Want to stay fit and enjoy your work? Tricks from an Athlete

The biggest risk a football player faces is injured knees. Many rising careers in the sport have been cut short due to kneecap or ACL injuries. Tennis players face the risk of injury and permanent damage in the arm joints. Weightlifters and racecar drivers face the risk of horribly degenerated vertebral discs post their active sports career. However, athletes are not the only ones who worry about leading a fit and healthy life, everyone else does too. That's probably the reason why anti-ageing products and services fetched $282 billion around the world in 2015, and are expected to cross $330 billion by 2020.Lifespan vs. healthspanA study has found that lack of exercise is one of the major causes of chronic ailments in the human body. On the field, a sports person uses cardiovascular, respiratory, neuromuscular, and cognitive systems of the body individually as well as a system. As a result, athletes are the most ideal candidates to test the optimal working conditions for the mind, the body, and their interdependence. Take the example of 85-year old Hiroo Tanaka of Japan who clocked 15.19 seconds in 100-meter sprint at the World Masters Athletes on July 31, 2016. Instead of experiencing a peak in physical performance in their 30s and an inexorable decline thereafter, athletes like Tanaka who maintain an active lifestyle are also able to maintain their close to peak performance for a longer period than average people.So, what can you do?Movement is the only medicine you need. Physical activity improves the function of the body and brain, reducing the risks associated with a sedentary lifestyle like cardiovascular disease, metabolic and psychological disorders, anxiety and stress, and helps improve cognitive functioning. However, if you're still not clear about how that works for you, here are a few tips from athletes that can help you improve your healthspan, and ultimately, your productivity.Regular exercise is the keyThere really is no substitute for regular exercise. Not only does it help you stay physically active, regular workout is an excellent way to relieve stress and stay positive at all times. Athletes enjoy their workout. It's not about being excited for running or lifting weights, it's about valuing their fitness over everything else.Stay in the company of active peopleFitness isn't just about what you eat, it also has a lot to do with who you eat with. Athletes prefer the company of likeminded people who prefer to hiking or ride a bike instead of sitting at a restaurant eating fast food.Don't worry about eating right all the timeAthletes never go on a diet. Not only that, they allow themselves at least one cheat-day once in a while. For them, it's all about balance in life. The cheat-day helps ensure that the balance between fitness and sanity remains intact and nothing comes in the way of that.Take a weekly break from workoutsAthletes are acutely aware of their body's need to rest, and they never feel guilty about allowing themselves to do that. They ensure that they get plenty of rest, and even take a weekly day off from their regular workout to ensure that it happens as planned.In conclusionAthletes aren't made of something different than the rest of us. The only difference between an athlete and others is that they possess the willpower and the motivation to prioritize their fitness over everything else. Everyone gets old, even the athletes, but this motivation is what ultimately shows in their performance, and offers the rest of us a few lessons in staying fit and enjoy our work to the fullest.Source: People Matters

