Critical Thinking Assessments Determine Great Leaders, According to New Harcourt Assessment Report

SAN ANTONIO, Texas. / December 29, 2006 –Identifying effective critical thinkers after they’ve become successful is simple. However, identifying this elusive trait before a person assumes a leadership role is far more difficult, but vital to developing strong leaders within an organization. To address this issue, Harcourt Assessment today released a new research paper titled, The Difference Between Good Leaders and Great Leaders: How to Assess for Critical Thinkers in Hiring and Development.

“A good resume or a degree from an esteemed school is no guarantee that a candidate possesses key critical thinking skills that steer organizational strategy and decision making,” states Michael Pilnick, SVP, Harcourt Education. “Today’s HR professionals can assess critical thinking skills using a variety of methods.”

The free white paper defines the key elements of critical thinking skills, explores the role of critical thinking in talent management, and illustrates how assessment tools are vital for effective management selection. The paper is available for download at: http://HarcourtAssessment.com/HAI/Forms/PressRelease/PressRelease2.aspx?CampaignCode=MHE642

Many companies incorporate critical thinking as an important talent differentiator in their employee selection, high potential and succession planning programs. Critical thinking and related factors for leadership success can be assessed objectively and effectively, providing an advantage for hiring managers to make strategic hires—and make the most of their current employee pools as well.

“Leaders who consistently make wise decisions or see opportunities that others miss provide the direction that every company needs,” adds Judy Chartrand, Director, Talent Assessment. “Critical thinking is a differentiator, and as such, it should play a prominent role in both the selection and the development of supervisors, managers, executives and individual contributors.”

Psychometric tests are the most practical, timely and cost-effective method of critical thinking assessment due to their ease of use and quick results. Harcourt’s Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal test is one of the most widely used and respected psychometric tests in the market, offering insight into how effectively someone draws inferences, recognizes assumptions, deduces and interprets information, and evaluates arguments.

For more information on Harcourt Assessment, visit www.AssessTalent.com.

About Harcourt Assessment
Based in San Antonio, Harcourt Assessment is a leading provider of high-quality assessment instruments and testing programs used by educators, psychologists, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, human resource professionals, admissions and credentialing professionals, and businesses. With 85 years of experience in the assessment field, Harcourt Assessment uses a combined approach of measuring an individual’s work style and abilities to help their clients, including half of the Fortune 500, optimize their hiring process. The company is a unit of Harcourt Education, which is the global education brand of Reed Elsevier Group plc (NYSE: RUK and ENL). Reed Elsevier is a world-leading publisher and information provider operating in the science and medical, legal, education and
business-to-business industry sectors.

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Employment Background Investigations Named by HRO Today as One of Nations Top Workplace Screening Providers

Owings Mills, MD -- December 29, 2006 -- Employment Background Investigations, Inc. (EBI) has recently been cited by HRO Today Magazine as one of the top thirteen providers of full-service workplace screening, strengthening the company’s position as an industry leader.

This is the second consecutive year EBI has been recognized for its outstanding efforts in the background screening, drug testing and occupational healthcare solutions fields, and has been listed in HRO Today Magazine’s annual study, titled The Baker's Dozen: Workplace Screening - The top 13 providers of full-service workplace screening.

“It is an honor to be among the biggest in class within our field. We have worked hard to be recognized as one of the top service providers in the screening industry,” stated Rick Kurland, President and CEO of EBI.

HRO Today Magazine recognizes the top work place screening firms annually for their contributions to and successes in the background screening industry.

About Employment Background Investigations, Inc. (EBI)

Employment Background Investigations (www.ebiinc.com) is a single-source, premier provider of enterprise background screening services. EBI offers worldwide capabilities tailored to meet clients’ exact background screening needs. The company services more than 3,000 clients worldwide, including many Fortune 500 companies. EBI prides itself on 5 distinguishing characteristics: Impeccable service, fast and accurate results, innovative technology, systems integration and seamless delivery at the right price.

Companies worldwide utilize EBI’s background screening, drug testing and occupational healthcare services every day to make better and safer hiring decisions. Personalized customer care has been the key reason for EBI’s remarkable growth over the last 12 years. Given its state-of-the-art technology platforms, it’s safe to say that no one delivers background screening results faster or with a higher degree of accuracy.

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WorldatWork Announces New Publishing Brand

WorldatWork recently announced plans to market its books under the name WorldatWork Press, a publishing brand that provides employee compensation, benefits and total rewards audiences with timely, practical and high-quality books. WorldatWork published a total of 22 new and updated books in 2006. The top-selling book to date with nearly 1,500 units sold is Sales Compensation Essentials by Jerome A. Colletti, Mary S. Fiss, Ted Briggs, and S. Scott Sands.

“As our organization has grown, so have our publishing capabilities. Uniting all our book publishing resources under the name WorldatWork Press is right in line with our mission to enable the development of programs and practices that lead to superior organizational performance.”

WorldatWork Press plans to release the following books in the first and second quarters of 2007:

1. High-Performance Pay, Patricia K. Zingheim and Jay R. Schuster
2. Paid Time Off Banks, M. Michael Markowich
3. Workforce Engagement, Stephen P. Hundley, Ph.D., Frederic Jacobs, Ph.D., and Marc Drizin
4. Determining Compensation Costs, Robert H. Meehan, CCP
5. Telework: A Critical Component of Your Total Rewards Strategy, Multiple Contributors
6. An Introduction to Executive Compensation, Steven Balsam, Ph.D.
7. Managing Individual Performance, Gary E. Starzmann, CCP, CBP
8. Excellence at Work: Inspiring Passion in the Workplace, Sandy Asch
9. Incentive Pay, K. Dow Scott, Ph.D., Executive Editor
10. The WorldatWork Handbook of Compensation, Benefit, and Total Rewards, WorldatWork Staff

WorldatWork Press welcomes the contributions of outside authors. To submit your idea for publishing consideration, please e-mail a query to e-mail protected from spam bots.

About WorldatWork®
The Total Rewards Association

WorldatWork (www.worldatwork.org) is an international association of human resources professionals focused on attracting, motivating and retaining employees. Founded in 1955, WorldatWork provides practitioners with knowledge leadership to effectively implement total rewards – compensation, benefits, work-life, performance and recognition, development and career opportunities – by connecting employee engagement to business performance. WorldatWork supports its 30,000 members and customers in 30 countries with thought leadership, education, publications, research and certification.

The WorldatWork group of registered marks includes: WorldatWork®, workspan®, Certified Compensation Professional or CCP®, Certified Benefits Professional® or CBP, Global Remuneration Professional or GRP®, Work-Life Certified Professional or WLCPTM, WorldatWork Society of Certified Professionals®, and Alliance for Work-Life Progress® or AWLP®.




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QHR Software Inc. Announces Expansion of Contracts

Kelowna, BC – December 21, 2006 - QHR Software Inc. creator of Quadrant HR™ software solutions, is pleased to announce several new contract expansions with existing QHR customers. These new contracts build on the successful client implementation of QHR’s integrated Payroll, Human Resources and Staff Scheduling products.

One client, LUTHER HOME, is a non-profit, multi-facility Personal Care Home serving seniors in Winnipeg, Canada. The organization has selected QHRnet, Quadrant HR’s self service module, to complement the Quadrant HR Payroll and Staff Scheduling solution which they have used since October 2003 to service their 110 employees.

Ray Koop, CEO of Luther Home says “Luther Home is looking forward to implementing the QHR web services in the new year. We believe that the time saved in maintaining the demographic data of our employees is sufficient cause to move forward with the initiative. We also expect that the prospect of having staff being able to access their schedules, view pay stubs, review their various banks and request leaves on-line will further enhance the value. We remain confident that, as our organization continues to advance the use of technology in every aspect of our operation, this project will help to further that objective.”

ST. JOSEPH'S AUXILIARY HOSPITAL in Edmonton, Alberta has chosen Quadrant HR's Staff Scheduling module to complement the Quadrant HR Payroll module, which they have used since December 2001 to service their 400 employees. With the combined use of Quadrant HR Payroll and Staff Scheduling modules, St. Joseph’s will benefit from the advantages of an integrated solution eliminating imports and exports to a third-party scheduling vendor.

Ray Lister, Director of HR with St. Joseph’s says "As one of the original QHR users in Alberta, we look forward to finally implementing the Scheduling module into our QHR payroll processing. We believe that we will be able to reduce the duplication that we currently have with our existing scheduling program and that we will be able to take advantage of the streamlined process."

PICTOU COUNTY HEALTH AUTHORITY, responsible for delivering health care services to the 48,000 residents in northeast Nova Scotia, has selected Quadrant HR's Staff Scheduling module to help improve their scheduling process for 850 employees. Pictou has been a QHR Software payroll client since April 2004. The addition of Quadrant HR Staff Scheduling will eliminate the redundancies and frustrations associated with manual scheduling processes and streamline workflow. More important, the addition of Staff Scheduling will complement the Quadrant HR Payroll module they use today.

ABOUT QHR SOFTWARE INC.
QHR Software Inc. develops, implements and supports a user-defined, configurable software solution called Quadrant HR, which integrates best practices for Human Resources, Staff Scheduling and Payroll into a single system. Proven in the healthcare sector, the clear advantages of Quadrant HR are being discovered by other industries such as government, forestry and public security, where complex labor rules require robust HR automation tools.

For more information, contact:

Cindy Danielson, Marketing Manager
Direct Tel: (250) 979-1716
Toll-Free Tel: 1-866-863-4431
Fax: (250) 717-5266

QHR Software Inc.
210 - 1632 Dickson Avenue
Kelowna, BC V1Y 7T2


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Workplace Options Poll Shows U.S. Employees Prioritize Health During the Holidays

Raleigh, NC – December 20, 2006 -- Workplace Options, the largest provider of work-life employee benefits in America, has announced results from their special holiday poll conducted through WPO’s Advantage™ Website.

The poll, available to U.S. employees who have access to WPO’s Advantage™ web site through their employer or employee assistance plan (EAP) asks employees how they will keep their health in focus over the holidays. The results indicate that most people will rely on healthy eating and exercise to avoid weight gain over the holidays.

Specifically, 46% said they would sneak in some form of exercise and 16% plan to give active gifts to loved ones such as exercise equipment, biking gear and even dance lessons. Of the same group, 70% of respondents said they would skip second helpings and holiday sweet treats. Unfortunately, a whopping 21% said good health will not be on their minds this holiday season and will wait to use their New Year resolutions to address the unhealthy side affects of the holidays.

“Results from our poll show that a majority of the workforce know what is good for their bodies and are aware of the importance of a healthy lifestyle,” said Alan King, president of Workplace Options. “Taking action is the next step to achieve healthy results, even if it does mean waiting for the a New Year to put resolutions in place. That is a good starting point.”

In addition to monthly poll results, WPO offers health advice on their customer web site that covers healthy eating, gift giving and mental well-being including these ten tips for a healthy holiday:

- It's easy to overindulge during the holidays. Make sure to watch portion sizes and select one or two of your favorites from the host of tempting foods. For a healthy snack, choose a piece of fresh fruit.

- Get enough sleep and drink plenty of water.

- Exercise! Plan your physical activity routine in advance (don't leave it up to chance). Mark it on the calendar and consider it as important as any other appointment.

- Establish a budget and stick to it! Don't forget to add the cost of all those special holiday foods that you plan to prepare.

- Find time for yourself! Don't spend all your time providing activities for your family and friends.

- Don't drink too much. Excessive drinking will only make you tired and depressed.

- Talk with your family about finances. Even young children can learn how to budget for gifts. Urge them to get creative and make presents for family members instead of buying them. Receiving a thoughtful gift from a child can be a memorable holiday moment.

- Keep expectations for the holiday season manageable. Don't try to make it "the best ever."

- Keep your emotions in check. This could involve writing a letter, reading or meditating. Keeping a journal of your feelings over holiday periods may help you to get a grip on your emotional responses. Seeing more clearly will empower you to act, not react.

- Recognize that life brings change. The holidays don't need to be just like they were in the "good old days" to be enjoyable. Develop some new family traditions. Celebrate the holidays in a way you have not done before.

About Workplace Options

Workplace Options (WPO) is America’s largest provider of work-life services. WPO’s market leading products are recognized for their innovative web delivery, flexibility and affordable pricing. Through its emindhealth division, WPO offers network management solutions that help EAP’s run their businesses more profitably and efficiently. WPO’s United Kingdom division, Employee Advisory Resource (EAR), is a premier provider of work-life services in Europe and offers EAP clients access to an expansive network of behavioral health providers throughout Europe and the World. Learn more at www.workplaceoptions.com.

My Medicare Matters(tm) Encourages Families to Talk about Medicare Part D during the Holiday Season

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- December 20, 2006 -- As the deadline for this enrollment period approaches, My Medicare Matters is encouraging adult children to talk with their parents and loved ones about their Medicare Part D coverage and determine whether they have taken the necessary steps to ensure their prescription drug coverage for 2007. Family gatherings over the holiday season are an ideal time to talk about health care and take proactive steps to care for loved ones.

My Medicare Matters’ award winning Web site – www.MyMedicareMatters.org – is a starting point for family members to talk through Medicare Part D prescription coverage. The site has been designed to make it easier for people to navigate the wealth of information about Medicare Part D and to make informed decisions about their Medicare prescription drug coverage. It features information on how to enroll, how to review current coverage, and how to apply for Extra Help to cover the prescription costs.

The Web site also includes a section that defines terms so that consumers can compare plans.

My Medicare Matters, sponsored by the National Council on Aging (NCOA) and supported by a grant from AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, dedicated to enabling eligible seniors to gain access to the critical information they need to maintain their health.


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StepStone Acquires ExecuTRACK

Düsseldorf / London, December 20, 2006 – StepStone, the leading European provider of e-recruitment software and services, today announces a binding agreement to acquire ExecuTRACK, a market-leading vendor of strategic talent management solutions.

The acquisition extends StepStone's product and services offerings to support each element of the recruitment and retention process from initial pre-hire attraction of candidates, through on-boarding to total talent management of employees post-hire.

When combined, StepStone and ExecuTRACK will have over 13,000 customers supported by nearly 600 employees. The company will have office locations in 13 countries as well as distributors and partners in a further 20 countries, providing one of the most comprehensive sales and support organisations in the sector.

The purchase price is €32 million, payable in a combination of cash, loan notes and shares. The shares are expected to represent a quarter of the price and will be released over three years. ExecuTRACK revenue for 2006 is expected to be in the range of €11 million to €12 million with positive EBITDA. The acquisition is expected to be EBITDA accretive in 2007.

"The combined market strength of StepStone and ExecuTRACK – particularly in Europe where both companies are market leaders – will provide our customers with access to an unrivalled range of products and services from one single company," StepStone Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Colin Tenwick, said.

"Our combined strength and blue chip customer base of national and international companies positions us to increasingly extend our sales, support and delivery capability worldwide where there is significant demand for innovative e-recruitment and talent management software. With our successful track record of delivering local solutions globally, we are uniquely placed to fully exploit this opportunity."

ExecuTRACK will continue to be led by founder and Managing Director, Dr. Andreas Hoynigg, reporting to StepStone CEO, Colin Tenwick. In the first phase of integration the companies will look to deliver synergies in sales, customer service, marketing and eventually product development to offer a uniquely comprehensive range of e-recruitment and talent management solutions.

"As the global market leader for strategic talent management solutions, we are focused on expansion and with StepStone, we will continue to build on the considerable success that we've enjoyed to date. That success is a result of our approach to product development and we have close to 2 million users worldwide of our flagship solution, ETWeb™. With StepStone, we will combine our strengths to continue to increase our global market share," Dr. Hoynigg said.

ExecuTRACK has consistently increased its revenue across 20 consecutive quarters and has generated positive net income annually for the last five years. The 100% web-based solution ETWeb™ Enterprise – developed with over 20 years of experience - is the best of breed solution for analysing and organising all areas of human capital including career and succession planning; performance management; and training. Customers of ETWeb™ Enterprise include McDonalds, Siemens, DHL, Cable & Wireless, Mitsubishi Motors, Lufthansa and Bayer.

Listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (Ticker STP), StepStone is recognised as a leader in the growing sector of online e-recruitment products and solutions. It provides e-recruitment software and associated consultancy as well as some of the largest and most successful public job boards throughout Europe. StepStone's e-recruitment solutions are produced in 10 languages and multinational customers include Virgin Atlantic, Louis Vuitton, Verizon, Marriott, AstraZeneca, Cadbury Schweppes, RBS and Amazon.


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'Tis the Seasonfor Celebration or Litigation?

'Tis the Season–for Celebration or Litigation?

Plantation, FL – December 21, 2006 – The halls have been decked, and employees have donned their gay apparel; everyone appears to be in good cheer at the office holiday party, held on a Saturday night at an off-site location.

But there's a problem: some employees are passing around "gag" gifts, items overtly sexual in nature. Making matters worse, these employees are telling lewd jokes and sharing lurid stories about the sex lives of celebrities. One employee, Susan, is clearly distressed by the goings-on. When Susan conveys her disapproval to the group, everyone laughs and continues the racy conversation and joke-telling. Even her immediate supervisor Nancy shrugs and tells Susan, "It's a party. Ignore it if it bothers you." Susan then leaves abruptly.

On Monday, Susan informs the Human Resources department that she's thinking about filing a hostile work environment harassment complaint as a result of her co-workers' crude and offensive behavior at the party. The HR director tells Susan that because the event occurred off-site and on the weekend, her claim has no merit. Is the director correct?

Susan's complaint may support a hostile work environment claim because employers can be held liable for inappropriate conduct at a company-sponsored event, including one that is held off-site and "off the clock." Wisconsin attorney Randall Gold points out that "it is critical that both employees and employers realize that the same rules governing harassment during normal business hours apply at the holiday party." Furthermore, Gold notes that "the corporate holiday party is a classic breeding ground for bad behavior that may cost a company time, money, and valuable employees."

For more on this story including sexual harassment prevention strategies go to:
http://www.hrtutor.com/en/news_rss/articles/2006/12_14_litigation.aspx

Organizations seeking to avoid the high costs of litigation and damage to their reputation resulting from charges of sexual harassment are increasing their commitment to training employees in preventing, recognizing, and correcting sexual harassment in the workplace. The Human Equation, a provider of technology-based solutions for a business's risk management initiatives, provides best-in-class online courses that teach managers, supervisors, and employees how to proactively address sexual harassment. For more information about these and other courses from The Human Equation, visit our elearning web site at http://www.hrtutor.com.

The Human Equation also markets the Employee Report Line, an online system that allows employees to report incidents such as the one mentioned above and allow companies to track and manage these reports.

Contact:
Greg Kearsley, PhD, Elearning Specialist
954.888.1271
e-mail protected from spam bots



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Tom Shjerven Selected as 2007 President for International Society of Certified Employee Benefits Specialists

Norfolk, Virginia—December 20, 2006— ValueOptions announced that Tom Shjerven, its Vice President of Commercial Sales, has been appointed to serve as President of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists (ISCEBS) for 2007. While at ValueOptions, Shjerven has worked closely with employee assistance benefits, Work/Life programs, and related behavioral health services.

Shjerven has been an active member of the ISCEBS since receiving his Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS) designation in 1995. He is currently serving as the chapter’s Vice President.

Shjerven would like to see the Society continue its focus on the education and support of its members. "It is important for us to continue to come together and share ideas on all aspects pertaining to employee benefits," said Shjerven. "It is important to stay up to speed in this ever-changing industry."

Shjerven regularly speaks at industry events on issues relating to human resources and benefits. He has worked in the employee benefits profession for over 17 years and earned his bachelor of arts degree in public relations from Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington.

About ValueOptions

ValueOptions covers over 23 million lives through a variety of direct contracts with health plans, employers, and state and county agencies. A national managed care company, it specializes in disease management for all mental health and chemical dependency diagnoses. ValueOptions supports the unique needs of client organizations with traditional managed care products and integrated behavioral health care services, as well as wellness and prevention initiatives and Work/Life programs. Leveraging a national behavioral health provider network of over 70,000 practitioner locations, ValueOptions puts the clinical well-being of our members as our first and foremost priority. Visit www.valueoptions.com for more information.

About the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists

The ISCEBS is a nonprofit educational association whose members have earned the CEBS, Group Benefits Associate (GBA), Retirement Plans Associate (RPA), or Compensation Management Specialist (CMS) designations. Since 1981, the Society has provided its members with educational programs, information and networking resources, publications, and other services to help its members excel and prosper in their careers.




