LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--StepStone (OSE:STP) (LSE:STPS), a leading global provider of human capital management solutions, headquartered in Europe, today announced it is positioned in the 'Leaders' quadrant in Gartner, Inc's 2009 "Magic Quadrant for Employee Performance Management Software”. ¹

According to the report: “Leaders had strong product functionality and superior customer experience with the vendor and its products. In addition, leading vendors had strong or emerging multinational solutions (with corresponding service and support).”

StepStone believes that its profitable financial position, strong global footprint presence, best-in-class capabilities and above average high quality customer support rating solidified StepStone’s leading position.

StepStone also was named a “Leader” in Gartner’s most recent Magic Quadrant for E-Recruitment Software 2008, based on the company’s completeness of vision and ability to execute.²

StepStone’s ETWeb talent management platform provides a full range of strategic human capital management capabilities within a software as a service (SaaS) environment, including performance management, succession planning, compensation management and 360 degree feedback. The solution enables organizations to retain and develop staff, improve the ratio of internal promotions to internal hires, and drive succession planning by finding succession options for senior level positions. At the same time, ETWeb places employees in the driving seat of their own careers. Harnessing ETWeb’s self-service features, staff can be able to feed back to their line managers and HR officers on their skills and career objectives, whilst gaining accurate, up-to-date information on the progress they make against their development objectives.

“We’re pleased to be positioned in the leaders quadrant for employee performance management software,” said Colin Tenwick, Chief Executive Officer of StepStone. “During 2008, we cemented our position as the strategic supplier of Human Capital Management solutions to our customers. With a solutions customer base of over 1,600, a strong balance sheet and a continued emphasis on global delivery, we are confident that we are well-placed for continued momentum during 2009.”

1) Gartner, Inc. "Magic Quadrant for Employee Performance Management Software" by James Hollincheck and Thomas Otter, February 3, 2009

2) Gartner, Inc. "Magic Quadrant for E-Recruitment Software" by James Hollincheck, June 10, 2008

About StepStone

StepStone is a leading international provider of human capital management (“HCM”) software and services. Its technology and services helps organisations attract, retain and develop their talent. StepStone was founded in Norway in 1996 and listed on the Oslo Børs (Ticker@ STP.NO) in 2000 and the London Stock Exchange (LSE: STPS) in 2008.

StepStone operates some of Europe’s largest talent networks which match employers with potential employees and provides a complete suite of HCM software solutions. Through its extensive talent network in Europe, StepStone has privileged insight into the needs and demands of today’s workforce, allowing the company to develop highly innovative HCM solutions.

StepStone’s comprehensive portfolio of software and services enable organisations to implement efficient HCM processes. These services include; attraction and hiring, post-hire talent management, performance management, compensation management, skills and competency management, career and succession planning, training and development management.

As at Q3 2008 more than 16,000 organisations, including many of the world’s leading businesses, use StepStone software and services. It operates in 16 countries and employs more than 900 people. Its global customers include Deutsche Telekom, Aviva, PricewaterhouseCoopers, AstraZeneca, ThyssenKrupp, Fiat and Telefonica.

For more information see: www.stepstone.com.

About the Magic Quadrant

The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted 03.02.09 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the "Leaders" quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.