Item: Saba TalentSpace
Rating: 6
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

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 and Cons

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.

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.

Return on Investment

Made the actual process become almost run-rate. Very easy to maintain and duplicate year after year with new users - PRO.
Very difficult to customize as we change our needs. Any change typically requires more $ and time with a CSM which we can rarely land so we find alternatives - CON.
Drives our incentive program and it does a good job at exporting final data.

Alternatives Considered

I don't think it stacks up that great. I've used the program almost 4 years now and aside from a redesign to the Home Page, it's still the same program underneath the hood. For example, the Goals now appear as gauges rather than written text, but when you click on the goal - it goes to the old out-of-date looking Goals detailed page. It's only the home page that has been dressed up.
The actual reporting functionality and features haven't been addressed in the time I've used the program. I see what other companies are doing with their PM platforms and they're bringing all of these features in to a base product while Saba continues to sell them as components.

Support Rating

I gave this a 6. I think in the last 2 years, it's dropped considerably as nothing really changes within the program. I think a few years ago I would've given this an 8. We had a really strong CSM that was reachable all the time, especially as we were adapting it to speak to another program. She was really good and she departed and it's been silence since then. Only getting contacted from the vendor for a sales pitch without understanding our business in the slightest. Halogen was great but the Saba ownership has really turned it bad.

Key Insights

Do you think Saba TalentSpace delivers good value for the price?

Are you happy with Saba TalentSpace's feature set?

Yes

Did Saba TalentSpace live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Saba TalentSpace go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Saba TalentSpace again?

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.

A Great Program Once, Has Been Declining Since Saba Acquisition

Modules Used

Overall Satisfaction with Saba TalentSpace (formerly Halogen)