The natural tendency for leaders amidst challenging times, like industry disruptions or economic downturns, is to focus attention away from internal affairs and toward external noise. In reality, the opposite response is best. Continually investing in the talent you already have, and perhaps even amping up that investment, will keep morale high, engagement steady, and company culture healthy.
The eNPS has been a highly sought after metric since its inception in 2003. In recent years, it has evolved into its own identity, integrated into onboarding programs, yearly surveys, and more. But what exactly is it and why should we strive for a higher score?
Tip The 3 questions to consider when choosing engagement, performance, and talent management software are: What problem are you trying to solve? What ongoing support with be accessible to you? Price Software Buyer’s Guide Choosing the right engagement, performance, and talent management software boils down to finding the platform that solves your current organizational challenges, future desires, and fuels the employee experience. It is about finding your Goldilocks: not too big, not too small, but just right. In an endless sea of Google searches for the “best” software solution, how do you efficiently sift through the digital haystack to find the needle? How to Choose the Right Performance Management Software Below are questions to consider throughout your search along with corresponding WorkDove best practices. 1. Functionality: What problem(s) are you trying to solve? While it may be tempting to get swept away by software platforms that offer a plethora of solutions, it’s important to focus on the ones that are tailored to your specific performance and talent management challenges. After all, a solution that doesn’t address your needs won’t provide the two major things you are looking for: an ROI (return on investment) and an ROE (return on expectations). That’s why it’s crucial to gather input from all stakeholders and identify your organization’s key challenges before diving into the search process. When you have a clear idea of what you need, it’s easier to find a solution that meets your expectations and delivers measurable results. Common challenges that engagement, performance, and talent management platforms can help address include tracking performance reviews and scores in one central location, monitoring goal progress across the organization, documenting coaching conversations and peer feedback, and keeping a pulse on employee satisfaction and sentiment. Clients regularly migrate from competing software platforms to WorkDove. Often they tell us that other systems were not only too expensive but too complex and didn’t align with their needs. We take pride at WorkDove to assess our client’s needs and align the solution. A software solution may seem perfect for your organization, but if it’s not user-friendly, too complex, or includes more features/functions than you need, employees will shy away from using it. At WorkDove, we understand that people gravitate towards the technology path of least resistance, which is why our platform offers a simple, single source of truth for employees, managers, and admins. Plus, our Support team is always available to help users throughout their journey, ensuring a seamless experience. 2. What ongoing support will be accessible to you? The reality is that you are not simply looking for a performance management software solution but rather a partner in engagement, performance, and talent management. These organizational needs are ever-evolving and it makes a marked difference when you are aligned with a tech company that provides ongoing account management relationships, resources, and best practices to fuel your experience. When you are exploring software, ask about ongoing support. As noted, we often welcome our competitors’ clients with open arms. When we ask what drove them from their existing platform, it usually is driven by a poor customer experience. For example, many software vendors sign you to a contract, share some videos, and wish you good luck. That just does not set people up for success. WorkDove is more than just a software solution; it’s a partner in your organization’s performance and talent management journey. From the moment you sign up, your dedicated Onboarding Consultant will guide you through the entire process and seamlessly transition you into ongoing account maintenance interactions. In addition to the intuitive platform, WorkDove offers a wealth of resources, including Help articles, Support chats, exclusive webinars, and weekly Deep Dive training sessions to ensure that your experience is always top-notch. 3. Price The price conversation ultimately needs to answer one question: What is the actual return for the price that you pay? When looking for an engagement, performance, and talent management software solution, it’s important to consider platforms that can grow alongside your organization. Will the subscription provide everything upfront, or can you add features as you go? Take the time to identify your must-haves, nice-to-haves, and potential future needs so you can eliminate options that don’t meet your criteria. This will allow you to make informed decisions on how to allocate your budget for performance and talent management. Though many of our clients use the entire WorkDove platform with all apps included, we have starter packages that allow you to use the Performance Review, Check-Ins, and Recognition apps. Those start at $5k for up to 100 users, and individual apps can be purchased as low as $3 per month, per user. Though the system has to first meet your company’s needs and offer a superior customer success operation, you don’t have to overpay for an engagement, performance, and talent management platform. We like to say, find a system that is “Just enough, but not too much.” The system should be easy to use, not offer you excess functionality that you don’t need, and be affordable. Regularly, WorkDove hears that it offers the right functionality, and allows them to save $4-5 per month, per user, and in some cases $10,000-$20,000 per year or more for a 250-employee organization. WorkDove Software Buyer’s Guide We have taken the time to develop a Software Buyer’s Guide to make your search even more simplistic and save you precious time! This guide is meant to do exactly that: guide you toward the performance and talent management digital solution that fits “just right” for your organization’s growing needs. Check it out below! Software Buyer’s Guide
