TrustRadius Insights for Saba TalentSpace are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.
Business Problems Solved
Halogen is a versatile software that has been widely adopted across organizations for various purposes. Users rely on Halogen for performance appraisals, pay for performance raise systems, and annual assessments. It efficiently captures and documents performance metrics while also creating and storing job descriptions. By eliminating the need for homegrown programs, Halogen provides flexibility for learning needs. The software streamlines the performance management process, ensuring clear goals and professional development opportunities for employees. HR departments appreciate Halogen's ability to centralize all reviews into an easy-to-use system of record. Ongoing conversations between employees and managers are facilitated, enabling timely feedback and support. Halogen is also beneficial for organizing and delivering training on a large scale, as it tracks all activities. Moreover, it has transformed the appraisal process from paper to digital, making it easy to report on and highly configurable. With its comprehensive features, Halogen serves as a single online source for employee appraisals, improved documentation, and easier tracking. It helps manage employee performance and reduces the administrative burden on HR. Halogen TalentSpace fosters a shared understanding of high performance by providing managers with a user-friendly solution for training and performance management across the organization. The system addresses various development issues such as succession planning, form consistency, and data storage concerns. Managers and employees can track goals, feedback, development, and important conversations in one accessible place using Halogen. This promotes transparency and communication between supervisors and employees through feedback sharing. The software also aids in transitioning from a performance review culture to a more efficient performance management culture. Users have reported that Halogen has helped them move away from rigid systems towards more flexible and dynamic approaches in their organizations. By facilitating open communication and collaboration within teams, the software has become an integral part of many organizations' performance management processes.
We used Saba TalentSpace to administer our performance management process throughout the organization. We were seeking a solution to transform of appraisal process from paper to digital.
Pros
Easy-to-follow interface.
Ability for customization.
Cons
On-demand training.
Offer add-on modules at a more affordable price point.
Administrator features are cumbersome.
Likelihood to Recommend
Saba TalentSpace is best suited for large organizations with budgets capable of supporting all modules and a staff dedicated to the management and oversight of the system. As a small non-profit with neither of these things, Saba was not the right fit for us.
VU
Verified User
Professional in Human Resources (51-200 employees)
We use Saba Talent Space and Job Description builder. It is managed by the Human Resources department and is used throughout the organization. We not only use the system as it was intended to handle things like a 90 day appraisal and the annual appraisal as well as assigning and signing off on job descriptions. We also use the system to reduce paper processes. Other process we use halogen for are performance improvement, tuition reimbursement, continuing education, exit interviews, fitness subsidy reimbursement and signing off on policies and procedures. Many of our processes are set up on automatic pilot for enrollment.
Using Halogen again helps us to convert paper processes into electronic ones improving accountability and compliance. All of this works to improve employee satisfaction and increased feedback and recognition.
Pros
Feedback and recognition.
Performance improvement.
Performance management.
Cons
Printing functionality.
Licensing.
Form and language flexibility.
Likelihood to Recommend
One thing I really appreciate about Saba is the support department. Whenever I want to create a process they will listen and help me by providing options on what the system's capabilities are.
Some of the language within the forms cannot be changed unless you change the language in the entire system. So the more creative you become the system can become more restrictive.
Currently we use it for our performance management process and for our e-learning course delivery. As a company with a broad geographic, having an e-learning platform to sync and distribute our learning and year-end process is essential. It also allows us to track, coach, and consult with other areas of the business based on its User Centre.
Pros
Easy to maintain and update.
Easy for each HR Business Partner to track their own client group's activities and past performances.
Easy to roll out company-wide processes at once and duplicate it for future years.
Cons
Updates are focused on the wrong areas.
Support has gotten very poor since becoming Saba. Almost impossible to get our CSM on the line and it seems to change monthly.
Any add-ons cost a lot - even for features that should be included in the base package.
Likelihood to Recommend
It's really fine for having everything digitized and communicated to your employees. For performance, you can open the process and customize the notifications for all employees and the reminder emails and whatnot. Very easy to maintain users during an active process. There are some odd glitches during processes if you use certain steps (i.e. employee self appraisal, manager appraisal, next level approval - if a mistake is made, it needs to be rolled all the way back to the beginning).
The big problem we have is that it makes things almost impossible to take OUT of the system. Good luck printing goals or moving them to a different place for reviewing. It doesn't happen too often but fundamental features within a Performance Management System are missing here.
We currently utilize Saba TalentSpace to handle our annual appraisal processes, goal-setting processes, and training administrations. Due to organizational complexities, the project is being utilized departmentally. For those departments that can take advantage of a cloud-based system it significantly reduces the number of paper transactions and greatly reduces the administrative burden we once had to track down training records and appraisals. This system also allows us to deliver standardized online training to meet our compliance needs across the organization.
Pros
The form creator in the appraisal is very strong with many robust features.
The LMS allows imports of SCORM 1.2, AICC and Tin Can.
The newly designed dashboard is user-friendly and appealing to end-users.
Cons
Offline adaptability.
The LMS could use more AI or machine learning to reduce admin burden.
Missing some sort of social collaboration tool.
Likelihood to Recommend
This system fits very well with small to mid-size organizations looking for a cloud-based system. At a minimum, I highly recommend the performance management tool. I also strongly recommend understanding your end-user populations. If you happen to work in an industry with low technology utilization I'd advise against a cloud-based system like this.
It is used for yearly employee evaluations. We self-evaluate and then our supervisors evaluate us via Halogen. We also use it to rate our coworkers on occasion. I think it helps make employee evaluations easier and pretty consistent year to year. It's also used to keep track of goals that were given to us during our evaluations, so it can be utilized all year long, not just during the evaluation period.
