KANA Software, Inc. Fast Track < $100,000 ET

Transcription

1 Panel Meeting of: June 21, 2013 Retrainee Job Creation Training Proposal for: KANA Software, Inc. Fast Track < $100,000 ETP Regional Office: San Francisco Bay Area Analyst: A. Nastari CONTRACTOR Type of Industry: Technology/IT Priority Industry: Yes No Number of Full-Time Employees California: 78 Worldwide: 653 Number to be trained: 75 Owner Yes No Mgr/Supr 8 Frontline 67 Out-of-State Competition: Competitors Outside CA Special Employment Training: Yes No High Unemployment Area: Yes No Turnover Rate: 29% Repeat Contractor: Yes No Substantial Contribution: Yes No FUNDING Requested Amount: $60,650 In-Kind Contribution: $144,803 ETP130 FT (02/05/13) 1 of 5

2 TRAINING PLAN TABLE Job No. Job Description Type of Training Estimated No. of Trainees Range of Hours Class / Lab CBT Average Cost per Trainee Post- Retention Wage 1 Retrainee Priority Rate 2 Retrainee Job Creation Initiative Business Skills, Computer Skills, Continuous Impr., Adv. Technology Business Skills, Computer Skills, Continuous Impr., Adv. Technology $810 $ Weighted Avg: $800 $ Weighted Avg: 40 Reimbursement Rate: Job #: 1 $18 Priority Retraining Countyies: Occupations to be Trained: Union Representation: Health Benefits: Electronic Recordkeeping: Job #: 2 $20 Job Creation/Retrainee Contra Costa, Fresno, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Santa Clara Support Staff, Engineering/Information Technology Staff, Sales/Marketing Staff, Managers/Directors N/A N/A Yes No SUBCONTRACTORS Development Services: Administrative Services: Training Vendors: KANA Software, Inc. retained Training Funding Partners (TFP) in Fountain Valley for project development for a flat fee of $5,500. TFP will also perform administrative services for a fee not to exceed 13% of payment earned. To Be Determined OVERVIEW Headquartered in Sunnyvale, KANA Software, Inc. (KANA) develops software programs to enable businesses to effectively communicate with customers via the internet and . Software is an essential customer service tool for companies such as US Air/America West, Sprint, Xerox, and American Airlines. KANA s customers are from the Financial, Wholesale/Retail, Utilities/Energy, and Communications/Media industries, as well as the Public Sector. ETP130 FT (02/05/13) 2 of 5

3 The Company designs and develops software solutions for Customer Experience Management (CEM) by providing its clients with total control over their customer service process. KANAs CEM products and services enable its clients to improve the customer service process by automating the process of documenting, interpreting, routing, and/or answering customer inquiries; reducing response times; and increasing resolution rates. For example, US Air/America West was able to streamline the processing of their incoming customer s (from its website) by implementing KANA s software. Customer service call center agents at US Air/America West are able to support high volume online service requests quickly, consistently and cost-effectively. US Air/AmericaWest has reduced the handling time of customer queries by 50% and can reply to six times as many customer questions in a month (with the same number of customer service representatives). In 2012 KANA acquired Ciboodle (a customer service center company) and Trinicom (a Cloud customer service company). These acquisitions brought KANA a broader technology set to provide a complete customer service management system across web, social, mobile, and live customer service agent networks. In addition, the Ciboodle acquisition added new complementary product offerings such as customer service agent desktop, business process, and case management. The Trinicom acquisition expanded KANA s customer and revenue base and strengthened its product portfolio by adding Cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) to KANA s existing product choices. These new product suites have become the center of KANA s product offerings, resulting in utilization of processes and technologies to design, develop, sell, and service the products. Additionally, KANA must stay competitive by consistently evolving its products to conform to technological advancements. It must develop new, cutting-edge products and product enhancements, as well as reduce development cost and cycle time. In August 2012 KANA launched its Express Cloud Customer Service Solution (Express) that uses the SaaS model to provide innovative levels of staffing, support, and infrastructure previously out of reach for this market. Express was also developed as a result of the Trinicom acquisition, to provide a complete suite of integrated multi-channel contact capabilities (including web, social, mobile and customer service agent). It is also a central source for all shared information that can be accessed at any time by customer service representatives. The system supports improved customer service quality, accuracy, and response time. KANA seeks ETP funds to train its workforce in skills required to develop new products and upgrade existing ones by integrating capabilities available as a result of its recent acquisitions. Additionally, KANA must implement an infrastructure to support its culture of customer service. KANA meets out-of-state competition standards. (Title 22, California Code of Regulations (CCR), Section 4416(i).) As an Information Technology Services company, KANA is eligible for priority industry reimbursement. Retrainee Job Creation KANA plans to hire 10 new workers at its Sunnyvale facility (Job Number 2). These trainees must be hired within the three-month period prior to Panel approval or during the term of contract. In support of job creation, training for newly-hired employees will be reimbursed at a higher rate. KANA does not request the lower New Hire post-retention wage allowed under Retrainee - Job Creation guidelines. ETP130 FT (02/05/13) 3 of 5

