94 Percent of HR Professionals Feel Their Workforces Are Not Adequately Prepared.

Softscape Survey Reveals Significant Senior Management Concerns About Employee Retention, Development, and Performance

WAYLAND, Mass. -- Softscape, a market leader in web-based human capital management software products, today unveiled the findings of its third annual "State of the Global Talent Nation" report (http://www.softscape.com/whitepapers/SGTN.htm), which offers insight into how organizations are managing their workforces.

An unprecedented 94 percent of human resources professionals do not feel that their personnel are adequately prepared to meet their companies' future goals. With a 30 percent rise in workforce preparedness concerns since just 2006, it is no surprise that the top issues facing organizations today are all related to employee retention, development, and performance. These concerns also have the full attention of senior management with the majority of respondents citing talent management initiatives as top priorities for executives.

Softscape surveyed more than 250 human resources professionals from around the world with the distribution of respondents spread almost evenly across a variety of industries and among small, mid-size, and large organizations. The HR professionals were asked numerous questions about their workforce skill readiness, perceived process deficiencies, business drivers for integrating human capital management processes, and what key initiatives are being undertaken to ensure staff preparedness.

Key findings from the "State of the Global Talent Nation" report include:

* Workforce productivity is a new focus as organizations seek to do more with less while trying to contain costs

* Individual roles are becoming more multi-functional and are requiring ongoing skill development and real-time learning and collaboration

* Whether they are expanding or downsizing, companies are seeking to leverage centralized shared services to support global initiatives

* As the more tactical HR functions are commoditized, strategic human resources functions are becoming further integrated and outsourced

* Productivity gains and cost reductions are being realized through systematic focus on improving talent management processes

* Changing workforce demographics are forcing organizations to deploy new approaches to how they plan, hire, develop, and retain their staffs

"Ongoing business transformation is prompting organizations to look for ways to rapidly evolve their workforces to achieve new levels of productivity and effectiveness, and the connection between effectiveness and shareholder value has clearly reached the executive suite," said Christopher Faust, executive vice president global strategy, Softscape. "To successfully address senior management's concerns, human resources leadership needs to embrace its strategic role as an executive partner and define and execute a holistic human capital management strategy that builds a superior corporate culture based on performance and accountability."

The report includes important data about where organizations are struggling, how they are improving, and the top priorities for senior management, including:

* 92 percent of respondents say improving the quality of hire is a top priority for executives

* 89 percent of respondents are implementing performance-driven learning initiatives

* 81 percent of respondents link competencies to the hiring process

* 69 percent of respondents measure training ROI 

* 66 percent of respondents say improving workforce productivity is a top priority for executives

The report also shows executives clearly understand that to effectively compete and grow their businesses, they need to employ a high achieving workforce that is not bogged down by cumbersome, time-intensive paper-based processes. Organizations are truly concerned about the current ability of their workforces to meet future plans and are beginning to take steps to fix the problem. The deployment of integrated human capital management technology is helping them improve retention, development, and the measurement of their workforces' performance.

For more information, download the "State of the Global Talent Nation" executive brief at http://www.softscape.com/whitepapers/SGTN.htm.

About Softscape (www.softscape.com)

Softscape is a leading provider of web-based human capital management (HCM) software products to a broad range of corporations and public sector agencies. Softscape's comprehensive, integrated products are designed to enable companies in all industries and geographies to monitor more effectively the performance of their employees and drive business results by enhancing employee productivity and effectiveness, facilitating long-term planning, and reducing operational costs. Softscape's customers represent Fortune 500/Global 500, mid-market, and government organizations, including Seagate, GKN, Edcon, AstraZeneca, Barclays, LandAmerica, Medica, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Softscape is based in Massachusetts with offices in London, New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Hartford, Washington, D.C., Bangkok, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, and Sydney.

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