Global Economic Crisis Has Made Integrated Talent Management A Business Priority.

Softscape Global Survey Reveals That 3-out-of-4 Companies Now View Integrated Talent Management As Mission Critical

WAYLAND, Mass. -- Softscape, the global leader in integrated people management software, today unveiled its fourth annual "State of Global Talent Management" report, based on data from hundreds of global enterprises and medium-sized businesses, and offering deep insight into global human resources and talent management strategies, initiatives, challenges, plans, and goals for 2009 and beyond.

Fully 74 percent of the HR leaders surveyed - and 83 percent within large enterprises - now believe that integrated talent management is mission critical to their organizations. Mission critical talent management means establishing the credible linkages between strategic HR processes and systems and the business results and outcomes they drive. Seventy-three percent (73%) of HR leaders now recognize that a robust talent management strategy, enabled by integrated software, positively impacts financial performance.

"Integrated talent management software is now viewed as mission critical by organizations because it rapidly facilitates cost containment, top performer identification, future leader development, and productivity improvements," said Steve Bonadio, senior director of product marketing. "Our findings point directly to bottom-line financial performance improvement by organizations that are leveraging a single people management platform with deep functional capabilities across the entire employee life cycle."

Softscape surveyed more than 200 HR professionals from around the world in December 2008, with the distribution of respondents spread across more than twenty industries and roughly evenly split among large enterprises and medium-sized organizations. More than 60 percent of the organizations surveyed operate in two or more countries and nearly 40 percent operate in six or more.

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

* Companies with integrated talent management strategies in place are almost twice as likely to view their HR organization as a strategic partner to the business. Overall, the HR organization is now considered strategic in 78 percent of companies.

* HR leaders believe their workforces are better prepared than a year ago, yet 59 percent still believe their workforces are not adequately prepared to meet their companies' future plans.

* More than 70 percent of companies are still primarily paper-based in two or more of their key talent management processes, with smaller companies lagging significantly behind. Technology-enabled automation of discrete talent functions is providing significant opportunities for cost containment.

* Two-thirds of the companies surveyed - and 76 percent of large enterprises - believe that it is very important to measure and communicate the impact of their HR programs with metrics, key performance indicators, and workforce analysis. Explosive growth in the use of more "strategic" cross-functional HR metrics leveraging workforce analytics is expected during 2009.

"The current global economic conditions have heightened leadership awareness to how important both visibility and readiness is regarding an organization's workforce," said Dave Watkins, CEO and co-founder Softscape. "Softscape research continues to validate the inherent need for more effective people management strategies to help organizations accelerate their growth, and our customers are experiencing first hand the impact that a complete end-to-end system can deliver."

The Softscape report also includes important data about the challenges facing HR organizations, particularly employee engagement and high performer retention, two key issues facing HR leaders in a down economy. The report concludes by offering practical advice to HR leaders on how to increase the visibility of their efforts, impact the bottom line and drive business performance, and become mission critical contributors to their organizations.

For more information, download the "2009 State of Global Talent Management" executive report at http://www.softscape.com/state.

About Softscape (www.softscape.com)

Softscape is the global leader in integrated people management software that enables organizations to more effectively drive their business performance. Recognized by industry analysts as the most comprehensive strategic human capital management solution, Softscape provides complete employee lifecycle management, including a core system of record, in a single, integrated platform for improved business intelligence. The company offers customers of all sizes and in all industries the most flexibility and choice with multiple purchase, configuration, and deployment options. For more than a decade, Softscape has helped millions of workers across 156 countries be more successful at their jobs while contributing to bottom-line results. Softscape's customers represent Fortune 500/Global 500, mid-market, and government organizations, including Barclays (NYSE: BCS; London: BARC), AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN [ADR]; London: AZN), Seagate (NYSE: STX), GKN (London: GKN), Edcon, LandAmerica (NYSE: LFG), P&G (NYSE: PG) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Softscape is based in Massachusetts with offices in London, Sydney, New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Hartford, Washington, D.C., Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Johannesburg.

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