Ode is different, a fresh and new approach to managing people and talent

Your company is evolving, your business is changing and your system should be dynamic and flexible.  Many enterprise systems will allow you limited configuration during your initial implementation, but making configuration changes beyond that point is either limited, requires IT intervention or may cause issues with upgrades and support. 

Ode’s extensive configurability provides you with the flexibility to adapt the system to fit your business needs.  Change companies, business units, work locations and many levels of your organization.  Change pick list values, user defined fields, field history and required vs. optional fields. You can easily configure and reconfigure on the fly, across the integrated global platform, to reflect your organization needs to all users instantaneously without technical intervention.   

Even the most robust systems can suffer from poor user adoption.  If a system is perceived to be too complex or requires extensive training and retraining, these can be significant risks.  Often enterprise systems are designed for the back-office technical user who has received extensive training.  And too often they have cluttered abstract user interfaces which do not appeal to HR users. But many users are baffled each time they log into the system, they are not sure what to do next, and they may resort to using their familiar spreadsheets just to get their job done.  The impact on the system is significant, you no longer have one consistent source of data, all because the users perceive the system to be difficult, visually uninviting or at best not intuitive.

Ode’s approach is to put the user first; we have designed our clean and uncluttered systems to provide a highly intuitive, enjoyable and user-friendly experience.  If users have to sort through too many screens or enter data in fields that are not meaningful to them or remember numerous steps to produce reports, they will eventually find the process to be unproductive.  We believe systems should be as easy to use as an ATM and have a familiar, cleaner and more modern look and feel.  Simplicity is also measured by the amount of training required - we believe this should be minimal if the system is easy to use.  Ode is focused on the user first and foremost, to deliver systems that are simple to use.  Ode's objective is twofold: firstly, satisfy the the user's needs; and to that end, deliver systems that are simple to use.

You have decided to implement a system to manage your people information, and now it’s time to plan the project. This is where the cost, resource and the time implications can begin to add up.  Often implementation costs can balloon when you take into account the number of external and internal resources both technical and application experts, the internal IT resources; the hours required to configure and implement, and the often less visible cost of training the implementation team.  Due to the complexity of the configuration and implementation, the timeline can extend into months and years often requiring the external consultants to take up residence in your offices.  And once it’s deployed, you may need to assign dedicated internal IT resources to manage the ongoing configuration changes, administer security, create reports, apply upgrades and provide technical support.  Or you can bring in costly external resources to manage these sustainment issues for you.

Ode’s flexible configuration and modular design allow you to implement the functionality you need in a significantly more cost-effective and timely manner.  In the past, systems implementations have put a significant burden on IT resources; we have sought to find ways to reduce the IT workload to a bare minimum.  Ode is designed to be highly configurable so that you can easily adapt the system to meet your business requirements – we are there to guide you, but you will find you probably do not need much help from us.  We provide you with super-user training to understand all the configuration and set-up tools.  That way, you can learn the system during implementation and you can manage it after deployment. 

It’s all about finding the right fit, but how do you do that when your needs are constantly evolving?  Perhaps you need to track hire dates, job titles, basic information, but later on you want to report on global metrics – how do you find the right fit for both now and the future?  A basic administrative system may seem to fit for now, but later on you may need to bolt-on other systems that may not integrate and may not provide a unified view of your global information.  A large enterprise system may offer a broader range of functionality, but it may also be a costly way to meet your immediate needs and include a lot more than you really need.

Ode’s scalable, modular platform allows you to implement the functionality you need now and in the future.  We believe that systems should grow as you grow and scale with you in the most cost-effective manner.  Do you need to track information now for head office, then later on include your global operations? Start with employee data, grow into expertise management, and later track relocation details for global assignments, all in one system.  Or evolve across modules by starting with basic data, then web-based performance management, grow into succession management building upon the data you already have and later on extend it through the applicant management process to support your full process cycle. Ode offers one source of data in a scalable integrated global platform.  The choice is yours.

Seemingly simple requests such as how many people do we employ globally are often surprisingly difficult to answer.  Compiling information from multiple sources such as spreadsheets or local systems can require hours of time to consolidate, and even then definitions of data across the various sources can be inconsistent.  And while some enterprise systems offer local extensions they often do not provide the truly unified view you gain from a single global instance.

Ode is designed to support your global requirements.  You can track and manage your business locally and brand the system to reflect the local business unit’s requirements.  Yet you share one global platform allowing full visibility into information across your organization in real-time as a single consistent entity.  You can define your organization’s business units as they really exist to enable more accurate reporting and metrics. Plus Ode supports multiple languages, currencies and role based security enabling you to operate both locally and globally.

With today’s focus on governance, the impetus for HR to maintain current, accurate and consistent employee records is increasingly urgent.  Companies need to demonstrate that they have control over their people process and systems. In traditional shared enterprise systems, establishing access and controls to people data typically requires significant IT intervention. 

At Ode, we think it makes sense for the owners of the people information to also manage the system.  HR has the controls required to not only meet audit requirements, but to manage system security, workflow and configuration.  Fully configurable role-based security allows you to manage access.  Built-in communication tools provide a variety of options to share policies, procedures and current events with the user community.  Identify missing documents such as offer letters with easy to use exceptions reports.  Proactively manage expiry dates and events with email alert notifications.  Ode provides you with all the tools you need to effectively manage people information across your organization.