Embracing Continuous

Performance Management
Your complete handbook for transforming your
company’s approach to performance management
Your steps to success About Zensai
Our philosophy and how it helps your people to take control of
1 About Zensai 4 Anonymity vs Transparency their own performance through frequent feedback
• Our philosophy • The pros and cons of anonymity

• The 6 pillars of Continuous • How Perform365 moves you away

Performance Management from anonymity

• The framework to have better • How to implement transparent

conversations frequent feedback

2 Frequent feedback 5 People

• The effective performance • Your Zensai roll-out dreamteam
conversation cycle
• Looking after your stakeholders
• 10 steps to embrace frequent
feedback • Blockers and how to win them over

• How to give better feedback

• The FASTT feedback framework

3 Employee recognition 6 Embedding Continuous

• The science behind employee Performance Management
recognition
• The change management process
• Recognition and staff retention
• Best practice timeline for a Zensai
• Making employee recognition rollout
more effective

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• The Employee check-in: Your critical
• Ways to recognize employees success factor
Our philosophy Our Perform365 product was born through
a manager’s frustration
Our EVP of Product, Andy Roberts, was fed up with the way performance reviews were
All-in-one, real-time engagement and performance conversations a box-ticking exercise. They were led by HR, not managers and their teams. Taking part
was more important than the outcome. He also found it tough to check in with his team
At our heart, there is a simple ethos: frequent feedback and communication are key. of 50 developers working around the world in different time zones. This meant keeping
people engaged, happy and on task wasn’t as easy as he felt it could be. So, he did
Managers and leaders have an overwhelming choice of tools and processes by which to what any developer does. He wrote his own software to fix it.
manage. But sometimes the simplest things are the most effective. W
​ hen it comes to driving
performance, measuring wellbeing and keeping people engaged at work, a little feedback That’s what makes us different. It’s built for employees, not just HR.
goes a long way. That’s because employee engagement and performance management are
both feedback processes.

But managers are often fearful about giving open and honest feedback. That could be
because they’ve had no training and don’t know how to give feedback. Or that they
themselves aren’t clear about company direction and don’t want to look out of touch, or get
something wrong.
How it works
The employee could also be uncomfortable having these conversations, often due to a lack Our approach is all about keeping things simple and building healthy workplace habits.
of practice, trust or rapport. Or perhaps they think what’s the point, no-one does anything The employee check-in is the center point of it all. With it, managers can collect, give and
with this feedback anyway. share frequent feedback on the key topics that really matter. Issues get resolved earlier,
successes get celebrated wider and key information gets passed to the right person
That’s why our continuous feedback framework makes such a huge difference. sooner.

Frequency and openness are key to effective workplace feedback. By sharing information With Perform365, Goals (or OKRs) are also managed through the check-in, with timely
honestly and often, we build trust, rapport, engagement and ultimately, long-term success. updates on progress, appropriateness and blockers. With frequent updates
on performance coming in from the teams, alignment and success rates are
boosted greatly.

With all this employee feedback, performance updates and manager interaction, we can
power better 1:1s, performance conversations, employee development programs (and so
much more!).

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The 6 pillars of 3 Recognition and visibility

Continuous Performance
Perform365 emphasizes the importance of recognition (through mentions) and visibility
(through pass-ups and pass-across). These have clear and direct impacts on employee
engagement and development.

Management 4 Continuous performance

We’re advocates of the little-but-often approach to performance. Think of it like

Perform365 gives employees a framework to drive their own personal and professional development. the 1% rule. Regular check-ins cover day-to-day successes and challenges. Employees get
It has everything they need to support and evidence incremental changes over time. All underpinned regular feedback in a structured way. Because of this, 1:1s become easier, more strategic, and
by a simple 10-minute check-in. This means strategic decisions can be made quickly based on real-time future-focused. Performance conversations become more beneficial by powering further
facts (not hearsay) culture improves, and so does business performance as a direct result. self-development but also act as a way of realigning to strategic company goals.

5 Agile goal-setting
1 Self-reflection and focus

Employees answer set questions that encourage regular self-reflection. They can also update their SMART Goals and OKRs set clear expectations. We know where we’re going and how we’ll
goals. This keeps them focused and acts as a reminder of what their key priorities should be. It’s a way be measured along the way. Goal-setting underpins top-notch performance management. It
to realign. All check-in history can feed into performance conversations, saving up to 90% of the prep keeps your people focused and on track. And allows your people to operate autonomously
work ahead of their next 1:1. – a core pillar of employee engagement.

2 Frequent feedback 6 Data insights drive decisions

Managers provide timely feedback to their employee’s check-in. This helps their team members to feel
seen and heard but also encourages incremental ongoing improvements. Managers get a consistent Check-ins feed AI-driven engagement and sentiment insights. This enables strategic business
view of their team performance and can intervene earlier before certain things escalate. decisions to be based on real-time facts not hearsay.​You don’t need to run specific surveys.
Your people can tell you how they feel every time they check in.​Blend performance data
with sentiment to identify attrition risks, or managers who need support.

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The framework to Frequent feedback
have better conversations
How to build the right culture, how to give feedback
effectively, and the FASTT feedback framework

Feedback that drives engagement

The Perform365 check-in gives employees and managers a flexible feedback framework.

Clear and impactful performance conversations

Performance and goal-setting become part of everyday employee <> manager conversations.

Insights
Analytics and dashboards give accurate engagement, performance, and talent insights.

Science-led
Built on behavioral and
Feedback organizational insights.

Goals/OKRs
1:1s
10Pulse
Recognition

Reviews
Trend
analytics
360° feedback

08
Sentiment

Succession
planning and
skills mapping
An effective performance conversation cycle is
underpinned by frequent feedback
10 steps to embrace
frequent feedback
1. Don’t force it
Making new feedback processes mandatory may feel like the right thing to do, but positive psychology tells
us that forcing people to take part in certain behaviors makes them less likely to work. You want people to
understand the true value and benefits of the process for them. You need them to want to adopt the new way of
working, not be forced into it, so ensuring the best possible introduction is key.

2. Address concerns before they escalate

People are often resistant to change and moving to a more regular and open approach to feedback is no
exception. People may well have genuine and fair concerns about being more open and transparent, so it’s
important to listen to their concerns. Discovering potential roadblocks upfront will also allow time for you to better
manage expectations and avoid these fears derailing the roll-out.

3. Be open from the start

When introducing Perform365 to your teams, be open and honest about how the platform works. Also share
what you hope to achieve in the first 30 days, as well as the following three, six, and 12 months.

Explain why it’s important for your people first, and company second.

Employee check-ins 1:1 conversations and goal-setting

4. Replace anonymity with transparency
• Focus on everyday performance • Reflective feedback
• Future focus
Keeping things anonymous can feel like having a safety net under you when sharing feedback.
• Day-to-day issues raised and addressed
• Regular personal reflection • Align/re-align to goals
• Goals stay front of mind • Personal and professional But what it really does is weaken the usefulness of feedback, erode accountability and show mistrust. As much as
possible, keep feedback processes open and owned.

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Quarterly goal-setting and reflection Annual retrospective or review

• Evaluate performance against set goals • Reflection and forward planning

• Provide comprehensive feedback
• Agree objectives and realign
5. Practice giving and getting feedback regularly 7
9. Change your Perform365 check-in questions often
It may be cliché but when it comes to improving attitudes and habits around workplace feedback, practice Any feedback process can feel stale if it never changes. This can lead to disengaged and demotivated
does make perfect. employees.

Research shows that the more we practice the less anxiety we feel about giving and receiving feedback. We Ask a small number of core questions consistently to help you baseline things like engagement and sentiment.
also feel happier when doing it and see more direct benefits. But it’s important to swap out flexible questions to keep the process fresh.

Frequency is also key to keeping feedback effective. That’s because the longer we wait to share our thoughts, 10. Reflect and realign continually
the less impact it has on the person and outcomes. It’s important to reflect and review your progress often. The Perform365 check-in is the perfect tool to support

6. Share and celebrate wins with your stakeholders

doing 8 this regularly, but it’s also important to arrange more specific pause points throughout the year to look
at things with more focus.
Recognition is a powerful tool in getting people to build and participate in feedback.
As an example, a quarterly conversation is the perfect opportunity to look back at how things have gone,
Highlighting the good work people are doing on a regular basis not just within their own teams, but address any concerns and define what exactly you want to focus on and achieve next.
company-wide helps strengthen their commitment to it. It also helps to drive overall employee engagement
and both personal and professional development.

7. Promote the benefits of frequent feedback

To really grow and maintain employee support for any new feedback process, it’s vital you promote the
tangible benefits for your people. It’s not enough to talk about growing engagement or strengthening 9
communication.

Show them how specific pieces of feedback have led to changes that make their lives easier/more enjoyable/
more rewarding.

8. Encourage managers to participate

The role of the manager is often underplayed and overlooked. The truth is managers are critical to the
success of any company culture that values feedback. They are the people who your teams see every day
and turn to first.

Managers need to embrace frequent feedback practices and should fully understand the key part they play in
making it beneficial for everyone.

