank">Visual CV</a></b> is the easier to find - and in fact, it functions like a traditional job board, and collect your CV to make it searcheable for potential employers on their site. Not exactly what I was researching. It is painful to use - even when "importing from LinkedIn", data has to be manually added; in addition, the formatting provides little additional visual tools than a normal CV...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzjS1gitozggN2R6AE34klJ_CQmAjVWrMkyi2pcn0xmz_vTDTo3eUtp-k8os52ADZFDjOfKFTBHYMWkIYM2Ax8AC3aQktse0JKKOlpOMweZMxHlp_J9HKA0tNeX6GyLB5CxA2prRnRmgiX/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-05-03+at+10.14.36+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzjS1gitozggN2R6AE34klJ_CQmAjVWrMkyi2pcn0xmz_vTDTo3eUtp-k8os52ADZFDjOfKFTBHYMWkIYM2Ax8AC3aQktse0JKKOlpOMweZMxHlp_J9HKA0tNeX6GyLB5CxA2prRnRmgiX/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-05-03+at+10.14.36+AM.png" height="320" width="260" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Nothing particularly exciting. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Representative: 2</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Useable: 1</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Relevant: 1</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Aesthetic: 1 </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>2. <a href="http://re.vu/">Re.Vu</a></b> - I like this one. It has a great visualization, and good customization options; you can import your own background, and select different color schemes, including creating your own. It is possible to import data from LinkedIn, but you will still need to manually enter career milestones and history (and the history has only a short visibility due to the format), as well as select all other type of information you wish to display in infographic format. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5yBum74EhfbjVNu94RKzdWuEF05nKSYaDIVDlChiwYKuGfB4omIvmo-alQ2hNoFJkf8ThDR3vGYUiiafAy6VjzY6htXF7fmDnSl5NLFDee5sd2YDD7U1nOUmeNJsrCFSP43jYkQDvy3jA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-05-03+at+10.45.59+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5yBum74EhfbjVNu94RKzdWuEF05nKSYaDIVDlChiwYKuGfB4omIvmo-alQ2hNoFJkf8ThDR3vGYUiiafAy6VjzY6htXF7fmDnSl5NLFDee5sd2YDD7U1nOUmeNJsrCFSP43jYkQDvy3jA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-05-03+at+10.45.59+AM.png" height="320" width="137" /></a></div>
The main drag I see is that the more infographics get added, the longer the format - and in our world of horizontal screens, it is difficult to visualize. <div>
Representative: 3</div>
<div>
Useable: 2 (lots of manual re-entry)</div>
<div>
Relevant: 3</div>
<div>
Aesthetic: 3<br /><br /><b>3. <a href="http://visualize.me/">Visualize.me</a></b></div>
<div>
Less infographics, but the option to import the recommendations from your LinkedIn profile - sadly, you cannot just select one or two, but only prioritize the first ten. I found that some of the graphics required too much space for the value added. Colors and styles are fully customizeable. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEDSvKsAqliYaKRaS4LKjaq4XLvyVRSR1f-zefqm7-0ZKjSVIRj1BjqfdEyd8DnMWFjBPWkIRI-750F88g1q1zshudWX0zzQQJXqkX5f0qd1iHx1B-dNx6A4ZZ8tHaLCQIu8FUJci-pldP/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-05-03+at+11.22.01+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEDSvKsAqliYaKRaS4LKjaq4XLvyVRSR1f-zefqm7-0ZKjSVIRj1BjqfdEyd8DnMWFjBPWkIRI-750F88g1q1zshudWX0zzQQJXqkX5f0qd1iHx1B-dNx6A4ZZ8tHaLCQIu8FUJci-pldP/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-05-03+at+11.22.01+AM.png" height="400" width="122" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Representative: 3</div>
<div>
<div>
Useable: 3 - WOW, nothing to re-enter, but some re-formatting/consolidation required.</div>
<div>
Relevant: 2</div>
<div>
Aesthetic: 3</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<b>4. <a href="http://resumup.com/" target="_blank">ResumUP</a></b> can be as touchy-feely as you want. It offers a lot of options to fill your profile; many however are available only for premium profiles - an expense of 7.5 to 10$/monthly. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqQSo1fnxC6EESoEXJq6HIlMje7OIls7yuNmvxHUvmUCpaNxBHgiXiHjAJTzL1-wWm-C7lvBq4Nn5jFUCkaK6f-MAEsRVtv4xDLQF7D3jKE9gpKZOUsvQtn0Hugtvdf6ajBOxmlg68wZVn/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-05-03+at+11.44.05+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqQSo1fnxC6EESoEXJq6HIlMje7OIls7yuNmvxHUvmUCpaNxBHgiXiHjAJTzL1-wWm-C7lvBq4Nn5jFUCkaK6f-MAEsRVtv4xDLQF7D3jKE9gpKZOUsvQtn0Hugtvdf6ajBOxmlg68wZVn/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-05-03+at+11.44.05+AM.png" height="241" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<div>
Representative: 2 - the options are great, but even some critical ones such as mobility or salary can only be added by premium customers. </div>
<div>
<div>
Useable: 3 </div>
<div>
Relevant: 2 - not sure all the options are actually useful, it requires a lot of decisions</div>
<div>
Aesthetic: 3 - the skills imported (from LinkedIn) have a nice graphic. </div>
</div>
</div>
<h4>
<b>Conclusion.</b></h4>
<div>
Having options is always great, and each vendor provides some plus and some cons. Finding, filling and writing all these four templates have taken a half day (including some annoying manual entry, yes, I am complaining), so it is an acceptable effort. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Now, what I am truly wondering is how useful this can be. By making the CV more digestible at a glance, are we making it easier for the HUMANS in recruitment to evaluate our application? I would hope so; but I also believe that the edge gained is very little, and it will be counter-productive when facing an ATS (Applicant Tracking), not be able to read such a CV. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I see it more useful for business service providers, to allow a prospective customers to review and compare at a glance multiple profiles. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As an end... I would love to have your opinion - which of the visuals is in your opinion the most relevant? are there any elements that should be better showcased? is there anything forgotten?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
THANK YOU for any and all inputs. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-87698627384074399182014-03-22T12:48:00.000-07:002014-03-22T15:01:02.042-07:00A rose by any other name - or, is it HR or IT?<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">While reading the news of the day yesterday morning, I happened by this <a href="http://productdesignjournal.blogspot.com/2014/03/it-teams-are-essential-for-cloud.html" target="_blank">post</a> by my trusted friend Prashanth Padmanabhan. </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The debate started well before we started speaking about "CLOUD" or SaaS, discussed many times, at meetings, global user groups and conventions, in private offices and conference halls.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN9K8xakXzrzUYYArA2lcq9LyvaBX_i25HV3R912pCUnH-F-7CfXviGn01wxPDk6SjWZaprbx9ungt_2KNqEXiO90mrQ1Shg5D0IXGRtAcTKPrbn4bYGE9ef1MDQZQedC6eiLar5wiNt2s/s1600/cloudphoto1_doug_wong1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN9K8xakXzrzUYYArA2lcq9LyvaBX_i25HV3R912pCUnH-F-7CfXviGn01wxPDk6SjWZaprbx9ungt_2KNqEXiO90mrQ1Shg5D0IXGRtAcTKPrbn4bYGE9ef1MDQZQedC6eiLar5wiNt2s/s1600/cloudphoto1_doug_wong1.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">Credit: http://incandescentcloud.com/cloud-credits/ - isn't it a magnificent art installation?</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Indeed, should HR or IT take the lead when it come to HRIS projects? </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When the Cloud started being commercialized, the common understanding was that FINALLY the function could be solely in charge, with very limited or no input required by the IT/IS group - so there would be no need for expensive long term consultants, nor specialized IT headcount. Is that true? More specifically, can we hold it true when we are talking about critical systems as HR Core?</span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">There are
multiple moments in any project, each with different requirements in terms of
skills, and different expected results. <o:p></o:p>I would like to have a pragmatic look at each of these moments. </span></div>
<br />
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 6pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Procurement </b>Often at
this stage, HR takes the lead (and it is a welcome change from the ERP times,
when IT often imposed unwanted or too complex systems). This is the stage
Prashanth mentions in his blog; and it should be looked as a partnership. While
obviously HR has a huge vested interest in making the right choice, today HRIS
is so central to a corporation's activities, authorizations and accesses, that
IT must provide strong advice on evaluating and sizing "many aspects of business
software such as total cost, security, integration, data migration and
analytics", as stated in Prashanth's blog.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 6pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stakeholder management</b> Here is where sufficient IT agreement and
support not only can save money, but can also help secure the right resources
and budget to support the whole project.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 6pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Scoping, blueprinting and development </b>Ahhh, here we are. Well, in my books, this is
the core of the project - everything else is critical, but without this
phase there simply would not be a project. The role of the function here is really
important; in a Cloud project, there is quite little IT involvement - with input required on some critical pieces, such as ensuring that the
interfaces will properly connect all the pieces (consultants can help, but
internal IT has also the understanding of what ELSE the corporation is using)
and much more. Most importantly, each delay in
decision-making will for sure impact the rest of the project and the classical triad time-cost-quality; changes in scope (and scope creep)
can feel easy to handle, but in this respect there is really no difference
between traditional on premise projects and a cloud approach. Take your
decisions, and stick to them, or your project will take much longer than
planned. </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 6pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Testing and Go-live </b>IMHO, here HR can dominate. HR knows best how
the processes should be, what the legacy captured, what the new system should
capture, what kind of data sets can be used, when data need to be scrambled for
security/data privacy reasons, and how to evaluate the results. Of course, IT
can support the planning and the set up. </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 6pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Post go-live support</b> With development done under HR's responsability, with the assistance of consultants/service providers, there is a phase of knowledge transfer that
will enable HR to take over this task. Even so, it is difficult to guess what kind of problems will bubble up (hopefully
none...), and given the authorizations and interfaces criticality, IT readiness
can be a hugely important factor for bottom line success. </span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-top: 6pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Long term support and governance </b>HRIS requires large investments, and a new tool usually changes the way of
working of all the corporation's employees, HR function, managers and employees
through ESS/MSS and Self Service. In the years, IT has got used to set up
extensive change management and governance approach to support a live system,
sometimes in a very rigid way. The time required for a change to be done is
often more on the approvals and workflows needed by change management,
rather than actual development time (even in an On Premise SAP system, any
consultant will confirm that changing a table's text takes minutes; but the
transportation across the system architecture, the testing and the multiple
approvals can transform these few minutes in weeks or months). In a Cloud tool,
the development (or the text change, as in the above example) is also short - or comparatively even shorter; and it can be done directly by the HR admin. But does it means that we
can bypass change management? how will the system be a stable tool if so? users
(and administrators) in all regions and countries must be coordinated, and
changes must go through an "approval path" (doesn't it sound like
change management?) by all stakeholders. So in the end, IT again can support
the set up and provide tools that will allow documenting all this
process. </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I will echo again Prashanth in my conclusion.
