Last week at the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, we spent an amazing four days with over 3000 Deltek clients and partners. This year’s Deltek Insight conference provided us with the unique opportunity to spend some quality time with our clients hearing what drives their business, what struggles they are facing in the year ahead, and their excitement around some of Deltek’s most relevant Human Capital Management offerings for their industries.
In case you weren’t able to attend this year, or if you didn’t get the chance to stop by to chat with our HCM experts, we wanted to share this year’s hottest topics and takeaways heard directly from our clients in regards to their growing Talent Management needs.
Onboarding and new hire experience. While there is still a focus on getting employees in the door quickly, customers also want to make sure that this is a positive and beneficial experience. Getting forms and documents to the new hire so they can complete them online is one part of this, but another part is making sure that they are successful after joining by providing training, check-in reviews, and other tools to the new hire proactively.
A shift in performance processes. More and more of our customers are looking at revamping their performance review process, moving away from the standard annual performance review. Of most interest are conducting continual feedback reviews in a less formal method, or providing more timely reviews through project-based appraisals.
A heavy focus on compensation planning. Whether it is annual compensation increases, bonuses, or cost of living increases, having a tool that supports you in making sure that pay is fairly and easily distributed, while keeping within budget, is important to customers of all sizes. This includes comparing pay ranges for employees to salary market data, ensuring gender pay equity, and reporting to analyze trends.
Growing compliance demands. With the ever shifting regulations, government contractors especially are putting more and more focus on finding HCM tools that can support the growing compliance demands. AAP reporting, for example, is a crucial piece factor in deciding on a talent acquisition solution that can support such requirements, while tracking and monitoring certifications makes a world of difference in planning for upcoming projects.
Focusing on the full talent lifecycle. Organizations are still hiring and growing, and finding good quality candidates in the market continues to be a priority. However, with the shortage of good candidates out there, it is more crucial than ever that businesses focus on retaining the talent and experts they already have. This has created an increased interested in post-hire solutions to assist with career development activities, ongoing learning, and even succession planning or key positions.
These trends are no surprise and are consistent with what we saw in the Deltek Clarity Reports. We expect these topics to continue to be at the forefront in 2018, and as always, we are committed to keeping our clients informed and ready for both regulatory and strategic changes as we prepare for the New Year. Stay tuned for our upcoming blog series covering the hottest topics from Deltek Insight’s Human Capital Management sessions!
Contact us to help you build your 2018 talent strategy, and to see how Deltek Talent Management can help you with both your recruiting and your retention initiatives.
Deltek rolled out its new customer support center on Monday, October 9th, 2017. The support center has been improved allowing users to learn, connect and more effectively manage their experiences. Entering the Deltek Support Center after October 9th, you now see a message that looks like this:Deltek Support Center Welcome ScreenNew Login FeatureThere is a new login feature when using the enhanced support center. You will still navigate to the same URL that you previously used. Prior to the new help center, you would have seen a login button and an account assistance button. However, you will notice that, where the account assistance button used to be, it now says “Need Help?”When you click on “Need Help?,” you now have the option to chat with someone. This feature offers the real-time ability to speak with a Deltek professional who can assist you. To access the chat, you will need to enter your email address and then click “Start a Chat.”To get back to the login page from this page, you will need to click the silhouette in the top right corner. This will enable you to log into the support center.Stay Up to Date with NotificationsAfter logging in, you will receive the critical info pop-up announcing the new site. When you close this pop-up, or if you are logging in after the alert has been removed, you will immediately be presented with a list of notifications.Deltek Support Center Notifications PopupKey highlights of the notifications popup include:
The notifications are equivalent to the old alerts and announcements section
You can hide the notifications popup if you do not wish for it to popup every time you open the support center
Global notifications are color coded: high (red), med (yellow) and low (green)
You will only see alerts for the products that you own
You can click on the number in the orange square at the top of the screen which indicates how many notifications there are if you choose to hide the notifications
Manage Your Deltek Support Center AccountIn the upper right, you will see the gear icon. This icon allows you to open the “My Account” section. This is where you update your profile settings, and you can also see the current support plan you have.The account management section allows you to change the following:
Password
Preferred language
If you want or do not want to see notifications
Get Support for Your Deltek ProductsThe search bar offers you the ability to look for forums, posts and knowledge based articles using specific words or phrases. Everyone will see the learn and connect information boxes, and if you are an administrator, there will be an additional box that will be available. Below the information boxes are “Trending Topics,” which show the top ten articles for the products that you own for the last thirty days. You will only see the topics in this list that relate to the products that you own.Depending on the level of support you have, you will possibly see up to six icons. The icons you view are driven by permissions. If you can’t find the answer, submit a case. Deltek will then research your inquiry. Availability, however, depends on the type of service plan you have purchased. Here are the options you will see depending on your license agreements:
Cloud Solutions- You will see this is if you own a Saas product. When clicking this icon, you will be able to choose the cloud solution you are needing help with. This will open a wide range of help topics specific to your needs.