Rewriting The Rules for Digital HR

While none of the HR's prior responsibilities has gone away, HR departments today are under pressure to rewrite the rules by redesigning talent practices, from recruiting to leadership to performance management; by experimenting with digital apps; and by building a compelling employee experience. All this must be done with a focus on redesigning the organization around teams, implementing analytics and organizational network analysis, and driving a global focus on diversity, culture, learning, and careers.Digital HR is built on innovation and experimentation. As companies become networks and the employee base becomes both older and younger, new approaches are needed in almost every HR domain. Companies often now use hackathons, rapid design groups, and both prototypes and "minimally viable products" to roll out pilot HR programs.Design thinking has gone mainstream. Rather than deliver HR programs designed around legacy business processes, HR teams now study employee needs across all segments: hourly workers, salaried employees, managers, executives. Instead of traditional career models, HR is offering journey maps and replacing complex processes with local practices based on an integrated platform. (See the Ford case study in the "Employee experience" chapter of this report.)Digital HR requires digital technology expertise. While cloud-based HR systems brought tremendous value to organizations, they are no longer enough. Today, HR teams are rethinking their solutions in the context of workflow-embedded apps; Royal Bank of Canada, Deutsche Telekom, Ford, and others now have digital design teams within the HR department. This means using the cloud as a "platform" and building on it for company-specific needs.The vendor market is reinventing itself: A new breed of HR products and solutions is coming to market, many built around mobile apps, AI, and consumer-like experiences. These tools are enabling HR to become near-real time. As digital HR takes hold and HR organizations become more platform based, business partners are becoming more digitally empowered and able to spend more time in the business.Where companies can startRedefine your mission: HR today must define its role as the team that helps management and employees rapidly transform and adapt to the digital way of thinking. Familiarize yourself with networked organization structures, organizational network analysis, and digital leadership models.Upgrade core technology: Replace legacy systems with an integrated cloud platform for a sound digital infrastructure. Upgrade old tools for learning, recruiting, and performance management, and bring in systems that are easy for employees to use.Develop a multiyear HR technology strategy: In today's rapidly changing HR technology world, it's important to build a multiyear strategy that includes cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms, apps, analytics, and a range of tools for AI, case management, and other solutions.Build a digital HR team: Dedicate teams to explore new vendor solutions and build others, and consider AI solutions to improve service delivery, recruiting, and learning.Organize HR into networks of expertise with strong business partners: Rethink your HR organization model to focus efforts on the employee experience, analytics, culture, and the new world of learning. Make sure these teams communicate well: High-performing HR teams share leading practices and know what the other teams are doing.Make innovation a core strategy within HR: Push your self to reinvent and innovate in every people practice. Many organizations are now using new performance management practices built around design sessions. Investigate new innovations in recruiting, including using data to find people who resemble high performers in the company.Rotate younger people into the HR profession: Regularly rotate people from the business into and out of HR, use innovation teams to reverse-mentor senior leaders, and recruit new MBAs to bring people with analytics skills into the profession.Benchmark: Visit other companies to see what they are doing. HR teams can bring in outside speakers, join research membership programs, and continually look for new ideas to foster innovation. Today's leading practices come from innovative ideas developed around an organization's culture and business needs, not a book.Further, the HR platform and HR operations center have been designed and built using an agile approach that included multiple releases of both the systems and operations center. This agile approach has enabled the HR process, policy, HR IT, and business teams to learn and build capabilities in the new digital HR environment.

