Q&A with Amy Barzdukas, Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer at Poly

MEDIA 7 | November 21, 2019

Amy Barzdukas, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer at Poly is a marketing and communications leader with extensive experience in setting strategy, shifting perceptions, advising customers, digital marketing, revenue marketing, integrated marketing communications, and public relations in highly competitive product arenas.

Amy is known for her ability to create and execute winning turnarounds on a global scale.

MEDIA 7: What inspired you to get into marketing?
AMY BARZDUKAS:
I was always destined for marketing, even if I didn’t know it. As a child, I collected promotional brochures. I was fascinated by how the words and pictures were used to drive action. My first job was as an advertising copywriter, and I’ve never looked back.

M7: How is Poly redefining the video conferencing experience for modern businesses?
AB:
 We’re in an unprecedented time of change in our industry. Voice and video services are moving to the cloud, and companies are changing how they approach their communications needs. Poly is the largest provider of the devices – video conferencing, audio conferencing, headphones and desk phones – you use to connect to these services so you can collaborate with your colleagues. That uniquely positions us to shape the video conferencing experience, and we’re doing so in four ways.

First, Poly has made both the Zoom Rooms and the Microsoft Teams video conferencing experience better than ever with our radically simple Poly Studio X video bars that deliver these experiences with no PC or Mac required. We’ve got decades of experience in understanding what makes meetings more human – for everyone in the room and those dialing in from other locations – and we’ve packed all of that into easy-to-install, easy-to-manage, and easy-to-use all-in-one powerhouses.

Second, we are bringing the world of AV and video conferencing into the modern app economy. Our Studio X series and Poly G7500 video conferencing devices run a common platform that can be updated and enhanced through a series of regular software updates. This Poly platform, built on Android, can run applications like a smartphone does today.

Third, Poly has introduced innovation that makes any video conference better. Our new Poly MeetingAI features use AI and machine learning to address the distractions that hit your senses in a meeting. We make it easier to hear what’s being said by blocking out the annoying noises that people make while talking, and we make it easier to see what’s going on in the room with the most advanced speaker tracking and framing, and our built-in production rules.

Finally, we are pricing our solutions in a way that completely resets the calculations on what it costs to outfit a room. The Studio X30, for huddle room and smaller spaces, costs just about $2,100, including the Poly TC8 touch controller. All you add is the cloud service and a monitor, and you have a room up and running for under $2,500. That’s easily under the cost of other solutions and with better audio and video quality.


"Baby Boomers and more than half of Gen Z say they are most productive when they were working around noise."

M7: As the CMO of Poly, what were the major challenges in rebranding and transforming two separate organizations (Plantronics and Polycom) under a single brand Poly?
AB:
One of the greatest challenges of bringing together Plantronics and Polycom was doing so in a way that honored their brand equity, history, and positive associations while establishing a new story for the new company. Plantronics was already an audio pioneer– the first headset that transmitted Neil Armstrong’s famous words during the first moon landing. Polycom was the leader in audio and video conferencing – the conference phone used by business leaders and industry captains.
We had to figure out how to build a stand-out narrative in a crowded space for the general market. For customers and partners, we found a way to carry through the legacies and histories of both companies into the new brand. And for our employees, we had to inspire them to believe in the new brand and the new combined mission. These different challenges with different stakeholders took different approaches to confront, but in the end, we brought everyone to the same conclusion that Poly was moving forward, unified and stronger.

And like any acquisition, integration takes time. We’re proud of our accomplishments since rebranding to Poly in March 2019. Since then, we’ve refreshed our video conferencing line of products, broken new ground with a mobile phone station called Elara 60 Series and showcased our continued commitment to expanding the ecosystem with partners such as Zoom, Microsoft, Google, Amazon and more. As Poly, we bring a new level of quality, simplicity, and flexibility so that every communication can easily become a place for collaboration and innovation for the enterprise.


"Gen Z and Millennials came up in an era of digitization, so they are more accustomed to the tools and technology to deal with distractions in the workplace."

