CHALLENGE & OPPORTUNITY

The organisation is made up of several acquired businesses as well as the parent company and was embarking on a strategy to ignite the potential of their internal expertise to maximise their reach of the recruitment market. They realised their need to clarify expectations and drive performance in a way that recognised that they had people with good qualities who had developed poor habits over time. They therefore wanted an enabling process that focused on the conversations around performance rather than simply an annual ‘check the box’ process that appeared punitive.

WHAT WE DID

We developed a Continuous Conversations Framework that was simple and user-friendly in order to be applicable at all levels of the organisation. To facilitate conversations about performance and requirements in a respectful and productive way we further developed the following set of tools and resources: ​

• A ‘Smart Conversations’ Calendar including a range of mandatory and non-mandatory conversations that focus attention on performance goals, actions and results in a way that is engaging and motivational.  ​
• Capability Framework – a suite of 12 capabilities used to identify and develop the current and future skills, attributes and behaviours that are most critical to success across the organisation. ​
• Conversation Planner Templates providing questions and conversation starters that enable some structure and consistency for each conversation as well as clarity for both managers and team members on the expected outcomes and flow for the conversation. ​
• Skill Building Workshops for managers and team members to communicate the new process and tools for the Continuous Conversations Framework and develop the skills required to maximise the value of the tools e.g. giving and receiving feedback, the role and importance of trust, planning conversations and managing difficult conversations effectively.

OUTCOME

Clarius used the tools we designed and developed to create an internal Continuous Conversations Framework (CCF) online system, enabling easy access and use for managers and team members. The capability uplift sessions were delivered once the system had been built and just prior to the Performance Objectives and Development Planning sessions. Feedback from both managers and team members was positive and people felt excited and prepared to begin having ‘continuous conversations’.​