According to Bain and Company, over a period of seven years, companies with more engaged workers grew revenue 2.5x as much as companies with less engaged workers. Similarly, Gallup found that highly engaged workplaces see a 10% increase in customer ratings and a 20% increase in sales. Though the main focus of an employee experience platform is to make talent your competitive advantage and drive business results, your organization can also save a lot of time and money with a system that is just the right size and fit for your organization. Maintaining a single source of truth for all performance and talent management data reduces man/woman hours, saves money, ensures data integrity and version control, and creates a more engaging employee experience. If you find your organization sifting through old papers and/or managing multiple disparate digital systems, these are not best practices. You can save time and money with one single source of truth that can grow with your business. In this article, we will discuss the implicit and explicit savings your organization can attain by using one platform that powers engagement, performance, and talent management. Reduce Turnover and Save Money How exactly can a performance and talent management platform that provides one single source of truth not only drive the employee experience and engagement but also save time and money? Anyone with experience in recruiting knows the excessive amount of hours and resources spent on finding strong candidates. Hiring for new roles is one beast but refilling roles due to employee turnover can even be more costly. According to new research from SHRM, the average cost per hire was roughly $4,700, but many employers estimate that the total cost (time spent by department heads helping HR fill the role, sourcing, interviewing, etc.) can actually be 3 to 4 times the position’s salary. When roles have to be replaced, multiple employees must contribute to filling that position, resulting in precious hours and energy being taken away from other important areas. In many cases, poor performance occurs prior to an employee’s departure from your organization (a report from Gallup detailed in an HRD article found that poor-performing employees cost the economy on average $450 to $550 billion per year). One of the main ROI metrics WorkDove’s HR clients use to measure success is employee turnover. Fortunately, by leveraging WorkDove’s engagement, performance, and talent management platform it helps them minimize turnover. Leveraging the platform to do regular check-ins, track performance, monitor cultural fit through behavioral displays, and take a pulse on employee sentiment are best practices embedded in the platform. Hosting employee data in WorkDove helps minimize turnover, and hence, time and money. An all-in-one system that naturally fits into the everyday workflow connects your employees to one another while simultaneously engaging with easy technology they are comfortable with and excited about. Efficiency Where It Counts: WorkDove Customers vs. Others Utilizing a comprehensive performance and talent management platform like WorkDove saves time and resources in the areas that our clients have shared are the most important. Listed below are some of the core areas of the platform, which help customers save money, create a more engaging employee experience, and make talent a competitive advantage. Aligning the Organization Around Core Values When core values are not the cornerstone on which your organization is built it becomes very difficult to be intentional with culture. The result is often bad hires, an inability to coach appropriately, and the lack of a common language present among your employees. Basing performance and talent management on an agreed-upon set of core values immediately brings employees at every level together and held to the same standard. Cascading Goals Inefficient organizations are marked by company, department, and individual goals that are either not tracked well or simply not met. Goals that do not align with the overarching mission and vision create confusion and do not ultimately drive business results. A single source of truth for where and how all goals connect to one another ensures all contributors are headed in the same direction and take ownership of their progress. Ongoing Coaching and Development Consistent one-on-one check-ins, unique individual development plans, and performance improvement plans are all indicators of a team that is heavily invested in the coaching and engagement of its talent. These practices foster an environment that keeps talent sticking around for the long run, reducing resources expended on finding new talent. Employee Sentiment/Workplace Satisfaction Do you have a read on your employees’ overall feelings at your organization? Without a platform that takes frequent pulse checks on sentiment and satisfaction, you are missing a vital piece of information that may quickly lead to high employee turnover. Employees experience varying perceptions of your organization throughout their time there. Sentiment analysis gives your