M7: A recent study by Poly reveals that employees prefer noisier open offices to closed, quiet spaces. What do you think is responsible for driving these unique demands in the workplace today?
AB:
Our research shows that Gen Z and Millennials tend to prefer open offices compared to Gen X and Baby Boomers and that more than half of Gen Z say they are most productive when they were working around noise. What we’re seeing is that Gen Z and Millennials came up in an era of digitization, so they are more accustomed to the tools and technology to deal with distractions in the workplace. For example, they’re used to wearing noise-canceling headphones to block out the background noise, and similarly at home with video. They’ve been doing it all their lives!

Now that we can work from anywhere – coffee shops, airports, waiting rooms – we are more accustomed to dealing with distractions and working through them. We take that mindset into the office along with the tools we may use to address distraction, from a pair of comfortable headphones with ANC to deciding to do different types of work in different settings.

M7: What features have made Poly Studio win the 'Best of Enterprise Connect' award in the '2019 Communication/Collaboration Device'?
AB: 
Poly Studio is our answer to the need for easy-to-use video conferencing devices for smaller spaces called huddle rooms. Poly Studio is a video USB bar with premium audio and video capabilities. Its standout features include NoiseBlock, which mutes distracting background noises, Automatic Group Framing and Speaker Tracking, which zooms in to focus on the speaking participant. This board-room like audio and video transforms small meeting rooms into a center for collaboration. We’re also pleased that it was recently certified for Zoom Rooms and Microsoft Teams. The device also works with Skype for Business, Google Meet, Cisco WebEx and Amazon Chime, and virtually any cloud-based video collaboration service.


"Poly combines legendary audio expertise with powerful video and conferencing capabilities to help our users overcome the distractions, complexity, and distance, making communication in and out of the workplace challenging."

M7: What traits make Poly a global leader in communications and a leading choice for every kind of workspace?
AB:
Our in-depth expertise, tireless innovation, and emphasis on partnership make Poly a global leader in communications and a leading choice for every kind of workspace.

Poly combines legendary audio expertise with powerful video and conferencing capabilities to help our users overcome the distractions, complexity, and distance, making communication in and out of the workplace challenging. When the world was on a race to space in the ’60s, NASA approached us—Plantronics back then—with a seemingly impossible task: create a headset that would equip astronauts to communicate with Mission Control from the earth to the moon, and back again.

Fifty years later, we share the same mission today: to create powerful connections that unify people the world over. We’re designing technology for the different ways people work – open offices, remote locations, mobile-first workers. We are the largest provider of headsets, video and audio-conferencing devices that you use to communicate and collaborate for your work, whatever that may be. And we continue to innovate with products like Poly Studio X that change how people collaborate.
Through partnerships with industry leaders like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Zoom, Poly takes an open-architecture approach that allows users to seamlessly connect across all the best technologies. Whenever and wherever people connect with these services, we will be there to provide the best-in-class audio, video and voice technology to make the experience that much better.

M7: What’s your superpower or spirit animal?
AB: 
My superpower is the ability to read amazingly quickly, thanks to the experimental elementary school I attended. I don’t know how anyone gets through their workload without it, honestly. My spirit animal? I told my husband the other day that I think it is Tom Petty. I’m a huge fan. If you have a problem, there is a Tom Petty song that can solve it, or at least make it more fun.

ABOUT POLY

Plantronics, Inc. (“Poly” – formerly Plantronics and Polycom) (NYSE: PLT) is a global communications company that powers meaningful human connection and collaboration. Poly combines legendary audio expertise and powerful video and conferencing capabilities to overcome the distractions, complexity, and distance that make communication in and out of the workplace challenging. Poly believes in solutions that make life easier when they work together and with our partner’s services. Our headsets, software, desk phones, audio and video conferencing, analytics and services are used worldwide and are a leading choice for every kind of workspace.

More C-Suite on deck

'My focus is driving glocalization through strategic talent,’ asserts Stella H Kim

Media 7 | August 29, 2023

Stella H Kim holds the position of a recognized member on the Forbes HR Council, and she also serves as the Chief Marketing Officer (Global VP) at HRCap, Inc., which is renowned as the largest Asian global executive search firm globally. Read on to know her thougts about the analysis on streamlining processes, and fostering employee engagement.