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How to give
better feedback
Comment often and FASTT
The most important thing any manager can do is respond. Feedback effectiveness drops drastically
after day 5, and is pretty pointless from day 10 onwards.
Zensai facilitates great conversations (digital and in-person) between managers and their teams.
Central to that is the quality of feedback managers give to their people when reviewing employee Your only excuse for delaying feedback is if you’re on holiday! But your people should still check in as
check-ins. This cheat sheet shines a light on some of the best ways you can maximize the impact of it’ll give you a quick snapshot of their progress while you’ve been off.
feedback on your people.

Likes show you’ve seen it

Aim for an 85% check-in rate
Perfect for a quick acknowledgement when no comment is needed. Use sparingly.
Encourage your people to check in as often as possible. Sharing feedback often allows people to get the
support they need more often,but also means they are being heard and feeling valued.

Goals show performance

Aim for a 95% review rate
Pay attention to goal updates in your employee’s check-in. Are they still relevant or do they need justing?
Aim to review 95% of check-ins submitted. Nothing kills morale and participation faster than being
Are they on track or do they need support? For anything that needs deeper exploration, book in a 1:1
ignored. Your people have made the effort, so acknowledge this and, more importantly, provide support
meeting.
through feedback.

Pass-ups offer visibility

A powerful tool for employee visibility. Pass up big wins or tricky challenges to your own senior leaders.
Especially if there’s a theme emerging that they need to know about.

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See all features
The FASTT Employee recognition
feedback framework
The psychology of recognition, the relationship between recognition and
retention, and how to deliver recognition effectively

Frequent
Feedback needs to be framed positively. So focus on improvements, be tactful and offer guidance that’s simple to
follow. Take the lead from your employee. How do they prefer to receive feedback?

Appropriate
Feedback needs to be framed positively. So focus on improvements, be tactful and offer guidance that’s simple to
follow. Take the lead from your employee. How do they prefer to receive feedback?

Specific
Feedback must be related to observed behaviors, performance, or against a clear and measurable goal. Be sure
to include clear expectations, what wasn’t quite right and plans for improving.

Transparent
Honest and open feedback is the only way to impact future performance. It also helps build trust within your
team when everyone knows they’re able to speak freely. Lead by example by being open and honest.

Two-way
Feedback needs to flow down and up the chain of command. Great managers request feedback from their
people (and listen to it). As well as giving it out. Ask what you could do better to support your people or remove
blockers.

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The science behind Dopamine and serotonin

employee recognition
Humans are wired to crave connection, belonging, and acceptance. When we experience appreciation and
gratitude, our brains release dopamine and serotonin.

These are crucial neurotransmitters responsible for making us feel good, regulate our emotions, and respond
Humans crave recognition to stress. Gratitude acts as a catalyst for these neurotransmitters. And actively experiencing gratitude and
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs tells us that we need to be appreciated and feel that we belong. In simple terms, we want appreciation allows us to manage our stress levels better.
to be appreciated and recognized for our accomplishments.
Feeling and expressing gratitude activates several parts of the brain. Verbalizing thoughts of appreciation and
We need to know that our contributions are valued. And without this recognition, we begin to feel our hard work has gratitude activates the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for positive emotions and decision-making, as well
no purpose. And without purpose, we feel unappreciated, undervalued, and unmotivated. as reward and motivation.

These needs are well met through recognition The more we practice expressing appreciation, the more we activate these gratitude circuits in our brains.
Over time, it takes less effort to stimulate those pathways.
Scientists also suggest that by activating the reward centre of the brain, gratitude exchange alters the way we

78% 21%
see the world and ourselves.

When we give and receive thank you notes, our brain automatically produces motivational thought patterns.
of employees would work increase in productivity
This means that practicing recognition in the workplace improves employees’ mental well-being and increases
harder if they had more when an employee feels
recognition engaged with their work their motivation to contribute value to their organization.

28%
lower levels of employee
12X
more likely to have strong
frustration in companies with business outcomes with
recognition programs frequent recognition

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The relationship 31% #1
between recognition
lower voluntary turnover lack of recognition is
with recognition programs the top reason for people
in place quitting their jobs

and retention
Think about the last time you put your heart and soul into a project or presentation, 94%
say employee
53%
say they would stay longer
moulded it into something you were proud of, and absolutely nailed the execution. That feeling of
accomplishment is uplifting, but it’s multiplied exponentially when others take notice. The simple act of recognition is critical in in a company if they felt
acknowledging achievement is a major boost for employee morale and performance. And that’s why retaining talent appreciated
employee recognition is so critical.

When employees are rewarded for their contributions, they feel a sense of ownership and pride but are also
willing to work just as hard, if not harder on their next project. This recognition further connects them to the
organization, elevates their performance and increases the likelihood they’ll stay.

For example, organizations with formal recognition programs have 31% less voluntary turnover than those
that don’t. And they’re 12x more likely to have strong business outcomes.

But why is recognition like a simple thank you so impactful?

