Mapping the HR Technology Universe

In the very, very beginning, RecruitingBlogs (fondly known as RBC), was a way station for a group of recruiters focused on the latest techniques and technology. If you were to dig through the archives, you’d find a trove (treasure or otherwise) of my writing.

In the early days, I chronicled the evolution of the community. I went on to run the Recruiting Roadshow and publish a list (and interviews) of the community’s top influencers. Much of what became the online recruiting ecosystem has its roots in that time and those people.

In the intervening years, I’ve spread my wings and begun exploring the larger world of HR. I’m tempted to think that some of you are not sure that you want to be considered a part of that world. I wanted to understand the broad impact of technology on people at work. My starting place has been HR and Recruiting.

So, I’m reaching out as an alumni.

This fall, I started a company with my very good friend William Tincup. It’s called Key Interval.Our job is to map the actual experience of workers who use technology to solve Recruiting and HR problems. We do that with quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews. You might want to take a look at our Research Calendar.

We are exploring and mapping a range of things from the best way to manage a vendor to whether or not engagement with software actually matters. I don’t know about you, but my inbox is full of spam from people who want my opinion. It must be the year of the survey; maybe the decade of feedback. I’m asking you to make an exception in this case.

Please take our survey. In this first (we’ll do one a month), the point is to understand the foundations of a great relationship between users and vendors. Some of the questions will make you think for a while.

When you’re done, we’ll provide you with a copy of your answers. When all of the surveys are complete (around Jan 15), we’ll send you a report that compares you to people in similar circumstances.

As things quiet down, I’d really appreciate it if you’d complete the survey.

Thank you.

About the Author: John Sumser is a founder and principal analyst of Key Interval and editor-in-chief of HRExaminer, a weekly online magazine about the people and technology of HR. Widely respected as an industry analyst, Sumser has been chronicling and critiquing the HR Technology industry for almost two decades.

By John Sumser