Employers: Benefits of a job go beyond pay packets

Financial Times

...Virgin America, an airline serving destinations throughout North America, reconfigured its method of communicating with its 2,700 staff at more than 20 locations.

“We had had an intranet platform for several years but we knew we had to revamp the way we communicated,” says Ben Eye, manager of teammate engagement and communication. “We had to deal with the 90 per cent of teammates [staff] who are remote, so we designed it to foster a sense of involvement.”

The company’s previous platform contained a lot of information but lacked two-way communications so did not make it easy to obtain feedback. It was not mobile-friendly and was proving difficult to maintain.

Working with Appirio, an IT services provider, Virgin America customised the Salesforce “Chatter” platform to allow a merging of social media with business processes. Part of what Virgin America calls its VX Connect platform is devoted to HR topics, including an explanation of the company’s benefits package. It also includes customised forms that allow staff to enrol in a pension plan and apply for medical leave.

Queries can be submitted to members of the benefits team online. “Because the entire department is monitoring what comes in they get an answer more quickly,” explains Mr Eye. “But this is broader than just benefits: it stimulates the level of engagement. We have a very open environment and we see that as our differentiator in the airline industry.”

Ms Wishart says: “Technology allows you to be more effective and targeted in your approach. Communication can be effective without having to go too far in terms of cost.”

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Advisory services: Businesses turn to brokers to get more from the cloud

The Financial Times

...Companies want brokers to help them get more out of their disparate cloud software programmes. Mr Nucci says: "To do any analysis on these services you need to integrate them. Let's say you want to analyse whether your hiring strategy is working. You need to touch at least three or four different systems, including human resources and payroll."

The trouble is, the cloud-based human resources system will not necessarily talk to your in-house payroll programme, without either some complex internal engineering or the help of an external expert.

Such help is not cheap. Appirio says companies can pay between $10,000 and single-digit millions for help in making the transition and in running the cloud system subsequently.

However, Chris Barbin, chief executive at Appirio, says this is less than companies would have spent in the past on IT contractors who would spend three to five years designing an IT transformation project that would often fail. The results of transferring IT to the cloud are quicker and come in increments that can be tested along the way. Changes, even at big companies, can be made in four to six weeks or less...

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Management: Caution needed over decision to migrate

The Financial Times

...Indeed, some companies, particularly those most recently founded, already do everything on the cloud.

"We don't own a single server and we never plan to," says Chris Barbin, the chief executive of Appirio, based in San Francisco.

Given that Appirio is a company that offers other businesses help in moving to the cloud, this stance is perhaps not surprising. But the cloud does give the 600-person business an enviable agility.

Mr Barbin says: "We acquired a company and, on the day the acquisition was announced, we had all the staff from the acquired company already up on our internal social networking system. In the old days you couldn't even requisition a server in less than a few weeks."...

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