The talent management systems market is heating up in healthcare this year. Not only are solution providers such as Peopleclick Authoria and Saba offering vertical solutions targeting this industry, but organizations such as Mountain States Health Alliance (MSHA) are investing in one platform to manage everything from recruiting to performance to learning. As far as growth and innovation (two themes in talent management today), MSHA is leading the pact by recognizing that improved efficiencies and cost savings come from an integrated system.
Founded in 1988, MSHA doubled in size over the past decade with the acquisition of seven hospitals and a staff of 9,000 “team members.” As the organization continues to grow, so does the level of sophistication of its talent management practices. MSHA has a centralized talent management strategy with highly integrated processes and best-in-class strategies and technology. In 2009, MSHA invested in TEDS integrated talent management system and noticed improved efficiencies in areas such as time to hire and internal promotions. With a myriad of solutions available in the market today, how did MSHA determine their “must haves” from their “nice to haves” when selecting a system? What are some of the best practices for selecting and implementing the right provider?
What were the key differentiators for selecting a system?
• Trusted Partnership: MSHA did not want a “vendor.” They were looking for a partner. We hear this criteria more and more from organizations in RFP mode. When selecting the right system, organizations need to make sure that their provider will understand their business and provide a high level of customer support. TEDS fit the bill with offices in the region (Tennessee) and even setting up a presence at MSHA’s headquarters.
• Cost: Price is one of the top differentiators for organizations considering a talent acquisition system. The most important thing that companies need to consider is that they need to be aware of what they are spending for every aspect of product capabilities, implementation, and upcoming releases. As a trusted partner, MSHA felt that there were no surprises when it came to price and were in a great place for negotiation due to their industry and brand name.
• Deep Domain Expertise: A strong indicator of domain expertise is the number of customers a solution provider supports and the length of time the solution provider has supported the application. Customer experience translates into the solution provider incorporating greater configurability and flexibility in the application to support a wide variety of customer needs. MSHA is a very matrix organization and need a provider who can handle complex needs such as multiple job requisitions.
What are some of the lessons learned during implementation?
• Be Realistic About Timing: MSHA has over 42,000 competencies used for job descriptions. Before implementing TEDS, these competencies were handled manually. When automating, MSHA needed to create a common language for these competencies which required an incredible amount of work in a short period of time.
• Create a Team: MSHA had a seamless implementation as a result of senior support and the committees they created for each area (learning, performance, succession and recruiting).
• Know What You Want: We often hear from organizations that struggle for years to select and implement the right system. MSHA did the hard work upfront by establishing a process, defining their requirements, and creating committees.
What does the future hold?
• Innovation: When assessing both the initial (pre-hire) and annual (post-hire) competencies used to evaluate each employee, MSHA is now using iPads to enter this information. For example, some job roles are evaluated on inserting a needle.
• Collaboration: The Chief Human Resource Office at MSHA, Jamie Parsons, is in the process of creating a consortium of healthcare organizations who will share best practices on talent management technology.
We will be publishing a case study on Mountain States Health Alliance’s best practices in selecting and implementing a talent management system over the next month…stay tuned….