Read More

'Our vision was and still is to make financial wellness attainable for everyone,' asserts Marthin De Beer

Media 7 | May 12, 2023

Marthin De Beer, who has worked in a vast array of industries and enterprises, strongly believes in value-based leadership and finds his greatest satisfaction in guiding teams to solve difficult problems. Keep reading to learn more about his thoughts on personal financial management and the innovative fiduciary solutions offered by his organization BrightPlan.

Read More

'Building a strong employer brand is crucial in attracting top talent,' notes Shannon Russo

Media 7 | March 9, 2023

Shannon Russo is the Chief Executive Officer of Kinetix. She has worked as a finance executive for businesses hiring hundreds of thousands of individuals annually. She founded Kinetix, intending to assist expanding businesses in attracting and retaining top employees. Find out what she thinks about the role of thought leadership in the Human Resource industry.

Read More

'My focus is driving glocalization through strategic talent,’ asserts Stella H Kim

Media 7 | August 29, 2023

Stella H Kim holds the position of a recognized member on the Forbes HR Council, and she also serves as the Chief Marketing Officer (Global VP) at HRCap, Inc., which is renowned as the largest Asian global executive search firm globally. Read on to know her thougts about the analysis on streamlining processes, and fostering employee engagement.

Read More

'Our vision was and still is to make financial wellness attainable for everyone,' asserts Marthin De Beer

Media 7 | May 12, 2023

Marthin De Beer, who has worked in a vast array of industries and enterprises, strongly believes in value-based leadership and finds his greatest satisfaction in guiding teams to solve difficult problems. Keep reading to learn more about his thoughts on personal financial management and the innovative fiduciary solutions offered by his organization BrightPlan.

Read More

'Building a strong employer brand is crucial in attracting top talent,' notes Shannon Russo

Media 7 | March 9, 2023

Shannon Russo is the Chief Executive Officer of Kinetix. She has worked as a finance executive for businesses hiring hundreds of thousands of individuals annually. She founded Kinetix, intending to assist expanding businesses in attracting and retaining top employees. Find out what she thinks about the role of thought leadership in the Human Resource industry.

Read More

Related News

Workforce Management

Alight Automates LeavePro Software for Enhanced Client Experience

Alight | September 18, 2023

Alight elevates LeavePro Enterprise Software with advanced automation capabilities. These enhancements drastically expedite client onboarding processes. Alight reaffirms its commitment to delivering exceptional leave management solutions in the US. Leading cloud-based human capital and technology services provider, Alight, has unveiled a major upgrade to its proprietary LeavePro software. Tailored to assist employers in the efficient management and tracking of employee leaves of absence, these updates bring potent automation capabilities to streamline the client onboarding experience. The increased automation functionality directly impacts client onboarding, transforming processes that traditionally required up to three weeks. Thanks to these new automation features, these tasks can now be completed with a single click. This not only accelerates the onboarding process but also grants clients the advantage of earlier testing and training. This integrated technology simplifies onboarding and empowers IT support teams to allocate more time and resources to address complex client needs. Kevin Curry, the head of Alight’s leave solutions team, emphasized their commitment to enhancing client experiences through strategic investments in leave management solutions. Alight aims to remain at the forefront, ensuring that its LeavePro enterprise software continues to be the preferred choice for leave management in the US. Alight's LeavePro enterprise software plays an important role in helping organizations, regardless of their size, address the complexities of leave and disability management. By offering proactive solutions that modernize HR processes and improve the employee experience, LeavePro addresses the challenges faced by corporations in managing employee absences. Starting in January 2024, LeavePro will become accessible via the Alight Worklife platform, further streamlining the employee experience. This unified well-being journey allows participants to seamlessly access leaves of absence information alongside their other benefits, offering a practical and comprehensive solution. Alight's Worklife platform combines data, analytics, and a user-friendly interface to empower confident decisions regarding health, wealth, and wellbeing. With global delivery capabilities, Alight Worklife is transforming the employee experience, offering personalized, data-driven insights that provide security and peace of mind throughout life's significant moments and decisions.

