The success factor in most leading firms

Most CEOs of the country’s leading companies admitted dealing only with their immediate subordinates (namely presidents or vice presidents) and they are not aware of the weekly productivity levels of each department or unit.

Also, CEOs of most family-owned companies depend on their children or other heirs as their successors even if they lack in leadership quality, listening planning and execution skills .

These realities were among the findings of the CEO Forum held recently at the Makati Shangrila by SucessFactors Inc. and its local partner, SGV-DDI, the Manila office of US-based human resources consulting firm, Development Dimensions International (DDI).

SucessFactors Inc. CEO/founder Lars Dalgaard announced his company’s partnership with Jollibee Foods Corp., which started implementing the talent management and succession planning to help manage the firm’s employee talent and drive its explosive growth throughout the Asia Pacific region.

Jollibee, the leading fast food chain in the Philippines with over 60 percent share (versus its nearest rival with 12 percent), is subscribing to the software services of SuccessFactors in workforce performance management so that it can properly field its people as it implements its expansion program in the region in the next 12 months, Dalgaard said.

Aside from Jollibee, SuccessFactors has signed up Pascual Laboratories, which is going to use its software and services in its operations, Dalgaard said.

Dalgaard said he plans to use the newly opened offices in the Philippines and Australia as the base for regional operations with the Philippines focusing more on Asian markets.

The Philippine office will be headed by Manny Galvez, vice president for Asia Pacific of SuccessFactors. "Definitely we would be needing a lot of highly skilled program marketers and installers for this expansion program," he said.

SuccessFactors is the leading performance management and succession planning software solution in the US, which now operates in many parts of Europe, US, Australia and is opening a new office in the Philippines, which it hopes to be its base in the region.

Its worldwide operation has 3,700 employees with revenues of $1.3 billion. SuccessFactors supports organizations in achieving their objectives of rapidly aligning, developing, motivating and rewarding their workforces through the delivery of world-class web-connected applications to the complete satisfaction of its customers, Dalgaard said.

SuccessFactors’ workforce performance management suite is a service that enables organizations to get visibility, accountability and results better. Visibility is for clear, timely employee performance and potential presentation so that managers can process these data with the overall goals and competency levels of the organization.

Accountability can help managers and executives drive employee productivity and motivation through line of sight goal alignment and development training and results thus have real tangible impact on revenues through actual substantial increases in employee productivity.

The software is composed of distinct capabilities that are fully integrated: easy to use and with rapid deployment features. The suite is highly scalable and modular allowing customers to add new modules as required.

The SuccessFactors goal management automates the process of creating, cascading, monitoring and assessing the progress of company-wide goal completion. It also helps managers and employees create a dynamic, focused and effective development plans that can be monitored and adjusted on a continuous basis. The results are improved employee skills for current job role and the development of skills required for future career path progression, Dalgaard said.

Other features included in the software are: competency management support; performance review; 360/multi rater facilities; compensation management; employee survey (to assess perception versus reality); talent and succession program and business analytics and reporting.

Among the application features are: low cost ownership with no hardware or software needed to maintain via ASP model; no dedicated IT staff needed; provides for immediate upgrades and maintenance; optimized for 24/7 uptime and performance; available in six languages; easily integrates with existing systems; is highly scalable and secure; built on an industry standard architecture; intuitive user interface allows for ease of use; hosted systems allows for 24X7 access from all company locations; rapid deployment ensuring that most customers are up and running in 3-6 weeks at a fraction of typical implementation costs; and offline usage allows employees and managers to work from anywhere at anytime.

Among SuccessFactors’ industry leading customers are: MasterCard International, Kimberly Clark, General Motors, Volkswagen of North America, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., Invitrogen, McKesson, Reebok International, Mead/Westvaco, PG&E, Lancaster General Hospital, Grant Thornton, Friendly’s Ice Cream and HP Hood and most recently the Philippines’ Jollibee Food Corp.

Dalgaard explained that its partnership with SGV-DDI is not exclusive and his company can still work with other auditing firms in the country wanting its software and services.

The partnership of SGV and DDI was forged in 1985 counting among its clients Nestle Philippines, United Laboratories, Jollibee, San Miguel Corp., Smart Communications, Equitable PCIBank, Merck Inc. and Universal Robina Corp.

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SuccessFactors Inc.
Penthouse, Pacific Star Bldg.
Sen Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati City
Phone : 8401768