Key concepts

Before diving into the features, it helps to understand the core concepts that VPMHR is built around.

Organizational Structure

VPMHR uses a simple hierarchy to organize your work:

  • Organization – your company or business unit, set up when you first register
  • Groups – the departments or divisions within your organization (e.g., Talent Acquisition, Learning & Development, Total Rewards)

Groups are the backbone of VPMHR. Projects and resources are assigned to groups, so setting these up early gives you a clean foundation for everything else.

Programs

A program is a grouping of related projects. For example, an “HR Transformation” program might contain projects for a new HRIS implementation, process redesign, and change management. Programs let you view and report on related initiatives together.

Projects

Projects are the core unit of work in VPMHR. Each project tracks:

  • Basic details (name, description, dates)
  • Group and program assignment
  • Lifecycle stage (Not Started, Planning, Development, Implementation, Complete, or Abandoned)
  • People Cycle stage (see below)
  • Status across three dimensions (see below)

The Three-Dimensional Status Model

This is VPMHR’s signature feature. Instead of a single red/yellow/green status, every project is assessed on three independent dimensions:

  • Scope – is the project delivering the right scope?
  • Resources – does the team have adequate resources?
  • Timing – is the project on schedule?

Each dimension is rated Green (on track), Yellow (at risk), Red (off track), or Undefined.

The system calculates an overall status automatically:

  • Any dimension Undefined = Overall Undefined
  • Any dimension Red, or all three Yellow = Overall Red
  • Two Yellow = Overall Yellow
  • All Green = Overall Green

This model surfaces problems early and prevents a single “Green” from masking underlying risks.

The People Cycle

VPMHR categorizes projects by where they fall in the HR lifecycle:

  • Plan – workforce planning, organizational design
  • Engage – recruitment, onboarding, employee engagement
  • Perform – performance management, goal setting
  • Reward – compensation, benefits, recognition
  • Develop – learning, career development, succession planning

This gives leadership a view of how initiatives distribute across the full employee experience.

Strategic Themes

Strategic themes represent your organization’s strategic pillars or objectives (e.g., “Digital Transformation”, “Employee Experience”, “Operational Excellence”). Projects can be tagged with one or more strategic themes, giving you a clear picture of how day-to-day work connects to organizational strategy.

Resources

In VPMHR, resources are the people working on your projects. Each resource has a profile with contact information and group assignment, and can be assigned to projects with a defined role (Project Manager, Sponsor, or Team Member).

Issues, Risks, and Decisions

VPMHR provides integrated tracking for:

  • Issues – current problems affecting your projects
  • Risks – potential problems that may arise
  • Decisions – key choices made during project execution, with accountability and status tracking

These are linked directly to projects rather than managed in a separate system.