2. 64 I People Matters I june 2013
Successful implementation of HR technology does not depend
on the robustness of the platform,
but on employee engagement during the process
G
lobally, organisations are look-
ing to implement a unified or
integrated talent management
strategy wherein every employee
across the world encounters a standard
interface of HR. Obviously, companies
wonât be able to implement the HR strategy
without the support of technology. It enables
the organisation to capture data about the
complete lifecycle of an employee, ranging
from induction to performance manage-
ment. Thanks to technology, an organisation
is able to create robust future plans based
on rich data gathered from diverse business
and talent constituencies.
Technology has become the backbone of
an organisationâs HR strategy and plays a
pivotal role. But, a May 2013 People Matters
survey among 168 companies across indus-
tries revealed that in a majority of organ-
isations (65 per cent) it is HR and not IT
that managed HR technology budgets. This
finding was revealing as HR managers are
often ignorant about technology and do not
do rigorous testing that results in technol-
ogy implementations going awry.
If HR technology is implemented in a bad
way, then it can have adverse effects on the
Adoption is the key to execute
HR Technology
in brief
As companies go
global, HR technol-
ogy helps them to
maintain a standard
interface for all
employees. If it is
implemented in a
bad way, it can have
adverse effects
on the morale
and motivation of
employees
By vikram choudhury
morale and motivation of employees. In fact,
organisations that aim to present a personal
and more human face of HR to employees
manage to achieve exactly the opposite
through a bad technology implementation.
Says Sujaya Banerjee, Chief Talent Officer
and Senior VP-HR, Essar Group, âAt Essar,
we initially made the mistake of using the
already-existing back-end HRM system for
the front-end. While we were able to stan-
dardise the organisationâs interface with HR
across all locations, the system was tacky
and highly unreliable. This made us realise
that what we needed was a fully integrated
Human Capital Management system that
had an interactive friendly user interface.
We bought a world-class performance and
talent management suite and drove it as a
A key challenge for all
HR organisations is
how to choose the right
technology in line with
the budget and imple-
ment it correctly
3. HR
Technology
Special
Before rolling out an HR technology, an enterprise should have
answered all the following questions as âYesâ
change management program rather than a
HR technology project and managed to drive
award-winning adoption during the very
first year of implementation.â
Implementation linked with business
results
A key challenge for all HR organisations,
therefore, continues to remain how to
choose the right technology and implement
it correctly. For choosing the right technol-
ogy, an HR manager needs to have an idea
about the budget. But often HR managers
find it difficult to secure budgets even if
the business leadership is keen to drive HR
technology within the enterprise as they link
its implementation with business results.
The People Matters survey found that
in 64 per cent of the organisations CEOs
are serious about buying decisions on HR
technology and they have the final word on
an HR technology decision.
HR, however, is unable to create a
substantially convincing business case for
a technology budget. Anand Pillai, Senior
Executive Vice President and Chief Learning
Officer of Reliance Industries says, âWhile
implementing a technology may be great,
an organisation is productivity-driven and
business-driven. The business wants to
know how a technology implementation
is linked to talent metrics, like employee
engagement, or attrition, or productivity, or
even the direct and measurable results of
succession planning.â
Losing touch with employees?
As technology goes wider and deeper within
an organisation, HR faces the risk of losing
all forms of personal connection with talent,
No is not an answer
Technology interface
1. Were employee dipsticks or focus-group
sessions conducted to understand the
design needs?
2. Is the design based on inputs and analysis
from the employee needs assessment?
3. Do employee testing results reveal that
the interface is pleasing and exciting?
4. Is there a plan to fill the present gaps in
the interface with subsequent upgrades?
Reliability
5. Has the system been tested to check for
lags and crashes?
6. Are there safeguards in place to protect
against loss of organisational data?
Processes
7. Are there defined escalation, support, and
inquiry processes in place for employees
to interact with HR when needed?
8. Has every member of the HR func-
tion been certified to act as a support
resource when needed?
9. Does every activity of the employee life-
cycle comprising a technology interven-
tion have an assigned owner?
Change management
10. Was the change and transition manage-
ment plan implemented before the
technology rollout?