Digital Transformation of HR

The world of work is undergoing a seismic shift. Technology is changing the way we work, communicate, relate and above all the way we liveDigital HR is the foundation for organizational transformation to make it future ready. Digital HR is the technology enabled a way of work that leverages new age sciences to make HR transactions and decisions intuitive, informed and inspiring to enable organizational effectiveness. It is an integration that embeds HR activities with business on a real time and real impact basis.Understanding and embracing Digital HR will lead to a lot of HR aspects getting embedded in everyday work and businesses. The digital HR team can then spend more time on strategic initiatives, guided by insights and achieve higher workforce effectiveness. This will the enable measurement and monetization of all the value that HR has always promised to deliver but has often failed to display. "Go digital or perish" is the survival mantra for HRFor HR, the digital transformation doesn't just imply "digitally" doing HR tasks. It carries the potential of a new discourse about employee learning, satisfaction, and performance. Nurturing this discourse can be transformational for the entire organization, for the role of HR, and have a profound influence on culture and even well-being at the company.HR is undergoing rapid and profound change. Once viewed as a support function that delivered employee services, HR is now being asked to help lead the digital transformation sweeping organizations worldwide. We see this change taking place in three areas:Digital workforce: How can organizations drive new management practices (which we call "digital DNA", a culture of innovation and sharing, and a set of talent practices that facilitate a new network-based organization?Digital workplace: How can organizations design a working environment that enables productivity; uses modern communication tools (such as Slack, Workplace by Facebook, Microsoft Teams, and many others); and promotes engagement, wellness, and a sense of purpose?Digital HR: How can organizations change the HR function itself to operate in a digital way, use digital tools and apps to deliver solutions, and continuously experiment and innovate?Over the last five years, the HR discipline has undergone a rapid evolution. Three years ago, we wrote about HR's "race to the cloud," as companies rushed to replace legacy talent systems with integrated HR platforms.Two years ago, we characterized HR as a function "in need of a makeover," as companies focused on reskilling HR professionals, integrating the organization, and implementing analytics.Now, as digital management practices and agile organization design become central to business thinking, HR is changing again, focusing on people, work, and platforms. We call the resulting set of HR practices "digital HR."Digital HR builds upon years of effort. In the 1960s and 1970s, HR focused on personnel operations, automating transactions, and maintaining a sound employee system of record. In the 1980s, HR was redesigned as a "service organization"; centers of expertise began to manage core talent practices, service centers handled individual needs, and HR business partners began to be embedded in the business. In the 1990s and early 2000s, HR was redesigned again around integrated talent management, often accompanied by the implementation of new systems for recruiting, learning, performance management, and compensation.Today, HR's focus has shifted toward building the organization of the future. Companies are hiring young, digitally savvy workers who are comfortable doing things themselves and sharing information in a transparent way. They want an integrated, digital experience at work-one designed around teams, productivity, and empowerment-and HR is expected to deliver it.