Employee recognition promotes positive psychological functioning and its absence worsens it. Feeling
unappreciated affects not only your emotions but also how you think and act. It’s no surprise that a lack of
appreciation can influence your mental health and contribute to things such as burnout and even depression.

If others ignore what you do for them, it can feel devastating. You might start to wonder why you bother
putting effort into a task, or you lose sight of how your work contributes to your team’s goals.

In a UK study, 78% of respondents said they would work harder if they had more recognition. In that
same study, 94% said that employee recognition is critical in retaining talent. One solution to keeping your

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employees is simple — recognize them.
Making employee Be prompt
Recognition months after an event will have your people think that you’re simply going through the

recognition more effective

motions. Your words will hit harder right after an achievement.

Bad example: Hey @Laura I just wanted to say well done for running the new starter event back in the
summer. It was great.

Delivering effective recognition will look a little different depending on your employee needs and workplace culture. But
Good example: That was an excellent new starter event you ran today @Laura. I particularly loved the
there are some things every great recognition framework should do. And the Perform365 check-in is the perfect tool
resources you created about data security.
for encouraging more effective recognition. Your people will feel a sense of pride and satisfaction. You can help them
feel valued and important. And strengthen their engagement with their work and your organization.
Tie to company values
When employees demonstrate behavior that aligns with your company values, don’t let it go unnoticed.
Be specific
When you recognize these behaviors, employees are likely to continue them and inspire others to do
Recognition resonates better when it’s tied to a particular accomplishment. Whether that’s a big project or
the same. This actively builds your ideal company culture. You can set up your company values as tags in
helping a colleague to get a task finished on time. When the recognition is detailed and specific, employees
Perform365 and use them in recognition to call out behaviors.
understand exactly what they did well and are likely to continue those behaviors in the future.

Bad example: Great work with the customer email today @Laura
Bad example: Great job at the event this week @Laura.

Good example: Your confidence has clearly grown @Laura, and it was obvious as you were speaking to the Good example: Brilliant email about platform downtime @Laura. Your honest and open
delegates at the event last week. approach sets the tone for what customers can expect to see from us. #customerfocus #initiative

Praise publicly where possible

Often recognition happens 1:1 between a manager and employee. But, when you spread recognition
across the company, employees often feel a greater sense of pride knowing that others are aware of their
achievements. Plus, employees can see how each individual and team contribution fits into the bigger
picture.

Bad example: Sending Laura an email to say thank you for her hard work

Good example: Using Perform365 to @mention Laura and sharing some specific and

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prompt recognition feedback.

Great example: Setting your Perform365 recognition question to be shared via a

Microsoft Teams (or similar) public channel so that everyone can see the recognition
feedback in real time.
Ways to recognize
Pass across for info sharing
Like Pass-ups, the Pass- across function is all about sharing key pieces of information around the organization.
However, instead of going up the chain of command, information can be passed to anyone. Perfect for

employees in Perform365
highlighting efforts in a cross-team project or raising challenges with someone more skilled to support.

Employees can mark check-in responses as private to prevent this.

Recognition in check-ins

Direct manager feedback The check-in is a perfect place to encourage more recognition within your organization. By asking your people to
regularly highlight the good work of others recognition becomes a habit.
When a manager provides feedback to a check-in, it signals to your employee that the manager is listening and
taking notes. This is 1-to-1 recognition and is likely to be the most common form of recognition that happens in
Managers and leaders get an increased overview of all the good work going on in real time but employees also get
your use of Perform365. Managers should aim to review and respond to 90% or more of check-ins.
the visibility meaning they feel a shared sense of pride in their work.

360 and peer feedback

360 feedback can be very specific and help personal development, or it can be more general. Usually, it is Link recognition to a Teams channel
designed to help with individual development as part of a performance conversation cycle. One of the best ways to share recognition publicly using Perform365 is by taking the recognition question in
your check-in and pushing responses to a public channel on Microsoft Teams. This way not only do individual
employees and managers see the recognition, but the whole organization too.
Pass ups for visibility
Pass-ups encourage managers to share key updates, successes and challenges up the chain of command. This
helps improve both employee visibility and recognition. It also means issues are resolved faster in most cases.
See all features
Employees can mark check-in responses as private to prevent this.

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Anonymity
Anonymity vsvsTransparency The pros and cons
Transparency of anonymity
Thepros,
The pros,
cons cons and
and how howaway
to move to from
move it away from it

Anonymity can lead to more accuracy

If you have a workplace culture where trust is a rare commodity, then it’s true that anonymity can help get more
accurate insights when requesting and sharing feedback.

If people feel they can’t speak freely and openly without repercussion, then anonymity provides a security blanket.
This means they can give honest answers more easily and without judgment.

