Cognos 8 Workforce Performance offers a dashboard for monitoring and managing staff performance

Business Intelligence (BI) software specialist Cognos this week underlined its intention to offer reporting tools for more specialised business tasks by launching a new performance analysis application.

Cognos 8 Workforce Performance is built on the Cognos 8 analytical BI platform and provides business managers and human resources departments with a dashboard for monitoring and managing staff performance, the company said.

Cognos said the new suite provides reports and analysis for over 100 HR metrics, including headcount, compensation, talent segmentation, churn rates and salaries. The company said that visibility for these metrics would allow managers to more quickly identify headcount needs and better align employees to corporate goals.

For example, managers could use the application to quickly check if underperforming divisions are under-staffed or under-incentivised compared with other areas of a business.

Brian McDonough of analyst firm IDC welcomed the move, and said in a statement that such applications mean "decisions that determine the composition of the workforce can be done with greater insight and accuracy than ever before”.

The launch is the latest in a line of product innovations from Cognos and rival BI vendors such as SAS and Business Objects, designed to make previously generic reporting tools more suited to specific departments or industries. Further such products are expected in the coming months as these vendors seek to embed their core reporting functionality deeper into business processes.