Yes, as "business critical applications move to the cloud, procurement of
cloud software is certainly starting to look a bit more like procurement of
on-premise software". Actually, I'd go beyond this. Not only procurement,
but each phase of an HRIS project (and CRM would fall in the same situation)
will not only benefit, but often be made possible by IT buy-in. </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Please tell me what I have forgotten or any additional comment :) </span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-53920909531290025652014-03-11T10:58:00.000-07:002014-03-11T10:58:13.767-07:00Confluence 2014 in Santa Clara<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On March 5th, I attended <a href="http://www.confluence2014.com/US/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Confluence 2014</span></a> in Santa Clara. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First thing first: I must give thanks to the organization of the event, who contacted me and was kind enough to invite me to attend. It was a day very well spent. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhogZwUvKtpNN8-No4Hwnp9CwyodO0j7Kx3qxtpqF0QeYGjuDCe5K5Qsezy609L-YITgiO_HUgBugHYhdY50sBW2TXZYjFme6N2DWl1-HslfR5xRaIh1yQLVGeBRNX1GidItW8LCXo9rb4x/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-03-11+at+10.42.16+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhogZwUvKtpNN8-No4Hwnp9CwyodO0j7Kx3qxtpqF0QeYGjuDCe5K5Qsezy609L-YITgiO_HUgBugHYhdY50sBW2TXZYjFme6N2DWl1-HslfR5xRaIh1yQLVGeBRNX1GidItW8LCXo9rb4x/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-03-11+at+10.42.16+AM.png" height="235" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The title of the event could appear pretentious anywhere else than in Silicon Valley: "The Future of Engineering: Better, Faster, Smaller". Here, it felt just right. While I feared to be blown off by topics way out of my comfort (i.e. expertise) zone, the agenda's keynotes and panels hit right home, and I learnt a lot from a roaster of exceptional speakers. </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A full day taking a roomful of business leaders through the challenges of leadership adaptation to new management (and project management) styles, innovation approach. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In fact, many of the debates were anchored around very familiar subjects. Talent acquisition, acqui-hires, talent scouting were all in the focus of the discussions, mentioned in the key notes and then expanded on during panels and networking - HR is definitely a hot topic these days. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I keenly remember the keynote by Shawn Farshchi, CEO of <span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://www.saba.com/us/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Saba</span></a>, covering product portfolio management. Saba's portfolio growth has recently taken Saba from niche e-learning provider to an integrated Talent Cloud solution, through acquisitions, development and a careful assessment of needs, thought leadership and development agility. Staying closer to the needs of the users and not only of the leadership's team (aka, the buyers) has definitely been key to the end-to-end talent lifecycle approach that has earned Saba's products <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saba_Software" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">multiple awards</span></a>.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A fantastic panel discussion on attracting and retaining talents gathered Dayna Parker, CHRO at <a href="http://www.experian.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Experian</span></a>, Todd Shaw HR VP at PayPal/eBay and Pranesh Anthapur HR VP at Wal-Mart. Each of the panelists could have been a sole speaker - everybody had so much to say on the specifics of their approach to Talents - Ms. Parker and the way analytics allowed Experian to pin-point ways to retain talents, sometimes in contradiction with each other and forcing to make painful choices; Todd Shaw looking at acqui-hiring and the sauce to integrate the new talents in the corporate culture; and Pranesh Anthapur, eloquently describing multi-pronged approaches to attract young talents to an old-er corporation such as Wal-Mart, perceived "un-sexy". </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Beyond these clearly topically relevant items, one additional keynote stays with me. </span></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ayan Mukerji, SVP at Wipro Technologies, provided the audience with an almost science-fiction-like approach to engineering and technology. A different take to keynote delivery, but not only. Hinting at the Data Privacy issues so popular these days, stopping to ponder about the recent acquisition of Nest by Google (an Internet of Things acquisition that touches so closely the Privacy of our homes, as from the settings of your home thermostat it's possible to know presence/absence; and once Big Data analysis is thrown in the mix, the sky is the limit), to finish on the <a href="http://www.happyplanetindex.org/assets/happy-planet-index-poster.pdf" target="_blank">Happy Planet Index</a> approach for sustainability, Ayan took his audience travelling through the planet, through the options and the alternatives that technology is opening for us, and outlined clearly that "with great-er power come great-er responsability".</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Building on all this, I am waiting to see what the 2015 session will bring, and I thank all the speakers for taking time out of their busy schedules to share their experience with us. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span>
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<!--StartFragment--><!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-75070725404126528032014-03-06T11:26:00.001-08:002014-03-06T11:28:09.176-08:00Just a quick update - with a recently interview on <a href="http://www.ciaopittsburgh.com/italian-american-profiles-of-success-chiara-bersano/" target="_blank">Ciao Pittsburgh</a><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-41167099765830240262014-03-02T17:45:00.000-08:002014-05-15T18:00:13.858-07:00Have you ever regretted not doing an MBA?HA.<br />
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Well, no, I never wanted to go for an MBA (even if occasionally I considered the idea, in particular when my alma mater EPFL started sending me the pamphlets detailing the <a href="http://mot.epfl.ch/executive-mba" target="_blank">executive MBA in Management of Technology</a>); I remember too well the sense of relief I had upon finishing my degree, and how much more at ease I felt in the real world rather than in pure academia.<br />
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Am I ready to change my mind, just when a few recent articles evaluate the actual value of an MBA sizeable investment (examples of such articles can be found on <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikaandersen/2013/07/27/why-spending-150k-on-an-mba-is-probably-a-dumb-idea/" target="_blank">Forbes</a>, or on <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/is-the-cost-of-an-mba-worth-it-2013-7?op=1" target="_blank">Business Insider)</a>? No, I don't think so, but I have become more curious of the different opportunities out there.<br />
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My life still doesn't afford me the extra time to go back to school; and programs that I have evaluated tend to be exemplary for how they address other people need for development, but never seem to truly apply to me. My niche is HRIS - it branches out in many different disciplines, but I have never had the ambition to become CIO; even less now that HRIS systems (on premise, in the Cloud, for large corporations, for small 1 to 200 employees ventures, as well as everything in between) are in such a frenzy of novelty.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Credit: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/mooc-makes-oxford-online-dictionary/2006838.article</span></div>
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Enter here the MOOC approach (<a href="http://chiarabersano.blogspot.com/2013/12/higher-education-2013.html" target="_blank">my last blog</a> in December was about my recent discovery). Quickly, I found myself using many waking moments (I will not say all, because I have an employer and a family, each having every right to expect my full attention during large parts of my days) evaluating which courses I would prefer to pick and how many I can manage to learn well from simultaneously.<br />
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Suddenly, I had a rapidly growing, disjointed group of courses; I was learning about Psychology, but also about Law, about Management, about Political Science, about Relativity and about Human Rights; I was leveraging great learning institutions, such as University of Washington, Darden School of Business, Iese Business School, or Stanford University.<br />
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Little by little a pattern formed. I stuck to some trainings, and selected others to explore further in similar directions; I dropped out of others, as they were getting deeper in topics that didn't seem to fit me.<br />
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When I read an article about people using <a href="http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2014/01/14/an-mba-for-less-than-1000/" target="_blank">MOOC courses to build MBA-like programs</a> at a fraction of the cost of a classic MBA, I had an ah-ha moment. In fact, that was exactly what I had been doing all along, without thinking of formalizing it. Not that it actually mattered to me, nor it matter now, as I was in it for the learning, and not for an additional title.<br />
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The realization has made me even more selective with the courses I am choosing.<br />
Here is my current, carefully culled list (but most likely not my final list... the great thing of such a plan is that it doesn't have to stop!). Most of the time, I can't manage more than two at the same time; but the most challenging part is toward the end, when deadlines multiply... I can add multiple courses, and drop out if it becomes too much - there is no penalty there.<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Updated April 1st.</span></i><br />
Finished:<br />
International Organizations Management, University of Geneva on Coursera<br />
Globalization's Winners and Losers, Georgetown University on EdX<br />
Design Thinking for Business Innovation, University of Virginia on Coursera<br />
Public Privacy, Universiteit Utrecht on Iversity<br />
Designing and Executing Information Security strategies, University of Washington on Coursera<br />
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On-going:<br />
Gamification, University of Pennsylvania on Coursera<br />
Globalization of Business Enterprise, IESE Business School on Coursera<br />
Organizational analysis, Stanford University on Coursera<br />
Analyzing Global Trends for Business and Society, Wharthon U of Pennsylvania on Coursera<br />
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Coming up:<br />
The Changing Global Order, Universiteit Leiden on Coursera<br />
Configuring the World, Universiteit Leiden on Coursera<br />
Behaviour and Leadership, Università Bocconi on Coursera (TBD)<br />
Sustainability in Practice, University of Pennsylvania on Coursera<br />
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What is my specific pattern? I would say I am focusing on globalization, on the legal diversity of multiple countries, on the impact that this has on large organizations; on Data privacy and on the chances we have as world citizens to obtain a legislation that will protect our right to privacy in a global manner - plus some occasional diversification, essentially "because I can".<br />
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Maybe some day I will give myself the diploma, and take my family out for a well-deserved dinner, given all the patience they are having with my studying patterns.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-51337646202715961142013-12-04T15:51:00.000-08:002013-12-11T10:27:25.226-08:00Higher Education, 2013Growing up in Switzerland and Italy, there has never been much of a doubt that I would complete my education at a higher education institution - and so did I, by chosing to read Architecture at the Swiss Institute of Technology in Lausanne. Now that I write this, I wonder if one is really suppose to read Architecture, or if a better word would be perhaps "design"?<br />
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Image credit: <a href="http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2013/03/11/mooc/">http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2013/03/11/mooc/</a><br />
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After those years and a diploma, I moved out of the art-y side of the world, and wholeheartedly embraced IT, working with ERP providers and multiple customers; over the years, I've never wanted to go back to school for an MBA, and certainly not a second degree.<br />
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Enter the 2010s, and MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses). I started investigating the option mostly professionally, looking at potential points of sync betweet Human Resources needing to store qualifications and to deliver education, but I have quickly become enamored with the POSSIBILITIES that this offers. Nobody keeps tabs if you don't complete something, so it makes sense to try all you are curious about, and to drop the stuff that is not everything you dream of.<br />
