Customers » Case Studies » Environment Canterbury - Performance management for the knowledge organisation
Case Study
Results:
On added value
“We were able to integrate our Developer Scales into Sonar6 – these provide set development plans for new staff with six-monthly reviews. This integrated approach provides a seamless transition into the annual performance and development cycle.”
“Sonar6 had the potential to utilise our competency and values questionnaires as ‘360 degree’ feedback tools. With the agreement of individuals, managers can use the questionnaires to get feedback from other people who work with them – creating a more rounded perspective of a person. Our organisation had a history of using 360s for self development from time to time, and Sonar6’s capability in that area was really attractive.”
On knowing the right stuff
“The Sonar6 team was excellent to work with, bringing to the table a wealth of information in both IT and HR. Our Sonar6 Implementation Manager led the staff familiarisation sessions and was able to answer the ‘curly’ questions from a position of knowledge and authority… this was incredibly important in a knowledge-based organisation!”
On creating line of sight
“Sonar6 is a useful part of our ‘line of sight’ development, where we desire to have every staff member see how their efforts fit into the organisational outcomes. This is all part of sharpening up our individual, section and organisational goal setting.”
On seeing things differently
“The graphics are a good way of ‘seeing’ things and easily identifying patterns within the organisation. It helps HR to utilise and target development programmes, and it helps managers to tailor their programmes to maximise results.”
On accessing the goods
“Being online means people can input notes throughout the year and access their information whenever they like. At any stage you can pull it up on screen and check your progress. Sonar6 is a really useful and modern way of managing performance.”
On a progressive organisation
“Our CE and directors were onboard with Sonar6 from the beginning and took an active part in introducing the new system to staff – promoting the change as a management decision, rather than a ‘good idea’ from HR! The feedback has been really positive, because our people see Sonar6 as something useful that is going to benefit them and their future development.”
Environment Canterbury - Performance management for the knowledge organisation
Environment Canterbury is the regional council responsible for the sustainable use of natural resources from Waitaki to Kaikoura and across to the Southern Alps; it has ten city and district councils within its boundary.
A staff of 500 work in eight directorates. Together, they ‘set the rules’ and effectively manage the use of natural resources in the region. They also provide a regulatory function and some provision of services to the community. The organisation works collaboratively with various groups across the region, including local bodies, businesses, iwi, urban and rural ratepayers, and other stakeholders.
“Environment Canterbury is a large, complex organisation that is moving forward on a number of fronts. It is important that our talent management system is in-step with our progress,” says HR Manager, Neville Gurr.
Environmental Factors
Environment Canterbury is a ‘knowledge organisation’, powered by highly qualified people. As a science-focused body, staff wanted to know ‘what, why and how’, so performance management needed to be based on sound principles, be transparent and understandable. Its paper-based system was not hitting the mark.
As with many large organisations, Environment Canterbury’s staff performance was measured individually, making consistency across the organisation difficult to achieve. The paper-based system made collating specific training needs a chore. Inconsistent measurement also compromised the ability to link individual performance to pay.
“In a knowledge-based organisation there is so much demand on the training budget. And, it was becoming increasingly important to target our spend to maximise return on investment,” says Neville.
The old system was designed to measure and provide feedback in two specific areas: work goals and competencies. But to develop a well-rounded workforce, Environment Canterbury wanted to measure a third area – values.
“We needed to identify our star performers in terms of results, competencies and values. Delivering results without meeting the other criteria was not enough.”
Requirements
Environment Canterbury’s paper-based system was no longer sustainable for the business. But rather than a complete overhaul, Environment Canterbury wanted to use the good parts of the old system and bring its talent management into the modern era.
The new talent management solution would enable the organisation to do the following:
- Identify star performers on three dimensions – work goals, competencies and values
- Target development efforts and maximise the training budget
- Involve staff more in tracking their own development
- Access information easily and generate sound reporting
- Track performance patterns across the organisation
- Compare results from one year to the next
- Keep better track of performance reviews year-to-year
- Review and develop job-specific goals
- Manage talent proactively to ensure succession for key jobs
Neville Gurr determined early on this would not be achieved by an off-the-shelf system.
“We looked at a number of options but none of them seemed to do what we wanted, and many were part of bigger systems that did other things we did not want. They left no room for tailoring to our needs.
“Ultimately, we wanted to give managers, directors and HR a tool to help them ‘manage’ things, instead of just reacting at an individual level. This meant creating better reporting that made sense to management and helped them target spend at the other end.”
The benefits needed to be seen by staff too. A new talent management system wouldn’t work if it was perceived as just another ‘HR gizmo’.
Sonar6 Solution
Having checked out the myriad ‘off-the-shelf’ competition, the decision to go with Sonar6 was an easy one, says Neville Gurr.
“It was local, it had a good reputation, it was flexible and affordable, and could be tailored to our needs – Sonar6 ticked all the boxes.”
As with most large, complex organisations, consistency in performance management was a challenge. Environment Canterbury worked to create a new set of organisation values and integrated them into the Sonar6 system to help develop desired behaviour. Performance reviews targeted work goals, and questionnaires measuring competencies and values were made consistent across the entire organisation.
“Previously, the development discussion between manager and team member hadn’t worked well in all cases. So we ran workshops with appraisers to develop managers’ skills in coaching, leading and empowering others to develop their job skills and abilities. The result is more robust conversations, better quality information and a sense of ownership of development plans for both parties.”
As an online solution, Sonar6 was easily tailored to the size and scope of Environment Canterbury – and the online benefits were far-reaching.
“A tremendous advantage is that Sonar6 is accessible on staff desktops, which means they have access to their own information at all times and both parties can fill in comments on their goals throughout the year. It means people don’t have to rely on memory when it comes to doing the performance review.”
Sonar6 also enables easy access to information for managers, and generates useful, informative reporting at the click of a button. This has made identifying training needs much easier.
The full performance cycle will soon be complete. And, while it’s early days, Environment Canterbury is excited about Sonar6 as a fully-integrated Talent Management tool and the benefits it offers individuals, managers and the organisation as a whole. It enables goal setting, integrates organisational values with performance measures, links performance with remuneration, and identifies not only star performers but also areas for development.
Summary
Sonar6 has introduced consistency to Environment Canterbury’s talent management practice – for a large, complex organisation, this is delivering many benefits.
As an online solution, Sonar6 provides easy access to information and simplifies the whole process. Its reporting is robust and useful and will help management make better decisions. It clearly identifies specific training needs, helps to maximise the development budget and links performance to pay.
In a knowledge organisation like Environment Canterbury, using modern technology to meet its needs and improve its people management is like a breath of fresh air. Turning something cumbersome into something simple? Now that’s sustainable.