Pros
I think it's a great tool to keep evaluations uniform, by using a consistent format.
It's great that you are able to see all your reviews from the past, so you can see how your evaluations were in the past and how you may want to change things for the future.
It's pretty user friendly, you just fill in the spaces answer the questions or giving the descriptions that are asked of you. You don't have to be a computer tech to use it.
Cons
I think some of the format could be paired down. While it is user friendly, there are some extra spaces and steps that could confuse a first time user. For example, some sections don't apply to my position, but they still show up on my evaluation. I know by now that I don't have to fill this out, but some people might be confused by this and wonder how to answer the question when it doesn't apply to them. (This probably may be with my company, however, as I'm not sure how much control they have over the format of the evaluations.)
The goals space should be able to be ongoing, instead of needing an end date. Some goals my supervisor set are ongoing goals, so since they don't have an end date, it appears as if they are overdue on Halogen.
It's really not that difficult to use. It just has a lot of extras I think that don't always get utilized. The option to hide some of those things (i.e. Learning Goals, or Development Goals) I think would be another improvement.
Likelihood to Recommend
I think it's great for evaluation time, both self and for supervisors. I'm not really sure how else you would use it. It's nice that you can do your self-evaluation, then once your supervisor completes their evaluation of you, you can easily see and compare the two. It's also well suited for viewing your job performance over the years.
We use the Learning and Performance modules in Saba TalentSpace, and we use them with every employee in our organization. We use Performance to complete our annual performance appraisal process. We also create 90-day reviews for new hires, as well as offboarding appraisals for those leaving the organization. We use the Learning module primarily for our annual compliance training which is quite extensive.
Pros
The support line has been wonderful, especially as I initially learned to navigate the complexities of the product.
Champions HQ is a wonderful way to connect with other administrators and learn more effective ways of using the product to support our organization.
Cons
The product is very robust and hasn't been intuitive for our end users, or back end users to figure out. The biggest issue we still have after over 4 years of using this product is how to launch a course. End users click on the underlined title of the course expecting the course to launch but instead get a course description box. Its been very difficult for them to see and click the small round button that launches the course.
One feature I miss (that a previous LMS had) is the ability to log into an employee's learning profile and withdraw them from several classes at once. I have to load each course, search through the list of participants and withdraw the employee from each course.
Since Halogen has merged to become Saba, I noticed that people on the support line seem more rushed to find a solution (any solution) for the issue I have and I often feel rushed off the call.
Likelihood to Recommend
Based on our experiences with TalentSpace I think it is best suited for an organization that is truly committed to building a learning and performance culture and will leverage the tools that TalentSpace provides. We haven't taken full advantage of these tools and it often seems that we are paying for far more than we need or use.
VU
Verified User
Professional in Human Resources (51-200 employees)
We use Saba TalentSpace as a performance management tool. Our managers use the 1:1 module to track performance and touch base on the goals and development plan. The feedback module is used organization-wide to send and receive positive feedback. We also use the LMS module and have created inhouse programs and also use a few third-party vendor programs for our tech, internal processes, and compliance trainings. Saba TS helped us move from a performance review culture to a performance management culture.
Pros
1:1 meeting module allows our managers to have frequent performance conversations with their employees. Previously this was done once a year.
Goals Module allows the employees to have transparency on how their individual goals impact the corporate goals.
Development plans allow employees to stay focused on the skills development they need and also help them with their career planning and growth.
Cons
A separate test environment
LMS can be more user friendly
Expand the use to allow it to handle mentoring programs.
Likelihood to Recommend
This is very useful for an organization where employee development is a core value. I cannot think of where this might not be well suited. If you are a company looking to move from a performance review culture to a performance management culture then Saba TalentSpace is your solution. But like with everything you also want to implement this in a culture where top management supports the initiative.
Saba TalentSpace/Halogen is being utilized at our organization as a whole with all benefited employees. We are looking at the possibility integrate some of our faculty positions as well moving forward.
Pros
The reminders are great, therefore, keeping you on track.
Completing the appraisal through the stages is a smooth transition.
The capability of being able to redirect an appraisal back to a manager or employee to complete is awesome.
Resource center has great information.
Cons
The reports have room for improvement. Being able to access reports without having to go into the process detail would be efficient.
Likelihood to Recommend
I have worked on other systems and Halogen is great for a higher education institution. The system allows for flexibility to extend out the appraisal as well as create appraisals based on your company/department needs.
Performance and Learning Management globally across the business.
HR manages the systems centrally from global headquarters in the US. We use it for our annual performance review process, goal setting, and development plans. We utilize the learning feature across departments (compliance, safety, and IT) and in launching live webinars, classroom sessions, and e-learnings.
Pros
Searchable Catalog for Learning - this allows our employees to search for learning that applies to their development goals. They have a catalog feature we were make sure each language has a substantial amount of courses so our global employees can take advantage of e-learning, etc as well.
Performance and Development Connection - my linking performance management and development goals this becomes a seamless process for our employees
Customer Support - we love the Halogen Champions platform where there are fun challenges and learning opportunities about the system.
Cons
Reporting - could be more concise and clear. Our managers and leaders struggle on pulling reports for their employees.
User-Friendly - on learning control center side (for learning administrators) the interface is not that intuitive and takes a while to get used to.
Prompts are not intuitive.
Likelihood to Recommend
The Halogen TalentSpace is suited for attaching learning courses to goal forms and e-learning content storage. We find the customer support great and the system works for what we need it to do. We'd love it to be a little "next-level" or "above and beyond". It's a bit clunky at times but gets the job done.
VU
Verified User
Administrator in Human Resources (1001-5000 employees)
