Over the last weeks I realized that SAP StreamWork has a lot more potential than I detected at the beginning. With the new Enterprise Edition of SAP Streamwork a whole new area is opened for this collaborative decision making solution: HR.
SAP StreamWork enhances the possibility for HR processes as it covers all the social interactions which are at the core of HR processes and bridges the gap with the more transactional view of the SAP HR system.
Let us first have a look at one process which is relevant for nearly all of us: the annual HR performance review. Many of us are facing the same challenge in the first quarter either as manager or as an employee: For the annual performance review process forms have to be filled with assessments and self assessments. Even if a mid-year review is established within the organization this process lacks a lot of input in terms of participants ( in most cases it is the employee and her manager, some additional appraiser at best) and timeliness (an outstanding effort at the beginning of the year is sometimes difficult to remember). Therefore we have a gap between the social interactions which a real performance review requires and the need to put in an assessment in order to process the transactional data (e.g. pay for performance bonus).
SAP StreamWork offer the ability to make this process a permanent and social one. The employee can invite colleagues and even customers to give feedback on SAP StreamWork at any time they want throughout the year to his activities so that the appraiser gets a better picture and she herself gets also more accurate input for her self assessment.
On the other side it can also be an appraiser-driven process if she as a manager invites coworkers of her employee or customers as well to give feedback throughout the year while working together.
As always this tool does not solve the challenge to motivate people to contribute to this process. But if it is established throughout the organization it transforms the former formalized HR process based on forms in a social one as the interaction is no longer limited to a certain period of time.
Another field where SAP StreamWork can add a lot of value to HR is the area of talent requisition. Assessing the quality of an application requires input from a lot of people as it is a collaborative decision process at its core.
The first reports on Google Apps Marketplace for SAP StreamWork clearly demonstrate that the users are quickly embracing the potential of SAP StreamWork in the HR area.
