Ventana Research Releases Best Practices and Research on Social Collaboration and Human Capital Management

SAN RAMON, CA, May 11, 2012 (Press-News.org) New benchmark research from Ventana Research, Social Collaboration for Human Capital Management finds that the use of social collaboration and social media is beginning to establish itself as the next step in engaging employees to improve productivity and retail talent in an organization but also for the most complete recruiting and talent management processes.

The use of social collaboration technology within businesses has become increasingly important as companies look to achieve specific goals including knowledge sharing (49%), collaboration (37%) and learning (34%). Organizations are offering new ways for employees to work together to benefit the business. Managers and executives are utilizing collaborative methods to source talent and assess performance. And while new social media and collaboration software offer the promise of achieving these goals, few organizations are using these new technologies in other areas of the business.

Ventana Research found that 50 percent of organizations intend to implement significant changes in their use of recruiting via social media over the next 12 to 18 months. The research shows that currently 81 percent of the participating organizations use social media for business to identify new talent pools while 75 percent of organizations indicated that they hope to gain competitive advantage, and 67 percent cite improving recruiting processes as a priority. The quality of the hire was another top metric in 79 percent of organizations. For these reasons, the research found that investment in social collaboration is occurring primarily in HR and line of business as only 10 percent of organizations are funding these types of investments through IT.

"The need to engage employees in business to harness collective knowledge and focus on improving business is driving a new generation of technology for social collaboration," said Mark Smith, CEO & Chief Research Officer at Ventana Research, "Companies need to begin moving beyond the use of e-mail and telephone to using Internet based technologies advancing from the methods used in social media and collaboration within the enterprise for human capital management needs. Our research has created a foundation of best practices and education to help organizations manage, retain and recruit talent in the most efficient manner."

Ventana Research undertook this benchmark research to learn about organizations that utilize social collaboration and social media technology with real-world information about levels of maturity, trends and best practices could be assessed to determine the benefits in retaining and recruiting talent. It explores how organizations can do this, how people at various levels feel about the current processes and technology, plans they have to change or improve them, and benefits they hope to gain by doing so.

Ventana Research will expand on the key findings of this benchmark research during a live interactive webinar on May 31st at 11am Pacific Time. To participate in the webinar, or view it after it has taken place, visit: www.ventanaresearch.com/SocialHCMWebinar

Those interested in learning more about this benchmark research can do so at http://www.ventanaresearch.com/SocialHCM. As a part of your registration you will receive insights and education from Ventana Research on using technology effectively in business.

To view Ventana Research' s 2012 research agenda on Human Capital Management, please visit http://www.ventanaresearch.com/researchagenda/.

Ventana Research is the most authoritative and respected benchmark business technology research and advisory services firm. We provide insight and expert guidance on mainstream and disruptive technologies through a unique set of research-based offerings including benchmark research and technology evaluation assessments, education workshops and our research and advisory services, Ventana On-Demand. Our unparalleled understanding of the role of technology in optimizing business processes and performance and our best practices guidance are rooted in our rigorous research-based benchmarking of people, processes, information and technology across business and IT functions in every industry. This benchmark research plus our market coverage and in-depth knowledge of hundreds of technology providers means we can deliver education and expertise to our clients to increase the value they derive from technology investments while reducing time, cost and risk.

Ventana Research provides the most comprehensive analyst and research coverage in the industry; business and IT professionals worldwide are members of our community and benefit from Ventana Research's insights, as do highly regarded media and association partners around the globe. Our views and analyses are distributed daily through blogs and social media channels including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+

To learn how Ventana Research advances the maturity of organizations' use of information and technology through benchmark research, education and advisory services, visit www.ventanaresearch.com.