Knowledge
Point Software Review
Knowledge
Point Software Review
| Knowledge Point Presents Human Resource Management
Software by Dale Farris, President, Golden Triangle PC Club In today’s business environment, good management skills are more important than ever. Keeping good people, and tactfully and appropriately parting with others, is a highly important responsibility many managers find very difficult, and look for help wherever they can with this difficult chore. Chasing this process with paper is how many Human Resource Development (HRD) functions opt to manage this skill, but for some companies, automation and use of computers present an open market for companies like Knowledge Point to provide answers. Knowledge Point produces an assortment of professional HRD management applications, including Descriptions Now, People Manager, Performance Now, and Policies Now. Descriptions Now (v4.01) This component is used to help create customized job descriptions as effortlessly as possible. The application includes a job library of over 3500 jobs that can be searched by title, keyword, category, or industry. Once accessed, a user can then mix and match or customize essential duties from those included in the software. The Q & A format takes user input and automatically writes sections on qualifications, supervisory responsibilities, physical demands and work environment, thus integrating the requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), essential in any business today. The software also helps a user clearly define the physical demands of a job, so a business can better comply with these ADA demands as well as other anti discrimination legislation. The software will turn a job description into an effective employment ad, and it also includes hot links to the best job posting boards on the Internet. As the user answers questions and makes selections from the built-in templates, the software’s "Intelli-Text" technology automatically turns it into clear, concise, meaningful text, thus saving a lot time for always busy HRD staff. Minimum System Requirements Win 3.1, 95, 98, NT People Manager (v1.0) This Knowledge Point tool is designed as a specialized database for professional HRD staff to help manage all the crucial personnel tasks so common in any organization hiring staff. This is their newest application and is sure to be a hit in busy HR offices. Each time an HRD staff opens PM, a "to do" calendar automatically alerts one to current and past-due personnel tasks, including performance reviews, discussing benefit eligibility, or other relevant HR functions. The software is a database, so HRD staff need to be sure they understand first time use of this tool will entail a lot of data entry, but the report results will make this up front investment worthwhile with end-use. Just a few of the critical tasks managed by this useful database include tracking attendance, managing vital personnel and benefit information, review reminders, birthdays or other key personnel related dates, hiring, evaluating and terminating, and keeping track of use of approved leave. This product may likely be released in an enterprise version, as these tasks are vital to any company or organization hiring staff, and management throughout the organization will find this tool of great value. Minimum System Requirements Win 3.1, 95, 98, NT Performance Now (v 4.02) Performance Now Enterprise Edition (Release 4.02) is a flexible tool for managing performance. Four modules supply the framework for building a system that likely will meet the needs of most any business for user friendly software to help with performance appraisal. The software also comes with numerous built in industry-specific competency modules for healthcare, government, manufacturing, financial services, and fire and emergency services. Also included is the Intelli-Text Designer that takes a manager rating of employees and generates clear, concise supporting text that gives employees meaningful feedback. Components of Performance Now include the performance manager that provides the tools necessary to daily track performance, the performance appraiser that walks managers through every step of the evaluation process, the form designer that gives users the power to create performance review forms relevant to their organization, and the application administrator that provides the means of centralizing security, control and maintenance of a performance management system. The version I worked with was the Performance Now Enterprise Edition (v4.02), designed for a network installation. In this case, users would be accessing this software from a network server, and so the install and maintenance support is obviously different from installing one license on only one workstation. However, since any performance management system is just that, a system requiring standardization of approach and the consistent use of a process and set of forms, any company considering this application should only consider the enterprise version. The resultant install will then obviously be dependent on the number of licenses for users designated with access to use the software. With my experience in management development training, organizational consulting, and personnel consulting, I am aware of the numerous federal and state laws and regulations that drive this process of performance management in any organization, including labor law, equal employment opportunity commission requirements, and wage and hour laws, and Knowledge Point has done an excellent job incorporating these issues into the design of this helpful tool. Usually in any organization with any degree of commitment to at least the minimum concept of "personnel," this means managers are provided a set of paper-based forms to be used when implementing their performance appraisal tasks, and the idea with this software is to streamline this and automate it within the entire system. Managers can create new employee records, make log entries, and set goals for employees, and go to a repository area in the software where all these are accessible at one time. Also included are the functions of performance reminders that automatically reminds a manager of an upcoming review, update multiple employee records, and get coaching ideas and advice. The actual appraisal can be implemented in the software, reviewing the entered competencies for employees, adjust the weight of importance of these, evaluate the results of established goals, create development plans, and prepare a summary. In most organizations, there will be a great deal of variety how this process is structured, and this software also provides the means for these organizations to customize the forms to fit these different needs. With this enterprise edition, professional information systems support will be required to get this correctly loaded onto a network server and to establish the access rights for identified users in the network. This software is an excellent example how the HRD and the CIS functions have merged to produce a very valuable application that should be considered by any business. The application is also Y2K compliant, and to assure compliance, all users will need to set their Windows system short-date set to a four digit year format (yyyy). Minimum System Requirements Policies Now (v5.03) This tool is designed for use by HRD staff to write customized personnel policies for their organization, and thus would not necessarily need to be considered for access to all company management, as can the other Knowledge Point products. This software actually writes an employee handbook, complete with a table of contents and literally hundreds of built-in standards, as well as customized versions suitable to a particular company. A variety of handbook layouts are included, and a user can print and publish from within this application, eliminating the need to copy and paste into a user’s existing word processor. The online handbook feature also allows one to publish policies on a LAN, for access to all employees of a company, thereby eliminating the need for paper versions. Up to six separate handbook versions for different employee groups can be created, although most companies standardize these types of sensitive legal documents across their entire system of work groups. A record of policy revisions can be stored, and an optional service subscription guarantees the user of software updates to help assure policies stay current with never ending labor law changes and evolving personnel practice. The Internet hot links provide quick access to existing laws and regulations that are of vital importance in any professional HRD component today. The software also contains a large selection of vital forms used to implement personnel policies, a great time saver. Minimum System Requirements Bundled Pricing Note: Knowledge Point offers a price bundle as follows. For People Manager and Policies Now, save $39, for Performance Now and Descriptions Now, save $39, and for their Product Suite, you save $177 when you buy all four of the above reviewed applications. Recommendation Contact Information Key Contact Person |