Talent tracker sofware

January 8, 2007 6:57 AM

I'm looking for an application (web based) to keep track of our company talents

I'm needing an application where we can load with our resources data, and keep it updated with their skills and knowledge to keep in mind which guy use in each job.

Anyone knows a software that does that?

posted by Leech to Work & Money (10 answers total)

At the top end of the solutions spectrum - in terms of price and complexity of implementation - there are are some Project Portfolio Management tools such as CA's "Clarity" which will allow you to do this. For example you could specify the system in such a way that people could specify their own levels of skill and or interest in a variety of areas. Those looking to resource a particular project can then search for people who have the right profile match - and who are not already working on other projects at a given time.
posted by rongorongo at 7:29 AM on January 8, 2007

Just a word of caution about these types of apps....they really depend on them being kept up to date which is usually a huge pain. Getting end users to do this for themselves is an even bigger pain.
posted by mmascolino at 8:36 AM on January 8, 2007

Response by poster: @mmascolino: yes, sure... but it's a need for the company to allow us to easy find people.

@rongorongo: I'll give it a try, but seems to be very complex.
posted by Leech at 8:46 AM on January 8, 2007

Ditto mmascolino. Any system which depends almost entirely on regular updating by the general workforce is doomed to inaccuracy, incomplete data or to be outright ignored. People already have jobs to do. Their attitude will tend to be something along the lines of "If my manager/superior was doing his/her job right, they'd know what my skills are."

If it's a definite need for the company, about the only way it will succeed is to either a)Dedicate someone to be the librarian of this data (collecting info either through interviewing employees or via questionnaire, or b)Mandate employee participation, much in the same way you might mandate input into project tracking systems.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:51 AM on January 8, 2007

Response by poster: Yes, sure..
This work will be assigned to one person that will fetch data from the workers.
Also, we will assign hours to the guys to fill questionaries or forms with the info, with no priority.

The real problem for us is the storage of the information, because actually we're using a simple spreadsheet, and isn't really a good solution.
posted by Leech at 8:59 AM on January 8, 2007

Best answer: How big a company are we talking about? Many learning management systems also function as talent management systems, and tying opportunities for career development into the application will encourage people to keep up to date.
posted by j-dawg at 9:25 AM on January 8, 2007

Response by poster: Oh, nice idea..

The company is around 200 employees.
I'll try some learning management systems.
Any suggestion?
posted by Leech at 9:39 AM on January 8, 2007

If you want to look at a good inexpensive LMS, look at the one ICS Learning Group (I am not affiliated with this company at all, only familiar with the product).

If you want to go the Open Source route, look at Moodle, although that is aimed more at educational entities rather than corporate.
posted by 543DoublePlay at 10:13 AM on January 8, 2007

Couldn't you just run an access db containing fields marked for each talent where you can run simple queries.. if this is only 200 employees we're talking about..
posted by 0217174 at 10:29 AM on January 8, 2007

It really depends on your needs. At 200 people, buying an enterprise-type LMS may not be practical. Hosted solutions are starting to show some real promise, but it's still a somewhat immature market. I love Moodle, but it's really more of a course management system, and probably doesn't effectively track the type of information you want to manage.

Generally, the LMS products that will be the most adaptable for talent management are those that are competency-based. (I actually do work related to such an LMS, but it's one that's aimed at a very specific public sector market, and probably not a good fit for you.)
posted by j-dawg at 2:57 PM on January 8, 2007