11. Have the roles for team leaders, functional
heads, and employees been defined?
12. Has the organisation communicated the
relevance of the technology in the every-
day responsibilities of an employee?
Leadership involvement
13.Has the technology proposal been
discussed at the board?
14.Has the organisation secured the buy-in
from a majority of the leadership on the
implementation of the technology?
15.Have the expected HR outcomes such
as productivity and engagement been
defined in terms of business-facing and
shareholder metrics?
People Matters I june 2013 I 65
4. 66 I People Matters I june 2013
both within and outside. Indian organisa-
tions still view technology as a tool for
process efficiency rather than an opportu-
nity to increase their number of touch points
with employees.
In fact, the survey reveals that the three
most-mature HR technologies in India are
the purely transactional platforms pertain-
ing to time and attendance, payroll and
benefits, and compensation. Social technol-
ogies, resource analytics, and enterprise
workforce management are the three least
mature. Gautam Chainani, Chief People
Officer, Aditya Birla Financial Services
Group, says, âWhile we have gone deeper
and wider with the organisation, we are
beginning to see the challenge of manag-
ing processes and people. While technology
has become an integral part of our talent
Indian organisations still view tech-
nology as a tool for process efficiency
rather than an opportunity to increase
their touch points with employees
management strategy, it has also become
important for us to be sure that we do not
lose the people-touch.â
Vikram Bector, Chief Learning Offi-
cer at Tata Motors, concurs. âManaging
the scale of a geographically dispersed
workforce from Korea to Spain, we realize
that it is extremely important for HR to be
technologically present, without losing the
people-touch. Though technology promises
âanytime anywhereâ presence, it is impor-
tant to ensure that HR is never more than a
phone-call away,â he says.
Implementation depends on
engagement
The HR technology implementation does not
depend on the type or size of the organisa-
tion but on how to engage the workforce
during the process. With the proliferation
of GenY and Millennials in the workforce,
the importance of social tools and resource
efficiency platforms have become increas-
ingly important.
Both internal and external talent now
want everything on a social platform. They
also prefer to optimise their contributions
by maintaining a balance between work and
personal priorities.
An important factor that decides a tech-
nology platformâs success is the organisa-
tionâs effort in helping employees adopt it.
Whether an organisation plans to imple-
ment technology incrementally or wants to
go all âbig bang,â the most critical aspect of
success or failure of a technology imple-
mentation depends on how the enterprise
makes it relevant for everyone in the organ-
isation. The technology implementation
needs to comprise the plan of how every
employee is engaged in the implementation.
While there are lots of ways to implement
technology, the proof of the pudding ulti-
mately lies in its adoption.
Change management is the key challenge
during technology implementation. While
a technology might display great promise,
many enterprises fail to derive its benefits
because change management initiatives are
either very casual or start post-implemen-
tation. To say that a technology implemen-
tation is successfully adopted means that
employees understand its relevance to their
everyday jobs and business leaders drive it
within their functions. To connect a tech-
nologyâs relevance to business outcomes,
progressive organisations link an employ-
eeâs competencies to performance.
Lastly, to make a technology implemen-
tation work effectively, designing efficient
employee-centric processes is crucial.
Ramkumar V., Head of HR for Media
Information Services ISU at TCS, mentions
the relation between processes and
technology through an experience at an
Apple store. Ramkumar says, âWhen we
walk into an Apple store, we see a sales
executive holding a hand-held device
capable of taking the customerâs order and
processing payment within seconds. The
ability to process employee needs within
an armâs length is the aspiration that HR
should have with technology.â
â vikram.choudhury@peoplematters.in
The roundtable organised by Cornerstone OnDemand
and People Matters was the source for this article
6. 68 I People Matters I june 2013
F
rom our experience across the globe
we have seen that talent manage-
ment, competency, assessment and
performance management frame-
works are the hottest developments in the
HR technology space. Using technology for
employee development is an area seeing an
upsurge in demand.
Here in India, organisations are looking
for intelligent recruitment applications that
can streamline and make the recruitment
process faster and efficient. For example,
recruitment technology has made the
process of filtering from thousands of appli-
cations and selecting relevant candidates
considerably more efficient. Technology
service providers are devising applications
that cut across the complete lifecycle of
hiring, from recruitment to onboarding.
