Mar., 12/ Employees have come to expect more from their work (they want to do something meaningful) and more from their employers (they want something beyond pay in return for their time and effort).

But the current economy has limited what many employers can do to meet the changing needs of their work force. It's time for new thinking-time to redefine our view of "commitment" and time to take a chance on cutting-edge information delivery systems that interact with employees.

A FRESH LOOK AT COMMITMENT

Research abounds on employee commitment. And for the most part, there is general agreement about the state of commitment around the globe. A recent poll by International Survey Research found that the country with the highest level of commitment to employers is Brazil, where 79 percent of workers say they would stay with their current employer. Other countries followed, in this order:

> Germany, 74 percent

> Canada, 73 percent

> Italy, 70 percent

> United States, 67 percent

> France, 67 percent

> United Kingdom, 59 percent

> China, 57 percent

> Japan, 50 percent

In addition to measuring levels of commitment, studies also show how employers can increase commitment within their organizations. Research exists that focuses on leadership, on training and development, on work and family balance, and more. Aon Consulting's @Work studies, completed in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia, look at five fundamental issues that the company's research shows drive employee commitment:

> Safety/security

> Rewards

> Affiliation

> Growth

> Work/life harmony

Building a more committed work force has become a business necessity, and these are the areas employers need to focus on to build employee commitment. The only question that remains is How can employers ensure that they meet the many and varied needs of their employees by offering them best-in-class resources without going bankrupt in both time and money?

THE HR PORTAL

An HR Portal enables employee, manager and candidate self- service on wide-ranging topics. It provides personalized, seamless entry to meaningful corporate and Internet resources. The information displayed is customized for each person on the basis of his or her identity. Job candidates and employees can easily use the portal to apply for a job, make appointments or select benefits coverage, as well as access company news and background. It's easy to see why interest in portals is growing.

Meta Group, an IT research and consulting firm, predicts that 85 percent of businesses will have portals in development this year. In mid-2001, only 39 percent of Intranetlnsider.com (an online resource and meeting place for intranet professionals) members indicated that they were currently implementing a portal.

As a web-based application, an integrated portal should be platform independent, leveraging an organization's current investment in technology by linking to existing applications. This generally makes for rapid and cost-effective deployment, increased flexibility and easy customization.

Integration is also crucial to making the portal comprehensive. The best portals bring together systems from a wide variety of electronic sources within and outside the company, and include an ability to build functionality and applications that are not available elsewhere.

Another important aspect of an HR portal is that it provides personalized information, making it much more manageable and pertinent to employees. Individual users can customize both the user interface and the content of an integrated HR portal. Audiences may include large groups of employees (e.g., subsidiaries, unions and part-time employees), as well as individuals. Content, including documents, links and menu items, can vary for each audience, and each employee can, to a certain extent, customize the user interface with language, graphics and colors.

An integrated HR portal enables organizations to put meaningful, personal and accurate information on important work and life issues at the fingertips of employees, managers and candidates.

RIGHT TIME, RIGHT PLACE

Watson Wyatt's WorkUSA 2002 research shows that companies with well-perceived HR functions are more likely to have dramatically better trust, communication and commitment among employees.

The same study indicates that there is considerable room for improvement when it comes to communication-only 31 percent of employees rate their companies well in this area.

In addition, in its research on linking communication competence to business success, The ITEM Group found that information sharing was one of four communication-related factors that were present to various degrees in all successful companies. Further, the group defines effective information sharing as "systems and networks enabling managers and employees to have the right information at the right time to do their jobs, to share opinions and discuss ideas, and to circulate best practices and learn from each other."

An HR portal has the potential to enhance a company's human resource function, reputation and effectiveness, while also improving the quantity and quality of information sharing.

As portals become the standard delivery mechanism for HR and other enterprise services for the majority of corporations, the challenge will be to keep increasing the value of the portal. Making content decisions with employee commitment in mind enhances the portal's worth to the organization, with the added value of enhancing employee productivity, pride and retention.

Although the drivers of employee commitment go by various names, they generally cover many of the same concepts. Here are a few commitment-- building ideas and best practices for HR portals in the five categories identified by Aon Consulting.

