Cornerstone OnDemand review by Inspector Jones

Cornerstone OnDemand is an integrated package of modules aimed at large businesses, focusing on handling all matters dealing with employment and training. There is a cut-down version of the package, the Cornerstone Growth Edition which caters for the needs of small and medium sized businesses with less than 400 employees.

The full product consists of seven modules. The Growth Edition combines a cut-down version of the modules: Performance and Learning.

Cornerstone is now a cloud-based product, available wherever there is internet reception. Cornerstone Mobile (for both iOS and Android) offers some, but not all, of the functionality of the full product. This is an area which still needs development.

Cornerstone OnDemand Recruiting focuses on helping a business recruit the best people. It manages the administration involved in recruitment. It ties in with the other modules, and for instance will recommend internal employees who may be a good fit to be promoted to a higher position.

Cornerstone Onboarding is the section of the package which helps induct new workers into the workplace, providing them with any necessary information, handbooks, policies etc. Despite its name, this module also handles transfers, relocations, retirements and offboarding, as well as new hires.

Many firms have huge professional development requirements for their employees. Sometimes this is needed to meet compliance and certification. Cornerstone Learning is an eLearning portal which organizes and facilitates training programs for employees. It keeps a record for each employee of the training they have taken.

Much of the training can happen within this module itself, as it facilitates the actual online training. This is one of the areas that does work well with the mobile app. Firms can either set up their owning training material, or they can use a range of courses offered by Cornerstone. Be aware that some of the Cornerstone material is somewhat dry, so you may prefer to provide your own material if you want anything interactive for your employees.

Cornerstone Connect is a social collaboration tool that connects employees. It provides a venue for employees, executives and partners to communicate. Included in this section is the capability to set up task lists for individual employees and groups. In practice this is one of the most functional and easy-to-use parts of the entire package.

Cornerstone Performance is the module where managers are able to review the performance of each employee (and indeed peer review is possible in here too). There is the capability to set up a skills matrix for each employee which can be compared against required skills for positions and then any necessary training set up in Cornerstone Learning.

Cornerstone Compensation focuses on the various forms of payment provided to each employee. It is not a Payroll system (you would need a separate program for that). It does enable managers to determine what each employee is receiving, and whether that ties up with their skills and performance.

Cornerstone Succession creates succession plans focusing on a firm’s most talented, highest-potential employees.

Cornerstone Analytics provides about 200 standard reports, as well as many customized versions, and dashboards.

Cornerstone continually develop their product, with regular updates. Support appears to become stretched after each update, and perhaps this is an area where they could listen more to customer feedback.

Overall, Cornerstone On Demand has developed into a comprehensive all-in-one product, primarily aimed at large businesses, to help them make the most of their employees’ talents.