Strategies for Implementing HR in The Cloud

More and more companies are relying on cloud solutions to handle their data. Storing your company's information can improve company-wide communication since it provides your employees with ease of access, flexibility, and quicker response times. Among the other benefits of cloud-based solutions are the automation of data-heavy processes and the ease of ensuring HR compliance.Before you decide on implementing cloud solutions for your HR department, there are a few things you should take into consideration first.Learn About Cloud ComputingBefore implementing these changes, it might be a good idea to learn some of the basics of business cloud management. While it may seem pretty straightforward, a little research never hurt. It's going to help you get a clearer picture of what it involves, and how you can benefit from it.It can also lead you to new ways in which you can make your company more efficient. The whole point of a cloud is to keep all of your information in one place that is easy to access. While these changes are best done one step at a time, eventually you'll want to bring your whole company in alignment. Learning about cloud computing can help you prepare a long-term plan while keeping track of all the steps necessary to put that plan into action.Consider ImplementationYou need to consider a number of factors when looking for the best solution for your company. Once you've decided, before implementing the upgrade, you need to plan out how you are going to do it.There are two basic ways you can go about implementing these changes. In the beginning, you may want to implement just core HR application, and only later expand. Or, you can go all in, by applying cloud-based solutions across the board.Either way, you'll have to consider long-term plans for implementation. Even if you stick to just core functionality, eventually you'll want to upgrade.The slow and steady approach allows your personnel to adjust to the change and lets you see where there is a need for improvement. It can help you adapt in preparation for the larger switch.Alternatively, if you adopt a complete suite cloud-based of HR management systems, you can ensure that there is a uniformity between these solutions and that they are all optimized for maximum efficiency. It can also give you the chance of testing out these functionalities together.Consult With Your Cloud ProviderIf you have a somewhat clear picture of what you want, you can ask your vendor what the optimal solution for your business would be. Cloud service providers offer a wide range of solutions, which can be adapted to suit your company's needs.You must also make sure to ask your cloud provider about their data protection policies. Make sure you understand what measures they are taking to ensure that the data stored in the cloud is safe.Find out what security measures must be taken at the level of the end user as well. While your provider has an obligation to protect your data in the cloud, there's not much they can do about how the users decide to handle to it. Ask if there is any level of data encryption. That's one way to ensure that information doesn't get leaked during transfers, or when it's accessed remotely, via possibly unsafe connections.Make Sure Everyone Is Ready for the ChangeEven though cloud computing is quite accessible and pretty straight forward, your employees still need at least some degree of familiarity with how it works. There's a growing concern that the biggest challenge cloud computing will have to face in the near future is a lack of expertise.Provide your employees at least with some basic training, and be prepared for a short period of adjustment. This means you'll have to set aside some time until the software changes can be used to their fullest.This is partly why the sooner you start applying cloud solutions to your department, the better it's going to be in the long run. As these SaaS options will continue to expand and evolve, learning them from scratch is going to be more and more difficult. This means it's going to be harder to find people with who can take advantage of them, and it's going to take longer to train your employees.The sooner they can get familiarized with the basics, the easier it's going to be further down the line to continue upgrading, and implementing cutting edge solutions.Keep Updated on Current Regulations and LegislationBecause technology is evolving at such an astounding rate, data protection laws are still somewhat lagging behind. As such, there are no worldwide legislative frameworks in place.When implementing these solutions, it is essential that you learn about the regulations that apply to your country and region. And it is equally important to learn those of the countries or regions you will be dealing with. Data protection laws differ quite a lot from state to state, and you need to know exactly what you can, and cannot do when it comes to data transference.Cloud computing is quickly becoming the worldwide norm when it comes to handling business data. It's a reliable way of storing and securing large amounts of information, while still keeping it accessible. Changes and new technological developments are to be expected, so the sooner you jump on board, the better it's going to be in the long run.To get the benefits of a new, cloud-based HR management system, select an implementation strategy based on HR goals and strategic business objectives.Adoption of cloud-based human resources systems is one of the biggest trends in HR management. According to a global survey conducted by Information Services Group in February 2014, 37 percent of respondents said their companies have implemented a SaaS-based HR management system and another 21 percent plan to replace their current HR system with a cloud-based solution in the next two years. In many cases, companies are moving to cloud-based HR systems as part of a broader HR transformation effort; they're deploying these new solutions to help enhance strategic alignment with the business, bolster talent acquisition and retention, and support business process improvementsYet even as many organizations put HR systems in the cloud, they face challenges attaining anticipated benefits from those systems. Notably, HR organizations' ability to improve processes, business alignment, and recruiting and talent management initiatives often depend on the implementation strategy they employ, according to Michael Gretczko, a principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP's Human Capital practice. "Even though SaaS applications are relatively easy to put in place, and have extensive out-of-the-box functionality, simplified configuration features, and well-established practices to guide their effective use, organizations still need to choose an implementation strategy that suits their HR goals and business objectives," he says.Choosing an implementation strategy can also help HR leaders plan and sell a SaaS deployment to the broader enterprise. Gretczko says many HR leaders ask about the best way to implement SaaS and use it to meet business objectives. "They wonder how they can maximize their investment, and what steps they should take to promote widespread adoption of the new system," he adds.SaaS HR management systems are enabling HR transformations at many global businesses. By starting with the forces driving a company's HR transformation, HR and IT leaders can better select the appropriate implementation strategy for their business. Says Gretczko: "Doing so ought to bring clarity and focus to the deployment effort, and also help position companies to achieve strategic HR goals."

Orange HR Solution at HR Expo 2016

Jakarta, December 9, 2016 - Orange HR Solution attended exhibition held by Intipesan at the Jakarta Convention Center on 7-8 December 2016. HR EXPO is a showcase summit for HR Practitioners Indonesia held annually in December. This event became the center of the development of human resources management knowledge in Indonesia, so it has a positive contribution to the development of human resource management practices in Indonesia.Activities are held at HR Expo includes seminars on the issue - the actual issues surrounding the Human Resources and Exhibition for services and goods related to the HR industry such as; HR Consultant, Training Providers, Educational Book Publishing HR and so on.Orange as HR solutions must always provide solutions tailored to the needs of HR and problems faced. For example, by supplying applications that can be used by employees.