4 In 2012 KANA s worldwide workforce nearly doubled resulting from the acquisitions. KANA has stabilized its workforce and is in continuous growth mode in product development and in the expansion of customer service. Additional workers are required to maintain an adequate level of staffing to ensure customer satisfaction. Work From Home KANA proposes to train nine salaried employees who work from home in the occupations of Sales/Marketing and Engineering/Information Technology via e-learning and Computer-Based Training (CBT) methodologies. These employees live in different counties (see counties list on page 2) and report to KANA s office in Sunnyvale (Santa Clara County) a few times a year. Sales/Marketing Staff spend most of their work time traveling. Workers in Engineering/Information Technology work directly with customers to ensure that products function properly, and provide other high-level technical services to customers services that can be provided from the employee s home. KANA requires trainees to log into KANA s product website to receive online instructor-led training or CBT. During the sessions there are phone and internet communications that enforce trainees participation. Human Resources will be responsible for ensuring that trainees complete their training plan. Trainees will be required to complete rosters and send them to the training administrator who will acquire trainers original signatures. Training Plan Business Skills courses will be provided to Support Staff, Sales/Marketing Staff, and Engineering/Information Technology Staff to adapt to and learn new products and processes, and to improve communication, time management, and accounting skills. Computer Skills training will be provided to all occupations in Microsoft Office. Support Staff will need to be trained on the Human Resource Information System to handle upgrades and changes. Training in NetSuite Business Management will be delivered to Sales/Marketing Staff to enable them to effectively manage their customer base. SharePoint will allow all occupations to save necessary information in a central system to enable sharing of data with the entire workforce. Continuous Improvement training for all occupations is designed to improve processes and efficiencies throughout the organization by providing the effective communication, organizational, and leadership skills necessary to manage process re-engineering and projects in an efficient and cost-effective manner. This training will also enable trainees to think strategically and set appropriate goals for themselves and the organization. Advanced Technology training (AT) is designed exclusively for highly technical Engineering/Information Technology Staff who design and develop KANA s products, and implement and manage KANA s internal technology systems. The intensive AT skills are necessary due to technological advancements. AT will be delivered by KANA s highly skilled internal trainers, internal subject matter experts with extensive experience in the subject matter, and/or outside vendors who are subject matter experts. Trainers will use sophisticated technology such as the latest versions of software and software design tools (i.e., Adobe Captivate, Advanced Business Intelligence, Certified ScrumMaster, HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language, Linus/Unix, Java, and JavaScript)). Depending on the types of systems involved and the subject matter expertise required, AT can ETP130 FT (02/05/13) 4 of 5

5 cost between $375 and $600 per hour. The trainer-to-trainee ratio will be capped at 1:10 to allow in-depth coverage and personal attention from the instructor. Turnover Rate The ETP program is designed to fund training for stable, secure jobs. Thus, the employer s turnover rate cannot exceed 20% annually for the facility where training is requested. But the Panel may accept a higher turnover rate if the employer provided evidence that the proposed training will significantly decrease the turnover, or if the employer experienced a singular reduction in workforce, or if industry data supports a higher turnover rate. The Panel may, or may choose not to, impose a turnover penalty when the company crosses this 20% threshold. (Title 22, CCR, Section 4417.) For the reason below, staff recommends approval of KENA s 29% turnover rate with no penalty imposed. KANA is requesting a waiver to the 20% turnover rate guideline as this excessive turnover in 2012 was an anomaly. It was higher than normal due to a singular reduction in workforce. KANA completed two acquisitions in 2012 and, as a result, performed a worldwide cost realignment to remove redundancies. Excluding the reduction in force, the 2012 turnover rate was less than 10%. The turnover rates in the previous two years reflect KANA s normal rates: 2011: 6% 2010: 10% KANA s turnover rate was 0% for the first quarter of RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends approval of this proposal with no turnover penalty. ETP130 FT (02/05/13) 5 of 5

6 Class/Lab/E-Learning Hours Exhibit B: Menu Curriculum Trainees may receive any of the following: BUSINESS SKILLS Communication Skills Collaboration and Conflict Resolution Skills Customer Service Skills/Increasing Customer Engagement Feedback and Accountability Skills Finance/Accounting Skills Influence/Negotiation Skills Marketing/Sales Skills Meeting Management Skills New Product Skills/Cloud Based Products Presentation Skills Time Management Skills COMPUTER SKILLS HRIS (Human Resource Information System) Workday System Training Intermediate/Advanced Microsoft Office Skills NetSuite Business Management System Skills SharePoint Software as a Service CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT Change Management Skills Goal Setting Skills Leadership/Coaching Skills Leading Effective/Virtual Teams Process Improvement Skills Project Management Skills Team Building Skills AT Hours 0-40 ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY Adobe Captivate Training Advanced Business Intelligence Agile Methodology Skills Certified ScrumMaster Training Cisco ASA HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) IBM (International Business Machines) Business Process Choreographer IBM Websphere Integration IQ Enterprise Java Beans Training J2EE Websphere Process Server Training Java JavaScript ETP 100 Fast Track (02/05/13) Exhibit B 1 of 3