Read More

Workforce Management

Beeline Transforms Extended Workforce Management with New Products

Beeline | September 15, 2023

Beeline, a leading technology solutions provider for overseeing the global extended workforce, has unveiled two new products designed to tackle workforce challenges that were previously unaddressed in the industry. These innovations, known as Beeline Professional and Global Workforce Intelligence, represent a significant step forward in the management of extended workforces. With a wealth of experience spanning over twenty years, Beeline has played a notable role in shaping the evolution of the extended workforce industry. In recognizing two major shortcomings within the industry—vendor management systems (VMS) primarily catering to large enterprises and the untapped potential for talent visibility and compliance—Beeline has launched these additions to the Beeline Extended Workforce Platform. Beeline Professional has been crafted to meet the specific needs of emerging and expanding extended workforce programs. It stands as the first VMS solution that can be effortlessly activated, featuring pre-configured templates, workflows, dashboards, and reports modeled after the best-in-class programs. Beeline Professional brings scalable extended workforce management, automation, and efficiency to companies with annual non-employee labor expenditures ranging from $1 million to $25 million. Doug Leeby, Beeline's CEO, stated, For far too long, extended workforce solutions have catered to enterprises and ignored the unique needs of mid-sized programs. Using insights from over the last 20+ years in the industry, Beeline Professional is uniquely tailored to meet the core needs of mid-sized programs without compromising quality and innovation. [Source: PR Newswire] Up until now, achieving complete visibility across an organization's entire extended workforce has been a challenge for enterprises. Global Workforce Intelligence, however, offers a solution by aggregating data not only from the company's VMS but also from other systems housing external workers that are not captured in the VMS. This comprehensive workforce visibility enables thorough accounting, analysis, and proactive risk management across the entire extended workforce spectrum. Importantly, Global Workforce Intelligence is compatible with any VMS, not limited to Beeline's. Extended workers play a crucial role in an organization's overall workforce and talent strategy. Beeline's mission is to empower companies to gain a competitive edge by optimizing their extended workforce. The introduction of these two innovative products marks another milestone in Beeline's journey toward fulfilling this mission. About Beeline For over two decades, Beeline has been a competitive force in empowering global businesses to gain an edge in the industry through effective management of their extended workforce. The Beeline Extended Workforce Platform equips companies with the essential visibility needed to proactively mitigate risks, achieve cost savings, and adapt to evolving business needs. Beeline specializes in delivering tailored solutions that specifically address the intricate challenges posed by the extended workforce. Clients benefit from a diverse range of Beeline products, designed to cater to their unique requirements. Through seamless integration capabilities, Beeline's clients can effortlessly consolidate their extended workforce data from various technology platforms, including major procurement and HR systems, enabling a comprehensive approach to workforce management.