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Some of my favorites:<br />
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<a href="https://www.coursera.org/" target="_blank">Coursera</a> is definitely the trailblazer, with a large variety of courses to choose from, many great colleges and university and a structured approach. Its purpose is as much to entertain as it is to educate, so you will find courses on varied topics. You will find a similar structure in most courses, although the personality of the professor and the choices (and budget) of the academic institution transpire; some will just propose a quick quiz/check point, other will instead propose to write papers, to answer open-ended questions, and more.<br />
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<a href="https://courses.edx.org/" target="_blank">EdX</a> has enlisted some of the best known colleges for what they can offer best, with a very academic approach. Very interesting, perhaps a little less accessible sometimes as specific terminologies and concepts are expected to be already acquired.<br />
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<a href="https://iversity.org/" target="_blank">Iversity</a> is the European answer to MOOC. Its selection is still relatively small, but it is accelerating tremendously, and many courses are ready to start in 2014, with more choices daily. Definitely a selective approach, it seeks to make high ed available, but is not trying to be amusing or entertaining...<br />
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Have you tried to leverage these possibilities, and if you have, what are your favorite courses, what did you learn that was of most value to you? Leave your notes: like reading a good book, it is more fun if you share, and many courses are proposed several times.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-14207691084234113462013-11-25T15:08:00.003-08:002013-11-25T15:09:47.748-08:00Internal costs of a reorg All companies need to re-organize internally, it is a logical part of growing and changing; I am a strong believer that life IS change, and what we can't prevent we must embrace. Change is the world's only constant; its opposite isn't stability... rather immobility, or death.<br />
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That being now out of the way, every change come with a price tag, and we have to carefully evaluate if the cost is something we want to pay now, if it is better postponed, and how it should be prepared for, communicated and managed.<br />
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Universities offer degrees in Organizational development, even as MOOC (<a href="https://class.coursera.org/organalysis-002/class/index" target="_blank">click here for a recent one on Coursera</a>). Jobs titles such as "Organizational Development Manager" are listed on job boards, with attractive salary brackets published on Salary.com, Glassdoor and elsewhere; a quick-and-dirty google search will bring up more than a million documents, definitions and guidelines from important universities and HR authoritative sources as well as from private bloggers or white papers produced by large organizations. All suggest careful planning, process redesign, stakeholder engagement, and finally, a big focus on facing the clear communication challenges. Appropriate communication in this case will not only make or break the re-organization project, but potentially make or break the company itself, accelerating brain drain and effectively blocking initiative and ideas.<br />
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These offerings show a trend, attempting to meet the need to be always more productive and effective by restructuring, hoping that a change of format will provide a much-needed flexibility; often, it is a welcome change to all.<br />
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Some companies seem to do re-organizations a lot more often than could be expected, periodically and cyclically, and appear to be continually at some point of the process. A new re-org is restarted before the prior wave has been concluded, much less stabilized. Change isn't anymore the exception, but has become the norm. </div>
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In a recent discussion with a friend, we have come to try to account for the hidden costs of such practice. </div>
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Some costs are clear. Moving costs related to international employees, hiring costs to add to the workforce, training to provide information and to align skill sets, severance costs in case of headcount reduction requirements. </div>
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There are a lot of hidden costs though, invisible, unaccounted on the charts, unreported by analytics, ignored by decision-makers pressured to forge ahead in accordance with agreed policies.<br />
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Any organization "senses" change coming up. Classic precursory signs include management disengagement, lack of communication or increased travel patterns; in today's social environment, we can also notice sudden LinkedIn activities, publishing of professional blogs and other social media activities. When the finely tuned sensors of a team indicate an upcoming re-organization - usually well before the official announcement - behaviors immediately change. Behaviors in turn generate activities, activities generate output, output generate revenue - or lack thereof. </div>
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An employee expecting a re-org in in a reactive mode - not anymore proactive. He (or she) will not be a vector of change, but simply react to that, vanifying all efforts. In addition, while by all means fulfilling her mundane tasks, he will perceive his objectives as having become shifting at best, unclear or irrelevant at worst. As a consequence, instead of focusing on what are the company's goals, he will focus on what gives him visibility, either vertically internally, or externally. In other words, his output will become less relevant, in extreme cases generating a loss of productivity for several months. In fact, his focus will most likely be in finding an alternative job somewhere else... that is truly where proactivity will go. </div>
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Then, after an announcement of restructuring is done, the decisions must be made, and employees re-assigned. This phase on its own implies a loss of productivity of two to three months. </div>
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Let me now crunch some number. The manager of a team of 10 employees expecting a non-announced change can generate the waste of 6 months of salary for each employee. If we look at knowledge workers, with an average salary of 60k/year per employee, we are looking 300k out of pocket simply by human resources mismanagement, without accounting employees' morale, disengagement, talent leaks, severance, moving, hiring costs.<br />
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The simple suggestions to avoid such a wasted expenditure are simple:<br />
<ul>
<li>re-organize only after having determined what change is wanted and expected</li>
<li>ensure communication is fully honest and transparent and is seen in that way</li>
<li>leave abundant settling time before re-engaging in transformative activities</li>
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Should a restructuring be the consequence of change - and how frequently is it the expression of a need for change that has not occurred, or hasn't been achieved?<br />
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As we move from the industrial economy to a networked one, it is time we accept change as inevitable, and fulfill it with responsibility and transparency. An adaptive company is a winning company; re-organizing has to be a vehicle of change; we need to help employees to see where they fit in the plan, see the value placed on their skills, and ensure a continued success with engagement and passion. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-30340339848173233942013-11-22T12:38:00.000-08:002013-11-22T12:44:39.742-08:00The lithany of a travel prisoner<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Having loaded my beloved mini ipad with books to kill a full day of enslavement in planes, airports and other means of public transportation, I usually manage to transcend the mundane situation and place myself on a different planet, yet <span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.294118);">some recent rather uncomfortable business- and personal-related flight have made me think.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.294118);">(Image from </span></span><a href="http://nyceducator.com/2006/09/children-first.html">http://nyceducator.com/2006/09/children-first.html</a>)<br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Really, isn't modern air travel just a modern version of a XIX century Orient Express in 3rd class cattle train? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Exit the lunch service. The prices on board as well as the lack of credible choices means that passengers board with their packed lunch. I have already been enjoying the aromas from a hot reuben sandwich (remember? The one with sauercrauts?) open at my side. A burger with extra onions can also be quite disruptive to an innocent and sensitive nose.... Pastrami? Curry leftovers in a tightly wrapped naan? French ripe cheese on baguette? All things that I love, in the right place, but that generate an awareness that I would prefer to avoid when in such an intimate physical closeness as on a packed economy class seat. As for drink, coke and industrial OJ are still(so far....) free, but subject to availability. <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20131122151408-19963499-travelers-i-don-t-want-to-sit-next-to-on-a-plane?trk=tod-home-art-list-large_0" target="_blank">Other blogs and articles have captured in full this misery.</a> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Exit as well the checked luggage. Since airlines have reduced the permissible weight and eliminated free check-ins, everybody (and their mothers, their fathers, grandparents, sisters, uncles and BFFs) travel with hand luggage only. The result is of course that the overhead bins overflow after the first 10 passengers have boarded. At the last minute, we are forced to check in our carry-ons; lets hope that this time my luggage will not be lost.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">To compensate, enter the ever-shrinking seat. A really well-written article is <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304384104579141941949066648" target="_blank">here</a>, comparing the current economy class seat and showing it smaller than even stadium seats. It is worth to take note of the conclusion stating: <span style="line-height: 21px;">"With food and TV," said Mr. Clark at Emirates, "people are mesmerized." In his own words, once you take away food, service and entertainment, passengers have all the time to focus on how uncomfortable they are. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Barked at by tired attendants, prisoners of small seats, under-fed and over-watered with scarce access to hygenic facilities, stuck between fellow humans with similarly unfulfilled needs, delayed times and times over - it is rather impressive to see that US airlines are able to fill <a href="http://www.arccorp.com/news/pr20110315.pdf" target="_blank">+54 million seats in 2011 alone</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Yet, aren't there some contraddictions? Airlines are looking to generate additional income (while at the same time cutting costs), fair enough. Smaller seats mean more tickets sold per plane, no meals mean that hungry passengers will buy whatever miserable food will be available, with credit cards at the ready to cover the 20$-per-miserable-sandwich-fee (and the laughable part is that it's called a "gourmet" sandwich). Well then, why not sell it as an option with the ticket, eliminating the complication of payment on board? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If the goal is to get money out of us by selling the luggage option, then either the rule about carry-ons must be changed, or there should be room on board for all. Yet I haven't been on ONE plane within the US airspace in the last two years that didn't REQUIRE last minute free check-ins to cope with space management (or, I'd rather call it, poorly managed space); this generate departure delays.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ironically, while mass passenger transportation is treating all of us as non-handled luggage (nice paraphrasing to avoid calling us "a piece of meat"), business and first are getting more and more luxurious. Airlines are spending billions to install extremely sophisticated business seats, each using the surface of 6 "cattle" class seats, and while the quality of the food offered is only OK, there is plenty of free wine, champagne, snacks all day or all night. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Could we find a middle point? offer an equivalent to the old style biz class, where travellers could relax, not necessarily drink all night but be able to have some decent food and a drink, stretch a bit, and arrive without cramps to their destination? I'd go for this. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: large;">I would like your comments - am I alone in this???</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-12877289486597916262013-10-25T19:02:00.003-07:002013-10-25T19:12:12.954-07:00Uh-oh, are we almost ready to get all off Linked-In???Technically, it is quite a wonder.<br />
