A roundup of important HR and HR tech news in the first half of March 2021.
This month has begun on a good note for HR companies when it comes to investment as they continue to rake in the big bucks. Meanwhile, quite a few grabbed eyeballs with innovative launches keeping in mind the challenges businesses are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Table of Contents
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- Sandy Hoffman—Procore’s New VP of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging
- Mike Van Aken Joins Acosta as Chief Human Resources Officer
- Wendy’s Get A New Vice President, Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer
- ForwardPMX Hires Andrea Bredau as Global Chief People Officer
- Christopher Raia Joins DuPont as Chief Human Resources Officer
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- Wisetail Launches New Learning Experience Platform
- Indeed Aims To Revolutionize Hiring With Its Indeed Hiring Platform
- Paycore Comes Up With a New Talent Development Solution
- WorkJam Releases Digital Launchpad To Aide Frontline Workforce Orchestration
- Stoke Talent Launches Worker Classification Engine To Manage Costly Compliance Risks
- Flimp Launches WorkforceTXT Â To Improve Employee Benefits Communications
HR Funding News
SeekOut Raises $65 Million, Eyes Team Building
SeekOut has recently raisedOpens a new window $65 million in Series B funding led by Tiger Global Management. Its existing investors Madrona Venture Group and Mayfield also participated in the round. This capital raise brings the AI-powered Talent 360 platform’s total funding to $73 million and reflects 10X growth in the 21 months since the company’s Series A round. This also SeekOut at close to half a billion dollars. The new funds will be used to innovate and build the team.
Papaya Global Sees $100 Million Funding, Valuation reaches $1 billion
GreenOaks Capital Partners, IVP Ventures and Alkeon have recently pumped Opens a new window in $100 million to Papaya Global as part of its Series C round, bringing its valuation across $1 billion. The company’s existing investors Insight Venture Partners, Scale Ventures, Bessemer Ventures, Dynamic Loop, New Era and Workday Ventures, Access Ventures and Group 11 also participated in the round. Papaya’s total funding is now $190 million. The new funds will be used to meet the strong demand for its global workforce management platform, reinforce its market leadership, and invest in its product.
Centrical Closes $32 Million Funding Round
Centrical has recently announcedOpens a new window the closing of a $32 million funding round. It was led by new investor Intel Capital, who was also joined by the company’s largest shareholder JVP. The employee-centric success platform also witnessed the participation of C4 Ventures and Citi Ventures as well as existing investors Aleph, CE Ventures, La Maison Compagnie d’Investissment and 2B Angels. The funding will not only be used to accelerate market engagement, but also enter new markets, and enhance customer value.
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HR Hiring Watch
Sandy Hoffman—Procore’s New VP of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging
Procore Technologies Inc has recently hiredOpens a new window Sandy Hoffman as the company’s VP of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging. She will be responsible for evolving Procore’s culture of belonging by developing, implementing, and monitoring diversity and inclusion initiatives. Hoffman, who will be reporting to Chief talent Officer Pat Wador, will also oversee creating a more inclusive and diverse construction industry.
Mike Van Aken Joins Acosta as Chief Human Resources Officer
Mike Van Ake has joinedOpens a new window Acosta as its Chief Human Resources Officer. Brian Wynne, CEO at Acosta said that Mike’s expertise will help transform the operating model and build a diverse and high-performing team. He will also be responsible to strengthen and modernize Acista’s capabilities. Mike already has 20 years of HR experience across large public organizations, smaller privately held businesses and startups.
Wendy’s Get A New Vice President, Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer
The Wendy’s Company has recently appointedOpens a new window Dr. Beverly Stallings-Johnson as their vice president, chief diversity, equity & inclusion officer, a newly created position. She will be responsible for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion across Wendy’s global system, including with employees, franchisees, and suppliers. Prior to Wendy’s, Beverly was working as chief diversity officer for the City of Columbus, leading the City’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion. Todd Penegor, president and CEO at Wendy’s said, “Beverly will be a critical leader within the Wendy’s System to help advance our journey as an employer of choice and community member.â€
ForwardPMX Hires Andrea Bredau As Global Chief People Officer
ForwardPMX has hired Andrea BredauOpens a new window as global chief people officer. She brings over 20 years of Human Resources experience and will be leading the agency’s Human Resources delivery to staff across more than fifteen countries around the world. Andrea will also be responsible for driving the global People and Talent agenda by supporting the company’s investment in the infrastructures to empower teams and unlock innovation and potential. “Andrea’s world-class leadership skills and passion for nurturing a culture which produces fulfilled, motivated and high-performing teams were why we felt she would be a great hire for this critical role. This is an important year for the agency, and Andrea will be instrumental in driving the strategic vision for our talent and cultural development,†said ForwardPMX Global CEO, James Townsend.
