Last week we joined the Silicon Valley chapter of the NCHRA at Hakone Gardens in Saratoga, CA. The evening event billed as the Summer Social brought together members of the regional HR community including some interesting guest speakers and local vendors.

We want to quickly share some of our takeaways from the event.


Project Hired is a great organization and it’s time to get involved
For those of you not familiar with Project Hired, it’s time to learn more about them. Project Hired’s mission is to assist individuals with disabilities to gain and sustain employment, in partnership with businesses and the community. During the event a Project Hired alumni explained how the program not only helped him find the confidence to look for a new job after a debilitating accident but, also how Project Hired’s placement service helped him find a great job. For more information about volunteering opportunities visit Project Hired at: http://www.projecthired.org/volunteer_how.html

Recruitment outsourcing is alive and growing
Recruitment outsourcing seems to be gaining momentum. At the NCHRA event last week, I met representatives from 3 recruitment outsourcing companies. In years past, I knew of only 1 or 2 companies in the Bay Area providing RPO services. While the space still seems pretty fragmented (every RPO has a different focus), more and more of these firms are emerging to offer creative recruiting services to customers of all sizes. This is definitely a segment to watch as recruiting once again becomes a front-burner issue.

HR professionals are hungry for metrics
Throughout the evening, we presented a live demo of our latest release of Newton’s real-time performance management / analytics platform. It was amazing how many folks we had come up and ask questions about the product. Based on the response, it is evident that HR people are hungry for metrics that can help them make decisions and improve the service they offer their internal customers. We appreciated all the attention, feedback, and suggestions for future metrics to capture.