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The newest brain-child of our rolodex provider is called Intro. <a href="http://engineering.linkedin.com/mobile/linkedin-intro-doing-impossible-ios" target="_blank">Read here</a> the details of this seemingly little app. <a href="http://engineering.linkedin.com/sites/default/files/intro_installer_0.png" target="_blank">LOOK in this picture</a> how it innocently adds details about the senders of your mails INTO the emails themselves? how does that magic works? well, it seems to work by becoming the middle man for all your mails.<br />
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Another interesting read is <a href="http://www.bishopfox.com/blog/2013/10/linkedin-intro/#!" target="_blank">here</a>, looking at the potential consequences of this app, legally and regarding privacy. I am particularly fond of a couple of the questions proposed by this article.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>In position number one, we find "Attorney-client privilege", but in fact what is questioned here is the focus on sensitive material that you may be exchanging through your mail - with your insurance, with your bank, with doctors, with your lawyers. Yes. For instance "<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Hospitals and health systems are responsible for protecting the privacy and confidentiality of their patients and patient information" (<a href="http://www.aha.org/advocacy-issues/tools-resources/advisory/96-06/030201-media-adv.shtml" target="_blank">HIPAA Guidelines</a>), and it is a good thing. Doctors cannot disclose any part of conversations you have with them, unless you specifically request them to, and sign a release. Discussing your condition by email now could make a leak possible, and your health provider could not be blamed.</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Toward the end, point number 9. The understanding of what is private to each of us is, well, a private matter. LinkedIn, nor anybody else, should take this decision on your behalf. </span></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">The saving grace of all this is that Intro is (so far) an additional app that you have to volontarily install on your Iphone and/or Ipad. Once installed, it creates a security profile and a special email, ready for syphoning. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">So the solution is quite clear - just don't even think to install this wonderful new product, and lets all keep an eye on how it all proceed... after having been an early adopter, I am ready to quit LinkedIn if a tool like Intro makes its way into the main app. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;">It ties in quite nicely in my previous blogs about Data Privacy <a href="http://chiarabersano.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-international-pov-on-data-privacy.html" target="_blank">HERE</a> and <a href="http://chiarabersano.blogspot.com/2013/07/did-you-know-that-28th-of-january-is.html" target="_blank">HERE</a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As BishopFox says, If I were the NSA, and I hear <span style="color: #2c3034; line-height: 26px;">mobile phones were routing their emails through LinkedIn…well I know where I’m having my next birthday party.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-76161415237107802152013-10-11T12:29:00.003-07:002013-10-30T09:50:41.095-07:00The international POV on Data Privacy laws<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I promised back in July that I would provide some notes about data privacy legal impacts in the cloud. I started writing down such notes - but I came to realize very fast that I could not do so without gaining a better view on where there are specific provisions about data privacy and how these can be in conflict.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That took me some time. I guess it is a work in progress; every day new content is published, new questions seem to arise; but I feel it is a good start, and a necessary one before talking about the cloud.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<i>I am sharing an overview of my findings here, always please bear in mind that this is personal research and I have no claim to any legal title - if in doubt, please do yourself a favor and seek legal counseling.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<b><u>International law coverage</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lets start by looking at this map. It is based on what I know, and I just updated it with my most recent readings... but even if (IF) it should be complete now, readers beware: it will not be tomorrow, so lets consider it a starting point.</span><br />
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;">Lets start easy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">The blue countries are the group of the European Union memberstates (pro memoria: </span>Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherland, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK). We tend to expect a common data privacy approach, and indeed there is a common approach: the restrictions and the obligations are in fact the same, the way these are applied can vary quite widely. Spain, Italy, Portugal and Germany are notoriously demanding in terms of data privacy laws - as much in terms of burden of proof or audits, as in terms of penalties for non-compliance.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition to the EU countries, the light blue countries are also part of the EEA (European Economic Area), and as such are included in the EU permissible Data Privacy countries: Iceland, Norway and Lichtenstein. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The green countries are considered safe<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"> haven third countries according to the EU regulation: </span>Andorra, Argentina, Canada, Faroe Islands, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Israel, Jersey, New Zealand, Switzerland and Uruguay. So in fact, Personal Data can flow freely in all Blue and green countries... Looking at the map, that's nice, but we are far from a global coverage. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now we get to the dicey part, in red. Brutally, as a sequential list, here are the countries that have legislated in the area of Data Privacy Protection. Caveat emptor: this is a work in progress and legislations change continuously. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Note in particular the hatched areas - Russia and China, where the current existing legislation is not quite "protective", as it covers only the highlights but does not appear to be enforceable.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">BELOW LIST IS IN TIME OF LEGISLATION ENFORCEMENT</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><u>Costa Rica:</u> Protection in Handling Personal Data of Individuals</span><br />
<u style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Peru</u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">: New data protection act,
inspired by the Spanish Data Protection</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; vertical-align: baseline;">
Act and the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation)Privacy Framework</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; vertical-align: baseline;"><u>Japan</u>:
Personal Information Protection Act (2003/2005), limited scope guidelines</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; vertical-align: baseline;"><u>Russia</u>: Strasbourg Convention on the Protection of Individuals (2006)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; vertical-align: baseline;"><u>Morocco</u>: Personal Data Protection (2009) laws of generic nature</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><u>Mexico</u>: Federal Law on Protection of Personal Data (2010)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; vertical-align: baseline;"><u>India</u>: New Data Protection Act covering IT topics in 2011, striving to become safe haven</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; vertical-align: baseline;"><u>South Korea</u>: Act on the Protection of Personal Data 2011</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><u>Ukraine</u>: Personal Data Protection (2010-2012)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; vertical-align: baseline;"><u>Taiwan: </u>Personal Data Protection Act (2012)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; vertical-align: baseline;"><u>Philippines</u>: Bill on Data Protection based on EU directive 95/46 (March 2012)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><u>Hong-Kong</u>: Personal Data Amendment (2012), extending Personal Data Privacz Ordinance, with a limited scope, is aligned to the EU directive 95/46/EC</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Colombia</u>: Data protection legislation based on the 1995 EU data protection directives (2012)</span></span><br />
<u style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Chili:</u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> Law for the Protection of Private Life (2012)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; vertical-align: baseline;"><u>Brazil:</u> Work in Progress (2012) Data Protection Act based on the EU directives. Privacy is protected by constitutional provisions. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; vertical-align: baseline;"><u>Singapore: </u>Personal Data Protection (2012, in full force in 2014)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; vertical-align: baseline;"><u>Malaysia</u>: Personal Data Protection Act (2013)</span><br />
<u style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">China:</u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> Information Security Technology Guidelines for Personal Information Protection (Feb 2013) offers guidelines setting standards. However, the lack of penalties for non-compliance makes it difficult to consider it a strong protection. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; vertical-align: baseline;"><u>South Africa:</u> Protection of Personal Information Bill (Aug. 2013, in force in 2014)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; vertical-align: baseline;"><u>Australia</u>: Privacy Act (2012, in force 2014)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;">Each of these countries has produced a law that has a completely distinct flavor, and cannot quite be aligned to the others. Some are very limited in scope, others have subsequently completed the same laws by amendments, others have a quite comprehensive approach - expected to become more complete yet. So a case-by-case verification of requirements is needed. A recent and very complete assessment of the world laws is available <a href="http://www.dlapiper.com/files/Uploads/Documents/Data-Protection-Laws-of-the-World-Handbook-Second-Edition-2013.pdf" target="_blank">HERE</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline;">The breach notification requirement is in draft status for European Union legislation inclusion, and is already imposed in s</span>ome countries (in particular in Latin America).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;">In the US, there is the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights - FTC Recommendations privacy on the internet. They cover <u>consumers</u> data protection. However, to be able to better interact with EU countries and businesses, a Safe Harbor policy agreement has been passed between the US Department of Commerce and EU; organizations can join and self-certify on a yearly base. The stipulations of the Safe Harbor agreement makes a US company able to receive and store EU data, but not to further exchange it out of the considered Safe Haven countries.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Such laws ARE in discrepancy, and generate tension internationally; in particular there are too many grey areas, one of them spanning the area of HCM Cloud computing. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While a private company can overcome the multiple local rules by agreeing to stringent Binding Corporate Rules (BCRs, see my <a href="http://chiarabersano.blogspot.com/2013/07/did-you-know-that-28th-of-january-is.html" target="_blank">previous post)</a> covering the collection and handling of Human Resources data, how can a service provider hosting HR applications ensure that data is going to remain private, while access to multiple servers cross international lines? Does it mean to provide servers in each national location? is that even enough, knowing that each database MUST have a back up, and that would mean multiple location in each country? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another relevant grey area is the contraddiction in terms between the European Union conservative approach, and the Patriot Act. In particular, it is interesting to note that physical residency in the US is not required for the Patriot Act to be enforced - it is sufficient for the service provider to conduct systematic business in the United States.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
The puzzle is becoming interesting, isn't it?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
Comments are welcome, to correct my research, to provide insight or to propose additions - or perhaps you have heard of a specific question or situation? do share! THANK YOU!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<b><u>Sources:</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<a href="http://www.informationshield.com/intprivacylaws.html" target="_blank">International privacy laws</a> list (outdated, but still useful)</span><br />