However, the real issue here is the fact that people are fearful of being open and honest. Anonymity is little more
than a sticking plaster in this scenario. Prevention is better than cure, and if this sounds like your workplace, then
it’s definitely worth considering improvements to your current culture.

Anonymity can lead to more feedback

It’s true that keeping things anonymous will generally lead to more feedback coming in. In most cases,
anonymous surveys have higher participation rates than open ones.

One study found that 74% of employees would be more inclined to give feedback about their company,
workload, and culture if the feedback channel was truly anonymous.

But is this a question of quantity versus quality? As we’ll show in the next section, the answer is yes.

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 Anonymous equals average Anonymous promotes DIStrust
When organizations rely on anonymous feedback processes to inform decisions, they fall prey to the dangerous When feedback is shared anonymously it can be harder to take it at face value.
lore of the average. By erasing the individual perspective, HR and managers don’t know what motivates each In particular, when constructive feedback is received anonymously, it’s not uncommon for it to be met with
unique person and instead focus on the most common comments as a solution for everyone. disbelief or its motive being questioned.

No one ever absolutely conforms to the average (or extremely few). Outliers from the average will likely include Without a clear source, employees and employers alike may jump to conclusions about the motive behind the
top performers, key personnel, and influencers. feedback. Including beliefs that may lead to mistrust or sabotage.
And organizations won’t be able to retain them if they’ve never paid attention to what they had to say.
Even when the constructive feedback is minor, its anonymity can still have the receiver thinking more about
Anonymous encourages hostility the source and why it couldn’t be shared in person, than the feedback itself. Resulting in a gradual decrease in
openness and trust.
Unfortunately, there are disengaged or unhappy employees who seem to enjoy derailing employee morale. Not
improving it or enhancing it. Some may see anonymous feedback processes as an opportunity to settle perceived
wrongs. They could use feedback to lead mean-spirited attacks against people they don’t like. Anonymous isn’t actionable
When specific suggestions for improving an organization are provided anonymously, it’s difficult to put them into
As hard as it is to fathom, it’s important to realize that all organizations have a few employees who are malicious action. Without being able to discuss an idea further with the person who suggested it, how do you ensure that
and who are going to misuse anonymity. you’ve interpreted it correctly? Or that your solution is the right one?

Anonymity reinforces the idea that it’s not safe to speak up. It’s mistaken for objectivity. It presumes that the Another dangerous effect is that anonymous feedback removes employee agency. They encourage employees to
people receiving it will interpret it exactly as it was intended. We all know how easy it is to misconstrue tone over upwardly delegate issues, pushing them back up the hierarchy for HR or their functional leaders to handle versus
email. taking appropriate action themselves.

As a result, anonymous feedback gets actioned by people who don’t have a complete understanding of the issue
and don’t know who to turn to for further guidance. It’s no surprise then that one-third of employees feel that no
one is listening to their ideas.

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 How Perform365 helps
Anonymous isn’t even always that anonymous
Is anonymous feedback really anonymous? Many employee surveys ask such detailed information about the

you move away from

respondent—what department they work in, their general title, their compensation level, how many years they’ve
been with the company - that employees often suspect that managers can easily figure out which replies were
from whom.

Anonymity is a one-way street

Your people get nothing from anonymous feedback surveys – they give and get nothing directly back. They also
anonymity
don’t know where the feedback goes so don’t know if it’s even worth filling them out.
No two businesses are the same. We know that for some, anonymity can feel like a safety net that allows their
people to speak freely. For others, they have the right culture of trust and openness that makes anonymity a
Anonymous suppresses talent development thing of the past. The latter is where you should strive to be. And we’re here to help. Perform365 is built so that
One of the biggest flaws of anonymous feedback is that it doesn’t help managers or employees build the skills anonymity can be used where required, but our framework is designed to progressively move people away from
they need to meet tomorrow’s challenges. a reliance on it.

To grow and develop, people need opportunities to practice having uncomfortable yet honest conversations Frequency
about performance. And providing constructive feedback. The Perform365 check-in is designed to be a high-frequency, light-touch tool for sharing feedback within your
business. One of the major benefits of this cadence is that it builds, shapes, and reshapes habits quickly. Getting
For employees, the ability to share openly their experiences and needs as well as hear and accept feedback is used to speaking freely and without restriction can take some time for some employees. So, a high-frequency
an important part of developing their own talent. As is owning the relationship with their boss by advocating for approach helps them to adjust rapidly and allows managers plenty of opportunities to support them.
themselves and negotiating with power.
Question flexibility
Having uncomfortable or difficult conversations is a skill future leaders need to have, and it must be continually
Not everyone will feel comfortable moving to completely transparent feedback on day one. That’s why we have
coached, practiced, and refined.
a range of questions to choose from in your check-in question library, with varying degrees of transparency. You
can gradually move to more open questions as your people get used to the new way of giving and receiving
feedback.

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 How to implement
The manager review
The check-in makes feedback two-way. Employees share feedback and managers review and respond.

transparent frequent
This encourages managers to build up great relationships with their team members from wherever they are.
Employees will feel the benefit of opening up, and sharing their true experiences and opinions and in time, the
appeal of anonymity will reduce.

Recognition and visibility

Perform365 emphasizes the importance of recognition (through mentions) and visibility (through pass-ups and
feedback
pass-across). These have clear and direct impacts on employee engagement and development.
If employee feedback is more than just a tick-box exercise and you truly want to better understand your people,
But they also help to reduce the lure of providing good feedback anonymously. We all want to see who’s saying then you and your people should embrace a transparent, two-way approach.
great stuff about us! And when people get used to this, it opens the door to sharing more constructive feedback
openly too. Moving from an anonymous survey to a transparent feedback loop isn’t as painful as you might think. There are
several things you can do to make the transition successful.

Gather feedback effectively and securely

Perform365 provides the tools, framework and training required to evolve your approach to feedback. We’re here
to help you every step of the way too. It enables you to gather meaningful feedback regularly from employees
that you can use to make better business decisions. It also helps your employees to get regular feedback – so it’s
not aone-way street.

Encourage frequent feedback

Practice makes perfect. The more often feedback is shared, the easier it becomes to do. From weekly check-ins
between managers and their team members to 360-degree feedback from peers at strategic times in the year.
Employee recognition, ad-hoc feedback and frequent 1:1s are all excellent opportunities to practice sharing open
and honest feedback.

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Coach managers on how to respond to feedback
Managers are critical to feedback success. 70% of employee engagement variance is down to how a manager
responds to their feedback and experiences. When a manager fails to act or responds inappropriately to
People
Your roll-out dream team, stakeholders, and resistors
feedback, trust is lost, and if employees can’t go to leadership with their concerns, disengagement will spread. So,
listen actively to what your people are saying, and act appropriately.

Reward employees who champion the process

Such a drastic change in feedback style will be met with some apprehension. However,
the best approach is to jump in with both feet. Consider rewarding people who provide useful feedback, or at the
very least thanking them and validating their points. Look for ways to demonstrate how you’re using feedback
to implement positive changes so employees see that it’s safe to be honest. When people see the link between
sharing open feedback and positive changes in the workplace they are motivated to participate.

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Your Perform365 roll-out
dream team The Facilitator: HR
HR is the conductor, putting the people strategy into action. HR takes ownership of the rollout, ensuring
everything runs smoothly, and irons out hiccups.’
All too often employee related projects are “given” to HR. Perhaps this feels instinctive for many business leaders,
after all, engagement is about people, and HR is the ‘people-people’ right? Responsibilities
• Shape initiatives and processes.
But performance and engagement are two sides of the same coin, and both are fundamentally feedback • Hold managers and employees accountable.
processes. • Be the go-to source for information and support on all queries.
• Support managers and leaders with advice and updates.
In practice, this means it’s a much more holistic affair. To build a workplace culture where employees have the • Hold training and feedback sessions.
opportunity to become more engaged (and take control of their own performance and development), several
key stakeholders need to pull together.

There are 5 key groups of people to involve in your roll-out.

1. The Facilitator: HR
2. The Champions: The CEO and senior leadership The Champion: CEO and Execs
3. The Gatekeeper: IT Team Organizational leaders need to be advocates. They are the most powerful influencers of a company’s culture, and
4. The Implementor: Managers their attitude toward this rollout trickles down and influences every part of the business.
5. The Benefactor: Your People
Responsibilities
• Demonstrate an enthusiastic attitude towards the rollout.
• Craft the long-term vision for company culture and success. Including goal setting.
• Communicate changes in strategy.
• Support HR in rollouts and ongoing projects.

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The Gatekeeper: IT lead The Benefactor: Your people
IT is often the hidden gatekeeper of a successful people strategy. Technology plays an important part in Employees need to understand you’re rolling out Perform365 and how it will benefit them. Employees need to
engagement and performance. It’s essential then as the custodians of tech, that your IT team is involved from the be encouraged to share ideas and thoughts without fear of repercussion or being ignored.
start.
Responsibilities
Responsibilities • Provide feedback and updates openly and honestly through their check-in.
• Be familiar with the technology and how it can be rolled out. • Hold their manager accountable when they don’t support their development.
• Assist in the rollout of software to maximize capacity in as short a timeframe as possible. • Seek out development opportunities and learning experiences to facilitate personal growth.
• Support training activities where required • Provide updates on personalgoals, successes and challenges.

