The Human Capital Institute (HCI), institution for strategic talent management, announced details of the 2014 Employee Engagement Conference which will take place from July 23 to July 25 at the Westin Seattle. The conference will highlight areas necessary to achieve and improve employee engagement.  They are:

• Leadership Values and Brand Alignment

• Manager Accountability and Performance

• Employee Learning and Development

 To read more, visit the following link: http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/human-capital-institute-announces-details-of-2014-employee-engagement-conference-1910175.htm

Insperity Inc., a provider of human resources (HR) and business performance solutions, announced that its Insperity HCM SuiteApp has achieved 'Built for NetSuite' verification. 'Built for NetSuite' is a program for SDN (NetSuite SuiteCloud Developer Network) partners. The new SuiteApp is built using NetSuite's SuiteCloud Computing Platform and provides human capital management (HCM) software and services to help NetSuite customers automate and streamline human resources (HR) and payroll functions.

To read more, visit the following link: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/insperity-hcm-suiteapp-achieves-built-for-netsuite-verification-2014-05-14 

The concept of transferring an existing platform to the cloud appears to have many businesses stumped, including those in the insurance industry. Cloud service providers like Microsoft, Oracle and VMware are not going to wait for the insurance company to make up their mind about it. So by the time they do, they could be restricted to having their data still on old hardware systems. But if the insurance industries do not move soon in enough into the cloud - whether that's adopting a private, public or hybrid model, there could be repercussions in the future as everybody could be worse off and face higher costs and risks of running old systems, and being noncompetitive.

 To gather more information about this aspect, follow Aimee Chanthadavong, tech journalist with ZDNet's, article link http://www.zdnet.com/insurance-industry-under-pressure-to-plug-into-the-cloud-7000026920/

Skills required for project management cannot be achieved overnight. It comes automatically with experience and practice. As we handle more projects, our skills get enhanced and we work more efficiently and smoothly. To read more about this aspect, visit Sabrina Hanapiah's article link: http://www.aits.org/Articles/tabid/1450/ArticleId/10330/How-to-Develop-Project-Management-Skills.aspx/uid/10535

There are many cases of project failures where managers are actually blamed. The reason behind such failures is lack of communication between clients and project managers. To make a project successful, we need to understand specific needs of the clients and address the technical glitches. To know more kindly refer to the below mentioned link: http://blog.parallelprojecttraining.com/project-management-articles/project-managers-need-stand-counted/

According to a blog written by Todd Hixon (a contributor in Forbes), healthcare cloud is a major area of innovation.  This article also tells us about opportunities and drawbacks of healthcare cloud. Cloud technologies help in lowering cost by strengthening care coordination, and improve clinical outcomes by analyzing medical data in the cloud. Problems lie in implementing cloud technology due to unavailability of data. To read more about opportunities and problems of implementing healthcare cloud please follow this link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/toddhixon/2014/05/06/entrepreneurs-outlook-for-the-healthcare-cloud-is-cloudy/

With the growth of business, small business owners may find that some of the promotional activities are becoming useless. Brands need marketing makeover to sustain them. Hence, marketing strategy needs to be changed from time to time. This article by Nicole Fallon (Business News Daily Assistant Editor), tells us about the four strategies to boost business growth as recommended by Hiscox (small business insurer firm). Read more at: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6351-refresh-marketing-strategy.html

Organizations now can get some insights of consumer behaviour by using highly sophisticated click-tracking tools. Remarketing is one such tool which is becoming an important part of organizations' digital marketing strategies. This article by Nicole Fallon (Business News Daily Assistant Editor), tells us about the details of remarketing. For more please visit: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6354-digital-remarketing-tips.html

New technologies are emerging and along with that various analytics tools are also developing. Unlike previously, where building predictive models would take as long as twelve months, it now takes only a day or a week, provided you have the right information in your hands.

 But, wait. Your task does not finish here. You have just built a predictive model. The main thing is how you implement it. Properly deploying your model must be made in a systematic approach, as otherwise, can take months. You have to keep in mind that you have to implement your model in the real world.

How to go about it? Read these tips: http://www.banktech.com/business-intelligence/5-tips-for-operationalizing-analytics/240168237 .

Business leaders have embraced big data like never before. They believe that big data will bring miracles and will bring fortunes to their company. But, take a note - everything is not done by big data. If you do nothing, and sit on high hopes that big data will solve all problems, then you are wrong - instead of simplifying, big data will make your tasks more complex.

One thing you have to remember is that, although usage of big data has spurted, there are several analytical softwares that can give valuable outputs like how to become more competitive in the market or how to deliver better products and services, but still human intervention is necessary. Unless and until you guide your big data, it will not help you.

So, do not get lost in the midst of big data and take the right path to realize its full value and potential. Here are the ways you can do so: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10-things/10-things-you-shouldnt-expect-big-data-to-do/# .

As a service provider, it is true that if you see your customer churn rate is reducing, then you are satisfied the most. Reason? A small reduction in customer churn rate can improve your profitability by millions.

Studies reveal that if you acquire new customers, it can cost you up to more than five times than to satisfy and retain your existing customers. After all, your existing customers who are like gems to your company,  provide treasures – you can gain deeper insights that will enable you to render better customer service which will create a favorable impact on your revenues. 

For this, you have to study your customers’ behavior. In the past, when technology and data were limited, knowing their behaviors was difficult. But now, with a handful of technologies and big data, you can analyze their behavior easily – even to the extent like at what time do they leave for work, how long it takes them to reach there, etc. By leveraging big data analytics, you can extract information on different metrics, based on which you can fine tune your service offerings according to your customers’ willing.

Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articles/how-big-data-smart-analytics-is-reducing-subscribers-churn/ericssonarticleshow/34166759.cms  to know how big data can help you to reduce your customer churn rate smartly.

Cloud computing enables companies to get agile, leverage infrastructure on demand, and run it like a utility. The cloud environment provides flexibility, scalability and continuous availability with expert services. Rapid prototyping and to solve business process through analysis can be easily done by having access to a cloud environment. While the benefits are many but, the public cloud does not fulfill the needs of individual organizations which need better privacy and data security. In public cloud, many clients can access virtualized services from the same pool of servers and resources, but in private cloud clients mainly access services from a distinct pool of physical computers. Nowadays many organizations opt for a middle way i.e. hybrid cloud solution to avoid disadvantages of private cloud. Please go through the link for more details: http://www.daywatcher.com/what-is-a-private-cloud/

Mangrove Software, a cloud provider in enterprise Human Capital Management (HCM) solutions, announced their exhibition at the upcoming 2014 Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) Annual Conference and Exposition, in Orlando, Florida from June 22-24, 2014. Mangrove Software will be showing its newest software version which includes:

• Enhanced employee engagement tools

• Social networking capabilities for recognition, ramification and accolades

• Mobile features for increased convenience

• Simplified employee maintenance

To read more, visit the following link:http://www.itbusinessnet.com/article/Mangrove-Software-to-Preview-Next-Version-of-HCM-Software-at-2014-SHRM-Annual-Conference-and-Exposition-3255725

Nowadays, many other industries like financial services and banking sectors are also actively interested on data analysis and Lean Six Sigma tools to improve processes.
Rod Toro is a business process improvement manager at Edward Jones. In this article, he talks about a Lean Six Sigma project for the service division of his company to improve customer satisfaction.
Toro says, "We were faced with understanding how we can better meet increasing service demands and give better overall customer service,"
With an increase in service calls, the main challenge was to provide timely, accurate, professional and highly customized service to the customer.
The main focus was to identify various metrics to distinguish the right associate for the right skill, also to streamlining the process in a more efficient manner.
To know more about how the whole process was taken care of through Design of Experiments (DOE) tools in Minitab please follow the link below: 

http://blog.minitab.com/blog/real-world-quality-improvement/hello-how-can-i-help-you-a-look-at-quality-improvement-in-financial-services

easyJet, UK's largest and Europe's fourth largest airline, plans to enhance talent management practices, modernize reporting and analytics capabilities with the help of Workday Human Capital Management, a provider of enterprise cloud applications for human resources and finance. With Workday's unified application for human resources (HR) in the cloud, easyJet plans to enhance talent management practices and modernize reporting and analytics capabilities. In addition, since Workday analytics are built into the core of the application, easyJet will gain access to meaningful insights around key indicators such as cost, capacity, and capability of its workforce, helping to drive hiring and sourcing decisions throughout the organization.

To know more, visit the following link: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/easyjet-takes-off-with-workday-human-capital-management-2014-04-08

A recent research report by International Data Corporation, a global provider of market intelligence and advisory services, revealed that the US market for Human Capital Management (HCM) applications and payroll outsourcing services is expected to be worth $22.5 billion this year. Paylocity is the core product of Web Pay product, which recently included a multi-tenant software platform that can be customized to the organization's requirements to offer payroll and HR related services such as time tracking, benefits administration, and compensation services including tax and payroll management and talent management. Not only big organizations, smaller organizations are also realizing the benefits of a cloud-based HCM offering. 

To read more about Paylocity, visit the following link: http://seekingalpha.com/article/2138083-paylocity-addressing-the-growing-hcm-market

Most of the business leaders today accept that they are not dedicating quality time to enhance their workforce management strategy to improve the performance levels of their employees.  As a result, organizations' bottom line usually suffers. To overcome this difficulty, organizations need a solid talent management strategy which is a key to ensure a high-quality workforce. Most employees today seek more than just a performance reward. They want to feel valued as contributors to the organization and get opportunities to improve their skills to enhance their careers. For that organization needs a right workforce management strategy, which will help them to retain performing workers, reduce operating costs and improve the overall value of the organization.

To read more, visit the following link: http://themalaysianreserve.com/main/sectorial/talent-a-human-capital/5721-a-committed-talent-management-strategy-is-key-to-ensuring-a-high-quality-workforce-

In an article by Phil Galewitz (senior correspondent at Kaiser Health News), we get some insights about the most common problems faced by senior citizens; whether it is about choosing a Medicare plan or a prescription drug plan.

To read more, visit the following link: http://capsules.kaiserhealthnews.org/index.php/2014/05/do-seniors-have-too-many-medicare-plans-to-choose-from/#more-28240

JETNET LLC, an aviation market intelligence company, announced a new release of JETNET CRM (aviation-specific customer relationship management tool which includes market analysis, market research and prospect management functions). The new release is designed specifically for aircraft professionals. Improvements include specific aircraft selection and sorting with ownership and sales histories; custom-designed lead generation reports with hundreds of potential buyers; high-probability target list generation; custom notes, action items, and flagged prospects; and easily managed lead/prospect lists and generated reports for importing/merging into scheduled emails.

To read more, visit the following link: http://www.blueskyexecutiveaviation.co.uk/issue_272/JETNET_creates_powerful_industry-changing_market_analysis_tool.htm

In an article by Rita Pyrillis (senior editor of Workforce), we get some insights about how enrollment in private health insurance exchanges is expected to grow in the next few years. The potential growth of private exchanges has attracted other major consulting firms into the market, including Buck Consultants, Mercer and Towers Watson & Co.

To know more about this aspect, visit the following link: http://www.workforce.com/articles/20427-health-exchange-rate-begins-to-grow