Traditional HR technology architectures
in most organisations have administrative
processing and management information
processing components. Organisations
are now asking to gain insights from the
information generated from these systems
through dashboards and analytics.
The trend is driven by the need for
businesses to create a decision-support
environment where an HR manager is
capable of analysing the data from other
systems and HR data sources to make the
right decisions. The need for data analyt-
ics is driven by the fact that HR metrics
are now compared against other business-
facing metrics such as organisational
development, financial data, and production
information. Technology service providers
are, therefore, building human resource
management applications capable of
managing this level of analysis.
Analytics and big data management plays
a crucial role in managing huge amounts of
data especially in large-sized companies.
Accordingly, companies are looking to gain
intelligent insights about talent market and
customer market trends by integrating their
HR information systems with social media.
For example, in the area of recruitment, it
has become common practice for compa-
nies to integrate their recruitment strategy
with social media tools such as LinkedIn.
Social and mobile technology trends are
being driven by external customers, the
talent pool, and business stakeholders. In
terms of organisational demands, compa-
nies with smaller HR budgets typically
choose cloud-based technologies while
companies with larger budgets prefer
on-premise implementations. Whatever
is the basis for selecting a technology, the
most important aspect while choosing a
technology service is whether the provider
has a product roadmap.
Progressive technology services provid-
ers are responding to these trends by
developing products and services that
ecompass three dimensions of HR tech-
nologyâ administrative HR, strategic HR,
and business intelligence. Administra-
tive HR systems include payroll, leave and
attendance, compensation, and benefits
management. Strategic HR systems support
several HR processes such as training
and development, performance, talent and
competency management. While selecting
a technology service a company should look
out for service provider that has a focus on
constantly evolving HR functions and has
capability to bring new features relevant to
modern organisations.
Driving intelligence
from myriad HR data
Leveraging business-intelligent HR applications has
become an integral part of contemporary HR strategy
Sampath
Jayasundara
Director and General Manager,
hSenid Business Solutions
7. People Matters I june 2013 I 69
Analytics will help in
decision making
The use of analytics will be more widespread and
will no longer be restricted to the top management
W
hen we talk about HR technol-
ogy in the Indian market, three
primary trends are driving the
buying decisions for most organ-
isations. The topmost trend for HR organisa-
tions in the coming times is the reliance on
technology for talent acquisition and reten-
tion. Progressive recruiters have started
using consumer and social technologies such
as LinkedIn to acquire and retain talent.
Secondly, the use of data to make
informed hiring decisions is gaining more
prominence. Organisations would go well
beyond tools such as assessments and
talent management processes are set to
become more scientific. Thirdly, the trend
of mapping skills against jobs based on data
is changing the way organisations manage
their workforce.
In addition to technological advance-
ments in India, the HR function has matured
to deliver strategic value to the business.
The heightened need to deliver business
value is leading to the development of not
just new technology products in the market,
but also how organisations are evaluating
their technology needs and requirements.
From the demand side, the key ques-
tion that Chief People Officers ask is how
to accelerate the value of HRâs contribution
to the business. Therefore, their need to
look at technology to provide measurable
and actionable results has become more
important.
On the other hand, from the supply side,
a number of cloud-based HR technologies
are getting introduced in the market. This
is especially true for organisations in the
western economies, which are pioneering
the adoption of cloud-based HR technolo-
gies. Emerging economies like India are
also fast catching up with the trend and a
majority of HR technologies in the coming
times will be hosted in the cloud.
While CEOs / CIOs make technology
buying decisions in most organisations, the
catalyst is the Chief People Officer. Although
the board understands the importance of
HR technology, it is HRâs job to evaluate and
create a compelling case for a technology
investment that they can own and operate.
Analytics has touched an inflexion point
and is driving business transformation
Although the board understands the
importance of HR technology, it is HRâs
job to evaluate and create a compelling
case for a technology investment
Arun Prabhu
Managing Director Chief
Executive Officer, inTouch
Analytics
in firms. There is a great need for highly
functional and highly operational âeveryday
analyticsâ that goes beyond just strategy.