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iCIMS Announces Launch of iRecruiter 6.2

iCIMS Announces Launch of iRecruiter™ 6.2

- Software-as-a Service Provider Unveils OFCCP Enhancements in New Product Release -


HAZLET, N.J. (December 20, 2006) – iCIMS, a leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider, announced today the release of iRecruiter™ 6.2, a flexible Talent Management platform with newly added OFCCP enhancements. As the foundation for its new release, iCIMS formed client user groups on how HR technology could assist with Equal Employment compliance concerns. As a result, iCIMS’ platform enhancements directly address compliance issues faced in the HR community.

iCIMS' iRecruiter Hiring Management platform supports more than 400 corporations worldwide and is among the most configurable and flexible recruitment automation platforms available to HR Professionals today. iRecruiter’s inherent flexibility, coupled with 6.2’s new client-driven enhancements, enable iCIMS to provide technology that is fundamentally easier for recruiters to use and adopt as the backbone of their hiring management efforts.

In February 2006, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) developed new recordkeeping requirements for the collection and reporting of EEO data for Internet Applicants. Through customer user groups, iCIMS clients shared their concerns on the OFCCP ruling and provided feedback to iCIMS’ Account Management teams on how to best address the new regulations within iRecruiter. As a result, iRecruiter 6.2 offers recruiters easy-to-use, scalable technology that speaks directly to their compliance concerns. Leveraging the product upgrades with iCIMS’ industry expertise, iRecruiter users can more easily develop a compliant recruitment process strategy.

“iCIMS’ dedicated Customer Support teams have raised the bar yet again by proactively identifying client needs through multi-faceted user groups and then taking action on those needs within iRecruiter,” said Andrew Curtis, iCIMS’ Director of Customer Services. “The invaluable customer feedback we have received is the basis of 6.2’s new and improved OFCCP functionality – enabling iRecruiter users to maximize user adoption, proficiency, and satisfaction.”

With a continued focus on Client Education, iCIMS’ new release underscores the company’s commitment to fulfilling the core needs of recruiters while providing Best Practices. As part of its Client Education initiative, iCIMS recently invited iRecruiter users to an EEO-1 Webinar series co-hosted by Ron Adler, president of Laurdan Associates. The series facilitated collaboration between iCIMS clients, product experts, and industry leaders to learn more about developments within the recruiting space. Additionally, iCIMS’ enhanced Customer Care Site provides an exclusive forum for clients to connect and gain valuable expertise from other iRecruiter users.

With the release of iRecruiter 6.2, users will reap the benefits of the most client-driven iCIMS upgrade to date. Leveraging iCIMS’ best-in-breed technology platform with its dedicated Customer Support teams and Client Education programs, iRecruiter users continue to gain the competitive edge in the War for Talent.

About iCIMS:
iCIMS, a leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider, is a 2006 Inc. 500 honoree focused on solving corporate business issues through the implementation of easy-to-use, Web-based software solutions. iCIMS’ iRecruiter, the industry’s #1 Hiring Management Solution for the past three years, provides corporations with collaborative tools that help them attract, screen, and hire the best global talent, giving them an edge over the competition. With more than 400 clients worldwide, iCIMS is one of the largest and fastest-growing solution providers in the space. To learn more about how iRecruiter can help your organization, visit www.icims.com.

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Trademarks and registered trademarks contained herein remain the property of their respective owners.



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Employers Need to Prepare Now for 2007 Spring Internships

NEWTOWN, PA – December 20, 2006 – Student internships offer an untapped pipeline of productivity for employers, and companies should plan now if they wish to establish intern programs in spring 2007. That’s the message to both employers and non-profit organizations from Z University.org (ZU), a leading advocate and provider of workforce readiness solutions.

“There are more students in need of internships than there are employer ‘site sponsors’ to host them,” states Matthew Zinman, president of Z University.org. “This is not just unfortunate for students’ workforce readiness needs, but at least as much for businesses and organizations to leverage the opportunity to add intern productivity to the bottom line.”

As 2007 approaches, ZU strongly recommends that organizations take advantage of the opportunity to host college interns during the spring academic term. Besides added resources, student interns represent the “next generation” of employee talent, and workforce development is vital in an era where Baby Boomers are retiring in mass numbers.

“Internships present the single best opportunity for students to gain practical training,” Zinman adds. “New reports, such as from The Conference Board (10.06), validate that the workforce is ‘ill-prepared.’ It’s time for businesses to take action where their interests lie.”

ZU created its Intern Toolkit™ as a complete resource to enable employers to establish and easily maintain an internship program and create real value for companies and students alike. Z University also helps enable host sites by developing and providing many free internship-related resources, articles, webinars, assessment tools, white papers, etc.

“Any business that hires college graduates or simply needs added resources stands to benefit from having college interns,” states Zinman. “Businesses will find college students to be highly capable, highly motivated and, if well-managed, highly valuable. They can quickly perform a variety of routine tasks, such as any involving research, writing, event planning, making phone calls and computer work. When you add the opportunity to apply students’ chosen career skills, the value of internships quickly becomes clear.”

About Z University.org
Z University.org (ZU) is a leading change advocate and innovator of workforce development solutions to close the gaps of knowledge and experience that exist between school and work. ZU's principle initiative is to help employers and non-profits to create best-in-class internships and related experiential education programs. The goal is to provide college students with the vital experience and career training to best prepare them to succeed all the more upon entering the workforce and beyond. For more information go to www.ZUniversity.org


Other initiatives involve: creating proprietary internship program assessment tools, formalizing a student mentoring curriculum for professionals to support student development, innovating specialized training programs for entry-level professionals, establishing a scholarship foundation to support merit-based internships, and taking action as a leader in promoting experiential education.

About Intern Toolkit
Intern Toolkit features a proprietary “core system” designed to make students highly productive and contribute business value. The Toolkit has seven modules and nearly 60 components with step-by-step best practices, adaptable templates (i.e., worksheets, checklists, questionnaires, evaluations, and legal forms), and tools and resources to support program management needs that range from the most basic to the most advanced. It also contains exclusive business skills training materials. Intern Toolkit comes in a spiral bound reference guide with all contents on a CD-ROM for users to adapt as needed.

Intern Toolkit™ was created by Matthew Zinman, president and founder of Z University.org, based on a system he developed through nearly 20 years of first-hand experience with internship programs and personally managing more than 200 student interns.


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HRmarketer.com Reports Fourth Consecutive Record Year of Membership Growth in 2006

Capitola, CA – December ##, 2006 – HRmarketer.com, the no. 1 marketing and media visibility service in the human resource industry, has reported another record year for sales and membership growth in 2006. The company also reported record sales growth for its recently formed Marketing Services Group, which offers marketing PR and other support to human resource suppliers such as SEO and social media work, media relations, research / white paper development and other lead-generating activities.

Since its debut in 2002, HRmarketer.com has realized over 54 consecutive months of sales growth. More than 450 human resource and employee benefit service providers have joined HRmarketer.com, making it the largest and most popular marketing and public relations service in the human resource industry.

"There are other broad-based marketing and media relations tools out there, but none so comprehensively focused on the human resource and employee benefit marketplace as HRmarketer.com," says Kevin Grossman, chief operating officer for HRmarketer.com. "HR suppliers understand that if they are to grow in this market, they must partner with a firm that knows the market and that offers the tools and resources to reach that market. Year after year, that partner is HRmarketer.com."

The company's recently formed Marketing Service Group also realized record sales growth in 2006. Nearly 20 HR and employee benefit suppliers now contract with HRmarketer's Marketing Service Group for their media relations, lead generation, SEO and other marketing outreach initiatives.

Elrond Lawrence, who leads HRmarketer's Marketing Services Group, notes that HRmarketer is uniquely equipped to deliver such services to HR and employee benefit suppliers. "Our HRmarketer team not only has decades of successful marketing and media relations experience in the HR industry, but they benefit from having access to HRmarketer.com and the knowledge of how to fully leverage it for our clients to increase their publicity, site traffic, sales leads and search engine rankings. This frees the team to focus on execution and strategy, rather than editorial calendar research, maintaining media lists and other administrative tasks that bog down many PR agencies. This advantage also saves companies a considerable amount of money on their monthly retainer."

HR suppliers interested in trying a unique, cost-effective and highly focused alternative to traditional marketing and PR can contact HRmarketer.com for a free marketing consultation.

About HRmarketer.com
HRmarketer.com is a service of Fisher Vista LLC, a marketing and information services firm focusing exclusively on the human capital industry. Through its Marketing PR services, the company services hundreds of human resource and employee benefit service providers, helping them generate publicity, website traffic, sales leads and improved SEO.
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Advanced Personnel Systems Releases Major Enhancements to SmartSearch Online

Oceanside, CA, December 19, 2006 – Advanced Personnel Systems, Inc. (APS), the leader in talent management solutions, announced the release of SmartSearch Online, Version 10.1. Enhanced screening tools to more quickly and easily find the right candidates, new functions for identifying and resolving potential compliance issues, improved ad-hoc reporting for better access to key metrics and statistics, and streamlined navigation — these are just a few of the exciting reasons why SmartSearch Online continues to set the standard for recruiting software.

New and enhanced functions in SmartSearch Online v10.1 include:

Weighted Candidate Questions – Support for unlimited custom questions for candidates when they post their resume or apply for a job has always been a part of the SmartSearch Online Career Center. Now, in version 10.1, you are able to weight each question based on its relative importance to the others, and you can selectively make questions mandatory. The system then computes weighted scores for the candidates, based on their answers: a general score for general questions, and a separate job-specific score for each job for which they apply. The scores are shown when candidates in a folder are viewed, and may be used to sort the folder lists. Plus, there are lots of great searching features that let you incorporate the scores as parameters. This enables you to more efficiently screen-out unqualified individuals early on so you can spend your valuable time with the best candidates.

“This great feature in SmartSearch Online enhances our effectiveness in qualifying the best-in-class candidates for our clients.” Says Hector Perez - Director of Sales for Amtec Human Capital.

New Compliance Tools – Concerned about OFCCP compliance? SmartSearch Online v10.1 can help. Candidate records without compliance data are flagged automatically and you can, with a single click, email a candidate to ask them to complete their EEO questionnaire online. Further, every time you run a search the system saves your search criteria automatically to the appropriate job and alerts you anytime searches are run without referencing a specific job.

Improved Ad-Hoc Reporting – Our new “Activity Based” Ad-Hoc Reporting Module provides tabular-style reporting on virtually everything in your SmartSearch Online database. Sophisticated reporting is made easy with the advanced support for multiple data operators and the automatic joining of disparate database tables. Advanced users can even use SQL syntax to generate results. Best of all, you can save your ad-hoc reports for future use.

Enhanced Interface – A number of improvements make the interface quicker and navigation more intuitive, including:
• Quick Note - Add a “Quick Note” to any record with a single click from the profile page.
• Page History – Access recently viewed pages from the new page history.
• Side Bar – Move quickly between individual records with our convenient “Sidebar” technology which now has been extended to record lookups.

“We listen to our customers”, says Doug Coull, CEO of APS. “Their input is a key part of our research and development efforts. In fact, every new feature in v10.1 is a direct result of customer suggestions. We are committed to incorporating new features in SmartSearch Online that drive business results.”

Of course all the functionality and value that make SmartSearch Online the #1 ATS year after year remain an integral part of the Version 10 upgrade:

• Comprehensive applicant sourcing, searching, tracking and management tools
• Fully-integrated “Career Center” pages for the customer’s website with optional RSS feeds directly to candidate desktops
• Portals for hiring managers and contingent labor suppliers
• Extensive partnerships and collaborations with leading vendors such as Monster, CareerBuilder, Talx HireXpress, TalentHook, Arrin Systems and others
• Customizable “on-boarding” component
• Expansive reporting capabilities including performance measurement, metrics and EEOC compliance.

Advanced Personnel Systems, Inc. (APS) has been developing and implementing recruitment management software since 1985, and has successfully provided systems to thousands of users. Having pioneered the field of resume-scanning-based recruiting solutions, APS remains the leader in developing innovative approaches to recruitment data management. Learn more by visiting www.smartsearchonline.com.

For more information contact Paul Smith at (760) 941-2800



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Sheetz, Inc. Delivers Convenience for its Managers with Deploy Solutions Enterprise Talent Suite

NEWTON, MASS. / December 20, 2006 -- Sheetz, Inc. is a self-proclaimed "mecca for people on the go," with 329 retail locations, featuring made-to-order quick-service restaurants and espresso bars in addition to their retail operations. The innovative convenience retailer is a recognized leader in its industry, even challenging local restaurants and coffee houses while building its loyal customer base.

Sheetz also understands how technology can transform, even redefine, one's business. According to Susan Schwaderer, Manager of HR Administration for Sheetz, "If you visit one of our stores, you'll see technology everywhere, like touch screens for ordering food. It's something we're very proud of. We like to try new things in the stores and be ahead of the curve."

The company's commitment to innovation, convenience, and quality does not apply only to customers, but also to employees. The Sheetz Human Resources team faced the challenge of enabling store managers to spend more time servicing customers and employees, and less time interviewing unqualified candidates. With a workforce of over 11,000 employees – jobs spanning food preparation, baristas, and retail – and high turnover that is common among similar chain stores, Sheetz turned to Deploy Solutions, a leading provider of enterprise talent management solutions, to help improve its recruiting and hiring results.

With Deploy, Sheetz has automated its application process, pre-screening applicants so only qualified candidates are interviewed by its busy location managers. This approach has also: improved quality of hires; significantly reduced data entry and paper volume; and improved Sheetz's ability to turn information into actionable, business intelligence, such as tracking where better applicants come from and sharing applications with other local stores in need. "Before using Deploy, our managers were not sharing paper applications. We may have had one fully-staffed store, whereas another nearby store might have been desperate for applications," said Schwaderer.

To automate the application process, applicants can apply through Sheetz's career website or over the phone using Deploy's interactive voice response (IVR) system. The move away from paper applications has had no ill effects on applicant submissions, Schwaderer notes, with 84% of applicants applying online and 16% applying via IVR. Applicant data no longer needs to be re-keyed, helping eliminate errors, and background check and drug testing verification results can be viewed by store managers, on average, two days faster.

"The elimination of paper applications and manual pre-screening is saving our managers a great deal of time. They are no longer flipping through stacks of applications, sorting, and maintaining applicant files. Everything they need is at their fingertips and they can tell exactly where each applicant is in the pre-hire process, from initial contact through final 'eligible or not eligible' result," said Schwaderer.

About Sheetz, Inc.
Established in 1952 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Sheetz, Inc. is one of America’s fastest growing family-owned and operated convenience store chains, with more than $3.8 billion in revenue for 2006 and more than 11,000 employees. The company operates 329 convenience locations throughout Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, and North Carolina. Sheetz provides an award-winning menu of Made-to-Order® subs, sandwiches, and salads, which are ordered through unique touch-screen order point terminals. Sheetz currently ranks 79th on the Forbes list of largest private companies and has received awards in both Ohio and Pennsylvania for being named among their Best Places to Work in 2006. All Sheetz convenience stores are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. For more information, visit www.sheetz.com.

About Deploy Solutions
Deploy Solutions, Inc. provides companies with a competitive advantage in the marketplace by optimizing performance in recruiting, hiring, and retaining top employees. The Deploy Enterprise Talent Suite™ is a proven solution that improves the quality and performance of the workforce, reduces the cost of talent acquisition, and supports regulatory compliance. The company draws upon flexible technology, deep domain experience, and a comprehensive approach to HR metrics and analytics to drive measurable results for its customers. Deploy provides talent management solutions to a diverse and prestigious list of customers, including: Wal-Mart, Securitas Security Services USA, Hess, Flying J, The Pantry, Wakefern (ShopRite Stores), Tire Kingdom, FedEx, American Electric Power, and many more. For additional information, call 877-GO-DEPLOY (877-463-3756) or visit www.deploy.com.

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BenefitsCheckUp Helps Brighten Seniors' Holidays

WASHINGTON, DC -- The holiday season is a time full of joy, cheer, and family togetherness. But it also brings a variety of unique challenges to older Americans, especially those with limited means, when money can be particularly tight around the holidays. In fact, over 3.5 million seniors over the age of 65 s incomes below the poverty threshold and over 8.4 million have incomes below 150% of the thresholds.

Thanks to the National Council on Aging's (NCOA) BenefitsCheckUp, a free and confidential online service that helps seniors determine what benefits they qualify for and how to claim them, older Americans can receive a gift that lasts the entire year – savings on their prescription drugs, health care, in-home services, utilities, and more.

Of particular timeliness is how BenefitsCheckUp can assist the more than 3 million people who are eligible for but have not enrolled in the Extra Help through Medicare's Prescription Drug Coverage (also known as Part D). The BenefitsCheckUp Extra Help screening feature can also be especially helpful to the more than 630,000 who were "deemed eligible" for the Extra Help in 2006, but who have recently lost their automatic eligibility for this assistance and must now apply for it. If someone qualifies, they can save on average $3,700 a year since Medicare’s Extra Help will pay their cost sharing and they will have no gap in coverage (the donut hole).

"If someone with Medicare has limited income and resources, there’s no reason not to apply for the Extra Help," said James Firman, NCOA president and CEO.

Developed and maintained by the NCOA, BenefitsCheckUp is the nation's most comprehensive Web-based service to screen for benefits programs for seniors with limited income and resources. In addition to the Extra Help, it includes more than 1,350 public and private benefits programs from all 50 states and the District of Columbia that pay for prescription drugs, heating and cooling bills, rent, meal services and nutrition, legal matters, medical costs, and Alzheimer’s care.


"Money can be tight around the holidays, especially for older Americans with limited means." said Stuart Spector, NCOA's senior vice president of Benefits Access. "One of the best gifts seniors can get is the news that they qualify for additional benefits such as help with prescription drugs, health care and even energy bills – it’s a gift that lasts the entire year and is particularly welcome during the expensive holiday season."

For more information on BenefitsCheckUp, visit http://www.BenefitsCheckUp.org.

About the National Council on Aging
Founded in 1950, the National Council on Aging is a charitable organization dedicated to improving the health and independence of older persons and to increasing their continuing contributions to communities, society, and future generations. For more information on NCOA, visit National Council on Aging (www.ncoa.org).

About BenefitsCheckUp
Developed and maintained by The National Council on Aging (NCOA), BenefitsCheckUp® is the nation's most comprehensive Web-based service to screen for benefits programs for seniors with limited income and resources. It includes more than 1,350 public and private benefits programs from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, such as: prescription drugs, energy assistance, housing and rent assistance, nutrition (including Food Stamps), legal, health care, property tax rebates, Veterans benefits, home care, transportation, and employment and volunteer opportunities. Since 2001, millions of people have used BenefitsCheckUp to find benefits programs that help them pay for prescription drugs, health care, rent, utilities, and
other needs. For more information on BenefitsCheckUp, visit www.benefitscheckup.org

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Improved Benefitscheckup� Website Helps Seniors Quickly Find Benefits

WASHINGTON, DC, December 19, 2006 – The National Council on Aging (NCOA) today announced the unveiling of a new, more user-friendly BenefitsCheckUp® Web site. BenefitsCheckUp is a free and confidential online service that helps seniors determine what benefits they qualify for and how to claim them.

Developed and maintained by the NCOA, BenefitsCheckUp is the nation's most comprehensive Web-based service to screen for benefits programs primarily targeted to seniors with limited income and resources. Since 2001, close to 2 million people have used BenefitsCheckUp to find benefits programs that help them pay for prescription drugs, health care, rent, utilities, and other needs. It includes more than 1,400 public and private benefits programs from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The upgraded BenefitsCheckUp Web site, http://www.BenefitsCheckUp.org, has more consistent navigation to help seniors, families and other users find what they are looking for faster and easier; including applying for Medicare Part D's Extra Help, or finding and enrolling in other prescription savings programs as well as in many other Federal, state, local and private benefit programs.

"In less than 20 minutes, BenefitsCheckUp can help older Americans and their loved ones learn everything they need to know about the benefit programs that are available to them," said Stuart Spector, NCOA’s senior vice president. "These continued enhancements to BenefitsCheckUp could not be possible without the generous financial support of our partners."

The new site also includes a Partners page that recognizes the many organizations that help the NCOA accomplish its important societal goals. By partnering with BenefitsCheckUp, companies demonstrate to their community, customers, employees, business partners and other stakeholders support for a service that directly helps seniors, especially those who need help the most.

Synergy Software Technologies Inc., a developer of social and human services software products for government and non-profit organizations, established a partnership with BenefitsCheckUp in 2006 by embedding BenefitsCheckUp within their software applications. According to Stan Eames, President and CEO of Synergy Software, “Partnering with BenefitsCheckUp helps Synergy to support the NCOA’s valuable mission while at the same time accomplishing our mission of providing innovative technologies that enhance and support the efforts of social service professionals.”

For more information on BenefitsCheckUp, visit www.BenefitsCheckUp.org .

About the National Council on Aging

Founded in 1950, the National Council on Aging is a charitable organization dedicated to improving the health and independence of older persons and to increasing their continuing contributions to communities, society, and future generations. For more information on NCOA, visit National Council on Aging (www.NCOA.org).

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World Congress Teams Up With HPM Bootcamp

DENVER, Colo., December 18, 2006 – HPM Bootcamp, a nationwide series of three-day, intensive training sessions geared toward corporate leaders in search of a hands-on approach to implementing health and productivity management (HPM) strategies, has joined forces with the World Congress 2nd Annual Health & Human Capital Management (HHCM) Congress as part of a professional affiliation to benefit employers across the nation.

The synergistic pairing “will allow employers of all sizes access to a full range of HPM educational and learning experiences,” explains Les C. Meyer, a seasoned healthcare strategist and CEO of HPM Advisors, Inc., a Denver, Colo.-based think tank and creator of HPM Bootcamp. He calls the World Congress’s upcoming HHCM Congress “one of the industry’s premier health management and human capital events.”

The HHCM Congress will be held on January 17-19, 2007 at the JW Marriott Hotel in Washington, D.C., featuring keynote presentations from a veritable who’s-who of healthcare thought leaders, including former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, founder of the Center for Health Transformation, as well as the CEOs of Pitney Bowes, Navistar and the SAS Institute.

Ron Cornell, managing director, employer division of the World Congress, believes HPM Bootcamp provides “an innovative forum for employers to drill down on some of the topics routinely addressed at conferences but not on this in-depth scale.” He also lauds the event’s programming for providing “a consistent mix of nationally-known, best-in-class faculty on a regional basis for those involved in the design and implementation of an integrated health management strategy.”

A more holistic view of health benefits and their bottom-line impact is becoming increasingly important to HR and benefits professionals who are expected to strengthen ties with the finance department as part of a larger effort to measure their strategic contribution to the organization, according to Cornell. “We think the economics behind benefits management implementation has been neglected and the market needs to hear about solutions that not only provide practical strategies but also address short- and long-term payment issues.”

HPM Bootcamp kicks off its 2007 schedule on Feb. 20-22, 2007 at the Bethesda Marriott in Bethesda, Md. Featuring 18 university-style learning events with insights from national experts who promote an evidence-based and outcomes-driven focus, HPM Bootcamp will be sponsored by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Healthways, Inc. and The Fort Hill Company. HPM Bootcamp is educationally accredited to offer valuable and significant CE, CME and HR credits upon completion of each course.

“HPM Bootcamp is focused on investing wisely in the human resources of the company so that those human beings whose 5-to-9 lives directly impact their 9-to-5 jobs and vice versa have the power to support systems in place to help them be the healthiest, most productive they can be,” says Mark McConnell, SVP of employer solutions for Healthways. “HR and benefits professionals need support, too, to be able to bring those kinds of strategic solutions to the table, and that’s what HPM Bootcamp is designed to help them do.”

Adds John Miller, executive director of the MidAtlantic Business Group on Health in Greenbelt, Md., and an HPM Bootcamp faculty member, “It’s a simple fact that keeping people healthy is crucial to business. The million-dollar question: How do you create a business strategy that results in healthier employees? Working with HPM Bootcamp and HHCMC will encourage the rapid transformation of advanced ideas that will make a difference in health care. HPM Bootcamp provides the tools and know-how to help employers accelerate HPM learning. Most importantly, it accelerates application, to maximize employee health and business results from integrated HPM and human capital management programs.”


Key dates for upcoming HPM Bootcamps include:
· February 20-22, 2007 in Bethesda, Md.
· March 20-22, 2007 in Kansas City, Kan.
· April 17-19, 2007 in Atlanta, Ga.
· May 22-24, 2007 in Westlake Village, Calif.
· June 19-21, 2007 in Minneapolis, Minn.
· July 24-26, 2007 in Seattle, Wash.

Please see the entire 2007 schedule at www.HPMbootcamp.com.

About HPM Bootcamp
HPM Advisors is a think tank of national experts creating answers to the problem of healthcare in America. Its training arm, HPM Bootcamp, is the vehicle that moves 30,000-foot theory into actionable health and productivity management strategies for employers of all sizes. HPM Bootcamp is a nationwide series of accredited, intensive training sessions that focus on the approach, design and implementation of health and productivity management programs with immediately actionable information. Unlike anything currently available in the market, each HPM Bootcamp event actually spans more than one year with PreCamp™ required learning and PostCamp 365™ Implementation and follow-through programs. Learn more about the program and faculty at www.HPMBootcamp.com.

About World Congress
World Congress, a global leader in healthcare event production, delivers timely information, value and opportunity to our executive delegation of senior executives from all segments of the healthcare industry. Our events promote practical, actionable and strategic solutions that address challenges to escalating healthcare costs, improvements in quality, new models of finance and innovations in the delivery infrastructure. Please visit www.worldcongress.com for more detailed information.

About Healthways, Inc.
Healthways, Inc. is the leading and largest provider of specialized, comprehensive Health and Care SupportSM programs and services, including preventive health, outcomes-driven wellness, disease management and high-risk care management to health plans, employers and government. As of August 31, 2006, the company provided health and care support services for more than 2.4 million people nationwide. Healthways helps people lead healthier lives while reducing overall healthcare costs, providing people the support they need when they need it to enable them to make better choices and achieve better health outcomes. For more information, visit www.healthways.com.

About MidAtlantic Business Group on Health
The MidAtlantic Business Group on Health (MABGH), founded in 1977 as a non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization, is an association of major purchasers that include county governments and school systems, financial services firms, manufacturers, utilities, hospitality industry providers and others. Learn more about MABGH at www.mabgh.org.

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TalentPen and Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund Connect Diverse Candidates with Americas Largest Companies

Pleasant Prairie, Wis. – December 13, 2006 – Hundreds of leading African-American students were recently connected with recruiting executives from 60 prominent companies, including Wal-Mart, Bank of America, AT&T and Nike, thanks to a partnership between the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund (TMSF) and TalentPen, a candidate collection and personality matching system.

The New York-based college fund promotes equal access to higher education, working with 47 historically black public colleges and universities to prepare the brightest students for today’s workforce. TalentPen was an instrumental partner for TMSF’s Sixth Annual Leadership Institute, a November conference that prepares new graduates for corporate employment. Approximately 600 students attended the event, which featured an interactive Recruitment Conference to connect outstanding students with recruiting executives from Fortune 500 companies.

TalentPen was chosen by TMSF for its focus on developing a talent pool database, accessible to recruiters from companies supporting the foundation. TalentPen created a candidate profile collection system that integrated seamlessly with the Thurgood Marshall website. During the month before the conference, students went to the TMSF website and created profiles of their education, work preferences, and internship experience.

Supporting companies were given access to recruit from the candidate pool through TMSF’s private TalentPen system, accessed directly on the web. These companies had individual account access for multiple recruiters to enter candidate qualifications, see matching candidates, and invite top matching candidates at the Leadership Conference to meet in person with company representatives.

The result culminated in record-breaking success among the number of live meetings between companies and students during the recruitment conference. Companies that participated included: Bank Of America, AT&T, General Mills, Aetna, Phillip Morris USA, Wal-Mart, Shell Oil, Freddie Mac, Nike, Verizon, MetLife, The NBA, Miller Brewing Co. and the CIA.

“Companies all over the country struggle with diversity,” explained Dwayne Ashley, president and chief executive officer of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund. “A lot of it has to do with understanding the company culture when attaining and retaining candidates. TalentPen is a phenomenal program that allows companies and organizations to more efficiently screen (job candidates). The system sorts our data in a better, more efficient way and ranks candidates.”

“These schools serve as the major resource for corporate America to tap talented and well prepared African-Americans for critical management positions,” said Susan Govea, partner and vice president of marketing for TalentPen. “We are thrilled that TalentPen was an ideal solution for the Thurgood Marshall Fund’s specific needs and for the companies that used our system to identify the candidates who best matched their needs and culture.”

About eBullpen, LLC
Based in Pleasant Prairie, WI, eBullpen, LLC helps employers and job seekers alike find better employment matches by putting personality matching up front in the candidate sourcing process. eBullpen created the TalentPen candidate collection and matching system to give employers an edge in talent acquisition and the tools for improving the hire – not just the hiring process. TalentPen allows employers to incorporate eBullpen’s proven assessment techniques and technologies into their existing career site or ATS. With either system, the end result is a streamlined hiring process and a faster placement of qualified candidates who fit a company’s culture.

For more information, visit www.talentpen.com.

Media Note: To arrange phone or personal interviews with Michael Sproul, CEO of eBullpen or other appropriate executives, contact:

Matt Pitchford at 317-460-0250
Susan Govea at 262-857-8184


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New Years Resolutions for Staffing Success: Better Retention Programs and Improved Applicant Tracking Systems

New Year’s Resolutions for Staffing Success:
Better Retention Programs and Improved Applicant Tracking System

Survey reveals talent shortage has companies looking to improve both retention programs and applicant tracking systems to improve staffing success.

VANCOUVER, BC – December 12, 2006 – According to the 2007 Talent Outlook Survey conducted by Cytiva Software Inc. (CRX:TSX-V), HR professionals and recruiters had a harder time this finding good candidates in 2006. And they expect things to get worse in 2007.

Cytiva, developers of the SonicRecruit on demand talent acquisition system, surveyed over 100 HR and recruiting professionals. The survey was designed to find out if finding good candidates is getting more difficult and learn what companies are planning to do about increasing their staffing success.

According to the survey, 62% of respondents believed that finding good candidates was more difficult in 2006 than in 2005. What’s more 61% believed this trend would continue in 2007. The difficulty in finding good candidates was felt most in professional and management employee categories. Fewer respondents felt that finding good hourly position candidates was harder, with only 54% reporting more difficulty in 2006.

When asked to name the top three programs they planned to implement to combat the scarcity of good candidates, the largest portion, 27% of those surveyed, indicated they would focus on better retention programs, 20% indicated they would focus on new or upgraded application tracking systems and 15% indicated they would step up employee referral programs.

The combination of a poor 2007 outlook, and focus on better retention programs and hiring technologies reinforces those who believe a talent shortage is on the horizon, and bolsters those who say it has already begun.

“While we are nowhere near crisis levels, the survey clearly shows that companies are finding it harder and harder to find the right people for their open positions,” said Jason Moreau, CEO of Cytiva. “Organizations are saying ‘we need to get better at keeping our best employees, and we need to invest in technologies to help us better source and onboard good candidates.’”

According to the survey, one initiative not being widely considered is outsourcing the recruiting function. Less than one and a half percent of those responding indicated they had plans to outsource the recruiting function within their organization.

“People are an organization’s biggest expense and most potent competitive weapon,” said Ian Alexander, Cytiva’s Vice President of Marketing. “So it’s not surprising that outsourcing the entire recruiting function is one of the less popular responses. Especially when the better talent acquisition systems allow you to work seamlessly with external recruiters so you can use selective outsourcing as a way to bolster your internal efforts.”