7 CBT Hours 0-20 JBoss KANA Express Product Engineering Training KANA Product Knowledge Transfer KANA Express Product Support Training Linux/Unix Microsoft Windows 8 Portal Configuration SharePoint System Administration SQL (Structured Query Language) Server XML (Extensible Markup Language) BUSINESS SKILLS Administrative Professionals: Interacting with Others (1 hour) Administrative Professionals: Maximizing Your Relationship with Your Boss (1 hour) Administrative Professionals: Putting Your Best Foot Forward (1 hour) Administrative Professionals: Representing Your Boss (1 hour) Creating a High-Retention Organizational Culture Simulation (0.5 hr) Communication Skills Handling Difficult Conversations Effectively (1 hour) Having a Difficult Conversation (1 hour) Interpersonal Communication: Communicating with Confidence (1 hour) Negotiation Essentials: Planning for Negotiation (1 hour) Preparing for a Difficult Conversation (1 hour) Working with Difficult People: Identifying Difficult People (1 hour) Workplace Conflict: Recognizing and Responding to Conflict (1 hr) Finance/Accounting Skills Accounting Transactions and Books of Account (1 hour) Cash Flow Management Essentials for Non-Financial Professionals (1 hour) Trial Balance & Adjusting Entries (1 hour) Principles of Accounting and Finance for Non-Financial Professionals (1 hour) The Accounting Cycle and Accrual Accounting (1 hour) The Accounting Equation and Financial Statements (1 hour) The Balance Sheet (1 hour) The Cash Flow Statement (1 hour) The Essentials of Budgeting for Non Financial Professionals (1 hour) The Income Statement (1 hour) Marketing/Sales Skills Competitive Marketing Strategies: Analyzing Competitors (1 hour) Competitive Marketing Strategies: Conducting an Internal Analysis (1 hour) Competitive Marketing Strategies: Selecting and Implementing Strategies (1 hour) Developing a Brand Internally (1 hour) Developing a Customer-Focused Sales Approach (1 hour) ETP 100 Fast Track (02/05/13) Exhibit B 2 of 3

8 Developing Strong Customer Relationships (1 hour) Essential Selling Skills: Closing the Sale (1 hour) Essential Selling Skills: Mastering Cold Calling (1 hour) Essential Selling Skills: Qualifying Sales Prospects (1 hour) Marketing Essentials: Planning and People (1 hour) Marketing Essentials: Promotion (1 hour) Preparing for Successful Sales (1 hour) Solution Selling: Creating New Opportunities (1 hour) Solution Selling: Mastering the Essentials (1 hour) Solution Selling: Meeting an Active Need (1 hour) Strategic Sales Planning (1 hour) Working within the Sales Culture of Your Organization (1 hour) Presentation Skills Brand Management for Social Media and Wireless Technologies (1 hour) Building Lasting Customer-Brand Relationships (1 hour) IT Strategy Essentials: Business and IT Strategy Alignment (1 hour) IT Strategy Essentials: Creating an IT Strategy Plan (1 hour) IT Strategy Essentials: Implementing an IT Strategy (1 hour) The Time Value of Money and Investment Decisions for Non-Financial Professionals (1 hour) Time Management: Analyzing Your Use of Time (1 hour) CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT Developing the Capacity to Think Strategically (1 hour) Developing the Strategic Thinking Skill of Seeing the Big Picture (1 hr) Using Strategic Thinking Skills (1 hour) Managing Change: Understanding Change (1 hour) Managing Change: Building Positive Support for Change (1 hour) Managing Change: Dealing with Resistance to Change (1 hour) Managing Change: Sustaining Organizational Change (1 hour) Leadership Essentials: Motivating Employees (1 hour) Leadership Essentials: Leading with Emotional Intelligence (1 hour) Overview of Project Management (1 hour) Project Quality, Change and Progress (1.5 hours) Starting Up, Initiating and Directing a Project (1.5 hours) Tailoring PRINCE2 to a Project Environment (1.5 hours) Agile Project Management Essentials (1 hour) Adopting an Agile Approach to Project Management (1 hour) Project Organization, Planning and Risk (1 hour) Controlling, Managing and Closing a Project (1 hour) Project Management Fundamentals (2.5 hours) Managing a Project (2.5 hours) Note: Reimbursement for retraining is capped at 200 total training hours per trainee, regardless of the method of delivery. CBT is capped at 50% of total training hours, per trainee. ETP 100 Fast Track (02/05/13) Exhibit B 3 of 3