Authoria Drives Success of Leading Retail Organizations Through Unified Approach to Talent Management.

Achieves Significant Sector Penetration and Brand-Name Customer Deployments

WALTHAM, Mass. -- Authoria, Inc., the leader in integrated talent management solutions, today announced that it has achieved substantial customer momentum in the retail sector. Ahold USA, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Genuine Parts, Phillips-Van Heusen, Starbucks, and Toys R Us are some of the marquee retail organizations that have leveraged Authoria Talent Management to reduce employee turnover, sell higher-margin products and services, increase profitability, and improve customer satisfaction.

While many industries face a shortage of qualified candidates for critical positions, retailers are especially hard-pressed. Industry-specific challenges include high annual employee turnover, the need to create a compelling talent brand for job-seekers, and the difficulty of aligning managers and employees in highly distributed store operations. "Despite the threat of an economic slowdown, the demand for people with exceptional abilities and skills applicable inside a [retail] organization will exceed the supply for years to come," says Knowledge Infusion, a recognized consulting authority on HR and talent management, in a just-published report.1

To fill these significant gaps in workers and skill sets, executives and HR professionals in the retail industry must implement strategic talent-management initiatives that attract, identify, develop, reward, and retain the next generation of business leaders. A key requirement of such initiatives, according to Knowledge Infusion, is that they unify talent-management functions that have traditionally been treated as silos, including talent acquisition, performance management, compensation, employee development, and succession planning.

"At Family Dollar, talent management is a key component of our strategy as we move to develop, reward, and retain our high-performing team members," said David Strauss, HRIS Manager for Family Dollar. "Implementing a comprehensive talent management solution for performance, compensation, and succession reinforces our commitment to this strategy and helps drive a culture focused on talent and performance."

"Retailers have a strong appetite for tools that can help replenish the supply of qualified workers, mobilize them, and align them effectively with business goals," said Tod Loofbourrow, Authoria Chairman and CEO. "Retail managers, HR professionals, and employees all require comprehensive, 'iPod-simple' solutions in order to make the connection between individual and team performance and organizational results. Today, more than 800,000 retail managers and employees leverage Authoria's industry-leading usability, helping companies such as Family Dollar ensure that they continue to grow and deliver excellent financial results."

Authoria Talent Management is the first solution to provide HR professionals and business managers with single-point access to all strategic talent functions - including recruiting, performance management, compensation, succession planning, and employee development. Leveraging a centralized "core," shared data, and a single user interface, Authoria Talent Management enables HR professionals and business managers to maximize the effectiveness of their workforce in achieving business goals.

The Knowledge Infusion white paper Do or Die: The Talent Management Imperative in Retail is available free, for a limited time, at www.authoria.com/retail.

About Authoria

Authoria[R] helps the world's most competitive employers achieve superior business results, by optimizing the way they recruit, develop, compensate, retain, and engage top talent. Designed for business managers as well as HR professionals, the company's talent management solutions enable more effective recruiting, performance management, compensation management, and succession planning across an organization. Authoria serves more than 300 large organizations and 4 million managers and employees with our on-demand Internet-based solutions. Customer companies include Aetna, Alcon, and Boeing. For more information, visit www.authoria.com.

Note to editors: Authoria and the Authoria logo are registered trademarks, and Authoria Talent Management is a trademark of Authoria, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other product names and references contained herein remain the service marks, trademarks, or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

1 Do or Die: The Talent Management Imperative in Retail, Knowledge Infusion Center of Excellence, July 2008.