How 15Five used Employee Insight to guide new software innovation

This post shares how a software has been developed in response to extensive employee insight.

We have shared before how crucial employee engagement & motivation are to achieving CX goals. The opportunity for HR Analytics also needs to be guided by a good understanding of what matters to your teams.

So, I was delighted to be approached by David Mizne, editor of award-winning 15Five blog. Having seen our focus on insight, he shared this guest post with me. I could see the relevance of their research findings to many leaders, so am happy to publish this.

Over to David to share how 15Five have learnt about employee engagement & used data to build a product to help…

An effective performance management program should motivate employees. That’s why we, at 15Five, researched which factors impact motivation when designing our latest product. We leveraged key insights and data to ensure our performance management software delivers value.

Employee Insight on Recognition & Rewards

Through this extensive employee recognition research, 15Five have identified what helps:

How Effective Recognition Changes Employee Performance | 15Five

Employee recognition is not a nice-to-have, it’s possibly the lowest cost/highest impact practice that benefits your entire organization. Science shows that high performing organizations sound different than low performing organizations and are far more supportive and complementary. In other words, it pays to have a positive feedback strategy.

This includes the importance of offering managers the ability to give employees “High Fives”. When people meet key goals or perform exceptionally well, this helps. It isn’t a bonus feature by any means; it’s an essential component of the program.

Gallup analysed over 10,000 businesses across many industries. They determined the effect that recognition has on employee performance. Their employee insight research states that regularly complimenting employees (on a job well done) boosts productivity. It increases engagement, and improves retention.

However, those are merely the internal effects an organisation profits from. Gallup also found that businesses which prioritise recognising employees typically receive CX benefits. “Higher loyalty and satisfaction scores from customers.”

Clearly, appreciating workers is important in many ways. 15Five designed a product which allows managers to do so easily and efficiently.

Employee Insight on Peer-to-Peer Employee Appreciation

Luckily, 15Five doesn’t limit the use of High Fives to management. It also allows employees to recognize each other by mentioning them, the same way they would if they were tagging them in a social media post.

This offers several major benefits. First, it makes it easier for managers to identify employees who are performing well. Plus, those who are helping their coworkers reach their goals. Second, it allows other employees to see their coworkers recognised for their hard work.

This is key to maintaining a positive workplace culture. Studies indicate that publicly recognising employees fosters a general sense that a company cares about them.

Studies also show it’s very important to make employee recognition a consistent element of an overall management style. Simply giving an award once isn’t enough. Managers and coworkers need to regularly express their appreciation for someone’s hard work.

80% of employees who are recognized within the past month report being happy with their jobs. But, only 42% feel the same if their performance has not been explicitly appreciated within the past two years. Again, 15Five leveraged this data to create a product which makes providing that kind of recognition an easy task.

Employee Insight on Regular Feedback Opportunities

That said, recognition is not the only factor that has a positive impact on employee motivation levels. The American Psychological Association Center for Organisational Excellence share their findings on employees:

APA Center for Organizational Excellence: Employee Growth & Development

Information and resources to help employers create healthy, high-performing workplaces. The APA Center for Organizational Excellence is a public education initiative from the American Psychological Association designed to educate the employer community about the link between employee health and well-being and organizational performance.

They state that workers are more likely to stay motivated if they feel they have opportunities to grow in their roles:

That’s why it’s so important for managers to provide regular feedback. An employee who doesn’t know whether they’re thriving, or struggling, is an employee who doesn’t know if they can expect to progress in a organization.

With 15Five’s Weekly Check-Ins, managers can regularly offer feedback to employees. Imagine a particular worker needs to address a weakness. Letting them know where they need to improve (and giving them the opportunity to do so) will help them stay motivated.

Keeping employees motivated boosts retention. This is key to the financial health of a business. According to one study, the average cost of losing an employee (in USA) is $15,000\. That’s why the team at 15Five leveraged the above insights & data to design their new product. One that helps managers and coworkers boost and maintain motivation, across all levels of their companies.

Do you benefit from Employee Insight or performance management software?

Thanks to David for sharing that case study. I’m delighted to see a software company using research sources to design what their clients need. Employee insights are a key need for today’s leaders, as well as customer insights.

I’ve also shared before how inappropriate performance management systems can mean you need to protect your stars. So, I’m interested to know whether or not you are currently using performance management software. Is such software helping you?

If you have leadership experience to share, as well as feedback on the features 15Five have included – please let me know. You can add comments below, or where this post is shared on social media.

I look forward to hearing back from you. Meanwhile, enjoy developing, engaging & motivating your team.