One of today’s hot topics is undoubtedly Social Networking within the enterprise and how to build employee engagement, share information and otherwise build a collaborative culture. But what about actually applying this new software paradigm to business applications such as HR Management Systems - what effect would this have?

Many software vendors are now looking at the impact of social technology - and are adding a layer ‘on top’ of their applications or simply adding a ‘stream’ at the front end. However this isn’t really a game changer at all.

Tools like PODIO allow us to build truly Social business apps and deploy them in the cloud - this technology really does bring about a shift in working practice encouraging collaboration and social interaction around actual business data (rather than in isolation). In many ways, HR is the perfect place to begin this revolution - so many processes are fundamentally collaborative (think of recruitment or staff appraisal for example).

Our PODIO based HR app, called KA Staff Management, offers a comprehensive set of features and an ideal template from which to build your own solution (or we can help you make any changes you need). The really interesting part is that, once implemented, your HR data can then be accessed and used in other PODIO apps (such as CRM or Project Management where employee involvement can link to their HR records).

This gives your HR information more visibility (in a secure way) within your organisation and has real strategic value - for example making sure that people involved in a project have the correct training.