January 14, 2004HR and Workforce ManagementLawson and Workbrain Partner to Provide Retailers a Comprehensive Human Resource and Multi-Level Workforce Optimization Solution Combined System of Staffing and Time Management Tools Comprehensively Manages Retail Operations ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 12, 2004-- Lawson Software, Inc. (Nasdaq:LWSN - News) and Workbrain Corporation (TSX:WB - News) today announced a partnership to provide retailers with a comprehensive solution for managing both store and corporate HR and workforce functions. This partnership combines Lawson's back-office Human Resources Suite and Payroll application with Workbrain's industry-specific workforce management solution -- Workbrain for Retail -- to enable effective multi-level workforce optimization. "Our partnership with Workbrain offers retailers a truly comprehensive solution that not only increases functionality, but also can help retailers to maximize net profitability by streamlining retail management, reducing labor costs and avoiding repetitive functions," said Carol Mackenzie, retail market director at Lawson Software. "Workbrain's workforce management expertise and range of software and services makes this partnership a natural extension of Lawson's Retail Solutions Suite, which addresses many unique challenges facing today's retailers." The new joint offering can enable retail executives, from store management to corporate retail management, to more efficiently manage workforce activities. The integrated workforce optimization system helps retailers to automate key processes and functions, including Labor Forecasting, Schedule Optimization, Time and Attendance, Employee Self-Service, Short & Long-range labor planning, and uses Smart Notification and workforce analytics to provide greater insight into strategic and operational information. Leading industry analysts have identified workforce optimization solutions as a key component to any comprehensive retail solution. According to The Alert -- Workforce Acquisition, Optimization, and Incentive Management Are Bright Spots in HCM, July 10, 2003, "Workforce optimization applications help users develop optimal work schedules -- usually for hourly workers -- based on a wide variety of data, such as sales forecasts, historical demand, current promotions, and worker preferences. Users of these applications have been able to achieve a rapid ROI based on an improved ability to have the right number of workers with the right skills available to provide the appropriate level of customer support," said Monica Barron, AMR Research. By automating these workforce planning activities, Workbrain, along with retailers' best business practices, can help retailers reduce workload and time and increase net profitability by reducing labor costs and increasing a retailer's top line. For instance, Workbrain's accurate labor forecasting and mathematically optimized employee schedules assist in ensuring that the right staff with the right skills is scheduled to meet customer demand. With this customer-centric workforce management approach, retailers can drive increased store revenue by improving store service quality and conversion rates. In addition, Workbrain's Time & Attendance suite can be used to help reduce a retailer's gross payroll and IT costs, improves regulatory compliance, and provide real-time labor reporting to facilitate centralized decision-making. "Increasingly, large innovative retailers are looking for end-to-end retail operations solutions, and we are excited to team with Lawson software to fill that market requirement," said John Orr, Workbrain's senior director of Retail Solutions. "The combined offering, comprising Lawson's retail solutions and Workbrain workforce management, offers a compelling value proposition to retailers looking to improve net profitability." The integration of Workbrain's enterprise workforce management solution with Lawson HR and Payroll results in more efficient business operations. Seamless exchange of workforce data between systems eliminates manual re-entry of employee information into multiple systems, accelerates the payroll export to the net payroll system and prevents storage of redundant employee data in multiple systems. Workbrain also complements Lawson's existing self-service HR applications by providing retail-specific self-service functionality such as shift trading, schedule availability submission and leave processing. Large retailers will also benefit from enhanced reporting capabilities, as Workbrain contributes robust workforce management reporting to Lawson's Retail Solutions Suite. While the Lawson analytics solution for retail incorporates all key aspects of the retail operation, including advanced customer-centric analytics, financials, HR, payroll, merchandising and supply chain, Workbrain completes the picture with rich labor reporting. The joint workforce reporting capabilities will facilitate centralized labor decision-making and workforce trend analysis, as corporate and store managers benefit from role-based, real-time information within the retail "network." In addition to HR and Payroll functions, Lawson's retail analytics feature timely workforce information that enhance reporting and analysis of the organization's performance against parameters such as sales targets. About Lawson Software Lawson Software provides business process software solutions that help services organizations in the retail, healthcare, professional services, public sector, financial services and other strategic markets achieve competitive advantage. Lawson's solutions include enterprise performance management, distribution, financials, human resources, procurement, retail operations and service process optimization. Headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., Lawson has offices and affiliates serving North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. Additional information about Lawson is available at www.lawson.com. About Workbrain Workbrain develops, markets, implements and supports software that helps large organizations optimally deploy and manage their workforces. Retailers such as Burlington Coat Factory, REI, The TJX Companies and Winn Dixie have chosen Workbrain's industry-focused workforce management solutions to automate labor forecasting, employee schedule optimization, time and attendance, employee self-service, and workforce analytics. For more information, please visit www.workbrain.com. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |