Torrance, CA (November 2, 2005) — Xplor International, the worldwide electronic document systems association, today announced its plan to further the goal of becoming a “first of a kind event” by offering attendees to their annual Global Document Exchange Conference, February 1-5, 2006 in Miami Beach, Florida, a one-day 6-session track on talent acquisition and retention. The track, scheduled for Thursday, February 2, 2005, is the first of its kind to focus on the “people” side of the electronic document industry. In addition, conference organizers have assembled a world-class group of speakers including Johnna Torsone, vice president and chief human resource officer of Pitney Bowes who will keynote the session. Jeff Deming, EDP, senior vice president, of the CCM Division of Group1 Software, Wes Friessen, general manager, Portland General Electric and Rob Quadracci, human resource director of Quad Graphics. “While the industry continues to invest significantly in technology and equipment, often time little is spent on attracting, training and retaining the talent needed to exploit that technology to its fullest potential,” said Ken Leslie, EDP, CEO of Strategic Search Consultants, Xplor board member and session organizer. “Our full-day session on human resources will provide the answers needed for companies to value and retain one of its most important assets, their employees.” In a survey conducted in August of 2005, Strategic Search Consultants contacted over 300 industry human resources professionals. The survey uncovered that the number one, almost unanimous problem company’s face is the engagement and retention of good people followed by the escalating costs of healthcare and finding the right talent for the role. Speaker Lineup and Agenda Kicking off the track will be a keynote session by Johnna Torsone, vice president and chief human resources officer of Pitney Bowes. Leading one of the most progressive and successful human resource departments in American business, Johanna’s address, “How Does HR Earn It's Place at the Table,” will focus on aligning human resources goals with the company's beliefs, values and practices, as well as how to measure success along with the corporate business performance indicators. In addition, the keynote will explore how to create value for employees, managers, customers and shareholders. Following the keynote, in a session on finding good talent is addressed in “The Perfect Interview—Never Make a Bad Hire Again.” Ken Leslie, EDP will present how to find and hire great people in the electronic document industry, the perfect interview process, behavior based interviewing questions, top grading interview concepts, interviewing for character not job history, reference checks that work, ranking and selecting candidates that map to a company's mission. The third session of the day will be dedicated to reducing healthcare costs and speakers are currently being confirmed for this session. The second half of the day is dedicated to the number one problem, employee retention. “Train the Trainer, Deploying Career Management to Motivate and Retain Employees,” Ken Leslie, EDP and CEO of Strategic Search Consultants and Jeff Deming, EDP, Senior vice president, of the CCM Division of Group1 Software will outline the successful utilization of career management plans in the enterprise to identify, grow and retain employees. Wes Friessen, general manager of Portland General Electric will present a series of tools to help dignify, motivate, develop and retain the productivity levels of employees. “Retaining Your Most Important Resource—Your People” will explore the “three R,” The Twelve Questions Measuring Stick and ten proven ways to motivate people, while providing valuable methods to recognize and reward employees to develop and maximize team performance. Rounding out the one-day track, industry leaders will then come together in a panel discussion titled “Retaining Your Employees—the Best Companies Share Their Secrets.” Companies with defined retention strategies will share what works to manage the motivation and retention of employees, building a bigger and more profitable business. “For 26 years Xplor has been providing education for the management, marketing and technical aspects of the industry,” said Skip Henk, EDP, president and CEO of Xplor, International. “By applying what they learn from this program, an attendee will be able to spend one day and integrate human resources into the strategic mission of the company, never make a bad hire again while keeping the good talent they have. That is only one of many good reasons to send the management team to Xplor.”