<a href="http://www.zdnet.com/prism-heats-up-simmering-tensions-between-us-and-europe-over-privacy-7000016757/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tensions between different sets of laws</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57556674/patriot-act-can-obtain-data-in-europe-researchers-say/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Patriot act applications</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Human_Capital_Conference_Global_HR_Data_Privacy/$FILE/Human_Capital_Conference_Global_HR_Data_Privacy.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Global HR Data Privacy</span></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-3880345089143913072013-07-07T13:17:00.000-07:002014-01-29T22:04:15.062-08:00Did you know that the 28th of January is Data Privacy Day?*<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />*<a href="http://www.staysafeonline.org/data-privacy-day/" target="_blank">DataPrivacy Day</a></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Ever since I
have been working with HRIS in the context of global companies, I’ve been
collecting notes on how the HR data, sensitive and private as it is, can be
protected. I’ve decided to publish this blog, but here goes the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">DISCLAIMER</b>: these notes are of a
general nature, and share my personal ramblings and thoughts on the matter. It
should not be construed as an attempt to offer or render legal opinion or
engage in the practice of law. Please consult the advice of a licensed
professional if you require it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">What is
what?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">One of the modern-age most compelling frauds includes
one form or another of identity theft (identity cloning, financial ID theft,
medical ID theft); we have seen first-hand phishing attempts received by mail
and e-mail, and are careful in shredding personal documents rather than just
throwing them on the recycling pile. As HR professionals, working with HR
information, we are aware of the sensitivity of the data entrusted upon us by
our company; and as employees, we expect that our information will be
appropriately protected and remain private.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Governments have produced laws and guidelines, and since
1981, groups of countries have entered agreements to decide how data (and in
particular, HR data) can be shared across borders. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbgDm0Xy0PR9HpnlwIYqkcSEZ3l-YFsg3H4gbbzl-4INyCi3q9uH1pb96AJtGxyW9DtVvGTdU9_npBy8BJHU9aaH9wMQLf680xo2EXdE8Ufa3TYm-uQQCdNWhxyXp03dqyr8Tw9Q5qbW-h/s1600/unklocking-the-value-of-personal-data.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbgDm0Xy0PR9HpnlwIYqkcSEZ3l-YFsg3H4gbbzl-4INyCi3q9uH1pb96AJtGxyW9DtVvGTdU9_npBy8BJHU9aaH9wMQLf680xo2EXdE8Ufa3TYm-uQQCdNWhxyXp03dqyr8Tw9Q5qbW-h/s1600/unklocking-the-value-of-personal-data.png" height="258" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Image from<a href="http://ceeds-project.eu/2013/03/14/unlocking-the-value-of-personal-data/" target="_blank"> HERE</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Plenty of information is available, often fairly
indigestible and written in “legalese”. Several terms appear to be used in
alternance, are they really synonyms? Not quite.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;">Data integrity
addresses the concern that data should be correct and complete for the use we
want to make. As a simple example, if the address held about your employee is
not updated, correspondence will fail to reach him/her, and consequently data
is trash.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;">Data security is
focused in keeping information safe, seeking protection from access by
unauthorized entities. The idea is to avoid hacking and intruders; both to
prevent theft of ideas or valuable information and to protect the integrity of
the data (as above) against corruption (either accidental or willful). To date, it relies as much on technical hacking prevention and on the strength of individual passwords... and that is a weak link, see below.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;">Data privacy is
often confused with data security, but actually starts from data security, spanning a wider area. Its concern
is to ensure legal compliance with the multiple international regulations
controlling and protecting the individuals’ rights to keep their data safe and
private; it isn’t merely protecting against external intrusions, but
supervising the wa</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">y HR data is shared internationally, where it is stored, how
it is accessed. It means providing adherence to data privacy guidelines and
regulations, all around the world where your organization is active.</span></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">As an individual, my concern is to keep my data
secure – I make sure my passwords are up to the task (by the way, here is a great post on <a href="http://www.baekdal.com/insights/password-security-usability" target="_blank">password security</a>), that my firewall protects
my home computers, that my antivirus is up to date. As a corporation, or as an
individual representing a corporation, I must gain an understanding of what my
responsibility entails and i must extend my concern to data privacy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The recent NSA scandal has made painfully obvious how
unaware we are of who is looking at the information we share willingly; in NSA case we
are only talking about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metadata" target="_blank">metadata</a>, but the fact remain that the same can be done
with other data types and/or systems. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Is this also true if working for a company is based
and/or incorporated in the US? Yes, of course! Living in a more and more global
world, our companies are involved in the global market and our employees are
global citizens. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Information is
easier to access from anywhere, and can be moved across borders without the
data owner even realizing it, nor knowing who is accessing it. If your company
has operations in more than one country, you are immediately concerned by Data
Privacy International regulations. You need to keep an eye out to know what are
the requirements, how can you ensure compliance, and how it evolves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Laws<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Lets start with the European Data Protection
Regulation (EDPR), released on the 25 Jan 2012. The EDPR regulates the
processing and movement of personal data within, to and from the European
Union. Still, keep in mind that EDPR only sets the standard accepted by all 27
member states, while single states often require additional local compliance obligations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I’d like to go through the meaning of this regulation
in steps. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;">Personal data or
“Personally Identifiable Information” (PII) is defined as <u>all information
relating to an identified or identifiable natural person</u>. Any information
that distinguishes two individuals can be used for identification – so it isn’t
just about names and date of birth, social security and credit cards, but is a
much more extensive set of data that in combination can allow identification.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;">EDPR defines the conditions to move personal data out of the European Economic Area (EEA:
EU plus Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway), and is pretty restrictive. In
fact, <u>all movements are prohibited UNLESS conditions are met</u>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;">When we talk
about moving data out of the EEA, it doesn’t apply only to European companies’
data; all personal data pertaining to employees of European subsidiaries
from corporations headquartered in other geographies must also comply. This has
an immediate impact on a company designing global HRIS.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;">Personal data
movement is permitted to a set of countries that the European Commission has
recognized as offering adequate protection for the data: Andorra, Argentina,
Canada, Faroe Islands, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Israel, Jersey, New Zealand,
Switzerland and Uruguay. It is important to note that <u>the US are not
included in this list</u>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;">US and EU
companies requiring to share data across the borders can adopt a Safe Harbor
process to streamline the compliance. Safe Harbor is undersigned by a specific
company and must be re-certified on a yearly basis. It is based on the
following 7 principles: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.35pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo2; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">Notice</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">– right of being informed: employees must know what data is
collected and stored by the company, and made aware of how it is used and
disclosed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.35pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo2; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">Choice</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">– </span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">In case information is to be shared onward to third parties, it must be
clearly explained to the employee and an opt-out option is to be made
available.<span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.35pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo2; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">Onward Transfer</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">– In addition with Notice and Choice, transfers
of data to third parties may only occur to other organizations follows Safe
Harbor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.35pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo2; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">Security</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">- Reasonable efforts must be made to prevent disclosure,
loss or alteration of collected information.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.35pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo2; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">Data Integrity</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">- Data must be relevant and reliable for the
purpose it was collected for.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.35pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo2; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">Access</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">– Reasonable access to the stored information is to be
provided, both to the EU subsidiary and to the individual. The means of such
access aren’t specified (paper vs. Self-Service, for instance).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.35pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo2; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">Enforcement</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">– Commitment to cooperate with authorities to
ensure investigation and resolution of complaints. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.35pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">For more information on the 7 principles
and on how Safe Harbor applies to HR, <a href="http://export.gov/safeharbor/eu/eg_main_018381.asp" target="_blank">export.gov has a good FAQ</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.35pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">The Safe Harbor sign-off is the solution in case
of EU to US (and back) data transfers; so in these terms it is NOT SUFFICIENT
to allow global companies to consolidate data globally. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.35pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">In the case of a multinational corporation, the
geographical extension require the adoption of Binding Corporate Rules,
covering the steps taken to ensure compliance with “adequate protection”. To
put it simply, a BCR document is an internal, company-wide privacy policy, drafted
to meet specific business needs relative to the operation of the company.
Drafted by the corporation, it is subject to approval by authority; not all EU
countries require such an approval, but many do. (ex. <a href="https://www.privacyassociation.org/media/uploads/DPC11_BCRs_GE_Study_PPT.pdf" target="_blank">GE approach here</a> or
<a href="http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/STAGING/global_assets/downloads/B/BP_data_privacy_rules_public_document_16April_2010.pdf" target="_blank">BP here</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.35pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-para-margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-para-margin-left: 0cm; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;"><i>All these points remain valid whatever the
chosen delivery model is. The difference is how they are applied in the
multiple situations – On Premise vs. ERP, single vs. multi-tenancy. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;"><i>Please share your notes and comments on the subject, and thank you in advance for pointing out missed or incorrect details!</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>If you find my post interesting, you may also enjoy my recent <a href="http://chiarabersano.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-international-pov-on-data-privacy.html" target="_blank">"The International POV on Data Privacy"</a></b></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-49571629572812952672013-07-02T11:20:00.001-07:002013-07-02T11:22:07.114-07:00Graduation day and Leaning InWoaaah, how time flies. Yes, June was busy. What happened? well, its personal stuff, but all happy: I have a high school grad in the family now!<br />
