SumTotal Systems Enhances Performance Management Solution with Project-Based Reviews Module

SumTotal® Systems, Inc., a market leader and a global provider of talent development solutions, today announced the launch of Project-Based Reviews, a new module for the ResultsOnDemand® Performance Management solution. This unique product offering will allow employees to gain real-time feedback from cross-functional team members that go beyond typical job assessments identifying new areas for development. With SumTotal Project-Based Reviews, managers will be able to automate their review processes to account for work done on a project basis and provide continuous feedback aligned to actual project metrics. Managers gain a more complete performance picture during the ! end-of-year review, and employees are evaluated on all of their work, and not solely on their core roles and responsibilities.

“We turned to SumTotal for help because we needed a more comprehensive solution for evaluating our workforce,” said MaryEm Musser, National Director of Training & Development for BDO, a global professional services firm with more than 37 offices in the U.S. “We needed a way to capture performance feedback on our engagement teams, which are put together temporarily and managed by different people. The SumTotal Project-Based Reviews solution not only accounts for the work done on a project basis but also allows us to more accurately gauge the pulse of the organization at the employee level, which we haven’t been able to do until now.”

“A matrix reporting relationship, in which a career manager and several project managers oversee an employee’s work at different times, makes it challenging to capture feedback,” said Sam Kanner, Director of Organizational Development for Avanade, a technology services company with more than 10,000 professionals. “A fair amount of performance data and feedback comes directly from individual projects. We chose SumTotal Project-Based Reviews in order to build workflows with inherent reporting relationships based on this matrix. This more holistic view of the workforce sets the foundation for a better talent development strategy, and a better way to manage our people.”

With Project-Based Reviews, managers are properly equipped to evaluate an employee’s performance throughout the year and can make more objective assessments. Employees are empowered to drive their own career development by creating their own reviews, requesting feedback for a project, and proactively populating their annual appraisal with this information throughout the year.

“The ability to conduct real-time, ad hoc performance reviews is of real value for both managers and employees and we’re excited to bring this new capability to the HR market,” said John Borgerding, President of SumTotal Systems. “Based on feedback from our customers we were able to collaborate and develop a solution that captures the fluid nature of the organizational workforce. By creating this level of insight, we are equipping managers with the information they need to properly evaluate their greatest asset, their employees.”

By providing the ability to integrate project review feedback with the traditional Performance Appraisal process, SumTotal is the first to offer a solution that can provide a comprehensive view of employee performance including project feedback, performance goal ratings and competency assessment. This flexibility provides managers with a new level of insight to better evaluate employee performance. Special features and functionality of SumTotal Project-Based Reviews include:

• Project Review Creation Wizard — Helps managers and employees create ad hoc assessments without administrative assistance.
• External Project Data Tracking — Tracks data from ERP systems such as hours worked, billable hours, project starting and ending dates, and project roles.
• Project Review Notification — Managers and employees can be automatically notified (based on the organization’s policies) when it’s time to start a project review.
• External Stakeholder Feedback — Administrators can easily invite third parties, such as customers or vendors, to submit feedback on an employee.
• Form Customization — Administrators can configure the layout and content of forms to tailor the project review process to their specific requirements.
• Integration with Yearly Performance Appraisal — Project review summaries can be included on the yearly appraisal form enabling a single performance document to provide a complete view of employee performance.
• Seamless Integration with ResultsOnDemand Performance — Project-Based Reviews works within the ResultsOnDemand Performance Appraisal interface so there is no additional learning curve.

About SumTotal Systems, Inc.
SumTotal Systems, Inc. is a leading provider of proven talent development solutions that automate and integrate learning, performance, and compensation management to drive business results on a daily basis. Our solutions strengthen and develop employee skills to accelerate time-to-market, close skill gaps, and reduce the risk of business disruptions. With more than 1,500 customers and 18 million users worldwide, we have increased the performance at some of the world’s best-known companies, organizations and government agencies. Our category leadership and applied insight help us understand the critical success factors for businesses of all sizes. For more information, visit www.sumtotalsystems.com

SumTotal, the SumTotal logo, and ResultsOnDemand are registered trademarks or trademarks of SumTotal Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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