Educational Institutions Turn to SuccessFactors to Manage Their Workforce

SuccessFactors On-Demand Performance and Talent Management Applications Allow Schools, Universities to Be More Cost Effective, Efficient and Keep Top Talent

SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 7, 2008--SuccessFactors, the global leader in on-demand performance and talent management solutions, has seen a rise in the number of educational institutions turning to its on-demand Performance and Talent Management Suite to better and more efficiently manage their workforces, and maximize efficiency and productivity. During the past year, several educational institutions of all sizes, from colleges and universities to trade schools and community colleges, have gone live on SuccessFactors.

By using SuccessFactors to automate their performance management processes and gain better visibility and insight into the skills, competencies and ambitions of their workers, educational institutions can operate more efficiently and more effectively to retain top talent - two of the top challenges modern institutions face. As budgets get tighter and costs rise for educational institutions, it becomes increasingly important that they make the most out of the money spent on staff and faculty, as well as retain their star employees. With SuccessFactors, schools and universities can create a fair, consistent evaluation process for their employees, helping to identify top talent, compensate employees accordingly and minimize the risk of turnover.

Before adopting SuccessFactors, the USC Marshall School of Business dealt with a manual, paper-based performance evaluation system that was difficult and time-consuming to complete. This system delivered very cursory reviews that provided limited information about employee competence, professional development plans or specific job goals. In November 2005, the school began working with SuccessFactors and by the time the next annual performance evaluation period rolled around in March 2006, the school's staff and faculty who supervise staff were already trained in using SuccessFactors, and all departments used the software for the review cycle. The school saw immediate results, including higher completion rate of reviews, more detailed, informative reviews and, in a few departments, substantial progress on setting employee goals. By implementing a more fluid performance evaluation process, the school was able to get a richer understanding of staff competencies, identify departments where area-specific competencies needed to be added to performance assessment and better understand Marshall's needs regarding training in goal setting and employee-specific goal management.

"With our old process, we'd hear often from employees about how hard evaluations were to complete. Comments on reviews from both employees and managers were sparse and many reviews were submitted late," said Donna Bean, assistant dean, Office of Finance and Administration at the Marshall School of Business. "SuccessFactors turned a trying process that delivered products with marginal value into a fluid process that provides useful feedback for employees and a valuable portfolio of information about the competencies of all our staff. Most importantly, the interactive nature of SuccessFactors is empowering - many employees say that the system has promoted more meaningful dialog with their supervisors about performance and goals and given them a better vehicle for expressing their views about their skills and professional objectives."

"With all the financial restraints put on educational institutions, it is necessary for them to squeeze every bit of value out of every dollar they spend," said Paul Albright, chief marketing officer for SuccessFactors. "We provide that for them - a fair, effective way of evaluating and measuring employee performance to ensure that both the school and its employees are making the most out of every day at work - without having to invest in a brand new IT infrastructure. We offer educational institutions a way to become more strategic and more competitive by simply getting to know their workforce."

About SuccessFactors

SuccessFactors is the leading provider of on-demand employee performance and talent management solutions that enable organizations of every size, across every industry and geography, to realize their employees' potential and thus drive business results. Its hosted service is organically built from the ground up - providing a fully integrated, modular suite of performance and talent management applications that provide customers with immediate process benefits and tangible return on investment. Fueled by customer success, SuccessFactors currently has more than 1,400 customers across over 60 industries, with more than 2 million end users in over 150 countries using the application in 18 languages. The company currently employs more than 700 people worldwide, all passionately focused on delighting customers through prompt and effective execution and constant improvement driven by customer feedback. SuccessFactors' customers include Kimberly-Clark Corporation, MasterCard Worldwide, Textron, Sutter Healthcare, Direct Energy, Quintiles Transnational, Volkswagen of North America, Lancaster General Hospital, and McDermott International, Inc. Founded in 2001, SuccessFactors has multiple offices worldwide collaborating for strong local support and measurable success of customers.

CONTACT: LaunchSquad for SuccessFactors
Jesse Odell, 415-625-8555
successfactors@launchsquad.com

SOURCE: SuccessFactors