Read More

Employee Engagement

Oracle Elevates Employee Engagement with Innovative Rewards Platform

Oracle | September 22, 2023

Oracle introduces new employee recognition and rewards capabilities within Oracle ME, enhancing the employee experience in Oracle Fusion Cloud Human Capital Management. Oracle Celebrate, a unique recognition and rewards offering, aims to improve performance, engagement, and retention by personalizing the employee experience. Features of Oracle Celebrate include peer-to-peer recognition, AI assistance, nomination and event-based awards, redeemable points, recognition insights, real-time data, and a recognition-based social feed. Oracle has unveiled its latest enhancement to the Oracle ME employee experience platform, embedded within Oracle Fusion Cloud Human Capital Management (HCM). This development, Oracle Celebrate, stands out as a groundbreaking recognition and rewards solution designed to elevate performance, engagement, and staff retention by delivering a more customized and meaningful experience for employees. Yvette Cameron, Senior Vice President of Product Strategy at Oracle Cloud HCM, emphasized the significance of acknowledging employees and said, Employees are the foundation of any successful organization, and leaders need to ensure that their people feel celebrated and valued or risk losing both talent and productivity. [Source - Cision PR Newswire] Cameron stated that with Oracle Celebrate, organizations could now utilize a comprehensive and unified employee experience platform. She explained that this platform aligned recognition with company values to nurture a culture of appreciation and acknowledgment. Furthermore, she emphasized that it encouraged more impactful peer-to-peer interactions. Cameron highlighted that these newly introduced capabilities simplified employee recognition, made it meaningful and inclusive, and empowered HR and business leaders to give precedence to employee appreciation. She added that it also served to enhance engagement and motivation within the workforce. Key features of Oracle Celebrate include: Peer-to-peer recognition: This feature enables employees and leaders to acknowledge their colleagues across the organization in real time, with personalized recognition linked to business values. It seamlessly incorporates peer recognition into an employee's daily routine and work processes. Generative AI assistant: Employees can enhance peer-to-peer recognition by receiving suggested improvements for their submissions, facilitating the creation of more impactful recognition notes for peers. Recognition insights dashboard: Managers can access detailed insights about the recognition patterns within their teams, highlight individuals who may require additional support, and identify top contributors. Nomination and event-based awards: This feature permits employees to recognize their peers for significant events such as promotions and work anniversaries, as well as nominations made by managers and peers, such as the ‘Employee of the Month’. These recognitions are initiated by updates to employee profiles in Oracle Cloud HCM. Real-time recognition and engagement data: Organizations can continually update and monitor recognition programs with precise data, enabling administrators to measure their effectiveness and correlate recognition efforts with business outcomes. Redeemable points: Employees can accumulate points when recognized by team members, which can later be exchanged for rewards integrated into the system by the organization. Recognition-based social feed: Employers can create a real-time stream of organization-wide and team-wide awards and accolades, promoting camaraderie and increasing visibility for daily accomplishments. Zachary Chertok, the research manager for employee experience at IDC, mentioned that the applications and value of recognition are expanding and evolving as organizations rethink how they connect into and uplevel employee success. He also noted that building an ecosystem for recognition assists in sourcing the roots of achievement, moving the needle on best practices as success occurs, stimulating cultural acceptance around process innovation, and fostering belonging through community acknowledgement and appreciation. Ushaan Abeywickrema, the director of human resources at MAS Capital, noted that many organizations find it challenging to establish a straightforward system for ensuring that employees receive the praise and recognition they deserve. He pointed out that this represents a significant gap in the HR software market, especially considering the well-known importance of fostering a strong sense of value and accomplishment to enhance employee engagement and workforce efficiency. Abeywickrema also conveyed excitement about Oracle Celebrate and its potential to introduce innovative capabilities that could revolutionize how they personalize the employee journey. He expressed hope that Oracle Celebrate would make it easier to acknowledge the dedication and hard work of their team members, all while reinforcing their commitment to their organizational culture and productivity. He believed that by recognizing their contributions, their employees would feel more seen, supported, and empowered to perform at their best and deliver their finest work. Oracle Cloud HCM, a cloud-native solution, offers a comprehensive platform connecting all HR processes from hiring to retirement. It provides HR teams with a unified source of truth and leverages built-in AI to analyze workforce data, offering recommendations to enhance business operations.

Read More

Workforce Management

Alight Automates LeavePro Software for Enhanced Client Experience

Alight | September 18, 2023

Alight elevates LeavePro Enterprise Software with advanced automation capabilities. These enhancements drastically expedite client onboarding processes. Alight reaffirms its commitment to delivering exceptional leave management solutions in the US. Leading cloud-based human capital and technology services provider, Alight, has unveiled a major upgrade to its proprietary LeavePro software. Tailored to assist employers in the efficient management and tracking of employee leaves of absence, these updates bring potent automation capabilities to streamline the client onboarding experience. The increased automation functionality directly impacts client onboarding, transforming processes that traditionally required up to three weeks. Thanks to these new automation features, these tasks can now be completed with a single click. This not only accelerates the onboarding process but also grants clients the advantage of earlier testing and training. This integrated technology simplifies onboarding and empowers IT support teams to allocate more time and resources to address complex client needs. Kevin Curry, the head of Alight’s leave solutions team, emphasized their commitment to enhancing client experiences through strategic investments in leave management solutions. Alight aims to remain at the forefront, ensuring that its LeavePro enterprise software continues to be the preferred choice for leave management in the US. Alight's LeavePro enterprise software plays an important role in helping organizations, regardless of their size, address the complexities of leave and disability management. By offering proactive solutions that modernize HR processes and improve the employee experience, LeavePro addresses the challenges faced by corporations in managing employee absences. Starting in January 2024, LeavePro will become accessible via the Alight Worklife platform, further streamlining the employee experience. This unified well-being journey allows participants to seamlessly access leaves of absence information alongside their other benefits, offering a practical and comprehensive solution. Alight's Worklife platform combines data, analytics, and a user-friendly interface to empower confident decisions regarding health, wealth, and wellbeing. With global delivery capabilities, Alight Worklife is transforming the employee experience, offering personalized, data-driven insights that provide security and peace of mind throughout life's significant moments and decisions.