managers foresight to tackle any negativity or frustration in the moment. Recognition Everyone wants to be recognized for a job well done. Period. Giving employees a singular tool by which they can give and receive positive feedback, especially when it’s built on core values, creates a deeply-rooted community that withstands remote and hybrid work. It also adds a healthy dose of fun to the workday! Surveys and 360-Degree Feedback According to Zippia, 65% of employees desire more feedback. Continually tracked peer feedback gives leaders a holistic perspective of their direct reports, leading to richer coaching experiences and crucial conversations that happen faster. Asking for feedback about various topics and people from your employees also shows that their opinion is valued, leading to increased engagement. Performance Reviews Employees are rarely thrilled to complete performance reviews but this frustration is compounded when they put in the time and effort only to see no follow-up from their organization. Housing appraisal data in one location allows you to track trends over time, monitor employee growth, and quickly address performance and core value needs. Monitoring performance data well and in one place empowers employees by giving them a voice in the process and proving their perspective and growth matter to you. Interested in
In an age of organizations reducing their digital footprint, many HRIS and HCM systems offer performance management modules to keep human resource needs in one place. Though this attempt to consolidate systems may save some money, many HR leaders have shared that these modules greatly need to improve in the area of talent management. WorkDove addresses these challenges by offering seamless integrations with virtually any HRIS. In addition, we complement your HRIS/HCM platform and existing processes with a best-in-class talent management bundle. This talent bundle helps your organization power the employee experience, including a company’s ability to identify, develop, engage, and promote employees and future leaders. The Talent Bundle: The complement to your performance management module(s) A traditional performance management module will include performance reviews, cascading goals, one-to-one check-in components, and peer recognition. Whether you are happy with the performance management module offered in your HRIS or need a third-party solution, both parties know there is a massive gap in talent management functionality. Once organizations are confident in their performance management practices, they move past that solid foundation, developing their talent and working to attract the talent they want. Unfortunately, this is where most performance management modules miss the mark and where WorkDove fills the gap. Talent management complements performance management by allowing you to use the data gathered from measuring performance to identify, coach, and develop internal talent. Your strategic investment in your talent becomes quite attractive to those on the outside seeking a development-focused culture. WorkDove’s Talent Bundle further elevates the work you put into performance practices through 4 applications: 9-box leadership succession planning tool, 360-Degree Feedback, Individual Development Plan Plus (IDP+), and manager and employee Check-Ins. Seamless Integrations With WorkDove, you can access and easily update your users’ information through seamless API and SFTP integrations. Because integration with your current HRIS/HCM is so vital to the success of your performance and talent programs, we integrate with virtually any system, such as ADP, UKG, Bamboo HR, and more. WorkDove is a Gold partner in the ADP Marketplace and offers API integration with ADP WorkForce Now® and WorkForce Next Gen®. HR administration and performance/talent management are separate functions, but they do not have to be separate systems that do not communicate. Instead, aligning the two strategies creates an experience that eliminates duplicate work for the administrator(s) and produces one clear path for the employee experience and journey. What differentiates WorkDove from the rest? Because organizations are all at different places on the road to performance and talent management, the Talent Bundle is offered a la carte. Thus, you only purchase the applications you need when you need them. WorkDove is passionate about offering training and support from the Sales process and beyond throughout your time with us. This includes a dedicated onboarding team, continual Customer Success touchpoints, an extensive knowledge base, customer-only webinars, and live Support available to all users. Our 9-Box leadership succession planning tool is the best on the market because it is the most user-friendly tool currently offered and the closest match to HR best practices. With real-time drag-and-drop capabilities that emphasize face-to-face conversations, this tool increases accountability and decreases the time spent on data collection and aggregation. We offer significant cost savings relative to our competitors. In a one-to-one comparison with Lattice, for example, you receive an estimated cost saving of about $5K per 100 software users. Our strong partnership with ADP as a Gold Partner allows for a plug-and-play integration experience through the ADP API connector. For ADP users, this means your initial launch with us could not be simpler and that WorkDove will grow with you amidst every organizational change. Intrigued by how WorkDove can speak directly to your HRIS and enhance talent management processes? Request Demo
Most organizations believe in the practice of leadership succession planning because they recognize the critical nature of business continuity. However, many need a standardized and effective process for executing it properly and sustainably.
