"True competitive advantage comes from having superior organizational capacity," according to Peggy Gann, senior vice president for Thomas & Betts. "This is even more important in our 24/7, global marketplace where capitalizing on new or expanded business opportunities hinges largely on having the right people with the right skills in the right place at the right time."

Recognizing that having a comprehensive, global database of our employees, their skills and career aspirations is an important component of growth, T&B has joined the growing number of global organizations using technology to manage this complicated task.

"It's relatively easy to gather financial, sales, inventory and other quantifiable information using centralized computer systems," said Diane Brown, vice president of Organizational Capacity. "Information on a company's human assets is a bit harder, given the historical reliance on paper files kept by each individual location's human resource department."

A small team of cross-functional managers (the Users Council) were brought together for vendor presentations from five leading TMT (talent management technology) vendors. The team also benchmarked elite companies such as 3M, Schneider, FedEx and Emerson as well as industry peers, Cooper and Hubbell.

After selecting the best option based on factors such as functionality, security, reporting capability and Return on Investment, a multi-year global implementation began. Phase I of the "Connect Me" program was introduced in late 2010. "Connect Me is another way Thomas & Betts is fulfilling its goal of being the Employer of Choice", said Diane.

"Connect Me, when fully deployed, will provide our employees and managers with the tools for building and navigating their careers at Thomas & Betts. These tools connect our people and their competencies to the organizational needs."

In Phase 1, annual performance reviews for salaried employees in the U.S. and France were completed using the new technology, and employees set their goals in Connect Me. Additionally, some compensation planning was done in the system.

But we have just scratched the surface for full utilization of the capabilities of the system — by the end of the first quarter of next year, all salaried employees globally will have performance reviews, goals and development plans in Connect Me.

Compensation planning will be done in the system for employees in Canada, France and the UK. Additionally, the recruiting module will be implemented in the U.S. in the third quarter of 2012. The recruiting module will interface with employee Talent Profiles that reside in Connect Me. The database can be searched when positions or developmental opportunities, such as project assignments, become available to identify internal interest.

So what's the real "What's In It For Me" (WIIFM) for employees?

Connect Me gives employees a chance to be more involved and engaged in managing their careers and a platform to more systematically communicate their skills, capabilities, career aspirations and mobility across the organization.

For managers, the "WIIFM" question is answered by improved insight into employee performance and bottom line contributions.

Plus, the performance review process is streamlined and all data is housed in a readily accessible "on-demand" format.