Ten HR Trends in 2017

The growing popularity of social media and the use of technology are causing businesses to redefine the role Human Resources plays in companies around the world. Between 2016 and 2017, the job market will continue to improve causing both job seekers and employees to have more leverage, which will cause salaries to increase and employers to invest more job advertising, staffing firms and employee benefits.You will see an emergence of HR practitioners with new skills, including people analytics, Internet marketing, branding and knowledge on new technologies like virtual reality and wearables.These trends have all impacted how companies recruit, retain, train and structure their workforce for the future. According to Dan Schawbel, Forbes, the top workplace trends for 2017 include:Companies focus on improving their candidate and employee experiences. Companies have always created marketing experiences for customers, and prospects, in order to delight them, increase loyalty and grow their revenues. Next year, you will see the walls come down between your HR, marketing, and customer service departments in order to develop experiences for both candidates and employees.The blended workforce is on the rise. In the past five years, the gig economy has become a major trend impacting the global workforce and has created a new kind of diversity, with full-time permanent employees working side-by-side with freelancers.Annual performance reviews evolve into more continuous reviews. One of the biggest discussions in HR circles is performance reviews, how to transform them and implement something new that serves both managers and employees. Professionals today desire instant feedback, a behavior they've adopted from the instant gratification they receive on social networks like Twitter and Facebook.Millennials meet Generation Z in the workplace. 2016 marks the first year that gen Z is in the workplace, while a third of millennials are in management roles, some of whom have direct reports. 2017 will mark the first full year that gen Z will be settled into the workplace, with a new outlook on business, new demands and widening the technology gap even more between younger and older workers.Augmented and virtual reality revolutionizes recruiting and training. While there has been a lot of hype around new forms of reality in 2016, companies are going to take it a lot more serious in 2017 as new equipment, programs and use cases surface. Virtual reality hardware revenue is set to reach over eight billion in the next two years and the amount of money invested will be over four hundred million with 25 million users by that time.The war for talent heats up as the employer and employee contract continues to evolve. Through hardware, including smartphones and wearables, and social networking sites, talent is more freely available and talent has more opportunities to choose from. With all of this competition for talent, an entire 90% of employers anticipate more competition for talent, especially in emerging markets such as India, North America, and Asia. This is why you will see an even greater emphasis on the employee experience in 2017 because companies are being forced to focus more on corporate culture and values than pay in order to retain employees.Organizations restructure to focus on team over individual performance. One of the fascinating trends, despite the rise of the gig economy, is the emphasis on teamwork regardless of the employment situation, industry or politics in a company. While individuals have their own career agenda, companies are now structured with teams because high performing teams will enable them to compete for the future.Workplace wellness and well-being become critical employee benefits for attracting top talent. Companies are using wellness programs to lower absenteeism, attract talent, and save on healthcare costs, while employees have become more health conscious in the past several years.Companies get creative with their employee benefits packages and perks. Fair compensation is most important to all age groups, genders and ethnicities almost unanimously around the world based on several studies that I've conducted over the years. Once you get past pay, then the two most important employee benefits are health care coverage and work flexibility, a benefit that wasn't mainstream a decade ago but is today because of the sheer demands of work and our "always on"society.Office attire and workplace culture become more casual. In 2017, you will see a continuation of this trend, with more employees demanding to drop their suits and ties in exchange for jeans and shirts.​​Source here

