An exclusive interview with Doug Natal, Vice President, Federal at Taleo

Why would Doug Natal step back from his successful government sales consultancy to take on the challenge of helping a west coast-based company expand its public sector business? One word: opportunity.

Natal looked at three distinct government trends that indicate a growth market for human capital process improvements. First, there's a growing need to be fiscally conservative and increase employee productivity. Second, government agencies want to consolidate redundant IT infrastructures within departments. And finally, reduce expensive paper processes that are hard to track and report.

Few companies in the government contracting industry offer solutions that answer all three needs well. And when government can't find solutions to its ever-complicated needs, private industry has always stepped in to answer the call.

The answer? Taleo, a leading human capital management company that calls nearly half the Fortune 100 as customers and operates in over 187 countries and territories. The company recently opened its first office in Washington, DC and tapped Natal to help lead the charge and it make an immediate impact. I visited with Doug earlier this month to learn more about Taleo and the talent management needs of government, two areas he knows well.

Marc Hausman: You recently joined Taleo to lead the company’s federal organization. What’s your professional background? And what is the company’s current footprint in the public sector?

Doug Natal: Let’s start with where Taleo currently is in the public sector.

We have done an excellent job of aligning our solutions with the unique talent management requirements in this space. We have more than 50 government customers and strong customer loyalty. Plus, Taleo at the corporate level has over 1,500 employees and approximately $300M in annualized revenues.

Earlier this month Taleo reported record quarterly revenue of more than $80M. In comparison, our public sector team is a start-up company within a credible, market leading company that has been in business for 12 years.

Today, my mission is quite simple – accelerate Taleo’s growth in government and partner relationships we value. I’d like to think I am well qualified to take on this challenge, since I have lead government sales operations for two decades.

I have managed some of the most demanding infrastructure deployments in the federal market having held senior level positions at VeriSign, EDS and EMC. Most recently, I spent four years managing a business development consultancy called Government Sales Advisors.

Taleo is a recognized leader in the enterprise market, yet it’s a relatively new player in government. Tell us about the company and its qualifications.

You are spot on about the company’s leadership in the commercial markets. Taleo has more than 5,000 customers, including more than half of the Fortune 100. These customers have high performance, reliability and security demands such as large financial institutions, healthcare and the systems integration community.

Our customer survey shows a 94 percent satisfaction rating. Plus, the 2011 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Performance Management and Corporate Learning Systems magazine cited Taleo as the only vendor with leading and visionary solutions in every category of Talent Management.

In fact, Taleo is the only vendor named a leader in every category of Talent Management by Gartner, Forrester and IDC. Our passion is to help organizations take advantage of their most important asset – their people.

I understand that Taleo is a cloud-based solution. Can you explain what that means and why a cloud approach is relevant to government agencies?

Yes, Taleo is the second largest software-as-a-service (SaaS) organization in the world. We offer a portfolio of business applications that enable companies to automate the talent lifecycle for their employees. Our solution is easy to deploy in small groups and can scale within the same infrastructure to provide a cost effective solution to departmental consolidation.

Another big advantage is our application reporting and analytics capabilities. We are able to create reports from live data that provide information on everything from Title 5 analysis (Equal Employment Opportunity Regulations) of current and future workforce to the time it takes to hire for individual positions.

It is amazing what you can do with this data. Taleo's integrated platform provides a single view of talent with the talent intelligence organizations need to attract, engage, and retain their workforce.

Last month Taleo announced its participation in the Joining Forces initiative that is directed by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden. What is the mission of Joining Forces and how is Taleo participating?

As you may have read, President Obama has challenged the private sector to hire or train 100,000 unemployed veterans and their spouses by 2013.

Michelle Obama and Jill Biden’s Joining Forces fits right in with this effort. This organization helps educate all sectors of society about how they can support veterans and military families in recognition of their service and contributions.

It was a natural for Taleo to get involved with Joining Forces because of our leadership in talent management. For companies, we’ve created a ‘Quick Start” guide to help them reach job seeking veterans who may be qualified for open positions.

We’re also encouraging veterans to set up a profile in our TalentExchange online candidate marketplace, which will provide them access to job openings at our more than 5,000 customers.

Taleo has added new functionality to TalentExchange that will help veterans easily import relevant details from their Military Service Record to their profile. This is a great way they can differentiate themselves in the employment market.

Do you have any advice for companies interested in partnering with Taleo and its federal market efforts?

We are still defining our priorities when it comes to partnerships with systems integrators and complimentary technology vendors. This makes it a great time to talk to us as we’ll be very flexible in how we engage with partners.

In particular, I am interested in connecting with companies that are working closely with agencies like DHS, Department of Justice, United States Postal Service, NASA and the US Navy on their personnel recruitment and management requirements.

Marc Hausman is the president and CEO of Strategic Communications Group, a social media marketing consultancy based in Silver Spring, Maryland. Read more at his blog: http://www.thestrategicguy.com/.