Read More

Workforce Management

Beeline Transforms Extended Workforce Management with New Products

Beeline | September 15, 2023

Beeline, a leading technology solutions provider for overseeing the global extended workforce, has unveiled two new products designed to tackle workforce challenges that were previously unaddressed in the industry. These innovations, known as Beeline Professional and Global Workforce Intelligence, represent a significant step forward in the management of extended workforces. With a wealth of experience spanning over twenty years, Beeline has played a notable role in shaping the evolution of the extended workforce industry. In recognizing two major shortcomings within the industry—vendor management systems (VMS) primarily catering to large enterprises and the untapped potential for talent visibility and compliance—Beeline has launched these additions to the Beeline Extended Workforce Platform. Beeline Professional has been crafted to meet the specific needs of emerging and expanding extended workforce programs. It stands as the first VMS solution that can be effortlessly activated, featuring pre-configured templates, workflows, dashboards, and reports modeled after the best-in-class programs. Beeline Professional brings scalable extended workforce management, automation, and efficiency to companies with annual non-employee labor expenditures ranging from $1 million to $25 million. Doug Leeby, Beeline's CEO, stated, For far too long, extended workforce solutions have catered to enterprises and ignored the unique needs of mid-sized programs. Using insights from over the last 20+ years in the industry, Beeline Professional is uniquely tailored to meet the core needs of mid-sized programs without compromising quality and innovation. [Source: PR Newswire] Up until now, achieving complete visibility across an organization's entire extended workforce has been a challenge for enterprises. Global Workforce Intelligence, however, offers a solution by aggregating data not only from the company's VMS but also from other systems housing external workers that are not captured in the VMS. This comprehensive workforce visibility enables thorough accounting, analysis, and proactive risk management across the entire extended workforce spectrum. Importantly, Global Workforce Intelligence is compatible with any VMS, not limited to Beeline's. Extended workers play a crucial role in an organization's overall workforce and talent strategy. Beeline's mission is to empower companies to gain a competitive edge by optimizing their extended workforce. The introduction of these two innovative products marks another milestone in Beeline's journey toward fulfilling this mission. About Beeline For over two decades, Beeline has been a competitive force in empowering global businesses to gain an edge in the industry through effective management of their extended workforce. The Beeline Extended Workforce Platform equips companies with the essential visibility needed to proactively mitigate risks, achieve cost savings, and adapt to evolving business needs. Beeline specializes in delivering tailored solutions that specifically address the intricate challenges posed by the extended workforce. Clients benefit from a diverse range of Beeline products, designed to cater to their unique requirements. Through seamless integration capabilities, Beeline's clients can effortlessly consolidate their extended workforce data from various technology platforms, including major procurement and HR systems, enabling a comprehensive approach to workforce management.

