Avantos Announces Next-Generation Technology for Performance Appraisal Automation.EMERYVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 27, 1995--Avantos Performance Systems today announced the release of a major upgrade to its award-winning Adj. 1. award-winning - having received awards; "this award-winning bridge spans a distance of five miles" performance appraisal Performance appraisal, also known as employee appraisal, is a method by which the performance of an employee is evaluated (generally in terms of quality, quantity, cost and time). software tool, Review Writer for Windows, and an all-new software system for performance appraisal management, Avantos AMS/3. The two offerings provide complete solutions for different market segments: individual managers seeking a faster way to write effective appraisals (Review Writer 3.0) and Human Resources The fancy word for "people." The human resources department within an organization, years ago known as the "personnel department," manages the administrative aspects of the employees. departments seeking a complete appraisal management solution (Avantos AMS/3). Current Review Writer customers can upgrade to either product. Review Writer 3.0 helps managers write highly effective performance appraisals more quickly than is possible with traditional paper- or template-based systems. It combines a simple, structured process for setting up and writing reviews with expert advice and suggested content. Avantos AMS/3 is a comprehensive system designed for organization-wide usage. It offers managers the same assistance with writing reviews, while providing Human Resources departments and senior executives with unprecedented reporting, customization, and network administration tools. "Enhancing our appraisal software product line with Review Writer 3.0 and Avantos AMS/3 reflects our corporate initiative to offer complete solutions to support both individuals and entire organizations," said Norm Wu, President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Avantos Performance Systems. "Managers want a productivity solution--an easier, faster way to write quality appraisals. Human Resources wants to help managers be more productive, and also wants to benefit from a better way to manage the process and leverage investments to maximize organizational effectiveness Organizational effectiveness is the concept of how effective an organization is in achieving the outcomes the organization intends to produce. The idea of organizational effectiveness is especially important for non-profit organizations as most people who donate money to non-profit . These two offerings reflect our `total solution' approach for both groups." New Features Improve Appraisal Quality, Ease-of-Use, Customization Capability In both Review Writer 3.0 and Avantos AMS/3, new and improved performance factors and suggested text help managers build clear, concise, high- quality paragraphs for effective appraisals. New Rating Tips offer on-line expert guidance and suggestions as managers evaluate employees on specific performance factors or competencies, helping managers more accurately rate performance. The new Improvement Ideas provide managers with specific suggestions for employee development for each performance factor or competency COMPETENCY, evidence. The legal fitness or ability of a witness to be heard on the trial of a cause. This term is also applied to written or other evidence which may be legally given on such trial, as, depositions, letters, account-books, and the like. 2. . These suggestions can be accessed when performance is rated, and can be pasted paste 1 n. 1. A soft, smooth, thick mixture or material, as: a. A smooth viscous mixture, as of flour and water or of starch and water, that is used as an adhesive for joining light materials, such as paper and cloth. directly into review documents. To better match company-standard appraisal forms, the new Form Designer allows managers to customize the review form, including drawing lines and boxes, or adding bitmap logos. Both products also reflect a new interface design based on feedback from comprehensive comparative usability How easy something is to use. Both software and Web sites can be tested for usability. Considering how difficult applications are to use and Web sites are to navigate, one would wish that more designers took this seriously. See user interface and usability lab. tests. Enhanced QuickBuild, a structured mode-of-use that leads users through each step of setting up and writing the appraisal, makes the process faster and easier for the manager. Avantos AMS/3 delivers new "HR-Enabling" Technology Designed for centralized cen·tral·ize v. cen·tral·ized, cen·tral·iz·ing, cen·tral·iz·es v.tr. 1. To draw into or toward a center; consolidate. 2. management by HR departments, Avantos AMS/3 is a complete appraisal management system that helps HR maximize the positive impact of appraisals on employee performance and company results. It includes all of the robust enhancements for managers found in Review Writer 3.0 plus powerful new customization tools and "HR-enabling" technology such as: - Centralized performance appraisal management. The Network Administration module makes it easy for HR to centrally administer the system. - Completely customizable content. The Content Editor allows HR professionals to customize all areas of the product's content, including the Suggested Text, Improvement Ideas, Rating Tips, and Legal Check. HR can also add new performance factors with accompanying text, so that the system is completely compliant with individual companies' specific competencies. - Automatic appraisal status-tracking. HR can generate reports on appraisal status