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I've decided to go ahead and write a post about graduation day, mostly because it has been an impressive day. Anna has been attending <a href="http://www.sequoiahs.org/" target="_blank">Sequoia High School</a> in Redwood City since our arrival in the Bay Area (sounds forever, but it is only 2 years!). It is one of the largest public high schools, and the oldest on the Peninsula; I have always been a strong advocate of the solidity of public education (when done right); we have chosen where to live based on the proximity of Sequoia and on the type of education this school offers - at the same time the option of an International Baccalaureat diploma (for free!), and the cultural experience of a large school, exposure to difference, strong support of equal opportunities.<br />
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Graduation at Sequoia is a big affair, as every year 400 new grads are ready to move on with their lives, to college for most. Some are the first grads in their families, more grads will be the first to attend college. 400 grads means a football stadium full of hope, cheering families (under a blasting sun), and a ceremony lasting a half-day. Not easy to find good speakers who will be willing to be present for the whole event...<br />
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Well. This year, Sequoia HS didn't even have to look for a speaker, because Ms. Sheryl Sandberg's office called asking if a speaker would be welcome. A strong advocate of education, supporting public high schools and their diversity, Ms. Sandberg offered freely her time, and not only delivered an interesting speech (<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/06/08/facebook-sheryl-sandberg-lean-in-high-school-graduation/2382605/" target="_blank">you can listen in here about it</a>), but also insisted to shake the hand of every grad. It is a cool grad pic if you ask me:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeq_IClEvOUxls4UEFEfAnZi7itOj6_fh4eKptq_r_tIyA1Hf6DNlRRy1mf2mscZsEq2JQge8pXIisPQNI7W7GQHDB_zn9qIq57QOJNm9R-TD9IYXqrjUskJ9sKHTrev3uLRVvhScILEK1/s910/DSC_0555.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeq_IClEvOUxls4UEFEfAnZi7itOj6_fh4eKptq_r_tIyA1Hf6DNlRRy1mf2mscZsEq2JQge8pXIisPQNI7W7GQHDB_zn9qIq57QOJNm9R-TD9IYXqrjUskJ9sKHTrev3uLRVvhScILEK1/s910/DSC_0555.JPG" height="218" width="320" /></a></div>
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Some pictures about Ms. Sandberg's intervention at Sequoia HS are also available on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.475519962526320.1073741834.288110884600563&type=1" target="_blank">Lean In group</a> on - you guessed - Facebook.<br />
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So, now that June and graduations are over, summer is starting, and we go on - and of course, Ms. Sandberg, we are ready to lean in.<br />
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What would you do if YOU weren't afraid? please add your comments.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-23790402324818178392013-05-20T14:36:00.000-07:002013-05-23T14:06:36.621-07:00Carla Grant, the legend<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who is Carla Grant? well, if you have ever seen a SuccessFactors' demo, you would not ask. She is a fictional figure, part of every demonstration scenario... and has several profiles on LinkedIn, as well as in other professional networking sites. :) A legend, really. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW6Rq4SuF-i7g-j1VhiDgMkI3xmDYRBJNLwYlnX15GOaO1LW7ga23FAr3emutmYCmDjFuIz06RXthgQqy22OHpxqi4RoA-3j_F2v8PILBhwpimcy5ik4-bnf7HxmVejjIagk7Ano6Iw-eh/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-05-20+at+3.11.17+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW6Rq4SuF-i7g-j1VhiDgMkI3xmDYRBJNLwYlnX15GOaO1LW7ga23FAr3emutmYCmDjFuIz06RXthgQqy22OHpxqi4RoA-3j_F2v8PILBhwpimcy5ik4-bnf7HxmVejjIagk7Ano6Iw-eh/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-05-20+at+3.11.17+PM.png" height="142" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Speaking of Carla, while recently attending SAPPHIRE I was eager to get updates on multiple areas of interest, not unlike many other participants - check also this summary <a href="http://www.jeremymasters.com/2013/05/18/hcm-wrap-up-from-sapphire-asug-2013/#.UZpjNCs6VNw" target="_blank">blog</a> by Jeremy Masters.</span><br />
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In particular, I was determined to review the current status of the Cloud Core of HR, the SuccessFactors Employee Central tool. For this, I made my way to the third floor, where <span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; line-height: 16px;">Joachim Foerderer was holding ASUG session 1809, </span><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc;">Take HCM to the Cloud with Employee Central.</span><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #555555;"> </span></span><br />
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good timing for the presentation, as the 4th joined SuccessFactors/SAP regular product release was due Friday 17th of May - 2 days after Joachim made the presentation; and we were able to review the upcoming features. Of course, it was an overview rather than an in-depth evaluation, but I believe it was enough to peak quite a few interests.</span><br />
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It has been a labor of love for many developers in the last two years, and after being involved in the integration pieces and the go-to-market, checking on the status is a bit like taking the temperature of a favorite child. I have to say it is really nice to see how it is coming along.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Joachim started with a short demo, to highlight the User Interface provided, that remains aligned to SuccessFactors' winning tool. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fcfcfc;">In particular some of the global features look and feel very "21st century". To someone having worked across borders and in a virtual world with a name like Chiara (KEE-AH-RAH), the option of being able to record the way to pronounce my name sounds pretty cool; it is also possible to upload a video -to facilitate person-to-person long distance relationships; I guess this would come in handy when integrating a new person in a team. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fcfcfc;">Beyond the look and feel, that continue to be aligned to SuccessFactors', there are some additional features and announcements, that would deserve being looked at in detail. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fcfcfc;">Among them:</span></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The new position management is a lighter approach to Organizational Management in SAP. Positions are optional objects, so to reduce the "positions graveyard" that has been weighting down many long-living HCM systems. A position can be used for many employees, with a predetermined number of FTEs - I can imagine this option to be extremely useful in cases of seasonal hires. This includes re-organization capabilities, allowing to move an employee with or without the related position across the organization. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Global payroll. Including the May 17th release, the Employee Central Payroll is available for 22 countries (new countries becoming available are: France, Italy, Japan and Russia). The tool is the powerful engine of the SAP payroll, made available in the cloud by single-tenant hosting. Eventually, the full availability of such payroll will be global, with all 51 countries covered by the SAP standard in general availability. In order to make available each additional country, data entry screens are reviewed and adapted. This makes them useable within SuccessFactors' UI, providing the required information directly to the hosted payroll and avoiding data replication. In addition, the payroll slip is rendered in the UI, so to be made available to employees through the ESS features.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Absence management - covers the classic Negative Time management, allowing recording of exceptions, including all mobile options. Positive time recording is covered through partners (WorkForce as well as recent partner Kronos).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Flexibility of customization. As part of configuration, it was already possible to adapt labels, picklists and custom fields. In addition, the same Metadata Framework (used by developers to design functionalities) is being made available to customers to define additional custom objects and business rules; and by leveraging the HANA cloud platform, it becomes possible to add whole pieces of functionality, with a similar flexibility to an User Exit in HCM. This last piece is a game-changer, providing opportunities for an application's close fit, unusual in a SaaS product. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beyond May 17th release, there is still a busy roadmap. Looking at supporting global and modern organizations, there is a focus on global and organizational capabilities, on Integration within the suite and to 3rd parties and SAP, plus the continued addition of actionable analytics.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stay tuned!</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-9310501172699957492013-05-19T13:00:00.000-07:002013-05-19T15:29:34.722-07:00High heels and SAPI confess having been to many SAPPHIREs, in the last 23 years - by no means to all, but enough to spot something very different. During last week at the Orlando event at the megalomanic Convention Center (it could literally host a whole city, and it did with 20'000 participants), I've seen an unusual booth. If you were there as well, perhaps you've noticed it: named Lucia+Daniel, it looked and felt like a fun high-end boutique in Milano. But you could not purchase anything - rather, it was showcasing MyRunway app - an SAP solution offering enterprises to engage with consumers in innovative ways, leveraging new powerful analytics and data extractions on HANA cloud.<br />
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It looked to me like a consumer oriented app. And then, Layla Sabourian took me for a tour, explaining how retailers and brands can build a personal relationship with their customers, leveraging the information gained from real-time customer insight, generating customer loyalty. </div>
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Available on both Android and IPhone, <a href="http://www.myrunwayapp.com/" target="_blank">MyRunway</a> allows you to select favorite brands, view items from the latest collection, select favorites, create a shareable collage of items, wishlisting specific items, adding from your own wardrobe, and verifying where is the closest brand sale point. In a world where <span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><a href="http://allthingsd.com/20121123/mobile-thursday-smartphone-shopping-is-still-tiny-but-its-this-years-big-online-buzzword/" target="_blank">25% of consumers rely on their mobile phone to visit retailers</a>, c</span><span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">onsumers are buying differently and retailers must sell differently.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6KTgyLZ_3QyL_2spTBnASLj07PDy6MmAdWaAALOwDCeLqpEhHqqQF1ECqXeLuJHQJRNnVR63AhKIRTwshj9o18H0tS2bup58lS_xhz5Jh1OR1pvsyOEVGPY8Vr607DpLCXFZyK509itYa/s1600/IMG_0051.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6KTgyLZ_3QyL_2spTBnASLj07PDy6MmAdWaAALOwDCeLqpEhHqqQF1ECqXeLuJHQJRNnVR63AhKIRTwshj9o18H0tS2bup58lS_xhz5Jh1OR1pvsyOEVGPY8Vr607DpLCXFZyK509itYa/s1600/IMG_0051.PNG" height="320" width="180" /></a> </div>
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Imagine selecting a brand, and being presented a set of items that will appeal to you, part of the most recent collection. With a flick of the finger, your favorite shoes are added to your wishlist, and the available sizes and colors appear. Imagine being able to locate the closest stores where to buy those shoes... being able to choose between walking to the store, or buying online. Or, to be automatically informed of upcoming sales... So you can decide to wait a bit, and see if the price gets a bit closer to the budget. :)</div>
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875);">The concept might appear similar to <a href="http://pinterest.com/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a>, but there are a couple of fundamental differences. To start with, out goes the the frustration of not being able to locate where the item is available, or if it is available at all. On Pinterest, in many cases the pictures refer to old items, that cannot be procured anymore; links are broken, and in most cases the prospective buyer is frustrated, and the reseller doesn't makes a sale. MyRunway provides a direct access to the sale channel, integrated to the retail system. </span></div>
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Building a community of users through the app, I can go look for the wishlist of my friend with an upcoming birthday, and buy or mail order something for her - being sure that she will be thrilled with her present! NO STRESS. Imagine doing something like this, for all birthdays, events, parties - why not for hen nights, baby or wedding showers?</div>
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MyRunway also offers gamification opportunities, and I love that part. You REALLY don't want to miss out on these.... points are won by checking in your favorite shopping places, or by selecting items on your wishlist. Fun, no? </div>