The results of the survey will serve to inform Cytiva’s enhancement of their SonicRecruit recruiting system in 2007. Recent releases related to better recruiting and retention include an onboarding module and a new analytics dashboard.

The Cytiva / SonicRecruit 2007 Talent Outlook Survey, conducted in November 2006, featured responses from over 100 human-resources and recruiting professionals at U.S.-based corporations. Over 50% of respondents were from companies with 500-10,000 employees.

About Cytiva Software Inc.
Cytiva Software Inc. (CRX:TSX-V) provides innovative recruiting products and services to mid-sized and Fortune 500 companies. With its flagship product, SonicRecruit, corporations can automate their recruiting efforts and customize their corporate career sites. SonicRecruit, a premier talent acquisition system, improves recruiting effectiveness, speeding up the hiring process and reducing cost per hire. Cytiva has over 160 clients and is based in Emeryville, CA, with six offices in the U.S. and Canada.

For more information:
http://www.sonicrecruit.com
Ian Alexander
e-mail protected from spam bots
510-984-1986

The TSX has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this news release, which has been prepared by management.




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iCIMS Recognized as Finalist in NJBIZ Business of the Year Awards

iCIMS Recognized as Finalist in NJBIZ Business of the Year Awards

- Software-as-a-Service Provider Attributes Honor to Continued Focus on Customer Support -

HAZLET, N.J. (December 12, 2006) – iCIMS, a leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider, today announced the company was recognized as one of six finalists in NJBIZ magazine’s 2006 Business of the Year Awards. All finalists are profiled in a special supplement to the December 11, 2006 issue of NJBIZ.

In its first year, the Business of the Year Awards recognize market leaders that have demonstrated financial success and a commitment to employee and community development. For-profit, privately held companies that are at least five years old and are headquartered in New Jersey were eligible for the award. Judges selected iCIMS as a finalist because of the company’s growth, its ability to overcome business challenges, and its contributions to the strength and success of New Jersey’s business community.

“iCIMS is honored to be recognized as a finalist in the Business of the Year Awards,” said Colin Day, president and CEO of iCIMS. “Our ongoing success is a reflection of the hard work and dedication of our employees, as well as the loyalty of our customers.” Day continued, “Despite recent changes within the HR technology space, iCIMS has experienced tremendous growth and client retention by upholding our vision of providing configurable, easy-to-use technology and superior customer service.”

iCIMS’ suite of iRecruiter™ Hiring Management Solutions enable recruiters to attract, screen, and hire the best talent for their organizations. Supporting more than 400 clients worldwide, iCIMS is one of the largest and fastest-growing HR technology providers in the industry. iCIMS’ technology platform, which is recognized for its flexibility and ease of use, is fully scalable to meet the needs of small, mid-sized, and enterprise organizations. The company prides itself on supporting the iRecruiter platform with dedicated Account Management teams that provide Best Practices and comprehensive Client Education programs to all iRecruiter users.

“iCIMS’ recognition as one of New Jersey’s Businesses of the Year validates our ability to successfully provide scalable yet powerful technology and exceptional Customer Support,” Day said. “This is an exciting way to begin wrapping up 2006 and we look forward to continuing this momentum into 2007.”


About iCIMS:
iCIMS, a leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider, is a 2006 Inc. 500 honoree focused on solving corporate business issues through the implementation of easy-to-use, Web-based software solutions. iCIMS’ iRecruiter, the industry’s #1 Hiring Management Solution for the past three years, provides corporations with collaborative tools that help them attract, screen, and hire the best global talent, giving them an edge over the competition. Now supporting more than 400 clients worldwide, iCIMS is one of the largest and fastest-growing solution providers in the space. To learn more about how iRecruiter can help your organization, visit www.icims.com.

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Harcourt Assessment Report: Measuring Recruits Abilities, Work Styles and Skills Ensures a Successful Hire

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – December 11, 2006 – A combination of assessment solutions that analyze work styles, abilities and skills is necessary to successfully achieve a good hire, according to a new white paper entitled Retain Your Employees Before You Hire Them. The white paper was released today by leading talent assessment provider Harcourt Assessment.

“The most important step to retention begins before the hire,” explains Phillip Weiss, VP, Human Resources, for Harcourt Assessment. “A variety of assessment solutions are available to help employers tackle the problem of employee turnover head-on.”

A thorough, well-conceived and objectively-qualified hiring process results in a better understanding of a candidate as an individual. The key combination is assessing a person’s cognitive abilities, work style and skills. With this layered effort, the right candidates are identified at the start of the recruiting process, and recruiting misfires are significantly reduced. Personality assessments help ensure an employee’s job satisfaction, and determine how well the individual matches an organization’s values and culture.

Harcourt’s talent assessment solutions are grouped for employers’ convenience with solutions available to meet a host of needs, including general tests of skills and abilities, work styles and interests or specific occupational or industry needs. To sustain retention efforts, Harcourt also provides assessments for continued development in the areas of team building, personality and self-awareness.

Assessments help identify individuals with a strong passion for the company and the job – providing recruiters with the ability to quickly weed out those who may not be retainable.

“Personality and ability are complex qualities that cannot be adequately determined from an interview or by reading a resume. Just because someone is qualified on paper doesn’t mean they will be ideal for the job,” adds Judy Chartrand, Director, Talent Assessment. “Assessment provides employers with better information about candidates. With the technology and expertise available today, it makes good sense to incorporate assessments into the hiring strategy.”

The report can be downloaded by visiting Harcourt Assessment. It includes case studies, survey findings and data on employers’ turnover challenges and provides data on how personality and ability assessments can deliver a high-performance workforce.

For more information on Harcourt Assessment, visit www.AssessTalent.com.

About Harcourt Assessment
Based in San Antonio, Harcourt Assessment is a leading provider of high-quality assessment instruments and testing programs used by educators, psychologists, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, human resource professionals, admissions and credentialing professionals, and businesses. With 85 years of experience in the assessment field, Harcourt Assessment uses a combined approach of measuring an individual’s work style and abilities to help their clients, including half of the Fortune 500, optimize their hiring process. The company is a unit of Harcourt Education, which is the global education brand of Reed Elsevier Group plc (NYSE: RUK and ENL). Reed Elsevier is a world-leading publisher and information provider operating in the science and medical, legal, education and business-to-business industry sectors.

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This press release was distributed through eMediawire by Human Resources Marketer (HR Marketer: www.HRmarketer.com) on behalf of the company listed above.

Universum Completes Acquisition of WetFeet, Inc.

Philadelphia, December 5, 2006 – Universum, the global leader in employer branding, today announced the completion of its acquisition of WetFeet, Inc., the recruitment solutions provider that helps top employers more effectively attract, hire and retain the right talent.

The acquisition brings together the industry’s strongest players to create the premier employer branding company in the world. WetFeet is the third company acquired by Universum this year, following earlier acquisitions of Jungle Media Group and Career TV. The combined company provides a comprehensive suite of best-in-class products to serve and advise global clients – including the majority of Fortune 200 companies – on how to redefine their brand image, both locally and globally, to attract and retain top students and young professionals. The company’s products include not only best-in-class research but also consulting, communications planning, custom media solutions (print, events, online career tools and communities, TV and video production), and on-demand hiring management software.

“This is the most natural of synergies,” says Claudia Tattanelli, CEO, Universum USA. “WetFeet has been the top career website for students for several years, and we have always been impressed with the quality of their research, consulting, software and online student community. We look forward to incorporating the expertise of WetFeet into our global product portfolio that will serve as a one-stop-shop for companies interested in strengthening their Global Employer Brand to become IDEAL Employers™.”

“As the job market becomes increasingly competitive, employers seek partners that offer deep expertise and a full set of tools to help them build a sustainable competitive advantage on the recruiting front,” adds Steve Pollock, President of WetFeet. “We are excited to be joining forces with the smartest and most respected player in employment branding. With the excellent fit between our products and our shared dedication to outstanding customer service, we are looking forward to working hand in hand with the team at Universum to help our clients build truly exceptional recruiting programs.”

About Universum
UNIVERSUM is The Global Employer Branding Leader. Founded in 1988 in Stockholm, Sweden, with offices in Europe, USA, Asia-Pacific and South Africa, Universum helps companies understand and develop their Employer Brand Image and Employer Value Proposition through research, consulting, and media solutions. Reaching 28 countries on four continents, as well as 800 universities and more than 180,000 students annually, Universum’s mission is to help companies attract, recruit, and retain top talent. Universum’s list of clients includes the majority of the Fortune 200 companies.

About WetFeet
WetFeet, Inc. is a recruitment solutions provider that helps leading employers more effectively attract, hire and retain the right people. WetFeet provides top employers with strategic consulting services, recruiting software, marketing tools, and original research focused on key issues in recruiting. Corporate clients range from emerging high-growth employers to the Fortune 1000 companies.

About Jungle Media Group
Founded in 2000 in New York, Jungle Media Group is the leading media company targeting the young professional market. With award-winning publications including Jungle, Savoy Professional, Hispanic Professional and, now, Jungle Campus – IDEAL EmployerTM Edition, as well as web sites, live events, and books, Jungle informs and entertains young, affluent professionals, providing them with the tools they need to master the Art of Success. Jungle Media Group also publishes on behalf of corporate clients and over 20 top educational institutions around the world.

About CareerTV
CareerTV is the first and only global television programmer and interactive website designed to help college students and young professionals develop long-lasting, successful careers within the world’s top companies. Since 1999 CareerTV’s team of seasoned journalists have spanned the country and the globe, profiling top industries, companies, and schools with one goal in mind – to help you make the best decisions for your career. All of CareerTV’s video programs such as Top Company Profiles, News Briefs, and Toolbox Topics can be found 24/7 on CareerTV.net as well as several company, school, and partnered websites.



This press release was distributed through eMediawire by Human Resources Marketer (HR Marketer: www.HRmarketer.com) on behalf of the company listed above.

GetTheJob.com, the first employer only pay-per-click job site helps small and mid size companies compete for top talent.

Tinton Falls, NJ – (December 08, 2006) –

Are you a recruiter or an HR professional involved in the candidate sourcing and recruiting process?

Has this scenario happened to you?

You just spent a lot of money to post a job on a major job board. After you post the job, you do a quick search on the website to see your ad. Great, there it is at or near the top of the search results page. A few hours go by and you perform the search again...where’s my ad? You scroll to page 2...still no ad. The ad doesn’t show up until page 3, buried behind ads that were posted after yours. 1 day later, your ad is on page 7, next day, page 20. By day 4, your 60 day job posting is pretty much useless.

If this has happened to you, you’re not alone. This happens to small and medium size businesses that use Internet recruiting to find candidates. “The major job boards were built to service larger companies better than smaller ones.” said Chris Amato, CEO of GetTheJob.com. “Large companies and staffing agencies with hundreds of postings pay much less per job posting than the smaller clients. It’s very hard for a smaller company’s job posting to get noticed among the giants who post thousands of ads.”

“Smaller companies need to compete for the same talented candidates that their larger competitors are looking for” added Bob Etheridge, VP Marketing for GetTheJob.com. Unfortunately, they usually don’t have the popularity or name recognition of their larger competitors, and the job boards make it nearly impossible to get their jobs noticed. The sheer volume of postings from third party agencies and larger corporations has caused much frustration among the small to medium sized employers.”

Companies that utilize GetTheJob.com to attract candidates to their postings typically set a monthly budget that is related to the number of postings they have. If more traffic is desired on a certain month, companies can increase their budget. Client jobs are highlighted as enhanced results at the top of each search results pages and typically receive 5 to 10 times more traffic than organic postings. When an interested candidate clicks on a job posting, they are brought to that specific job on the companies’ corporate career site. Additionally, GetTheJob’s AutoWrap Technology eliminates tedious job posting effort and allows the site to mirror the jobs on a company’s corporate career center.

GetTheJob.com, the first pay-per-click job site for direct hire companies only is helping too not only level the playing field, but also help small and medium companies gain greater visibility to their postings. “Our pay-per-click advertising model allows small and medium size companies to feature their jobs at or near the top of relevant search results.” Said Rick Fulton, COO of GetTheJob.com. “Candidates will be exposed to these jobs first, generating more traffic, improving their employment brand and generating more qualified resumes for our clients.”

If you want to find out how to help your job postings stand out from the competition, visit http://www.getthejob.com/Employers and start the revolution.

About GetTheJob.com
GetTheJob.com is a performance based, employer only pay-per-click job site offering a new way to attract the talent that companies needs. Our unique approach is designed to eliminate upfront posting fees, bring jobseekers and passive candidates directly to your front door (career center) and with our auto-wrap job posting technology-GetTheJob.com eliminates the time and effort needed to post jobs. For jobseekers, GetTheJob.com exposes the hidden job market as 70% of the postings on GetTheJob are not found on traditional job boards.

Contact:
Bob Etheridge, GetTheJob.com
Ph: 732-746-2552
Email: betheridge at getthejob.com



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HERSHA HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT SELECTS ERCs SELECTECH� WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT RECRUITING SOLUTION

Norwalk, CT. --- (December 7, 2006) --- ERC Dataplus, Inc., a leading provider of recruiting software solutions, announced today that Hersha Hospitality Management, LP, one of the country’s most successful managers of hotel properties, has selected its Selectech Workforce Management System to support their recruiting and employee selection process. In addition, ERC will also implement its ARGOS® Multirater Performance System for use with Hersha’s existing employees.

“We are extremely pleased to have been selected by Hersha Hospitality Management as the vehicle to support attracting, hiring, and retaining the workforce it wants to support its growth,” said Paul Rathblott, CEO of ERC Dataplus.

Hersha’s Vice President of Human Resources, Jeffrey Wade, said, “I have known of ERC capabilities from previous experience and their Selectech Workforce Management system is perfect for helping us attract and retain the best talent. The fact that ERC offers complimentary services, such as performance management and development applications, plus its ability to configure and customize its solutions to our needs, were the principal factors in our selecting ERC for this important enhancement to Hersha’s HR infrastructure. We are extremely pleased by the results to date. In the past fourteen days, using Selectech has allowed us to pre-qualify over 200 job seekers, hire 14, with an additional 12 offers in process. The system has reduced a lot of the administrative burden with the staffing process and allowed us to reduce the time-to-hire from between 15 and 20 days before Selectech was implemented to 7 days now.”

“Finding ERC as a solution provider was a stroke of good fortune,” said Sal Shahriar, Executive President of Operations. Having a system that can grow as we grow was of paramount importance in our selecting ERC’s Selectech Workforce Management solution.”

About Hersha Hospitality Management

Hersha Hospitality Management provides turnkey hotel management and asset management for properties with leading brand affiliations through Marriot, Hilton, Starwood and Intercontinental. A highly experienced team is accustomed to serving as a fiduciary to publicly reporting companies, joint ventures, institutional real estate owners and private investors. Hersha consistently provide market share premiums, satisfied guests and superior returns to our customers.

Hersha Hospitality Management maintains a deep tradition as an owner-operator by exceeding customer expectations and carefully managing operating costs. Nonetheless, Hersha has invested heavily in people, technology, processes and internal controls to increase revenues, reduce costs and improve efficiency.

Hersha Hospitality Management currently provides asset management services for 14 properties and hotel management services to over 50 upscale and mid-scale hotels in the most valuable markets in the nation including Boston, Hartford, New York City, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and metro Washington D.C

To learn more about Hersha services, please call Naveen Kakarla at (215) 238-1046, extension 412.

About ERC Dataplus

ERC Dataplus delivers Web-based HR management solutions that help organizations optimize their workforces. Since 1993, ERC has enabled leading financial service firms, call centers, retailers, hospitality organizations and Fortune 2000 companies to automate and enhance their employee recruitment, selection, development and retention.

ERC’s comprehensive recruiting solutions help manage the entire hiring process from applicant attraction, pre-qualification, assessment and interview coordination through on-boarding. In addition to saving time and reducing administrative burdens associated with both non-exempt and exempt employee recruiting, ERC solutions improve the quality and quantity of qualified candidates, reduce turnover, fill openings more quickly and provide analytics that allow organizations to better manage and measure all hiring-related activities.

ERC also offers post-hire HR technology through its performance management and multirater assessment applications, talent inventory management, and employee surveys (new hire, exit and climate surveys).

ERC's applications are modular in design and easy to use allowing clients to select what they need, when they need it. To learn more about ERC and its portfolio of cost effective staffing solutions, visit www.ercdataplus.com or call 1-888-ERC-CORP (372-2677).



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Content Searching and Progressive Mastery Validation Added to Knowledge Factors Confidence-Based Learning System

Knowledge Factor, the leader in Confidence-Based Learning™, today announced that is has launched a new release of its patented Confidence-Based Learning System™ that now supports groundbreaking features that cannot be found in other training or learning programs.

The most significant new optional features of the CBL System™ 3.0 are:

• Dynamic Coach™ -- contextually smart, real-time learning that enables users to search the content of any learning modules they have previously mastered and dynamically create “customized” review modules on the fly that focus specifically on topics they need to review. Learners can now brush up on knowledge they previously acquired but haven’t used recently, or reinforce their confidence in a subject before starting a critical application.

• Mastery Validation™ -- a form of adaptive learning that ensures that learners achieve mastery of specific learning objectives prior to being allowed to progress into additional learning. Mastery Validation provides assurance that learners will not fail critical tasks because they have not have mastered all of the critical foundational knowledge needed to perform well.

• CBL Survey™ -- a built-in learner feedback feature that gives users the opportunity to respond to management questions about the quality of the learning experience upon completion of a learning module.

“These new features are revolutionary new tools in the arsenals of companies that depend on mastery for solid performance,” said Mark Dreher, Chief Executive Officer of Knowledge Factor. “This is the first time any company has been able to make mastery, and not a score, the gating factor in the learning process. The significance of this is that doubt and guesswork that underlie most employee incompetencies can be completely isolated and routed out in the learning process before they become impediments to future learning or to the performance of the enterprise. The CBL System validates that employees confidently know the foundational knowledge they need to perform consistently and eliminate mistakes on the job.”

More information:

• Dynamic Coach: Once one or more learning modules have been mastered by a learner, that learner has the ability to access the CBL System and retrieve every question, answer, explanation and training link associated with a particular topic in those completed modules. These are compiled and displayed in a new module with “live” questions and links. Searches are performed based on key words or phrases that users enter. When subscribed to, Dynamic Coach can be accessed at any time by user—even at a job site where the knowledge needs to be properly applied.

• Mastery Validation: This feature is fully customizable by the program administrator. Administrators can make access to certain modules dependent upon users successfully mastering other modules. Because CBL measures mastery and does not rely on a simple score, this is the first time that mastery has been implemented as a gating factor moving users through the learning process. This is a subscription feature also.

Additional features:

• Resale and promotional codes. Organizations that sell their own training programs on the CBL System and who offer special promotions to customers now have the option of offering the same products at different prices to different groups of users through the use of special promotional codes. The CBL System’s e-commerce engine automatically adjusts the published pricing based on codes buyers enter.

• Unlimited reporting fields. The CBL System now supports unlimited metadata fields for users, providing unparalleled, client-defined reports of mastery, confidently-held misinformation, doubt and unknowns by individual, group, department, geography – literally by any parameter a client needs.

The CBL System Release 3.0 is available immediately. Current users automatically have access to all of the non-subscription features of the new release.

Knowledge Factor, Inc.
Founded in 2000, Knowledge Factor has gained national acclaim for its unique ability to take learners in corporate or educational settings to a state of total mastery – confidently-held, correct knowledge put into practice. Knowledge Factor is the leader in Confidence-Based Learning and owner of a patented process that measures and fixes both knowledge and confidence gaps among employees. The Company's CBL SystemTM measures competency, validates learning and provides rapid and targeted learning solutions to organizations and individuals that need to achieve mastery. For more information, go to www.knowledgefactor.com.


This press release was distributed through eMediawire by Human Resources Marketer (HR Marketer: www.HRmarketer.com) on behalf of the company listed above.

MY MEDICARE MATTERS CAMPAIGN TO AWARD GRANTS FOR NEW INITIATIVES TO REACH LOW-INCOME SENIORS

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- December 6, 2006 - My Medicare Matters, which is sponsored by the National Council on Aging (NCOA) and supported through a grant from AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, announced today its targeted community-based education and outreach initiatives in 2007 in support of Medicare Part-D, which will include a project designed to identify and pilot innovative strategies that can help find and reach low-income seniors who may be eligible for Medicare Extra Help and other prescription savings programs.

The announcement was made today at the U.S. Administration on Aging (AoA) Choices for Independence: A National Leadership Summit. Representatives of NCOA and AstraZeneca said the primary goal of this grant program is to find effective and cost-efficient ways to find, educate and enroll Medicare beneficiaries with limited incomes and resources into the Extra Help, available through the Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage, as well as other public and private prescription and health care assistance programs.

