InformationWeek

InformationWeek: How will you improve employee retention?

Kemna: Of all the issues that came out of this employee survey, the least-important topic was compensation. People want to be challenged. In the last three years, we've had many reorganizations. It's funny--people come to me and say it appears that we might have had a better structure three or four years ago. I say, "Oops, that's interesting." We have up to seven managerial layers within the organization. I would like not to reorganize but to adjust. Reorganization just means moving people around. People have been moved around a lot. We have to find a better work environment that allows people to take on responsibilities and to just be clear where we're going.

IW: How will you build that kind of environment?

Kemna: In the past, everybody was prepared to wait until we were ready to ship a new release. But now, customers don't wait and the market doesn't wait. We have to change our model from inside-out delivery to outside-in.

Customer projects are the catalyst to gain speed. We have to listen very carefully to what customers are demanding. Once we identify interest in an E-business solution, we actually make what we accomplished together with the customer part of our offering. The project is the catalyst, and the customer is the benchmark. I am talking about assembling teams with industry groups, research people, consultants, technical consulting, U.S. people, overseas colleagues. That is the kind of positive pressure and challenge I would like to implement in the organization.

IW: The United States has to be one of the competitive markets for SAP. How will you meet that challenge?

Kemna: I am 100% sure that the only company that can make us fail is SAP itself. We have 24,000 people. We have by far the largest network within the IT community. We have an excellent, outstanding design base. We have lots of money to fund development. There is no reason why we shouldn't succeed against any of the competitors. We have to be clear about what we bring to the table, so our clients and partners understand where we add value. We have to listen to our clients. They will tell us; they do it now.