Halogen Software Inc., the industry
recognized leader in providing Web-based employee performance management (EPM)
solutions, announced the release of Halogen Employee Performance
Management Suite 8.0. This most recent offering includes numerous upgrades
designed to make the solution easier to use while offering organizations even
greater tools to effectively execute corporate strategy. Halogen EPM Suite 8.0
includes Halogen eSuccession a powerful yet simple to use succession
planning tool based on talent pools, a proven best-practices approach. Halogen
eSuccession eliminates the complexity and limitations of org-chart,
replacement-based systems allowing users to get started right away without
complex or excessive implementation overhead. This newest version also
includes global-usability improvements and numerous eCompensation( and
eAppraisal Healthcare features.
Halogen eSuccession
As millions of baby boomers approach retirement, succession planning is
becoming an increasingly urgent business issue. William J. Rothwell, PhD,
identifies the top five benefits of succession planning in his book Effective
Succession Planning as:
– Being able to provide increased opportunities for high-potential
workers;
– Identifying justifiable training, employee education and development;
– Increasing the talent pool of promotable employees;
– Contributing to implementing the organization’s strategic plan; and
– Helping individuals realize their career plans within the organization
Halogen eSuccession allows managers to achieve all of these key
organizational goals. The solution enables managers to understand their
workforce’s potential and areas of retention risk, proactively develop
employee performance and fulfill succession requirements with the right
candidates from talent pools of people ready to meet the task head on.
“The aging workforce is a concern for all organizations. Our goal is to
develop the talent of our employees and to prepare them for advancement.” said
Debbie Clark, senior HR generalist with Oil States International. “Halogen
eSuccession is a means to get everybody, from the top down, involved in the
Global usability improvements
Halogen applied a rigorous scientific approach to extend its leading edge
in ease of use and implementation. Halogen continues to push the usability
envelope to further reduce keystrokes, help users better understand how the
system works and improve ease of use. Greater ease of use, which has always
been a Halogen strength, increases employee engagement in the performance
management process. The new design is intuitive for users and enables them to
get more out of the system.
“Halogen’s continued focus on usability shows their ongoing commitment to
excellence in customer service,” said Jim Frain, vice president of human
resources with South Bend Medical Foundation. “Halogen’s improved interface
enables our users to get the most out of the solution in the shortest time
possible.”
“I appreciated being brought in early in the development of the system’s
interface. The changes have addressed issues customers have raised and made
the process even smoother for the manager,” said Heidi Metzler, HR projects
manager with C-COR. “The tasks that need to be accomplished are instantly and
clearly displayed as soon as the manager signs in.”
Enhanced eAppraisal Healthcare functions
Halogen continues to develop powerful and practical features specifically
for healthcare providers. For instance, providers can store related documents
such as certificates, licenses, learning transcripts and even emails with
their employee appraisals; these can then be viewed instantly in a split
screen. Also, new gap analysis reports allow healthcare providers to compare
various score reports with performance targets. These most recent enhancements
keep up with JCAHO accreditation requirements and reduce the administration
required to manage hundreds or thousands of unique performance forms.
Greater eCompensation functions
Halogen eCompensation has new manager productivity tools that make the
overall process of determining appropriate compensation even easier and more
flexible. These improvements include:
– Incredibly flexible bonus profiles/calculator, which allows
organizations to use up to 12 metrics to define a bonus profile
for an individual, a group or the organization and to use more
than one profile if needed;
– Improved graphical display of information including compa-ratios,
percentage of salary in range, etc.;
– Expanded merit matrix precision provides organizations with more
precision to reward high performers; and
– The system’s ability to warn managers of or even refuse any adjustment
outside set parameters
Companies of all sizes achieve greater bottom-line results when
performance is linked to compensation and version 8.0 makes it easier than
ever to align these elements effectively.