Christopher Raia Joins DuPont As Chief Human Resources Officer
Christopher Raia has joinedOpens a new window DuPont as their senior vice president and chief human resources officer. Raia, who has 25 years of experience across all HR competencies, will be responsible for advancing the company’s innovation, portfolio, and DE&I strategies. Raia who is known for his deep commitment to talent development, agile working practices, and employee well-being has served as senior vice president talent and organization effectiveness at Newell Brands and at Citizens Bank.
HR Tech Product Launches
Wisetail Launches New Learning Experience Platform
Wisetail has come upOpens a new window with its new website and Learning Experience Platform (LXP) to help its customers create better business outcomes by increasing engagement and learning. The new platform boasts a modern, community-focused look and feel, thanks to bright, inviting colors and an intuitive layout. LXP will also assist companies as they transition to the digital world. With Wisetail, companies can stop worrying about the need for paper manuals as employees, partners and customers can onboard and learn about the latest company news on the platform.
Indeed Aims To Revolutionize Hiring With Its Indeed Hiring Platform
Indeed has recently announcedOpens a new window the launch of the Indeed Hiring Platform, which is expected to dramatically shorten the time it takes to get candidates into jobs, from weeks to days. The platform will help employers quickly ramp up hiring in a simple fast, and fairway. Employers can now set objective screening criteria so that any job seeker, whose skills match the opportunity, has an opportunity to interview directly through the platform. Chris Hyams, CEO at Indeed said, “In response to the pandemic, last year we launched Indeed Interview to make it safe and effective for job seekers to interview over video. Now we’ve connected the dots from job search directly to interview, making hiring simpler, faster, and more human. Our vision is to make getting a job as easy as pushing a button, and Indeed Hiring Platform gets us one step closer.â€
Paycore Comes Up With A New Talent Development Solution
Paycor announces a new talent development solutionOpens a new window called Paycor Talent Development,  to help companies focus on continuous development with coaching conversations so that employees feel more engaged, create the right level of focus and deliver better business outcomes. The performance management software will not only help businesses inspire employees and improve efficiency but also align their workforce to their company’s top priorities. Talking about Paycore Talent development, Ryan Bergstrom, chief product officer, said that with a product like that they are able to help HR and business leaders “shift to more continuous development and coaching conversations that will help employees feel more engagedâ€.
WorkJam Releases Digital Launchpad To Aide Frontline Workforce Orchestration
Leading digital workplace platform for organizations with frontline and hourly employees WorkJam has recently announced the release of Opens a new window  WorkJam Digital Launchpad. It will enable any organization to leverage the WorkJam UX to provide frontline employees with a single point of entry for external workflows, applications, and systems. With this new system, organizations can also improve employee engagement and productivity as well as accelerate their time to achieving frontline workforce orchestration — defined as the final step of reaching full frontline digital workplace maturity. Steven Kramer, President and CEO at WorkJam believes that the launchpad is a future-proof tool that will make organizations able to harvest the massive productivity and engagement gains. “We look forward to seeing some of the world’s largest brands take advantage of the superior user experience and adoption within WorkJam to drive even more return on investment from their current investments in other enterprise systems and knowledge repositories,†he added.
Stoke Talent Launches Worker Classification Engine To Manage Costly Compliance Risks
Stoke Talent has recently releasedOpens a new window its Worker Classification Engine – an artificial intelligence algorithmic screening solution that will offer early detection of high-risk independent contractor and/or freelancer relationships. This will be beneficial for companies as these relationships, if left undetected, could lead to costly misclassification penalties and possible lawsuits. The Worker Misclassification Engine, which is the first product of its kind, was developed based on the analysis of thousands of past workforce misclassification cases.
Flimp Launches WorkforceTXT For To Improve employee benefits communications
Flimp Communications earlier this month announced the availabilityOpens a new window of its WorkforceTXT – a texting platform for workforce and employee benefits communications. This platform is extremely relevant now as employees continue to work remotely due to COVID-19 pandemic and more HR teams and benefits managers are embracing workforce texting to complement or replace traditional email. WorkforceTXT, which is HIPAA compliant, easy to implement, and comes with a high level of training and support, was  designed to solve all the communication woes of employers and benefits providers and push for educational and training content to employees with advanced tracking and reporting metrics.