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So, what are you waiting for trying it? Download the app from ITune or GooglePlay, and go shopping.... It will not cost you a penny unless you fall in love with an item and go buy it :) and that is the best time!</div>
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And after you download it, look me up. I am Chiara on the app, as I am in the real world. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-24029356596304868562013-05-18T18:58:00.002-07:002013-05-18T18:59:18.169-07:00Happy 25th birthday, SAPPHIRE!<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">My, you have grown. From 120 participants in a New Jersey hotel, to the Orlando Convention Center, filled to capacity at some 20'000 experts, over three days, fed, watered, co-hosted with ASUG. During the first day keynote, co-CEO Bill McDermott mentioned that the online statistics where showing an attendance of about 80k online! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3BMjFHBXI-LjC4LPfm1JXFZ8uydkyDcb7LNIW_emcq7bC598vuIvr4eerlIDS-a_l6WLC4E1hKh153H4CxxHlWScYajsn1FtRwvFBVLdqv91qsMkzHSinP0pNa_9-D7QgX_VJgegb606q/s1600/sapphire.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3BMjFHBXI-LjC4LPfm1JXFZ8uydkyDcb7LNIW_emcq7bC598vuIvr4eerlIDS-a_l6WLC4E1hKh153H4CxxHlWScYajsn1FtRwvFBVLdqv91qsMkzHSinP0pNa_9-D7QgX_VJgegb606q/s1600/sapphire.JPG" height="302" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">People always ask what SAP stands for, but a similar question is never asked about the event. And, no, it isn't about hiring (SAP-P-hire). The acronym has outgrown its own meaning (SAP's Perennial Highly Integrated R2 Event). Now, there is so much more, and so many options. Back in 1989, R3 was only a dream still. R/2 was our bread-and-butter, and we had to memorize infotypes numbers and table codes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">You have travelled too, SAPPHIRE. You have shown a clear preference for Orlando, but having started in Philadelphia, you have wondered across both the US continent, moving to Europe and to the Far East. With a bit of research I came up with the following list of locations... but clearly, at SAP the focus is on the present and on the future.... and as you can see, my list has many unknown. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">1996 Philadelphia (8,000)/Vienna/Japan</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">1997 Orlando (12,000), Amsterdam/Yokohama</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">1998 Los Angeles (</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">15,000) </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">1999 Philadelphia/Nice (FR)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">2000 Las Vegas</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">2001</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">2002 Orlando/Lisbon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">2003</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">2004 New Orleans</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">2005 Boston</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">2006 Orlando/Paris</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">2007 Atlanta/Vienna</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">2008 Orlando/Berlin</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">2009 Orlando</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">2010 Orlando (18'000)/Frankfurt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">2011 Orlando</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">2012 Orlando/Madrid/Beijing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">2013 Orlando...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">If you know more... please feel free to comment and add to it, I'll update. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Source: </span></span><span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; white-space: nowrap;">https://www.facebook.com/SAP/timeline/1989 and www.sap.com</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-29931740600461317742013-05-08T19:04:00.000-07:002013-05-09T09:34:40.299-07:00Struggling with SAPPHIRE agenda, againYes!!! You have nagged and begged, and have found budget to attend SAPPHIRE.<br />
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You have registered, booked a plane ticket (or several), and figured out which hotel makes most sense (hopefully it is not going to be undergoing renovations). You have verified it isn't far from the convention center, that it is on the I-Drive route, and that you can get to the outlets. You may even have booked Disneyland tickets for the family (disclosure: I didn't. I try to keep a healthy distance from Mickey).<br />
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Now, the last challenge must be confronted: to sort out your agenda.<br />
When it comes to what to choose, Jeremy has said it, better than I possibly could without copying his <a href="http://www.jeremymasters.com/2013/05/09/my-sap-hcm-preview-to-sapphireasug-2013/#.UYvPNis6VNw" target="_blank">excellent post</a>... so I will concentrate on sharing the how-to. It is also important, as there will be <b>no printed programs</b> on site.<br />
<br />
On the SAPPHIRENOW website home, there is a tab for Agenda Builder, and it takes you <a href="http://agendabuilder.sapevents.com/go/ab.sessioncatalog/?l=56&" target="_blank">here</a> , where you can create your agenda account, or log in directly if that step was already taken.<br />
<br />
I like to first review all sessions, according to a few broad subjects (in my case, I choose the Line of Business Human Resources from SAPPHIRE NOW, as well as the Cloud Campus both for Integration and People), and add any session I might be even remotely interested in to my agenda. Many of these sessions are delivered by my recent collegues, and I am most curious to see where we are standing now.<br />
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Of course, in this way I end up with an extremely long list of items, most of them marked by the ominous red asterix, indicating that these sessions are overlapping. But that is when it becomes interesting.<br />
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I am an old aficionada of Excel, and so I download the agenda. The download includes not only the title and location/time, but also the speaker and some additional information; it makes it easier to sort the sessions and prioritize. I highlight my "must do" items, and then group together the overlaps... often enough, they overlap only for a bit of time, so actually I have a chance to attend both, as long as the location isn't too far.<br />
<br />
The only thing left to do is to print the result on a one page. Now I will need powerful glasses to read all this fine print, but I have all my SAPPHIRE/ASUG time on one page, handy to take me through the conference.<br />
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If you see me running around with my nose buried in a print-out, wondering out loud "where am I supposed to be, where am I supposed to be", you are welcome to stop me and take me for a drink.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-41915945841025768072013-05-01T09:09:00.001-07:002013-05-01T09:13:49.058-07:00One trip, two UserGroups and three countries later. I am back, if still jet-lagged.<br />
<br />
Three days spent at the HRGUG annual meeting in Walldorf always are deeply satisfying and informative. SAP provided us with a backbone of updates and presentations with, among others, the below screenshot sporting the most recent development for the Core of HR in the Cloud - Employee Central and its spiffy looks. Of course, Carla Grant was there... can there be BizX without Carla, ever?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD8Uq3txU9WMGekivocrSgVasLHXXSNv5OjCMCfoWJtzmyubOXbQ2o0KrC_p5rTgEo0qY5u5_9zC-YNdu17fHZWQoxen4KDMlHzyAC5MA8eD5nwWQLnA9r1gE6JPmQnUlqPFkg31bLJqbx/s1600/IMG_0014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD8Uq3txU9WMGekivocrSgVasLHXXSNv5OjCMCfoWJtzmyubOXbQ2o0KrC_p5rTgEo0qY5u5_9zC-YNdu17fHZWQoxen4KDMlHzyAC5MA8eD5nwWQLnA9r1gE6JPmQnUlqPFkg31bLJqbx/s1600/IMG_0014.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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A lot more can be said about the event and its successful organization. The group, lead by Sarah Nehring and Ina Schreckenberger, included a total of 99 participants from 60+ companies; we were informed, entertained and excited by 6 focus groups such as:</div>
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<ol>
<li>Core Renewal 1.0</li>
<li>ESS/MSS</li>
<li>Mobility</li>
<li>Integration SAP&SuccessFactors</li>
<li>Talent Management on premise & SuccessFactors</li>
<li>Data Security</li>
</ol>
<div>
The intention of openly comparing on premise and SuccessFactors tool was very exciting for many participants, and the session 4 and 5 above were full of discussions, doubts were expressed and challenging questions came up naturally. There was also an interesting session showcasing the HANA developments, and again, the interest of the audience clearly showed potential. It is a work in progress, and HRGUG allows to feel part of it. </div>
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I have to give due thanks to the organizational committee, who again did a fabulous job. It takes some time - although not as much as some would fear... and I would strongly encourage any HRGUG member with a taste for networking to take a chair next year. </div>
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Next, after a drive on the autobahn in the mist and rain :( and the surprise of waking up in a snow wonderland (yes, in April), I joined HERUG for a day. The Higher Education User Group annual meeting was held in Lausanne this year, hosted by the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne). </div>
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<br /></div>
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My heartfelt thanks go to Nils Panchaud and Chiara Mugelli von Burg for the impeccable organization and reception. A meeting of a similar size - about 100 participants from 40+ universities and education organization around the world, but a very different mix functionally. </div>
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<div>
Of course, HR and HR Systems remains very much on top of the concerns for public sector organizations; in particular in the case of High(er) Education, the Student Live Cycle must be managed, and it borrows many concepts from the HCM approach. </div>
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<br /></div>
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After customers presentations and some SAP updates, we had a chance to visit the EPFL site - a personal highlight as I had the privilege to attend this university (a few?) years ago. And, oh, it has changed! it is bigger, more spacious, with a thrill coursing the corridors and the hallways. The <a href="http://rolexlearningcenter.epfl.ch/" target="_blank">Rolex Center</a> (click for pictures, and you should look!) is a large and free-flowing space at the heart of the campus, showcase the learning styles of the new generations; students are not anymore secluded in dusty libraries, but accustomed to sharing on the go, and the space allows coming and going 7am to midnight, with only a few bubbles of meeting space. </div>
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<br /></div>
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After all these events, I just took a few moments of family time and a short trip to Italy to recover... back now to follow up, network, consolidate learning, actualize blogs - who's up for coffee?</div>
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A last picture of the Geneva lake on a sunny morning in Ouchy</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-71125184924054799302013-04-14T14:52:00.004-07:002013-04-14T14:52:32.811-07:00User groups – the prequel
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<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt;">I
have always been adamant about the value of sharing experience, of discussing
how things happen, should happen, may happen or may fail. In support of such
sharing, I have had the privilege of working (if one can call such fun “working”)
at the makings of HRGUG. I have also avidly participated at ASUG, and most
recently I have added a new star in my firmament – HERUG.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt;">What
do these barbaric-sounding acronyms stand for?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiij7tN0lHGsrNwrndN6wEvTkkO7HUvfvkeogao7L-RGiTcTz0LMi1UXEBW8hx2WVXo4HtZnkquGhjCZHlaKf-Yt0bEm0YOcpUsWPZHDXBWlmWadsUoRVM3RsHUYhyphenhyphen3IUf-mkGZA5Xt3YqB/s1600/330+women+men+workplace+nmediaShutterstock+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiij7tN0lHGsrNwrndN6wEvTkkO7HUvfvkeogao7L-RGiTcTz0LMi1UXEBW8hx2WVXo4HtZnkquGhjCZHlaKf-Yt0bEm0YOcpUsWPZHDXBWlmWadsUoRVM3RsHUYhyphenhyphen3IUf-mkGZA5Xt3YqB/s1600/330+women+men+workplace+nmediaShutterstock+copy.jpg" height="261" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b>HRGUG</b>
stands for Human Resources Global User Groups – so we are talking here about
those specific corporation having a global approach to HR. The group convenes
yearly in Walldorf, Germany. Connections are supported by a dedicated <a href="http://www.service.sap.com/hrgug" target="_blank">ServiceMarket</a> place area</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">, available only upon approval,
and by a <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=52211&trk=hb_side_g" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> group that allows all members to plan, communicate and share.