The Implementor: Managers

As the day-to-day touchpoint for employees, managers are responsible for im plementing employee initiatives
determined by leadership and HR. They are crucial for this rollout.

Responsibilities
• Develop strong, trusting relationships with each team member.
• Give and encourage open, honest, appropriate feedback using check-ins.
• Recognize and celebrate individual successes through check-ins.
• Work with employees to create and track impactful goals.
• Identify promising individuals ready for new opportunities

37
Looking after your Step 1: Identify and segment your stakeholders
Addressing the needs of your stakeholders starts with understanding who those stakeholders are and

stakeholders
identifying the relevant parties of an organization who are impacted by the change. With Perform365, this
will be dictated by who you are rolling the platform out to and in what if any stages. In many cases, you may
discover that your stakeholders include everyone in your company. Once all the stakeholders are identified,
it is helpful to group these different subsets based on shared characteristics. You’ll be able to target key
Organizations embark on change continuously, whether by choice or by necessity. However, if not managed groups with tailored messaging according to their level of influence and interest in the project.
effectively, change efforts can cause severe disruption at best, and fail at worst. Introducing Perform365 to your
organization is, by definition, a change. Like all changes, this process needs to be managed well. Especially your Step 2: Communicate, communicate, communicate
key stakeholders. Understand the stakeholders involved and impacted by the change and address those needs Groups more affected by the change will likely be more interested. Meanwhile, groups with a higher degree
head-on to overcome any resistance. of influence over the change process will be more effective champions for the change. With this, change
processes can be more targeted towards certain groups based on their level of interest in the change and
influence over the change. Without a stakeholder analysis, it is difficult to offer the right change management
process to your employees. This leaves you exposed to high levels of resistance. Let’s nip that in the bud
now.

High

Listeners Drivers
Address concerns Involve heavily
Interest

Bystanders Blockers
Keep informed Engage and convert

Low
Low Influence High

40
Stakeholder 1: Drivers Stakeholder 3: Blockers
Drivers are the stakeholders who have a high level of interest in the project and a high level of influence inside the It’s important to gain the support of Blockers. While not necessarily impacted by the change, they have enough
company. They will most likely be part of the implementation project team. internal sway to derail the process.

These stakeholders need to be heavily involved because they have the most potential to influence the success of What if they don’t support the change or think the resources used in the initiative should be spent elsewhere?
the project. They may not directly benefit from the change and may be worried about the burden a new system will place on
them or their departments.
This group should express their support for the change outwardly and adopt Perform365 readily and early.
Ensure they understand why you’re doing this and are on board from the start. You must consult with them early on and gain their support. Although Blockers do not necessarily need to be
involved in the implementation, open and ongoing communication is necessary to maintain harmony.
Likely to be: Key figures from HR, an executive sponsor from the senior team, and a champion manager plus
their direct team. Likely to be: Underperforming managers or employees. Key members of your IT and finance teams. And if
you have respected or long-serving staff members who are known to be resistant to change, they will likely be
Stakeholder 2: Listeners grouped here too.
Next, the stakeholders who are impacted heavily by the change, but do not carry much power over the project
or company, are considered Listeners. Specifically, Listeners fall under the high-interest, low-influence area of the Stakeholder 4: Bystanders
matrix. These stakeholders aren’t heavily impacted by the change and cannot greatly influence it. As this group has low
interest and low influence in the change, change efforts can be minimal and passive. Simply focus on keeping this
These stakeholders are generally those impacted the most by the change, and as such, require consistent and group informed.
targeted communication and training.
If you are rolling out Perform365 in phases across teams, locations, or similar, those who are not being included
Likely to be: Managers and employees right away would be bystanders (for now). It’s important to keep them up to date, but also to reassign them when
the time is right.

Likely to be: Everyone not directly impacted by your initial roll-out. These will need recategorizing once you
go for the full roll-out. Senior leadership outside the core
project team.

41 42
Blockers and how to win The Cynic
What’s their problem

them over
They believe you have ulterior motives for asking for employee feedback and data. They don’t believe a
new approach will work.

Favorite saying
“It’ll never work”

Why do some people resist change? We’re hard-wired to gravitate toward what we already know, it’s what we call How to bring them on board
a comfort zone. But success doesn’t happen by doing what we’ve always done. That’s one of the reasons you’ve Be honest. Tell them how their check-ins are used, the benefits to them, and the company. Share successes
chosen Perform365. publicly. Tackle any issues or challenges publicly too. Let them see the benefits (and negatives) and how as a
team you can resolve anything.
What that means for your people
For employees that means having the initiative to take charge of their own development and success. Having
The Secret underachiever
more frequent and honest conversations with their manager about their performance and aspirations. And asking
What’s their problem
questions when something isn’t clear.
They’re underperforming and no one seems to have noticed. They worry they’ll be found out.