âEveryday analyticsâ helps HR to become
agile by helping them make incremental
value contributions to the business that
quickly add up to big gains. In a dynamic
business environment, âeveryday analyticsâ
practice helps HR and the business make
quick management decisions by mining
either small or large amounts of data based
on specific requirements.
In the future, the use of analytics will
no longer be restricted to the CEO and the
senior management of an organisation.
Three years from now analytics will become
more widespread in the operational levels
and much more closely linked to everyday
business delivery.
HR
Technology
Special
8. 70 I People Matters I june 2013
Technology adding life
to assessments
Key technology based developments have spurred
greater possibilities in streamlining recruitment
T
he hiring landscape has been trans-
forming in the last few years and
technology has played a major role in
this transformation. The need to make
hiring process agile, flexible and quick has
fostered this transformation.
From modernising pen and paper exami-
nations to computer based / online exami-
nations to using game-based simulated
assessments to assess ability, knowledge
and personality, technology is adding a new
dimension. This leverage of technology has
resulted in improvements in quality of assess-
ments at larger scale. Some of these devel-
opments have also resulted in huge savings
in cost and time. A few valuable technology
advancements we have noticed in the recent
past are captured below.
Online assessments: With the objective of
improving the quality, speed and consistency
of recruitment, corporates are using online
assessments. Results are generated faster
and more accurately â important criteria in
any assessment.
Simulation-based assessments: Games are
transforming the recruitment landscape by
assessing candidates on simulated work-like
situations. Candidates are assessed while
they perform prescribed tasks. These assess-
ments are believed to be better predictors of
candidatesâ job success as it is assessed while
the candidate is performing a task.
Automated spoken English assessments:
The voice-based BPO industry in India
needed large-scale spoken English evalua-
tions. Automation of this assessment is the
response to challenges of standardization
of these assessment at large volumes. To
make it meaningful to Indian corporates, it
is important that the tool is tuned to assess
non-native English speech.
Analytics: Big data-based solutions are the
next generation of technology. Organiza-
tions are analysing recruitment data and
making strategic and tactical recruitment
decisions. Dynamic analytical solutions are
changing the landscape and corporates are
moving away from static data.
Video interview: In the global economy
where geographies do not limit people and
firms, the video interview is transforming
candidate screening process. This technol-
ogy has helped firms drastically reduce cost
of interviews while offering great conve-
nience to candidates and interviewers.
Tenets of assessment: While numerous
developments have taken place with refer-
ence to technology in assessments, it is
important that we appreciate the relevance
of core tenets of assessment:
1. Science of testing: Assessment frame-
works have to be created from first princi-
ples and adhere to internationally accepted
signatures of validity reliability
2. Process of testing: Processes followed
in creating administering assessments
as well as results processing should with-
hold the sanctity that a test deserves. This
includes ensuring every test is proctored
by non-interested parties, ensuring that
the question bank is sufficiently large,
encrypted and accessible only by the test
player in a live test
3. Principle of testing: Testing agency
should not be involved in conflicting busi-
nesses like sourcing or sale of databases,
failure of which could lead to assessment/
candidate data being compromised marring
the sanctity of assessment.
Rajeev Menon
General Manager, Innovations
and New Products
Development, MeritTrac
9. People Matters I june 2013 I 71
T
echnology has become an important
and integral part of life today. An
organisation aims to use technology
whenever and wherever possible as
it makes things simpler and better. Over the
last few decades, Indian companies have not
only championed the cause of building better
technologies, but also have been proactive in
its adoption to optimise benefits.
Organisations are the first to adopt stan-
dard technologies in the market and use
their prerogative in asking tech providers
to build, modify technologies for better use
and adoption. The synergy between technol-
ogy providers and organisations has seen
game-changing products and solutions that
intelligently and innovatively blend the best
of experience and technology.
These days, companies are looking at
automating or deploying technology to its
truest sense â in running assessments and
surveys. The key drivers for assessments
are security, scalability and ease of use. An
assessment technology should be able to
deliver high quality, reliable and validated
content on a secure platform with stan-
dardised evaluation metrics. That should
in turn provide in-depth analytics which
not only help recruit/train talent but also
help users optimise the benefits of online
assessment.