at any time, viewing lists of reviews that are complete, past due, or upcoming within a specified amount of time. - Identification of key HR investment areas. The powerful reporting features in Avantos AMS/3 help HR determine where help is needed most, based on ratings in specific areas. Reports may show, for example, that Engineering managers are receiving low ratings in the area of "leadership." HR can use this information to proactively suggest leadership training courses to this group. In this way, Avantos AMS/3 acts as a strategic guide for HR activities. - Support for 360 feedback. Managers or team leaders can route blank or finished appraisals to others (peers, internal or external customers, direct reports, HR, etc.) for comments and ratings. After everyone has annotated the review document, the manager receives the accumulated ac·cu·mu·late v. ac·cu·mu·lat·ed, ac·cu·mu·lat·ing, ac·cu·mu·lates v.tr. To gather or pile up; amass. See Synonyms at gather. v.intr. To mount up; increase. comments for inclusion in the appraisal. - Management coaching and rating tips help managers think about what constitutes good performance, and how to help improve performance when ratings are low. This content is also available in Review Writer, but is completely customizable in Avantos AMS/3. HR depart-ments can add specific books, videos, or company training courses to the Improvement Ideas section for each performance factor. All Review Writer data smoothly upgrades to Avantos AMS/3. Both Review Writer 3.0 and Avantos AMS/3 integrate with Avantos' award-winning goal and performance management software, ManagePro for Windows. Individual goals, progress notes, feedback and recognition data tracked throughout the year in ManagePro can be imported into Review Writer or Avantos AMS/3 when appraisals are written. To assist corporate customers in achieving organization-wide success with Avantos products, Avantos also offers customization, training, consulting, and technical support services support services Psychology Non-health care-related ancillary services–eg, transportation, financial aid, support groups, homemaker services, respite services, and other services through the Corporate and Government Solutions Group (CGS CGS centimeter-gram-second system. CGS or cgs abbr. centimeter-gram-second system. CGS, c.g.s. Group). System Requirements To be used efficiently, all computer software needs certain hardware components or other software resources to be present on a computer system. These pre-requisites are known as (computer) system requirements and are often used as a guideline as opposed to an absolute rule. Review Writer 3.0 and Avantos AMS/3 require a minimum system consisting of a 386 PC or higher running Windows 3.1, Windows NT (Windows New Technology) A 32-bit operating system from Microsoft for Intel x86 CPUs. NT is the core technology in Windows 2000 and Windows XP (see Windows). Available in separate client and server versions, it includes built-in networking and preemptive multitasking. 3.5, or Windows 95; 4MB RAM (8MB for Windows 95, 16MB for Windows NT); 12MB free disk space; and a pointing device An input device used to move the pointer (cursor) on screen. The major pointing device is the mouse for the desktop computer and the touchpad for the laptop, although many road warriors bring along a mouse. . Avantos recommends a 486 PC or higher with 20MB of free disk space and 8MB of RAM. Pricing and Availability Review Writer 3.0 has an estimated street price of $99. Avantos AMS/3 is priced at $300 per manager (discounts are offered for volume purchases). Special savings are available on both products before November 22, 1995, and both are available directly from Avantos and from selected software resellers. Owners of prior versions of Review Writer can upgrade to Review Writer 3.0 for $39.95, or to Avantos AMS/3 for $79.95. Upgrades are available directly from Avantos. About Avantos Other Avantos products include ManagePro, the award-winning software program that enables business managers and workgroups to achieve business objectives through a core performance management process, and DecideRight, the innovative new software tool that helps individuals and teams make fast, effective business decisions. Avantos Performance Systems was founded in 1991 by Norman Wu, President & CEO, and Gerald Huff huff - To compress data using a Huffman code. Various programs that use such methods have been called "HUFF" or some variant thereof. Opposite: puff. Compare crunch, compress. , CTO (Chief Technical Officer) The executive responsible for the technical direction of an organization. See CIO and salary survey. . The venture capital-backed company's charter is to develop, market and support software-based solutions for organizational effectiveness. Avantos is based in Emeryville, California Emeryville is a small city located in Alameda County, California , in the United States. It is located in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, extending to the shore of San Francisco Bay. . Contact Avantos by phone toll-free at 1-800-282-6867, locally at 510-654-4600, or via fax at 510-654-1725. Reach Avantos online at CompuServe: 71333,2201, Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the : avantos@aol.com, and World Wide Web: http://www.avantos.com. -0- Note to Editors: Avantos, Avantos Performance Systems and ManagePro are registered trademarks of Avantos Performance Systems, Inc. DecideRight, Review Writer, Avantos Review Writer, and Avantos AMS/3 are trademarks of Avantos Performance Systems, Inc. CONTACT: Alexander Communications Inc. Andrea Routh, 415/923-1660 74431.1600@compuserve.com |
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