^[1]The following SMART 100 profile and the information it contains is a duplication of content submitted by the applicant during the entry process. As a function of entry, applicants were required to declare that all details are factually correct, do not infringe on another’s intellectual property and are not unlawful, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Some profiles have been edited for reasons of space and clarity. More about the SMART 100 ^[2].

This innovation initially came to life when…

A couple of women got really tired of employers talking about how important their talent was…and not really meaning it! They decided that they could use software to show big companies why they needed to care about people…and also to help them know how to.

WHAT & HOW

The purpose of this innovation is to…

Guide big employers to create people strategies that are win-win for the employer and the employees — organizations like Worldwide Fund for Nature, Starbucks Coffee Company, and many others around the world.

It does this by…

Meshing and analysing a lot of different data sources to identify risks and gaps, then guiding users to solve the challenges and measure progress — not just in $$ terms, but also in people terms.

PURPOSE & BENEFITS

This innovation improves on what came before because…

Organizations used to just plan on headcount and the bottom line…and that’s not the way to build world-leading companies!

Its various benefits to the customer/end-user include…

- a really different way to look at talent and how it impacts them

- business intelligence that combines internal and external data to see the big picture

- a cool Silverlight interface that clients really use

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

In the past, this problem was solved by…

A blend of gut feel, guesswork and urban legends!

Its predecessors/competitors include…

Although we were the only provider in this space back in 2003, now we are finding that there are other vendors are entering this space.

TARGET MARKET

It is made for…

BIG companies, mostly global ones, who need real insight. Our hottest market is North America, but Europe and the Middle East are working for us too…and in Australia, we have a number of clients who have particular workforce challenges — such as requiring very rare skills with a long time to competence.

DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY

It is available for sale through…

us!

Our marketing strategy is to…

Establish ourselves as “thought leaders” in this space, and leverage that. We also do good SEO and PPC work, but the reputation as the smartest in the world at this is key.

SUPPORTING IMAGES AND/OR VIDEO

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR THIS INNOVATION

While the judging is now officially over, you can still show your support for this innovation in one of the following three ways:

1. Hit the VOTE UP button: Top left of each page (Not available for IE users)
2. Trigger a Reaction: Re-Tweet, Like on Facebook, etc.
3. Leave a Comment: Share the love!

To check out the Anthill SMART 100 Readers’ Choice winner for 2010, click here ^[6].