Surveys are driven by actionable outputs,
which can only be achieved with the help of a
technology that uses innovative data collec-
tion techniques and provides intelligent
analytics.
The global and Indian market have an
exciting mix of assessment and survey tech-
nology providers who offer standard and
customised solutions. Interestingly, though
on basic premise each of the providers offer
similar solutions, each of them have a niche
USP. Most of these solutions provide a great
tool which not only improves the processes
in organisations but also delivers a great
Return on Investment. Some of the technol-
ogies also help in bringing down costs that
are traditionally associated with assess-
ment and survey processes.
Assessment technologies today not only
provide traditional assessments systems
that help evaluate aptitude, skills and intel-
ligence, but also replicate life and work situ-
ations through simulations. It provides an
in-depth overview of the candidateâs overall
potential to a mapped role. Survey technolo-
gies provide critical outputs that helps an
organisation refine its processes and poli-
cies for the better. Surveys are also impor-
tant in capturing the pulse of the human
capital in organisations and it is well known
the difference between the best organisa-
tions and good organisations are directly
proportional to the human capital.
While assessments help identify the best
hires and help in properly training them to
performing resources, surveys are the ulti-
mate tool to analyse comfort and satisfac-
tion of these resources in their given roles.
This goes a long way in defining whether
they are performing in accordance with
their true potential.
The growing number of adopters of such
solutions reinforces the belief that innova-
tive work is being done in the driving tech-
nology solutions in assessment and survey
processes. More importantly, technology
has made processes simpler and better
for all users For once, assessments and
surveys are easy.
Deploying technology
in its truest sense
Organisations seek the help of technology service
providers for conducting assessments and surveys
Navjit Singh
Business Head,
EXON Solutions
HR
Technology
Special
10. 72 I People Matters I june 2013
Social media is potent as it generates
hundreds of resumes on a daily basis,
though it cannot consistently evaluate
and process the same
C
loud and social media technologies
have the capabilities of catalys-
ing a variety of functions in an HR
ecosystem, making them more
efficient and effective. It is the next evolution
to talent acquisition and management. Time
and again, technology was deployed without
keeping in mind the basic ethos of the build-
ing blocks of the HR functions.
But while solutions on the cloud are
cheaper and hence abundant, one must
understand that they havenât gone through
the rigour required. For example, moving
assessments to the cloud does not mean
that competency models and competency-
based interviews are no longer important.
Social media is potent as it generates
hundreds of resumes on a daily basis,
though it cannot consistently evaluate and
process the same and there is no one to
analyse the quantum of data being gener-
ated.
This âBig Dataâ when analysed right can
lead to fundamental findings, empirical
endorsements of long-lasting beliefs. For
example, analyzing the âBig Dataâ of appli-
cant demographics, evaluations, selections
and performance being generated by our
near automated recruitment processes can
be used to predict performance of individu-
als at the time of recruitment itself.
Similarly, the problem of plenty --
hundreds of resumes pouring in can be
effectively streamlined with reliable and
automated evaluation and a streamlined
process.
Progressive companies benchmark
talent performance and build performance
prediction models for recruitment.They also
utilize statistical tools to do the analysis and
process data to build performance predic-
tion models based on our assessments.
In a recent study, involving the use of data
on various parameters like demographics,
assessment, and performance, we were
able to effectively predict the performance
of relationship managers in the banking
sector.
With the help of multi-parameter opti-
mization and regressions we were able to
normalize performance across regions, to
create regional and role-based models.The
post rollout performance is expected to be
higher by around 50 per cent. Such sophis-
ticated analysis is only possible through
intelligent use of talent optimisation tools,
such as particle swarm optimisers.
Another example of a sophisticated use
of technology involves automated spoken
English assessment tools. Through such
tools, extensive process engineering with
inputs from various statistics delivered
from selected and rejected candidates is
plausible. A tight rope balance between
false accepts and false rejects can actually
become effective and efficient.
Numerous studies have led us to strongly
believe that the effectiveness of automation
can be achieved with a scientific approach
to understanding and analysing data and
drawing the right inferences.
