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LiveTime's Service Management Solutions are designed to Empower your employees, Transform your customer service and support and Protect your organization's intellectual capital.

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Verint and Witness Systems Join Forces
Verint Systems Inc., a provider of analytic software-based solutions for security and business intelligence, and Witness Systems Inc., a provider of workforce optimization software and services, has announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Verint will acquire Witness for $27.50 per share in cash. The convergence of Witness’ workforce optimization and Verint’s actionable intelligence will create a broad portfolio of contact center and enterprise performance solutions, delivering a compelling new vision for the customer-centric enterprise. On a fully diluted basis, the total enterprise value of the transaction is approximately $950 million.

OSHA Reminds Employers to post Illness, Injury Summary
Beginning Feb. 1, 2007, employers must post a summary of the total number of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred during 2006, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) says. The summary must be posted through April 30, 2007. Employers are required to post only OSHA Form 300A—the summary—and not the OSHA 300 log. The summary must list the total number of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred in 2006 and were logged on the OSHA 300 form. Information about the annual average number of employees and total hours worked during the calendar year also is required to assist in calculating incidence rates.

SuccessFactors Releases New Variable Pay Solution
SuccessFactors, a provider of on-demand performance and talent management solutions, has announced new variable pay capabilities, available immediately, that reduce the complexity of managing compensation programs and enable companies to more effectively and equitably reward performance. The new variable pay capabilities move human resource organizations’ focus away from the complex, administrative side of implementing flexible pay structures and enables a more strategic focus on driving high performance and business results throughout all levels within an organization.

How 10 Companies Achieved Success Because of Employee Benefits
Ten successful companies have discovered the formula for managing many of today’s biggest challenges for employers—like skyrocketing health care costs and lackluster retirement savings. The practical, real-world solutions used by these organizations are revealed in a new guide that provides a blueprint for achieving business success through employee benefits. The guide – The Formula for Success – is available at no charge at www.principal.com. The Formula for Success is the fifth annual compilation of best practices from The Principal 10 Best Companies, a national program sponsored by the Principal Financial Group, which recognizes growing businesses (five to 1,000 employees) that excel at giving employees an edge on achieving long-term financial security.

Advantages of Working for SMBs Outweigh Smaller Paychecks
Salary.com, a provider of on-demand compensation management solutions, has released results of its Working for a Small Business Survey. The survey revealed several interesting findings, including the fact that 62 percent of small business employees perceive pay to be better at large companies. Interestingly, only 38 percent of respondents that have worked for both small and large companies said that pay was better at a large company.

Despite the perceived gap in pay, employees listed several non-compensatory factors as reasons they remain at small businesses, including work/life balance (46.2 percent), commute (38.1 percent), loyalty (34.8 percent), their boss (31.4 percent) and relationships with co-workers (29.5 percent). Benefits and opportunities for advancement—in addition to pay—were cited as the advantages of working for large companies.

The survey also revealed that employees’ perception of advancement opportunities at large companies may be greater than actually exist. Of the respondents who have only worked for small companies, 75 percent believe they would have greater opportunities for advancement at a large company. However, only 45 percent of those who have worked for both small and large companies felt that their opportunities for advancement were in fact greater at the larger company.

Other key findings:

• Benefits: Survey results show that large companies offer more attractive benefit packages to their employees. Of respondents who have worked for small and large companies, 72 percent stated that their benefits were better with the large company.

• Other Attributes: Survey respondents claim that small businesses come out on top when it comes to most non-compensatory factors. Of respondents who had previously worked for a large company:

• Politics: 62 percent thought politics were a more common negative influence at larger companies.

• Loyalty: 55 percent said that loyalty was less prevalent at larger companies, while only 18 percent claimed it was more prevalent.

• Culture: 42 percent felt that the company culture was worse at large companies compared to only 28 percent who thought it was better.

More...

Nearly 40% of Workers Have Had a Workplace Romance
It’s that special time of year when romance is in the air and the American workplace is abuzz. In fact, nearly four in 10 workers would consider dating a coworker, and nearly four in 10 have done so, according to the latest Spherion Workplace Snapshot survey conducted by Harris Interactive. And with 25 percent of such romances leading to the altar, Cupid is busy.

Despite 41 percent of U.S. workers thinking that a workplace romance would jeopardize their job security or advancement opportunities—up from 36 percent last year—39 percent have already had a workplace romance and the same percentage would consider it. The romance is apparently worth the risk, as 42 percent of workers conduct their romance openly, compared to 35 percent who consider it top secret.

Women are more likely than men to feel that a romantic relationship at work might jeopardize their jobs (47 percent versus 36 percent), so it’s not surprising that—of those who have had a workplace romance—more women than men kept it under wraps (41 percent compared to 31 percent). Where does it end? Women are more likely to date for several years (21 percent) compared to men (11 percent), but men are somewhat more inclined to take it to the altar than women (27 percent versus 23 percent). Older workers are much more likely to report having married their valentines than workers under age 30, and workers under age 40 are more likely to date openly.

Other results of the survey:

• Only 30 percent of women would consider dating a coworker, compared to 47 percent of men.

• 47 percent of women think openly dating a coworker would jeopardize their job security or advancement opportunities, compared to only 36 percent of men.

• Among workers who have had a workplace romance, nearly one-third (30 percent) say they dated for several months, 15 percent dated for several years and 25 percent married their coworker.

• More than one-quarter (27 percent) dated for several weeks or less.

• Older workers are more likely to report that their workplace romances culminated in marriage than those under age 30, and among workers who are currently aged 65 and older, 45 percent married the object of their affections.

• According to the survey, more than half of U.S. workers (53 percent) say their employer does not have a policy regarding workplace romance, while only 16 percent say there is such a policy.

• Nearly one-third (31 percent) were not sure if their employer has a policy.

More...

Creating Winning Sales Organizations
Miller Heiman has released its annual study of complex, business-to-business selling and sales management best practices. The study identifies the practices of winning sales organizations and perception gaps among sales representatives, their managers and C-level executives related to the sales process.

Among the study’s key findings:

• Winning sales organizations are nearly twice as likely to have a process for knowing when to stop investing in a large deal. According to the study, only 15 percent of most organizations have such a process, compared to 29 percent of winning sales organizations.

• The biggest disconnect between sales representatives, sales managers and the C-suite is the degree to which each agrees that leadership is actively engaged in the sales process. While 78 percent of C-level executives agreed that leadership is actively involved, only 49 percent of managers and 43 percent of sales representatives agree.

More...

Executive Cash Compensation Rises 29%
Top executives in the United States received a 28.7 percent increase in their average annual cash compensation compared to the same period one year ago, according to the February 2007 Executive Compensation Index figures released by the Economic Research Institute. These findings are calculated from year-to-date reporting as of February 2007 compared to the year-to-date in 2006.

While the average company increased executive base pay by 1.69 percent over the past 12 months, the average company increased bonuses by 42.1 percent, resulting in an overall increase in average total executive cash compensation of 28.7 percent.

Lawmakers in Congress plan to push legislation to require shareholder approval of executive compensation plans, and a new rule from the Securities and Exchange Commission is forcing companies to provide a simplified summary of top executives' compensation in their public filings. There is also a bill before the Senate to raise the minimum wage and cap executives' tax-deferred pay packages at $1 million a year.

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the wealthiest 20 percent of households accounted for 45.4 percent of total U.S. income in 1979, but claimed 53.5 percent in 2004. Households in the bottom fifth dropped from 5.8 to 4.1 percent over the same period.

The February 2007 index results are:

Base Salaries: For the highest paid executives, the average base salary stands at $1,304,664, compared to February 2006 base salary levels of $1,283,002. This reflects a 1.69 percent increase in base compensation.

Annual Bonus: For the highest paid executives, the average annual cash bonus is $3,668,324 compared to the prior year cash bonus levels of $2,580,139. This reflects a 42.1 percent increase.

Total Cash Compensation: For the highest paid executives, the average total cash compensation (base + bonus) is $4,972,988 compared to February 2006 total cash compensation of $3,863,141. This reflects a 28.7 percent increase in total cash compensation over 2006 levels.

The February 2007 Average Index of Total Cash Compensation stands at 207.4, using the 1997 level as a base of 100.0. Since 1997, the Total Cash Compensation for the highest paid executives has increased 107.4 percent.

More...