Hosted by SAP at SAP University, it is customer-led and all decision are taken
by a volunteering committee. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>HERUG</b>
is a High Education User Group. While it isn’t specifically dedicated to any
function, its specificity is due to the vertical market and its radical
different needs from all other types of ERP installations. I am excited to be a
part-time participant to the 2013 event. HERUG is purely customer-led, and is
hosted by a different High Education institution every year; this year it is in
Switzerland, at EPFL site in Lausanne. HERUG is also supported by a <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=3881951&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> group, ensuring on-going and year-round communication. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt;"><b>ASUG</b>
– well perhaps I don’t need to introduce the well-known, massive American SAP
User Group? And its regional and industry-specific chapters offer a close intimacy,
supportive of collaboration and exchange. It has its own <a href="http://www.asug.com/" target="_blank">website</a>. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt;">But
what is really my motivation in participating to all these events, occasionally
presenting, and supporting the committee? It sounds like extra work, while I
could instead go for a nice vacation. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt;">No?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt;">Well,
not quite. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt;">Large
trade show (I am thinking SAPPHIRE here, or HR Tech) are like attending a large
wedding, where you don’t know many invitees, you are served decent food and
wine, all the while you listen to the speeches of the family. Participating to the
above groups (including to the regularly conducted events) is rather going to a
dinner party, where the topics of conversation take shape based on mutual
interests, food and drink have been selected by your host to fit your tastes,
and you end up spending a lovely evening making friends and sharing. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt;">So
here are the reasons why I always do my best to find the time and the budget to
participate to a few groups every year. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt;">The biggest plus of participating is of course in the people
interaction. Meeting experts and business partners that become friends in the
long run makes possible sharing ideas, tips and lessons learned that is by far
more effective and fun than attending ex-cathedra sessions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt;">Networking. Oh, yes, baby. Instead of sitting behind a
computer and adding new names to LinkedIn, people met in such events are often
cross-industries, cross-functional and in multiple hierarchical levels, able to
offer career advice and even to point to new opportunities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt;">Give and take. I share my experience – highlighting my
expertise and skill-set (woohoo!), and listen to others providing solutions to
similar issues. I connect with the best experts, and it saves me time, and
money. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt;">What
are your reasons to join in?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt;">I will be on the road to HRGUG and HERUG in the next couple of weeks, and I will do my best to share my experience and my findings. </span><br />
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-67381283308685498562013-04-10T14:08:00.004-07:002014-04-03T14:33:38.739-07:00The little blog that could.Proud to say that my previous posts on Human Capital Sustainability have been highlighted in <a href="http://scn.sap.com/welcome" target="_blank">SCN welcome</a> page during the week from April 5th to April 12th.<br />
<br />
The blog, a consolidation of my three pieces:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Social Accountability in Human Capital Management</li>
<li>Global Cost (or Value) of a Human Being</li>
<li>Human Capital as an Investment</li>
</ul>
<div>
can be read in its entirety <a href="http://scn.sap.com/community/business-trends/blog/2013/03/29/sustainability-and-human-capital" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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It is also going to be published on the <a href="http://blogs.sap.com/innovation/human-resources/sustainability-and-human-capital-030547" target="_blank">SAP Innovation blogs</a> on the 17th of April!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-77724038505504106502013-04-06T10:54:00.001-07:002013-05-08T23:41:08.232-07:00Where is the picture????This isn't meant to be a travel blog, so I am refraining from nostalgic waxing over locations where I have been or I want to go, but having been asked several times where is the blog's forefront picture taken, I realize that I have been inflicting on you a picture without sharing a location.<br>
<br>
It was a stunning day in the Lavaux, overlooking lake Geneva. Niched up on the corniche, there is a little wine bar (locally known as a "caveau"), dedicated to Corto Maltese - the cartoon creation by Hugo Pratt.<br>
<br>
What is remarquable of this place? so many things. The view of course; the approach to the wine bar, more a community of small wine producers getting together to give a better access to little-known wines, helping each other in the process. The sense of a community you get, when after a handful of times you stop by, you are on a first-name basis with everybody. Looking at the picture, I feel home. Priceless.<br>
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Here is another picture from the same area - the Swiss Lavaux is an amazing source of stunning pictures.<br>
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<a href="http://www.caveaucorto.ch/presentation_fr.php" target="_blank">For more information</a><br>
It is in French, but if you ask me nicely, I'll be happy to translate it for you! <br>
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...and if you ever head out to the area, drop me a note... <br>
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<br>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-28813580634672194702013-04-04T18:29:00.001-07:002016-10-24T02:04:48.017-07:00The Meaning of Being an Employer of ChoiceIt must be the season.<br />
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No, I am not thinking of baby lambs, kittens, nor of planting the garden... I am talking about the lists I am seeing touting "a Great Place To Work" or " Employer of Choice" top 10, 25, 100 lists. And seeing all this I cannot but wonder about 1. if such ranking have an interest whatsoever, 2. if so, how are the criteria used differently in each case, 3. is there any standardized approach?, 4. how to best leverage this information.<br />
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It appears that if on one side, there are similarities, there isn't really a standard, agreed approach. Many different providers issue their own list, based on specific priorities. Two examples in North America are Employer of Choice and A Great Place To Work, both registered trademarks by the Herman Group; then there are the multiple magazines and association, such as Fortune Magazine, or Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace, establishing their own lists, based on their own criteria. More career sites and apps are launching their own lists.<br />
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And this is only in the US... Some examples:<br />
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<a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/topworkplaces%20no%20statement%20of%20source" target="_blank">Mercury News</a><br />
<a href="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9227166/100_Best_Places_to_Work_in_IT_2012" target="_blank">ComputerWorld</a><br />
<a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/best-companies/" target="_blank">Money Magazine</a><br />
<a href="http://www.glassdoor.com/Best-Places-to-Work-LST_KQ0,19.htm" target="_blank">Glassdoor</a><br />
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Interestingly and logically, the items in the laundry list above are the same as stated in a recent article about loyalty.<br />
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Compare yourself:<br />
<a href="http://www.hermangroup.com/employerofchoice/recognition.html#validation" target="_blank">List as proposed by Employer of Choice:</a><br />
<ol><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1383272707098305371" name="benefits"></a></span><span style="color: black;"></span>
<li><span style="color: black;">The Company</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;">The Culture</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;">Enlightened Leadership</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;">Care of People</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;">Growth and Opportunity</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;">Meaningful Work</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;">Compensation & Benefits</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;">Making a Difference</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;">Employee Loyalty</span></li>
<li><span style="color: black;">Performance Results</span></li>
</ol>
It is a two-ways street. To get to the holy grail of employee engagement and build employees loyalty, the corporate environment has to look in offering some elements such as below; these in turn are reflected in the categories above, that are used to determine yearly ranking.<br />
<ol>
<li>interesting, challenging work</li>
<li>opportunities for advancement and learning</li>
<li>collegial workforce</li>
<li>fair compensation</li>
<li>respected management</li>
<li>recognition for accomplishment</li>
<li>feeling like a valued member of the team</li>
<li>a substantial benefits package</li>
<li>the feeling their work “makes a difference”</li>
<li>overall pride in the company’s mission and its products</li>
</ol>
Should it really be amusing, or is it just common sense?<br />
I spent some time writing about the sustainability of HR practices (<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140707162657-2631804-hr-and-sustainability?trk=mp-reader-card" target="_blank">see here</a>). Isn't it logical that the very same practices that generate employees loyalty are those recommended to become an employer of choice?<br />
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Now, the only mystery is the diversity of the lists provided by different services...<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-40469301425859794012013-04-01T18:37:00.002-07:002013-04-01T18:38:26.116-07:00Winery visitEaster week-end provides often a welcome opportunity for a short break. So we headed north, to the Napa Valley, where we had booked a blending session at a well-known winery - <a href="http://www.corleyfamilynapavalley.com/" target="_blank">Monticello Vinyards</a>. The incredible part of visiting a family-run vinyard is the passion that is the common trait of all the family members involved in the business.<br />
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While the wine-maker was leading us through the process of blending the 2011 single-varietal wines into a balanced product, that could then age gracefully (next step - taste before bottling, in some 9 months), he was also sharing his approach to creativity, and said one sentence that stuck with me.<br />
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"Art cannot be done by committee".<br />
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True. In fact, I feel that all creative processes cannot be faced with a committee; there must be a "chief creator" who will assemble the results of the iterative process, and decide on what is the best direction.<br />
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Amazingly, I found that our session was a perfect way to explore the different phases of creativity by iteration. Initially, none of us had a concept of how we were going to proceed, nor a clear idea of what we wanted to achieve. We were just in for a day of fun.<br />
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Then, once we started tasting our 4 varietals, we all started playing with concept. I guess that could be called a "brainstorming" phase... we had easy access to testing; and several times we traced back our steps to investigate a new option - adding some some Merlot, or sticking to Cabernet? how about the different Cabs? all, or just one was enough?<br />
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After a little while, it seemed clear to all that we wanted to experiment in a specific direction. So from then on, the experimenting had a clearer direction, and we started playing with the percentage. 20/80? 20/60/20? we tried several combinations, discussing what we liked in each. Of course, different opinions where voiced.<br />
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Eventually, the "chief developer" took the decision. He didn't just average out our opinions, and we didn't vote; that would have probably led to a wishy/washy product, neither round, nor complete. Instead, our Chief took a decision about what he felt the direction of our wine should go.<br />
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So, now we just have to wait a few months to determine if our Chief took the right decision; I am confident though that the result will be better than if we tried to act as a committee, reaching a compromise.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1383272707098305371.post-61577644279784269352013-03-26T12:37:00.002-07:002014-03-26T09:49:10.558-07:00Human Capital as an investment<br />
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<i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">[This post is a continuation of my previous posts "<a href="http://chiarabersano.blogspot.com/2013/03/social-accountability-in-human-capital.html">Social accountability in Human Capital Management</a>" and "<a href="http://chiarabersano.blogspot.com/2013/03/global-cost-or-value-of-human-being.html">Global cost of a human being</a>", posted on March 18th and 21st. You may want to read them in sequence]</span></i></div>
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<b><u><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Looking at the facts in this light, the Human Capital as an investment done by private citizens, but the true ROI is for society at large.<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Hold that thought! As HR professionals, doesn’t that mean that we are ipso facto accountable for the sustainability and for the development of such a valuable resource?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">When an investment is deemed valuable, it has to be protected, grown and developed. It is true for industries, for commerce, and it still holds true in regard to Human Capital.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A city, a country, a nation supports its people, educate its children, looks after their health. Some of the smartest and most skilled HR people are actually working in public office, and I don’t believe a public officer could or should be ignorant of HR practices.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Leveraging to the full the human capital, and managing it correctly in a civic, ethical sense, means giving to all the employees the opportunities they deserve. Not because we are being NICE, but because we want to capture the human and monetary value of the skills, experience and knowledge of diverse people, developed at high cost by our education system, families and life styles. In these terms, we have to look at employees as an asset to maximize, not as a mere cost that has to be minimized to increase revenues.<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/03/the-trader-joes-lesson-how-to-pay-a-living-wage-and-still-make-money-in-retail/274322/" target="_blank">[1]</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As an example, I’ve always wondered why women who have been head of a households with multiple children and handled the challenges of managing a complex family life and budget, are suddenly handicapped by that role once they return (or start) on the work place. Worse, in most countries their earnings are dramatically lower than women without families and without children! <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/12/the-4-rich-countries-where-women-out-earn-men-with-1-huge-caveat/266343/?goback=%2Egde_4715985_member_197729563" target="_blank">[2]</a> Of course, there are practical reasons while statistics show such a difference – part time, less investment in a career… but isn’t it time we find ways to value and leverage the skills they have gained? Would it really be different if women had gained those skills while being employed as an executive assistant or as a manager, rather than by supporting their own families?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Diversity programs are not a nice to have. I am making the case of women here, but diversity has multiple facets, each bringing in clear wins. The challenge of diversity isn’t any more to allow everybody to have a voice, but to leverage and recognize the value it brings. In fact, the relevancy and value of the human capital is closely tied to the multiplicity of voices, of ideas, of experiences it offers. Squandering it spoils the most valuable asset a nation has, and at the same time the nation’s ultimate reason for existence: its own citizens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And it must all be a win,win,win. If society wins, if the company wins, the employee must win as well. The answer to the “what’s in it for me” question must stay at the forefront of our mind in order to put in place a successful program. If any of the three protagonists doesn’t get a cookie, their interest will wane.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Perhaps an example can help.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Let’s take a real example, rather than an abstract. Johnson Precision (NH) is a manufacturer of precision plastic injection components, where a special-needs workers program has been put in place to integrate them in the workplace, supporting non-traditional employees to work side-by-side with their co-workers in every department, with the same expectations as everybody else. The wins are on all sides. On the employees side, special-needs workers received training and a good pay, while “traditional” employees gain confidence and proficiency by training the new comers. The company gained not only tax benefits (yay), but also credibility with customers for its social responsibility, as well as long term, productive employees. And society? Ensuring integration of special needs citizens is a pain point, and such a program helps to make them productive and self-supported. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In return, the win, win, win results gained the program a top-down endorsement that is ensuring its continuation and potentially its expansion. <a href="http://www.unionleader.com/article/20120603/NEWS02/706039919/0/SEARCH" target="_blank">[3]</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>That is the value that HR can bring. Know your employees, know your data and forecast the changes</b>. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Where else has this blog been published, or <a href="http://chiarabersano.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-little-blog-who-could.html" target="_blank">The little Blog that Could</a></i></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06656649245636273115noreply@blogger.com0