Initiate a Chat- This icon allows you to enter a chat with Deltek staff. Be sure to check the bottom of the chat page for specific hours of availability.
Product Downloads- The Deltek Software Manager (DSM) is your central place to download all the Deltek products you own, including all service packs and hot fixes.
Manage Cases- Here you can check the status, view details, and update your support cases. Previously called, “My Support Cases.”
Purchase On-Demand – Deltek’s “On-Demand Support” is available for situations that require brief, one-time access to our support experts for situations that are not covered by your annual maintenance fee.
If you have less than three icons available, they will not show. You can still access the available options by going to the upper left-hand corner of the screen and utilizing the menu to navigate to your desired destination.Enjoy the New Deltek Support CenterAs you can see, the new customer service center is not only user friendly, but it eliminates information that does not pertain to you. The updated service center’s ultimate goal is to help you continue to get the most out of your Deltek product. Click here for more information about the Deltek Support Center.
Performance reviews are a common topic of discussion with our clients, and there are many options available to assess the performance of your employees: annual reviews, continuous feedback, 360 appraisals, and project-based appraisals are all tools to support your processes. There are also a lot of reasons to complete performance reviews: compliance, growth measurement, and goal progress tracking are some of these reasons.
However, we want to also point out that while there are a lot of good reasons to monitor employee performance and complete performance reviews, there are some reasons that shouldn’t be at the top of your list. If your SOLE reason for completing reviews is in the following list, you might consider if this process is helping or hurting your employee population.
Because HR says we have to
Because isn’t that what most companies do?
Because it’s expected
Because I like to tell people they are falling short of my expectations
If you are curious on how to improve or make the most of your performance review process, reach out to usfor best practices on how to still manage and grow talent if performance reviews are a process you wish to do away with, or modernize.
Thank you to our friends and clients who have reached out to us during this difficult time. Our city was directly hit by the massive storm last week and our office has been without power/cable, as well as our homes. We are trying our best to get in touch but cell service has been inconsistent as well, so please be patient and we will reach out as soon as possible! Thank you so much. Best, The Brilliant HR Team
When weighing the pros and cons of what training options are available to you, I’ve put together my top list of nine ways to get the most out of a subscription-based product training platform. Read through each and hopefully you can come away with helpful ideas to consider when evaluating training options for your organization. Here’s what to look out for:
Continuous learning over time – traditional approaches to learning and training generally mean signing up for a live or online class, with a continuous learning approach, you can start and stop on your own schedule. While there is always a time and place for onsite and customized training, long-gone are the weeklong, eight-hour days of non-stop training!
Preferred learning styles – everyone learns and retains information differently. While some are visual, others may not, which is why a training platform that offers multi-modal learning options is so critical to users’ success. From live virtual classes, to on-demand recordings, infographics and more, you want a learning style that will suit everyone.
Expert training from product experts – you wouldn’t trust a doctor to fly a plane, would you? While both are experts in their own field, you want to learn from experts who build the product or solution you are ultimately trying to become an expert on. A learning and training platform should have curriculum content developed right from the experts themselves, not second hand content that may not be as robust as you need.
Hands-on workshops – don’t let the word “workshop” fool you. Workshops can be virtual and just as effective so that you can get hands-on and step-by-step training to get you closer to your learning goals.
24/7 access – sometimes everyday work can hinder your training schedule and productivity. It’s ok, we’ve all been and have felt like we’re racing against the clock to complete a training exercise critical to our job. Look for a platform that offers 24/7 access so you have the flexibility you need to meet your demanding schedule.
Right-Sized Learning – it’s important to remember that training content should be easily consumed and put into practice quickly to ensure that you transfer the learning to your job. Right-Sized Learning allows you flexibility scheduling and consumption of learning assets in your busy schedule.
Continuous content added – as product innovation continues, so should learning and training content. Just because you have mastered a module or other product add-on, doesn’t mean you have to stop there. A robust learning platform will always be innovating and iterating – just like you!
Public classes – having class flexibility on an ongoing basis is essential to a user’s expertise. With a variety of courses and available times, there’s no excuse that you can’t find a class to fit your schedule. Jump into a class if your calendar frees up and check-out the public class calendar frequently – you never know when a new virtual class may be added.
Learning paths by process flow – sometimes you just don’t even know where to start. A comprehensive learning and training platform will provide recommended and individualized training paths so you take the right courses and complete the required progress steps to ensure you’re learning course material, following the right steps.
I encourage you to check out the Deltek Learning Zone or as we like to call it, the DLZ. The DLZ offers a range of options to achieve your Deltek product learning objectives through multi-modal training so that you can learn at your own-pace, with the type of training medium that you learn best. There truly is something for everyone in your organization to become a Deltek product expert!