Internet-based remote support

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Four Steps to Improve IT Team Collaboration
If someone were to ask you, "How's collaboration working within your IT team on your current project?", what would you say? Would you describe it as: Excellent? OK? Not good at all? What if more specific questions were asked? For example, do you believe expectations across teams are clearly defined, communicated, and met? Does the work you receive from teams or individuals meet agreed upon acceptance criteria and timelines? If you can describe your current collaboration as just "OK," or worse, "not good at all," your collaboration efforts need some improvement and this article is for you.
Full Article...

India Must Look Beyond Cheaper Staff
Indian outsourcing companies have to move beyond offering low-cost services on an hourly-rate basis. Instead, they should offer more complete services, according to experts. A model based primarily on the low cost of labor won't be sustainable over the long term, since India's cost advantage is eroding.
Full Article...

Graduates Lack Life Skills
One of the refrains often heard from employers is that graduates lack skills, particularly life skills. They say that many young people graduate from high school or college without knowing the basics: literacy, numeracy, what it takes to hold a job, or balance a checkbook. Studies raise serious questions about college curricula as well as the skills students possess when they arrive at college. Looking onto the future, it’s likely that more employers will engage college instructors and training professionals to fill in the gap — to up-skill their fresh grads with just-in-time support so that the employers will not be adversely affected.
Full Article...

Cultivating Female Leaders
The research is clear and dramatic: Female executives can help improve a company’s bottom line. According to a 2004 study by Catalyst, Fortune 500 companies with the highest percentages of female corporate officers saw, on average, a 35.1 percent higher return on equity and a 34.0 percent higher return to shareholders than companies with the lowest percentages of female corporate officers. Yet, despite this correlation, companies don’t seem to be doing enough to promote greater gender diversity at the executive level. In fact, progress in this area has essentially ground to a halt.
Full Article...

Staying Connected to Your Ex’s
As a progressive company, Xynocal has always been dedicated to developing and training its people in order to make them the best they can be. However, business runs in cycles and when Xynocal recently experienced a tough downturn, it was put in the predicament of having to lay-off highly trained and experienced workers. Now, as Xynocal’s business begins to turn around, the SVP of Human Capital would like to get her hands on many of the alumni the company recently let go. The problem is—she doesn't know where they are, what they are doing, and whether they’d care to come back. This situation holds true for virtually every mid-to-large size company on the planet.
Full Article...

Employers Are Changing How They Use Web Filters
Josh Erich used to spend his downtime at work posting notes on Web sites like Facebook.com and MySpace.com and listening to online radio. That was until a few months ago, when the New York real-estate office where he works suddenly blocked employee access to those sites, among others. The 25-year-old Mr. Erich is part of a new generation of workers that sent instant messages in high school and logged on to social-networking sites in college. Now, they see no reason to stop, even if they've graduated to the workplace. But some of their companies' technology and HR officers do.
Full Article...

A Leadership IQ study found that 47% of high performers are actively seeking other jobs while an additional 44% are passively looking. Every organization wants to retain their employees, especially their best employees. But most leaders are making mistakes. This book will challenge some of the most entrenched and misguided beliefs about employee retention. It will show you how to avoid the Deadly Sins of Employee Retention and teach you five cutting-edge strategies for keeping your best people.

Multichannel Service & Support Survey of Executives: Report of Findings
Supportindustry.com recently conducted a survey of contact center, helpdesk and customer service managers and executives, focusing on multichannel customer service and support -- its importance, the current state of their multichannel capabilities and challenges in implementing and managing it.
The survey, sponsored by eGain Communications Corp., contains key findings and analysis in the following areas:

• Strategic importance of customer service
• Metrics and measurement
• Multichannel customer service
• Web self-service
• Knowledge management
• and more!

To get a complimentary copy of the report, click here

State of IT Outsourcing Report Released
In September 2006, Supportindustry.com and McGarahan & Associates conducted a survey on the state of IT Outsourcing. Impressively, 93.30% of respondents said they would outsource again and 94.10% said they would recommend outsourcing. However, although you can easily save money outsourcing, if your customers are not being serviced and it starts to affect productivity and have business impact – then the cost savings is not what it appears to be on paper.

Get your free copy of the executive summary here...

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