Authoria Redefines the "Core" of Talent Management

Business Wire, March 19, 2008

Single Source of Information and Tools for Managing People, Positions, Hierarchies, and Goals Makes Unified Talent Management a Reality

WALTHAM, Mass. -- Authoria, Inc., the leader in integrated talent management solutions, today announced new "core" capabilities in Authoria Talent Management that unite all the talent functions in the company's comprehensive solution. The same rich set of centralized information is exposed to end users whether they are focused on recruiting, performance management, compensation, succession planning, or other people-related tasks. The result is a comprehensive view of talent across the employee lifecycle, and improved ability for both business managers and HR professionals to hire the best-fit candidates, identify and develop high-potential employees, and retain and motivate top performers.

The new capabilities include talent profiles; job profiles; embedded competency libraries from Development Dimensions International Inc. (DDI); direct import of reporting-relationship information from ERP or payroll systems; ad hoc creation and presentation of reports; and Authoria Rapid Assists. They are being delivered on-demand, as part of quarterly updates to Authoria Talent Management.

"As the largest eye-care company worldwide, with 14,000 employees, Alcon recognizes the vital link between effective talent management and overall business performance," said Kay Teague, Director of HR Technology at Alcon, Inc. "When we approached talent-management functions as silos, we realized we were missing opportunities by segmenting key data about employees, candidates, and positions. The core data has to be centrally maintained, and accessed by all talent-management functions - we need 'one bucket for all systems to drink from.' Authoria's core capabilities are the right foundation to help us meet critical talent challenges such as attracting and retaining top talent, and filling high-impact positions with high-performing employees."

"Line-of-business managers - who are the frontline in the daily 'war for talent' - need technology solutions that are highly intuitive and that give them a consistent grasp of all the strategic talent functions," said Tod Loofbourrow, Authoria Chairman and CEO. "By making all the information in a shared 'core' available through a consistent, award-winning interface, Authoria is providing the visibility that business managers and HR professionals need to finally connect talent management with business results."

In a separate announcement issued today, Authoria and DDI have expanded their partnership to incorporate DDI's market-leading competency libraries and assessment models within Authoria Talent Management. Now included as a core component of Authoria Talent Management, the DDI competency libraries provide definitions of the requirements for success in a given position, which are consistent across recruiting, performance management, employee development, and succession planning. More information is available at www.authoria.com/about/press-releases/view/161.> The core capabilities of Authoria Talent Management provide essential data and services to all of the strategic talent functions - recruiting, performance management, succession planning, compensation, and benefit/policy communications - and are delivered to end users through a consistent user interface. New capabilities of this core include:

* Talent profiles - A single, unified view of all the relevant information about an employee or a candidate, including skills, work experience, competencies, performance history, compensation, career aspirations, languages, location preferences, and other critical data. Talent profiles give line-of-business managers easy access to comprehensive information required to drive the best decisions for their teams. They also enable employees to contribute and update information, making them more engaged and more responsible for their own career development.

* Job profiles - Managers and HR professionals can see all information related to each job within the organization, including up-to-date job descriptions, competencies required for success, and the pipeline of candidates ready to move into a job. Shared access to this information drives improved "quality of hire," and ensures that requisitions comply with company policies.

* DDI competency libraries - Market-leading competency libraries developed by DDI are provided as a standard feature of Authoria Talent Management. DDI content is automatically shared across the talent-management functions of creating jobs or positions; evaluating candidates; conducting performance appraisals; conducting 360 reviews of employees; and identifying competency gaps in the organization. Easy access to consistent competency data encourages business-manager participation, which in turn improves the identification and development of key talent.

* Simplified import of hierarchy information - The "actionable organization charts" in Authoria Talent Management can be refreshed with up-to-date information on employees' reporting relationships, through streamlined import from ERP or payroll systems.