10 Disruptive HR Technology Trends for 2016

The transformational changes taking place across the HR technology landscape have the potential to provide CIOs with better tools for managing the people side of their IT organizations.Imagine a human resources application that runs on employees' smartphones, recommends nearby people with whom they can network, helps to boost their productivity by evaluating their time management, offers suggestions for improving work-life balance, and provides targeted, on-the-job training. It may even share exercise and healthy eating tips when and where employees need them.This scenario illustrates the consumer-focused direction of HR technology, one that centers on employee productivity and engagement. Given the strides vendors are making to provide those capabilities, they may become reality for large enterprises sooner than many executives think, according to a new report from Bersin by Deloitte, "HR Technology for 2016: 10 Big Disruptions Ahead".Indeed, HR technology providers are increasingly designing applications for employees first, to enable workers to learn and develop, collaborate, share feedback, steer their careers, and even manage other people more effectively. The trend reflects a major shift from a decade ago, when vendors designed HR systems primarily to streamline HR administration, improve record-keeping, and help redesign HR processes. Today, digital technologies are transforming nearly every aspect of HR, from sourcing and recruiting to talent and performance management.The current wave of technology-led HR transformation has two primary implications for CIOs. One, it offers a range of potentially promising new tools to help IT leaders better manage and engage the talent inside their organizations. Two, it creates opportunities for increased HR-IT partnership as HR leaders seek vendor selection and technology integration advice from CIOs.In addition to technology aimed at engaging employees, several other trends are likely to influence CIOs' and CHROs' purchasing decisions:Mobile emerges as a new HR technology platform. With smartphone use surging and employees across a range of functions seeking access to corporate applications via their mobile devices, companies are scrambling to adapt their HR systems accordingly. In some cases, they may create their own apps-pared-down versions of enterprise software that offer users streamlined access to basic HR functionality, such as submitting time sheets or expense reports. In cases where companies are ready to replace existing HR systems, they may look for vendors that offer mobile apps as part of their core services. Regardless of whether companies build or buy, delivering HR functionality via mobile platforms requires companies to consider the different features, mechanics, and user dynamics associated with mobile devices.ERP vendors catch up as credible talent management providers. A decade ago, the talent management market was dominated by best-of-breed providers selling licensed software. Recruiting, learning, and performance management tools were sold as separate products, forcing companies to stitch those systems together and integrate them with their ERP systems. Then ERP vendors began acquiring these smaller companies and weaving specialized talent management products into their broader suites. As a result, many ERP vendors now provide end-to-end talent management solutions that meet the requirements of large, complex organizations."Built for the cloud" technology providers redefine HR functions. Even as ERP providers expand their HR product lines, a "third wave" of vendors is emerging with cloud-based talent solutions that are user-friendly, inexpensive to buy, and built for mobile devices from the start. These new vendors target a range of core HR activities, including payroll, recruiting, learning, and employee engagement.New software categories include feedback, engagement, and culture management. Companies have grown increasingly concerned about low levels of employee engagement. In response, a plethora of software vendors have popped up that provide new tools for soliciting real-time employee feedback, assessing culture, monitoring engagement, and managing employee performance and goals. These tools allow organizations to more promptly uncover and respond to employees' issues, needs, and suggestions.Performance and goal management are reinvented with feedback and check-ins. Dozens of large companies that have replaced traditional, year-end performance management practices with more agile, real-time, and feedback-driven approaches have found their existing performance management software doesn't support their new processes. Startups see an opportunity to fill this gap but, to date, they have yet to build into their products many of the features that large companies typically want, such as reviews and ratings. As a result, companies may have trouble finding the appropriate tools to support a performance management redesign.Startups move to integrate learning content from disparate sources. The growing need for training has created tremendous demand for easy-to-use, Web-based professional development content. Companies are increasingly offering online training from a range of sources and platforms, but the challenge many now face is bringing this content together to create an integrated learning experience for employees. As with the areas of performance, engagement, and culture management, small vendors are stepping in to address this need.The field of predictive analytics continues to grow. Predictive analytics is likely to become one of the most important features in HR technology platforms over the next several years. Even though many HR organizations have been slow to adopt people analytics, a wide variety of vendors offer impressive capabilities in that area, including the ability to identify "toxic" employees, recommend training, predict attrition and unplanned absences, and highlight the promotions and transfers most likely to produce high-performing employees.Cloud computing hasn't dampened demand for technology services. While cloud-based software is generally easier than on-premise systems to implement and maintain, it still requires significant effort to roll out. Bersin's research shows organizations that purchase new cloud-based HR systems experience many unexpected challenges during the transition: New systems have to be "harmonized" with existing processes, integrated with existing systems, and introduced to users with vast amounts of training and communication. To ease the switch from on-premise to cloud, select HR vendors that offer high levels of service, products with open-programming interfaces, and industry-specific experience.HR technology innovation brings employee engagement to the fore. The HR technology landscape is changing more rapidly than ever. As CIOs and HR leaders look to upgrade and replace existing HR systems, they should consider vendors and tools that offer consumer-like experiences, mobile capabilities, and predictive analytics-and allow employees to test them for ease of use, not just for features and workflow. The number of employees using HR tools and the duration and frequency of their usage will become important measures of engagement and effectiveness.Source: http://deloitte.wsj.com