My Medicare Matters has allocated up to $900,000 to fund 5-10 grants and the project is expected to run through the end of 2007. Grant applications are available on www.MyMedicareMatters.org and proposals are due by Friday, January 5, 2007.


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Web-based Reference Checking Provider Poised For Growth

WAYNE, PA – December 6 - SkillSurvey has announced the appointment of Ray Bixler as the company's new President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Bixler will take the helm of the world’s leading provider of intelligent, web-based reference checking solutions.

Mr. Bixler will be replacing current CEO, Dan Tiernan whose leadership skills and experience in launching technology companies, has positioned SkillSurvey to pursue an aggressive growth plan. "SkillSurvey is entering a new phase with an increased focus on growing target markets with a best-in-class technology," says Tiernan. "Ray brings with him a solid and broad professional background with experience in developing business in the Talent Management market. As both an investor and board member, I am confident that the timing is appropriate to transition leadership and expansion initiatives to a seasoned professional in this industry. After an extensive search, the Board and I unanimously agreed that Ray is uniquely qualified to drive SkillSurvey’s continued growth.”

The last year has been marked with extensive market analysis, product positioning, refinement of the technology, and a streamlining of operations. The payoffs have included 100% growth in subscribers and a 300% growth in revenue. The Company has also developed an impressive roster of partners that have adopted SkillSurvey as their preferred solution for reference checking, including:

• Taleo, the market leader in talent acquisition software;
• Verifications, a leading global provider of employment screening and applicant processing services;
• Leaders in recruiting process outsourcing including Accolo, Devon James, Pinstripe, TalentTrack and Yoh HR Solutions;
• A market leading provider of Human Resource Outsourcing Services

SkillSurvey’s subscribers comprise a “Who’s Who” list of market leaders from technology, financial services, education, engineering and healthcare, including Monster.com, Citigroup, Quest Diagnostics, and Honeywell. These organizations and many more are realizing the value that next-generation reference checking offers in support of increasing quality of hire and minimizing exposure from employment related risks.

“We rely on SkillSurvey to provide information on how the candidate actually behaves in the real world, these reports provide us with a very unique and valuable perspective, information we can’t get anywhere else.”

Joyce M. Herlihy, Ph.D., Director of HR, Sales and Marketing at Quest Diagnostics

Ray Bixler has nearly 20 years of sales and general management experience and joins SkillSurvey after serving as Regional Vice President of Sales at Caliper Corporation, one of the world’s leading organizational development consulting firms. "SkillSurvey is an incredible and exciting technology company offering a truly innovative solution for addressing a universal objective of business leaders – increasing quality of hire. I look forward to working with SkillSurvey’s customers and partners and contributing to continued development of a profitable and growing company," says Bixler.

Dan Tiernan will serve as a strategic advisor during a transition period and will then continue on as member of the board.

About SkillSurvey
SkillSurvey is the leading provider of intelligent, web-based reference checking solutions that increase quality of hire and eliminate time wasted in the recruiting process. Using SkillSurvey, organizations improve the quantity and quality of information they collect regarding a candidate’s past performance, resulting in a significant reduction in time and money spent on reference checking. This breakthrough approach to reference assessments is based on over 25 years of research in job competency modeling. To learn more, visit www.skillsurvey.com.


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Leading Authority on Human Resource Marketing Trends Prepares for New Report

Capitola, CA – December 5, 2006 – HRmarketer, the #1 Internet marketing and media visibility service for companies selling to human resource departments and/or targeting employee benefit brokers and consultants, has begun gathering responses to its Marketing Trends Survey. HRmarketer is asking HR marketing professionals to join the respondents of this final quarterly study in 2006.

The Marketing Trends Survey is the first step in producing the final HR market research report. For each of their trends reports, HRmarketer creates a survey that is completed by executives, managers and staff from a variety of HR/Benefits companies.

The previous three reports of 2006 cover topic ranging from search engine optimization (SEO) to increasing Internet use in marketing and PR to purchasing behaviors.

"The feedback from the HR vendor community on our reports has been quite positive. For many marketing professionals seeking to re-energize and re-focus their corporate marketing efforts, these reports provide welcome and credible validation in support their marketing plans and have actually helped define and prioritize marketing budgets and expenditures. These reports helped solidify the marketing approach for many vendors." said Jonathan Goodman, VP of Membership Development for HRmarketer.com

The first report of the year touched on basic trends that have now become standard. It was discovered that the most important objective for most HR/Benefits marketers’ are lead and demand generation. It was also found that online marketing activities are becoming more common and even replacing traditional marketing activities like participating in trade shows.

The second report focused on Marketing 2.0 and PR 2.0 tactics; it was apparent that the two are becoming increasingly relevant to B2B marketers. Another growing trend is PR’s transition from an independent entity to an integrated component of marketing. It is evident that online lead generation is underway with most HR suppliers.

In their most recent report, HRmarketer explored trends displayed by HR buyers. Primary among these is the increasing reliance on informal networks—most buyers go to trusted sources, such as professional peers, for purchasing decisions. This complete report also delves into the growing importance that buyers place on a vendor’s online visibility. Print material is no longer paramount, unless it is a product review or a white paper.

For the final report in 2006, HRmarketer is now gathering responses to the Marketing Trends Survey.

Please click on any of the Marketing Trends Survey links in this release to participate and contribute to their line of trends reports.

About HRmarketer.com
HRmarketer.com is a service of Fisher Vista LLC, a marketing and information services firm focusing exclusively on the human capital industry. The company services over 300 human resource and employee benefit service providers, helping them generate publicity, website traffic, sales leads and improved SEO. HRmarketer brings you the latest information on industry leaders, the tools they use and how they use them. Founded in 2000, HRmarketer is used by recruitment and staffing, payroll, employee benefit, training and development, outsourcing and other human resource suppliers, as well as PR and marketing agencies. HRmarketer combines a database of marketing and PR opportunities with press release distribution, campaign management, business intelligence and advisory services. Learn more by visiting www.HRmarketer.com.




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Make Student Internships Mandatory, Z University.org Tells Colleges and Employers

ATLANTA, GA – December 4, 2006 – Internships prepare our workforce! That’s the assertion Z University.org (ZU) is making here this week at the annual conference of the Southern Association of Colleges and Employers with the release of its position brief, “Make Internships Mandatory.” The paper calls for higher education institutions and employers alike to place greater emphasis on experiential education as a means to ready emerging professionals for the workforce.

ZU, an innovative workforce readiness company, is dedicated to make internship programs a powerful solution for closing the gap between school and work by enriching students with hands-on experience, and cultivating their career success.

“Schools and employers are inadvertently contributing to the growing workforce shortage by ignoring the benefits of internship programs,” explains Matthew Zinman, president of Z University.org. “Fortunately, higher education institutions are establishing an experiential education graduation requirement -- yet the majority of employer ‘site sponsors’ continue to lag behind in creating internship opportunities and improving the quality of the student experience. This is especially alarming considering recent reports on the lack of workforce readiness among college students, and the fact that employers have an inherent interest in preparing our future workforce.”

Authored by Zinman, “Make Internships Mandatory” concisely documents the value of internship programs for workforce development and a number of related trends in both higher academia and the business realm. The four-page brief also tackles issues like balancing supply and demand, by enabling non-profit and charitable organizations to host students to gain productivity -- as well as specific recommendations that call on all parties to take relevant action.

Z University.org has also launched a blog in conjunction with the position brief, to create a forum to promote actionable collaboration and progress. It may be accessed via: blog.ZUniversity.org.

Zinman adds, “It’s time for colleges and employers to close the gap of student experience between them. Internships provide a highly valuable and viable solution. With the 2007 season rapidly approaching, there’s no time to waste.”

ABOUT Z UNIVERSITY
Z University.org (ZU) is an innovative workforce readiness company dedicated to close the gaps of knowledge and experience that exist between school and work. ZU developed Intern Toolkit™ as a complete resource that, in effect, removes the barrier for employers to create quality internship programs to increase productivity and provide students with vital practical experience.

In addition to developing Intern Toolkit and complementary resources, Z University.org is pursuing a number of other initiatives to fulfill its core mission: providing internship program training and consulting services; creating proprietary internship program diagnostic tools; formalizing a mentoring curriculum for students and professionals alike; developing specialized training programs for entry-level workers; establishing a non-profit institute to conduct education campaigns and market research; award scholarships to non-paid interns; and subsidize ZU products and services to charitable organizations.

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MEDIA CONTACT

To interview Matthew Zinman, President and Founder
Email: NewsInquiry(at)ZUniversity.org or
Call: 1-877-ZU2GROW (1-877-982-4769)

Please visit www.ZUniversity.org for more information.

© 2006 Z University




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More Than a Paycheck: FreeTotalCompStatements.com helps employers show full value of employee compensation with free software

ROCKLIN, CA – December 4, 2006 -- Small- and medium-sized employers can now create total compensation statements for all their employees easily and at no-cost, with the launch today of FreeTotalCompStatements.com (www.FreeTCS.com) -- the first free, on-demand total compensation statement software.

FreeTCS.com is an advertising-supported, on-demand application that allows employers to produce high-impact, personalized, total compensation statements that communicate to employees that there is more to their total compensation than direct pay.

“With the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reporting that benefits make up 30 percent of total compensation, it’s no longer a luxury to show employees the value of their benefits program and the impact it has on their total compensation – it’s now a necessity,” said Ray O’Donnell, President of TotalRewards Software, Inc. parent company of FreeTCS.com. “Promoting the value of total compensation results in improved employee morale, increased employee productivity and the retention of top employee talent. Additionally, in this era of benefits cost-sharing, communicating a company’s benefits investment can lead to less resistance by employees towards any current or future cost sharing arrangements.”

A premium, advertisement-free subscription is also available – featuring the ability to upload employee data via an Excel template, company branding through the Style Editor, additional cash compensation and benefit programs, as well as a free, multi-page online total compensation statement (the Enterprise Edition). Professional implementation and data management services are also available. The premium subscription starts at $50 a month per company.

As an on-demand application, FreeTotalCompStatements.com, is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and from any location. All employers need to get started is an Internet connection and web browser -- there is no software to install or complicated updates to download.

About FreeTotalCompStatements.com
FreeTotalCompStatements.com is a service operated by TotalRewards Software, Inc., a private company founded in 1991 by business and technology professionals with a mission to deliver high quality, cost-effective, total compensation software solutions to the millions of small and medium sized employers in North America.

Media Contact:
Ray O’Donnell, Total Rewards Software
(916) 632-1000 x202

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