Read More

Employee Engagement

Oracle Elevates Employee Engagement with Innovative Rewards Platform

Oracle | September 22, 2023

Oracle introduces new employee recognition and rewards capabilities within Oracle ME, enhancing the employee experience in Oracle Fusion Cloud Human Capital Management. Oracle Celebrate, a unique recognition and rewards offering, aims to improve performance, engagement, and retention by personalizing the employee experience. Features of Oracle Celebrate include peer-to-peer recognition, AI assistance, nomination and event-based awards, redeemable points, recognition insights, real-time data, and a recognition-based social feed. Oracle has unveiled its latest enhancement to the Oracle ME employee experience platform, embedded within Oracle Fusion Cloud Human Capital Management (HCM). This development, Oracle Celebrate, stands out as a groundbreaking recognition and rewards solution designed to elevate performance, engagement, and staff retention by delivering a more customized and meaningful experience for employees. Yvette Cameron, Senior Vice President of Product Strategy at Oracle Cloud HCM, emphasized the significance of acknowledging employees and said, Employees are the foundation of any successful organization, and leaders need to ensure that their people feel celebrated and valued or risk losing both talent and productivity. [Source - Cision PR Newswire] Cameron stated that with Oracle Celebrate, organizations could now utilize a comprehensive and unified employee experience platform. She explained that this platform aligned recognition with company values to nurture a culture of appreciation and acknowledgment. Furthermore, she emphasized that it encouraged more impactful peer-to-peer interactions. Cameron highlighted that these newly introduced capabilities simplified employee recognition, made it meaningful and inclusive, and empowered HR and business leaders to give precedence to employee appreciation. She added that it also served to enhance engagement and motivation within the workforce. Key features of Oracle Celebrate include: Peer-to-peer recognition: This feature enables employees and leaders to acknowledge their colleagues across the organization in real time, with personalized recognition linked to business values. It seamlessly incorporates peer recognition into an employee's daily routine and work processes. Generative AI assistant: Employees can enhance peer-to-peer recognition by receiving suggested improvements for their submissions, facilitating the creation of more impactful recognition notes for peers. Recognition insights dashboard: Managers can access detailed insights about the recognition patterns within their teams, highlight individuals who may require additional support, and identify top contributors. Nomination and event-based awards: This feature permits employees to recognize their peers for significant events such as promotions and work anniversaries, as well as nominations made by managers and peers, such as the ‘Employee of the Month’. These recognitions are initiated by updates to employee profiles in Oracle Cloud HCM. Real-time recognition and engagement data: Organizations can continually update and monitor recognition programs with precise data, enabling administrators to measure their effectiveness and correlate recognition efforts with business outcomes. Redeemable points: Employees can accumulate points when recognized by team members, which can later be exchanged for rewards integrated into the system by the organization. Recognition-based social feed: Employers can create a real-time stream of organization-wide and team-wide awards and accolades, promoting camaraderie and increasing visibility for daily accomplishments. Zachary Chertok, the research manager for employee experience at IDC, mentioned that the applications and value of recognition are expanding and evolving as organizations rethink how they connect into and uplevel employee success. He also noted that building an ecosystem for recognition assists in sourcing the roots of achievement, moving the needle on best practices as success occurs, stimulating cultural acceptance around process innovation, and fostering belonging through community acknowledgement and appreciation. Ushaan Abeywickrema, the director of human resources at MAS Capital, noted that many organizations find it challenging to establish a straightforward system for ensuring that employees receive the praise and recognition they deserve. He pointed out that this represents a significant gap in the HR software market, especially considering the well-known importance of fostering a strong sense of value and accomplishment to enhance employee engagement and workforce efficiency. Abeywickrema also conveyed excitement about Oracle Celebrate and its potential to introduce innovative capabilities that could revolutionize how they personalize the employee journey. He expressed hope that Oracle Celebrate would make it easier to acknowledge the dedication and hard work of their team members, all while reinforcing their commitment to their organizational culture and productivity. He believed that by recognizing their contributions, their employees would feel more seen, supported, and empowered to perform at their best and deliver their finest work. Oracle Cloud HCM, a cloud-native solution, offers a comprehensive platform connecting all HR processes from hiring to retirement. It provides HR teams with a unified source of truth and leverages built-in AI to analyze workforce data, offering recommendations to enhance business operations.

Read More

Spotlight

Poly

Poly

Plantronics, Inc. (“Poly” – formerly Plantronics and Polycom) (NYSE: PLT) is a global communications company that powers meaningful human connection and collaboration. Poly combines legendary audio expertise and powerful video and conferencing capabilities to overcome the distractions, complexity, a...

Events

Resources