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HR Tech Partnerships
Betterment’s 401(k) & Zenefits Join hand To Strengthen Retirement Readiness for Smaller Businesses
Betterment’s technology-led 401(k) provider has recently partneredOpens a new window with people operations platform Zenefits to provide a seamless access to Betterment’s industry-leading 401(k) plan and wider suite of employee financial wellness tools. Betterment’s 401(k) offerings are available to customers via the Zenefits marketplace from earlier this month. Kristen Carlisle, General Manager of Betterment for Business said, “Small businesses and startups make up the backbone of America, and have been faced with countless challenges during the ongoing pandemic. We firmly believe that supporting the financial well-being of their employees is vital to help them continue to grow and flourish and want to make great benefits packages attainable and affordable for everyone.†Carlisle also said that by partnering with leading platforms like Zenefits, they hope to create a “new gold standard for financial wellness programs†for businesses and their hardworking employees.
Workday Acquires Peakon, Aims Elevate Employee Voice
Leading provider of enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources Workday, Inc has acquiredOpens a new window Peakon ApS – an employee success platform that converts feedback into actionable insights. The acquisition will provide the organizations with access to a continuous listening platform, including real-time visibility into employee experience, sentiment, and productivity, to help drive engagement and improve organizational performance. Customers also get a huge benefit from this acquisition as they will gain richer insights into their employee experience gaps.
Visier Enters Into A Strategic Partnership with PeopleFluent
Visier, leader in people analytics and planning, has joined handOpens a new window with PeopleFluent, known for providing cloud-based talent acquisition and management. The partnership will make Visier’s people analytics platform available as part of PeopleFluent’s talent management technology platform. Dave Weisbeck, Chief Strategy Officer at Visier said, “We are excited to be partnering with PeopleFluent to put Visier’s analytics into the hands of thousands of customers. Bringing these two solutions together gives those customers incredible opportunities to better understand and make informed decisions about their people.â€
JazzHR & Gusto Enter Integrated Partnership To Streamline New-Hire Onboarding Process
JazzHR has recently announcedOpens a new window an integrated partnership with payroll-management provider Gusto with the aim to help small and midsize businesses speed the transition from candidate to employee. The integrated solution is expected to help mutual customers securely send new-hire information directly to Gusto from JazzHR to create payroll records. This effectively eliminates manual data entry and seamlessly kicking off the onboarding process. JazzHR’s Chief Sales Officer Chuck Brownfield said, “With the integration, teams can now turn candidate information into new employee records with a single click, empowering them to increase employee engagement while saving both time and money.â€
HR Surveys
Topia Survey Highlights Massive Tax Compliance Risks For Enterprises
Topia recently releasedOpens a new window the results of its annual “Adapt†survey, which revealed that remote work has created massive tax compliance risks for enterprises. According to the survey, 28% of employees have worked outside their home state or country, but only one-third reported all those days to HR. This made it employers fail to withhold payroll taxes appropriately but they didn’t realize it. “Unless HR monitors where employees work—something 94% of employees are open to—enterprises risk hefty penalties in the event of an audit,†said the study.
Modern Hire’s Third Annual Report Reveals Hiring Trends Of 2021
Science-based hiring platform Modern Hire has identified Opens a new window the most influential hiring trends for 2021 in its third annual Hiring Trends Report. They are Leverage talent agility, build hiring processes immune to shock with automation, increased urgency for diversity in hiring, candidate experience as brand experience and increased emphasis on human-centered AI. Karin Borchert, CEO of Modern Hire said these five trends will be among the most influential to creating more fair, efficient and effective hiring processes in 2021 and beyond. “Enterprises must take action now to modernize and automate their hiring processes to remain competitive and hire top talent this year – and for many years to come,†he added.
More Than Half of Employees Will Look for a New Job in 2021, Reveals Achievers Report
Achievers’ 4th annual Employee Engagement & Retention Report found that more than half of North American employees plan to look for Opens a new window a new job in 2021. This is because of the high level of stress employees are dealing with in the pandemic. The survey also revealed that one in four employees named work-life balance as the reason they would look for a new job. According to Dr. Natalie Baumgartner, Chief Workforce Scientist, Achievers Workforce Institute, “This year’s Employee Engagement & Retention Report revealed how the pandemic is affecting today’s workforce, with work-life balance – or lack thereof – being a key component as to why an employee might be motivated to seek other career opportunities. Understanding what is important to your employees and acting on feedback they provide is essential to creating a company where employees thrive, rather than simply survive.â€