Orange Sponsorship The 3rd Jobstreet.com Career Congress

Jakarta, October 6, 2016 - OrangE as an HR solution participates as sponsorship in The 3rd Jobstreet.com Career Congress with the theme of Millennial Generation, Dilemmas, and Solutions Work For Them.Millennial generation (Gen-Y) is a generation born in the span of the early 1980s until 2000. Millennial behavior as follows: multitasker, tech-savvy, collaborator / cocreator, social, adventurer, transparent, work-life balance.Gen Y, aka Millennials, live in an era that is more democratic and decentralized, making them feel they have autonomy over their lives. Millennials live with curtailing freedom of expression and open-mindedness that sometimes regardless of the thoughts or opinions of others, in addition to the culture of instant increase the level of no-show when the interview session.What other problems that may occur because of these cultural differences in the world of work?At the 3rd Jobstreet.com career congress, OrangE as an HR Solution gives a presentation and discuss to find solutions for the problem with our HR Consultant.

Crafting A Better HR Technology Contract

In an ideal world, there would be no need for contracts between HR and it's IT providers because each party could be counted on to meet the other side's expectations. But agreements are written to govern the imperfect world in which we live and work. To that end, here are steps HR professionals can take to reduce risks to their organizations and secure recompense if the vendor's promises aren't realized.Be Clear and PreciseHRIS leaders should take a proactive negotiating stance to ensure that tech providers are held accountable for performance after a new system is purchased. Although many vendors maintain that the boilerplate contracts they use can't be modified because those contracts have been meticulously constructed by attorneys, experts say there is usually leeway to insert addendums and other languages.One of the biggest areas of contention can be service-level agreements (SLAs), which detail how vendors will manage client accounts after the technology is deployed. Negotiating a good SLA with software-as-a-service vendors is particularly important, given the challenge of identifying the root cause of performance breakdowns in more complicated cloud environments.Set ExpectationsA vendor's failure to meet requirements spelled out in the agreement should result in actions that compensate the client for its losses. These penalties should be clearly stated. If a cloud provider doesn't meet its obligation to ensure an agreed-upon 99.5 percent of a monthly system "uptime". Uptime is the time a system is operational and available and is a measure of reliability. Credits are typically applied as a percentage discount against future monthly service fees.Assess SecurityGiven that cloud vendors will have control over your sensitive HR data, it's crucial that contracts address how information will be protected in storage and in transit. HR should also verify that a provider has adequate insurance in the event one of its employees causes a data breach.Iron Out ImplementationWhether they are addressed in the contract or not, system implementation issues need to be ironed out in the negotiating stage. The stakes for HR during this period are high, given that the seamlessness, or lack thereof, of the system implementation, has a big impact on user adoption, which is a key measure of a new technology's success.Anticipated Staffing ChangesHaving the right vendor personnel assigned to your account is key to a successful relationship. But the customer doesn't always have the ability to choose the staff assigned to its project. It's not unusual for senior personnel to shepherd the start of a system implementation, for example, only to delegate the rest of it to less-experienced junior staff as the process unfolds. That's why some HRIS leaders insist on a contractual clause that gives them the right to preapprove vendor staff assigned to their projects.Have an Exit PlanMake sure to consider what your "tipping point" is for exiting a contract, whether it is one major issue such as a data breach that is the fault of the vendor or a series of small problems that aren't resolved.