1. Safety and Security. Employees must believe that they are both physically and mentally safe at work. This means the workplace must be free from physical danger as well as harassment and abuse. This topic also refers to job security, including assurance that the organization will remain operational. Content and links to consider include:

> Building/office safety and security procedures

> Security alerts, fire/disaster drill alerts and follow-up

> Online accident/incident reports

> Links to web sites dealing with workplace health and safety issues

> Regularly published leadership communiques, operations/ financial reports, annual report

> Financial education delivered to users based on life events, such as death of a family member or planning for a child's education

> Debt-management tools and resources

> For more specific audiences: risk-management and outplacement links

2. Rewards. Employees also are concerned about their total rewards program, typically including compensation, benefits and non- cash recognition. In employee surveys, "communication about benefits" often shows up as one of the top five issues. Content and links to consider include:

> Information on benefits plans, including claim forms that can be submitted electronically

> Online enrollment with provider search capabilities and links to employer-offered health care providers

> Links to employer-sponsored savings, stock purchase and investment plans

> Access to accurate, real-time retirement benefit estimates

> Quarterly total rewards statements

> Recognition of employees who go above and beyond the call of duty.

3. Affiliation. Affiliation refers to being part of something larger, being "in the know" and "part of the team." Enhance affiliation with these content and link ideas:

> Share the organization's stories: corporate folklore, points of special pride, stories about the vision or values in action.

> Make the connection between the business value proposition and corporate decisions.

> Publish an e-newsletter focusing on what specific employees or groups of employees do to help achieve the organization's mission, vision and business objectives.

> Link to news articles featuring the organization and its clients.

> Publish stories about the organization's activities in the community.

> Link to corporate-approved charities.

> Enable online signups for corporate events.

> Set up chat rooms by function, geography or project.

> Provide and seek information about planned and in-motion changes.

> Create an Alumni Center or a New Employee Center or both.

> Post internal and external contact listings.

4. Growth. The focus in this area is often financial growth but should also consider growth in quality, innovation and customer base leading to the successful development of organizations. Consider these content and link ideas:

> Job postings and online applications

> Promotion listings

> Success stories celebrating individual and team growth

> Cross-functional, cross-location mentoring program (management, tools and resources)

> Relocation assistance for internal transferees

> Career progression criteria, resources and tracking

> Links to e-learning offerings

> Links to select professional associations

> Online training curriculum and signup

> Leadership development opportunities and resources

5. Work/Life Harmony. The importance of helping employees balance work and family commitments varies across international boundaries. Nonetheless, bringing benefits and compensation information together with personal needs and goals enables people to see the big picture as they navigate and prep\are for each phase of their lives. Consider:

> Presenting currently unconnected benefits as a comprehensive work/life program

> Day-care (adult or child) resources

> Medical care/preventive care sites

> Online stock brokerage; income tax preparation

> Online financial advice tools based on life events, enabling planning to evolve along with life cycle

> Convenience services: online grocers, vacation planners, corporate gifts, tickets to local events, etc.

A NEW WORLD OF WORK

Employees are now more vocal about their desire for meaningful work and something in return for their service. They are seeking fast and accurate answers to difficult and varied questions. And employers are looking for ways to recruit and retain a talented, committed work force.

Using an HR portal as the primary purveyor of information and services is one of the most effective ways to put meaningful, personal and accurate information in job candidates' and employees' hands. Personalized, interactive tools allow them greater control over work and family life responsibilities. Transactional capabilities, such as program enrollment, educational course registration, and products and services purchased through e-- commerce maximize personal and corporate productivity by reducing paperwork and saving time.

An HR portal enables employees, managers and HR staff to go way beyond information gathering. Basing content on core work-force needs increases the chances that the organization will reap the productivity, pride and retention benefits that workforce commitment delivers.

* Portal: A web site that aims to be an entry point to the World Wide Web, typically offering a search engine or links to useful pages, and possibly news or other services. >>

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, @ 1993-2001 Denis Howe

"It is estimated that most knowledge-based workers spend 30 percent of the workday searching for information." >

-HIRM.link:

The Intelligent Gateway to B2E Synergy Bob Geib

PORTAL EXCELLENCE

To view winners of a portal excellence competition, visit http:// exhibit.dci.com/porweb/awards.asp#winners.

Employees are now more vocal about their desire for meaningful work and something in return for their service. Using an HR portal is one of the most effective ways to put meaningful, personal and accurate information in job candidates' and employees' hands. >>

Jill Langendorf Folan is a vice president in Aon Consulting's National Marketing Group. She can be reached at jill- folan@aoncons.com.

Gaelyn Mitchell, ABC is a senior vice president in Aon Consulting's Human Resources Outsourcing business. She can be reached at gaelyn_mitchellIaoncons.com.