Lumesse - The New Name for StepStone Solutions - Launches Its 'Inspiring Talent' Global Survey of Employee Attitudes in 14 Countries, Including Australia, China, the US, UK and Germany

-- Survey shows that half of Australia employees are not accessing to proper appraisal process to evaluate their job performance.

SYDNEY, May 11, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Lumesse - the new name from today for StepStone Solutions - has revealed the first findings of 'Inspiring Talent' - a detailed, independent survey of employee attitudes to their jobs and employers. Sourced from almost 4000 employees in larger companies in 14 countries worldwide, including Australia, China, the US, UK and Germany, with 404 replies from Australia. The survey reveals the different attitudes to work and employers among older and younger workers, men and women, and different regions.  The survey found, for example, that employees starting work and nearing retirement consistently reporting higher levels of workplace satisfaction than their mid-career colleagues. Differences in pay rises, training opportunities and job satisfaction between men and women were still common, suggesting that not all employers have made good progress in equalising the workplace experience between the sexes in recent years. Other key findings include:

• Over half of the Australian employees (53%) reflected that their employer has not carried out, or provide proper performance management process to evaluate their job performance, while the APAC average is 43%.
• Only 8% Australian employees reported large pay rises, lower than the APAC average of 19%.
• US employees are most likely to describe their companies as very successful; Swedish the least.
• Less than a quarter of employees in the world always feel trusted to make important decisions.

StepStone Solutions, one of the world's leading talent management companies, also today announces the rebranding of the company as 'Lumesse' (www.Lumesse.com). With rapid growth in its 'Software-as-Service' solutions over recent periods, and an active user base well in excess of a million people in 70 countries, the new brand is the first step in making Lumesse an increasingly high-profile, global player in the fast-growth talent management sector.

Lumesse is positioned in the 'Leaders' quadrant in Gartner, Inc's 2011 "Magic Quadrant for Employee Performance Management Software. Leaders have strong product functionality and, often, provide superior customer experience. In addition, these vendors have strong direct sales and/or channel sales capabilities. Leading vendors also have strong or emerging multinational solutions (with corresponding service and support).

The Lumesse 'Inspiring Talent' survey shows that issues remain in the way many employers use the talents of their staff. Training, performance reviews and workplace trust remain an issue with only half of employees reporting that they have an effective appraisal process and only one third saying that good training is regularly available. Less than one in five employees said they would always be rewarded for taking extra responsibility or working harder.

Formed in 2003, StepStone Solutions separated from its parent company in a management buyout backed by HgCapital in April 2010. With over 1,700 customers, including major brands such as Banque de France, Deutsche Telekom, Heineken, Merck, Peugeot Citroen and Virgin Atlantic, and employees in 17 countries, Lumesse is a high-growth global success story in the talent management market. Lumesse provides 'Software-as-a-Service' solutions in both talent acquisition and talent management, with well over a million active users of its technology, served from global datacentres.

"Many companies seem to be doing a great job in providing inspiring, supportive workplaces for their people," adds Matthew Parker, Lumesse CEO. "But the report card for many others has to be 'could do better,' especially in areas like training, career development, performance appraisals and job recognition. As Lumesse we've set out a clear statement of our company values, based on what our people said they wanted the company to be, with a strong emphasis on our ability to provide a working environment and culture that inspires people - in Lumesse and in our customers - to do better and have more fun."

"Our rebrand to Lumesse is the end of a long project and the start of a new chapter in our history," said Michelle Martin, Global Head of Marketing. "The brand reflects the kind of company our people said they want to work for - vibrant, human, fun but focused, global in scale but local in execution and, above all, a business that generates fantastic outcomes for its customers and inspiring careers for their people."

About Lumesse

Lumesse is the only global company making talent management solutions work locally. We help customers around the world to implement successful local talent management initiatives that identify, nurture and develop the right people, in the right place, at the right time.

http://www.Lumesse.com