An analytical approach
to acquiring talent
Assessing âbig dataâ can be used to predict
performance of a potential recruit
Himanshu
Aggarwal
Chief Executive Officer,
Aspiring Minds
11. People Matters I june 2013 I 73
Technology helps in
transformation of HR
Service providers are designing solutions that enable
HR to play a transformational role more effectively
T
he trend of using data to support
organisational decisions has become
more relevant today for the HR func-
tion since HR has a direct stake in
solving business problems. Organisational
decisions on what kind of talent to hire and
promote in a particular space is mainly driven
by data that they are able to track and report.
We see this because people have become
more receptive to technology compared to
how HR used to function 10 years ago.
With the help of technology, organisa-
tions now keep track of various decision-
inflecting aspects of talent. For example,
background of talent, critical aptitudes and
skills having direct correlation with their
job performance, and their behavioural and
leadership fitment to the organisational
processes and goals. Technology allows
companies to keep a repository of skills,
resources, criticality of projects and match
them to their requirements.
Technology is also driving talent manage-
ment by allowing the organisation to
understand the correlation between various
parameters of performance. Thanks to
technology and data-driven approach, we
now know with greater confidence that by
focusing on identifying and developing criti-
cal thinkers, companies can groom their
managers and leaders to become even more
efficient. Assessment tools help individuals
to become great managers and effective
leaders in a measurable timeframe. With
these advancements of technology, service
providers are designing solutions that
enable HR to play this transformational role
more effectively.
In the assessment space, service provid-
ers are designing solutions and products
that organisations can rely upon to make
informed decisions about the talent pool.
For example, organisations can predict the
correlation between a prospective talentâs
current performance with the ability to
perform in a future role with assessment
technology. Automated assessment tools
can accurately evaluate a personâs spoken
and written skills. They include essential
skills, such as use of grammar, compre-
hension and the ability to understand and
interpret business English communication.
This gives organisations a practical view
of a candidateâs fitment for a job and the
organisationâs global outlook. It also helps
Organisations rely heavily on technology to
track the background of existing talent, their
aptitude of skills, and fitment to the organ-
isational values, processes and culture
Saurabh Singh
National Head,
Pearson TalentLens
create a standardised and reliable approach
to benchmarking such skills and create a
consistent workforce which can represent
a brand.
Service providers and organisations view
the mobile technology space as the most
promising thanks to its deep penetration in
the Indian market. Soon, enterprise learn-
ing on the mobile platform will likely see
a boom. The ability to map an individualâs
talent profile against enterprise require-
ments and then create on-the-go and
measurable learning solutions to cater to
that approach will define the future of HR
services in the coming times.
HR
Technology
Special
12. 74 I People Matters I june 2013
Demand for social,
cloud technologies rises
Changing demographics drive adoption of social,
cloud and mobile technologies among HR firms
G
lobalisation, people mobility,
multi-generational workforce
and a renewed focus on company
cultureare creating many new chal-
lenges for HR leaders. These challenges
demand a need for policy homogeneity so
that employees, no matter where they are
located, have the same experience.
Besides learning to communicate to such
a diverse workforce, one of the core areas
that HR Leaders are relying on is Employee
Recognition to overcome some of these new
challenges.
There has been a sudden spurt of service
providers catering to the rise in demand for
outsourcing employee rewards and recog-
nition (RR) programmes. Until recently,
employee recognition as a strategic compo-
nent under total rewards was an under-
invested area.
Now, there is a greater realisation
among the HR leaders to have an evolved
system that gives employee recognition a
more structured, uniform and centralised
approach whilst addressing challenges
posed by the developments mentioned here
earlier.
Globally, HR leaders are increasingly
seeking service providers who combine
technology with domain expertise and the
ability to implement such initiatives seam-
lessly across the globe. Indian service
companies are catching up to the trends in
the technology features but have a long way
to go in building global capabilities and the
required thought leadership.
The following trends are driving technol-
ogy enhancements leading to development
of new features:
Social recognition: Social apps like Face-
book, Twitter, Linkedin etc. have become
an integral part of our personal lives and
employees are looking for social recognition
and familiarity of such platforms in their
work lives too. Hence, organisations are
seeking platforms with Facebook/Twitter
like functionalities.
