Power TO
THE People
Suite of services ties
companies closer to their
strategic missions
ention “human resources” and most
people think of endless stacks of
paper to sign. But for companies that
partner with Tucson-based Chief
People Officer, the word that comes
to mind is “strategy.”
CPO, as it is more commonly known, has operated for
nearly a decade and most recently has been developing,
testing and using various modules to help companies
with their human resources needs. Last summer was
the soft launch of a suite of those modules called
People Assistant. But don’t think of them as an assort-
ment of forms to print and sign. “We’re trying to bring
strategic planning to the mix,” says Brian Duffield,
CPO’s vice president of sales and marketing.
The incorporation of strategic planning into the
Web-based suite is linked to a performance manage-
ment component. By aligning the tactics of the corporate
strategic plan to performance criteria for company
associates, Duffield says, “you provide crystal-clear ex-
pectations of what’s important to the company’s success
and how each employee plays a role in that success.”
By putting the HR functions into the cloud, the
department’s relationship with employees is enhanced,
he says. First, there is the self-service aspect of HR
within the company. Secondly, removing paper and its
fundamental limitations creates efficiencies well be-
yond avoiding expense. There is a transformation of the
department’s leadership into a more strategic resource
within the organization and a respected business driver
through the better use of the human talent.
And then there’s the savings. Staffing, performance
management, career development/training, employee
files and reporting—all are expensive in the traditional
HR model. But with PeopleAssistant, it’s not uncommon
for a client of 400 full-time employees to save more than
$100,000 in the first year alone as compared to normal
paper-based or static data processes, Duffield says. This
savings does not include any that will likely occur in the
areas of better hiring practices, i.e. less turnover and
more effective execution of the strategic plan, he says.
Since the launch began, the beta customers are
helping CPO prioritize future upgrades and updates
to the product in the months ahead, he says. One of
those customers is The University of Arizona’s College
of Engineering. “There are few things more important to
our College’s future than alignment with the University’s
five-year strategic plan,” says Jeff Goldberg, dean of
the school. “The accountabilities and tactical visibility
inherent in the CPO process will allow us to monitor our
progress, maintain our focus and measure the results
along the way to ensure success.”
Biotechnology community
loses one of its strongest advocates
WRI TING BY :: JEFF HARRISON
ichael A. Cusanovich, a
Regents’ professor at the
University of Arizona and
an advocate of biotechnol-
ogy research and economic
development, died recently. He was 68.
Cusanovich gained international
recognition for his research, primarily on
biological electron transfer and signaling.
His work influenced areas from microbial
physiology and bacterial evolution to
heart disease and vision. Most recently,
he was key in developing the National
Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and
Bioproducts, a consortium funded by the
U.S. Department of Energy.
He is survived by his wife,
Marilyn Halonen, a pharmacology
professor and member of the Arizona
Respiratory Center.
As the longtime director of the Arizona
Research Laboratories, Cusanovich
lobbied for Arizona to attract and
nurture high-tech industries, not only in
biotechnology, but in optical sciences. He
helped found and headed the Bioindustry
Organization of Southern Arizona and
served on the board of directors of the
Arizona Bioindustry Association.
As vice president for research and dean
of the Graduate College for a decade, he
was at or near the center of the UofA’s
explosive growth in the sciences. The
m
university vaulted into the nation’s top- 10
public research institutions when annual
research grant funding hit $280 million.
While he was an administrator,
Cusanovich still found time to work in
his laboratory, teach dozens of classes
to students and write more than 300
publications. He stepped down as vice
president in 1998 to return to the faculty.
In 2005 he was named as a Regents’
Professor, the school’s highest honor
for researchers.
“Over the years, Mike generously shared
his time and wisdom as a teacher of
undergraduates and graduate students, as
a prolific investigator, as vice president for
research and as provost, and as a mentor
for many faculty members, including me,”
says Leslie Tolbert, current vice president
for research, graduate studies and
economic development.
John G. Hildebrand, head of the
College of Science’s Department of
Neuroscience, recalled his last meeting
with Cusanovich when he spoke proudly
about a biofuels grant he and a group
of collaborators recently won. “It is said
that nobody is irreplaceable. I don’t buy
that. Mike Cusanovich is irreplaceable,”
Hildebrand says.
Jeff Harrison is a media relations manager in The University
of Arizona’s Office of University Communications.
