The system, Kenexa 2x, which runs on the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, features recruitment, onboarding and performance management, plus a range of applications based on this functionality for the iPhone and Blackberry mobile devices. The company has also announced that in addition to its high-end offering, it has built a mid-market SaaS solution from the ground-up, suitable for companies with 2,500 to 5,000 employees.

Other providers deliver integrated software modules focusing on these areas, but what makes Kenexa 2x different is that it gives resourcing and hiring managers the facility to create a unified talent record of a person from application through to performance management.

Derek Bluestone, vice president of product marketing at Kenexa, explained to Recruiter that in using the system, data should never have to be re-keyed; all information about that person throughout their employee lifecycle will be in one place. “All the experience from the pre-hire applicant stage such as assessments on abilities, skills and behaviours is carried through,” he said. “Then at the performance management stage, for example, the talent record will include all of the person’s goals and objectives and how they are aligned to the team, their business unit and the organisation.”

Kenexa 2x Onboarding includes a new hire portal which offers the candidate content such as video to learn more about the company, as well as all the forms and documentation required at this stage. “The object is to give them everything they need to understand the company and its culture, and to validate their employment decision so they are productive and engaged from day one,” said Bluestone.

When developing the mobile applications, he explained that Kenexa took a set of “design and mobility” imperatives because it wanted to avoid the mistake some vendors make of pushing too much functionality down to a small form factor.

“We knew we had to keep it simple so looked at the top 5% of actionable tasks a hiring manager needs to do, such as job approval, job requisition approval and offer letter approval,” he said. “If the manager is at the airport and there’s a key hire waiting for an offer, they can log on and act on it.” Kenexa will take a similar approach when extracting capability from the onboarding and performance management software for the mobile devices.

Kenexa’s inclusion of mobile functionality and the approach it has taken is a smart move, not just because Gartner Research predicts that mobile phones will overtake the use of PCs for web access but because it increases the chances of busy hiring and line managers buying into the total talent concept. Unlike resourcing or HR professionals, they are not going to be using the system regularly, so it needs to fit into the manager’s world.

“Hiring managers may never need or want to go to the fully-fledged SaaS system, but just access the functionality on their phones,” said Bluestone. “That’s why the mobile applications are critical.”
www.kenexa.com