Gamification: It is the new and exciting way
that corporates are engaging employees to
drive people and business strategy.
Health Wellness: Technologies that allow
organisations to give incentives to employ-
ees for keeping fit and healthy (and reduce
healthcare costs of the company) are rapidly
picking up.
Cloud Computing and SaaS: Many HRMS,
CRM/ERP etc. have already moved to a
SaaS model. For example, in the employee
recognition space, the default expectation is
a cloud-based solution. Very few companies
are still stuck on the on-premise model but
will find very few service providers catering
to those requirements.
Mobile: For organisations with large field
forces, it is important that a collaboration
platform is available across all devices,
especially mobile.
Cost savings, scalability and continuity
are the common benefits of technology and
outsourcing.
To stay abreast with latest trends,
companies are employing service providers
that are capable of embracing the cloud and
building scalable systems coupled with a
strong domain expertise.
HR leaders are seeking service
providers who combine technology and
domain expertise seamlessly
Rupak Ray
CRM, Loyalty and Head
Recognition, BI WORLDWIDE
HR
Technology
Special
23. 86 I People Matters I june 2013
Profile of client
Pearson TalentLens is a world leader in
developing assessments for recruitment,
selection and development of the 21st cen-
tury workplace. Powered by 8 decades of
science, TalentLens assessments are scien-
tifically proven to enhance an organizationsâ
selection and development decisions and
identify talent ready for the next economy.
Buyersâ profile
HR heads, recruitment heads, operation
heads/training and development, heads/
placement team in institutes.
Service locations
Head office: Bangalore
Regional offices:
West: Mumbai
North and East: Delhi
South: Hyderabad
Free telephone/in-person consultation any-
where in the country, on request.
Web and telephone enabled assessments
are accessible from any part of the coun-
try; single-point online platform to manage
TalentLens assessments.
Overview of services
1. Critical thinking abilities assessment (by
identifying problem solving and decision
making skills) for selection, development
and promotion of high potential employees
and leadership development.
2. Automated communication skills as-
sessment for recruitment, training needs
analysis, measuring training effectiveness
and resourcing.
3. Corporate learning service: Online,
coach supported training for developing
Business English, in the context of real
business situations.
4. Personality assessments to measure job-
fit, culture-fit, motivational-fit of a potential
recruit, engage employees and behavioral
development of existing employees.
5. Assessment and development center.
Other solutions
Training and certification on PearsonTal-
entLens assessments such as Golden
Personality Type Profiler, SOSIE personal-
ity test and Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking
Appraisal.
Key differentiators
1) A global leader in assessments and the
worldâs largest assessment service provider
in terms of volume of assessment.
2) Niche expertise in leadership develop-
ment, using an objective, scientific and one
of the few assessments in the world to mea-
sure critical thinking - the Watson-Glaser
Critical Thinking Appraisal.
3) Owners of Indiaâs most widely used
automated tests of communication skills â
Versant Tests.
4) Highly standardized and scientific as-
sessments with a high assessment score
â job performance correlation.
5) A focused range of fundamental, scientif-
ic and research-based assessmentsacross
the entire gamut of workplace competen-
cies - communication skills, ability and per-
sonalityâacross entry, mid and senior level
of management and across all industries.
Pricing
Volume-based per license pricing, custom
built based on requirements of the assign-
ment.
Clients
Some of our clients include Deloitte,
Amazon, Accenture, HCL, ISB, DuPont,
Genpact, IOCL, AON Hewitt, Capita, Reli-
ance, Mphasis, Aditya Birla Minacs, Volvo
and 24/7.
Future Learning, the talent development
arm of Future Group, the leader in modern
retail in India, has joined hands with Pear-
son TalentLens to provide assessment and
development solutions in the retail space.
Pearson TalentLens
Contact details
Saurabh Singh,National
Head,Pearson TalentLens
Email:
saurabh.singh@pearson.com
www.talentlens.in
info@talentlens.in
080 4215 3439
Pearson TalentLens
86 I People Matters I june 2013