For managers that means taking a more active role in coaching their employees with honest feedback. It also
Favorite saying
means setting super clear expectations and holding people accountable. This helps to build resilience and a
“Can we push that meeting back”
growth mindset.

How to bring them on board

For leaders that means having a clear vision and communicating it with clarity to the whole of the company.
It’s important to communicate that the aim isn’t to chastise people but to support them to own their own
It’s setting aspirational objectives that all employees can align with. And being transparent about progress and
success and development. Often, underperformers aren’t sure how to improve and are afraid to ask.
direction.

Overcoming blockers
The Nervous follower
Like any change project, there will be resistors. Some are obvious and vocal, others are passive. A person’s reason What’s their problem
for resisting change is sometimes clear and conscious, other times less so. As you roll out Perform365, you might They do what their peers do, always looking to others to see what they should do.
face one or more of these 10 types of objectors. We help you identify your resistor and give you a key first-step
action to take to convert their mindset. Favorite saying
“What do you think about this?”

43 44
How to bring them on board
Consider making influential members of staff champions of the process. Ask them to train these Nervous
followers.
The Disengaged coaster
What’s their problem Embedding Continuous
Performance Management
They’ve checked out and don’t really care. They want to do as little as possible to get by.

Favorite saying
“If that’s what you want me to do”
Change management - the theory and rolling out Perform365 in practice

How to bring them on board

The first thing is to get them to engage. Thankfully that’s what Perform365 is all about. Have their manager
keep a close eye on them during rollout.

The Busy preacher

What’s their problem
They claim to be too busy to do anything more than they already are, whether
true or not.

Favorite saying
“When will I find the time for that”

How to bring them on board

Show them the time-saving benefits of a Perform365 check-in. It might feel like more work in the short term,
but it saves up to 90% of prep and admin time when it comes to performance conversations and 1:1s.

The Coasting manager

What’s their problem
They landed that promotion and are comfortable. They have no desire to progress further though.

Favorite saying
“It won’t work for my team”

45 46
How to bring them on board
Show them the benefits for them. All managers love the decrease in prep time for performance
conversations. And regular updates from their team also means there’s no nasty surprises.
The change The 8 steps to successful
management process change management
Kotter’s 8-step change management model is a process designed to help leaders successfully implement KKotter outlines eight steps that businesses should take to overcome such obstacles and effectively implement
organizational change.It’s based on research that showed that 70% of change management projects failed. And changes, whether big or small. Following these steps helps prepare and commit to adopting changes effectively.
we suspect that that’s sorely under-reported.There are a scary number of reasons why they often fail to land,
including:

• Change, by its nature, is difficult to implement

• The new change is often a bad fit for the organization/problem at hand 1 Create urgency 5 Remove obstacles
• Employee resistance is often high
• A lack of teamwork and joined-up thinking
• Poor leadership and management
• Rigid workplace cultures that don’t allow change to thrive 2 Put a team together 6 Set short-term goals
• Employees can be fearful of new processes and tools
• Stakeholders can suffer from narcissism and overconfidence

The list is seemingly endless. That’s why this handbook will help you to succeed.
3 Create a vision 7 Keep the momentum

4 Communicate the vision 8 Make change stick

48
1. Create urgency 3. Create a vision

The goal of this step is to prepare employees and to encourage them to participate. This is an important step that encourages buy-in by presenting an achievable picture of what success will look
To achieve impactful change everyone involved should feel the sense of urgency for change and believe that like. Here’s how to establish a clear and appealing vision:
change is needed for organization-wide growth. In the context of Perform365, make sure you have a clear
• Align the project with the organization’s core values and the change initiative. Listen to and consider the
answer for each of these questions and make them part of your ongoing plans:
suggestions of your people, no matter their position/role.

• Verify that it can be easily communicated and fully understood by everyone. Have an elevator pitch that
• How will more frequent feedback help us all to succeed? everyone knows and can repeat. Make sure it’s easy enough to explain in less than two minutes.
• How will more transparency help us all to succeed? • Incorporate data like projections, market research, and company trends.
• How will being more accountable help us all to succeed?

4. Communicate the vision

2. Put a team together
This step focuses on creating a strong team with all the necessary skills, qualifications, reputation, connections, The goal here is to communicate the vision and strategy in a way that encourages the rest of the company to
and authority to lead change initiatives and influence stakeholders. Your team needs to: accept and support the change initiative. Here’s what to do:

• Understand why the change is necessary and be fully onboard • Overcommunicate. Take every appropriate opportunity to communicate the vision and reasons for the
change. Perform365 has a number of email templates available to support your initial communications if
• Understand the team’s mission and purpose, as well as the objectives it is striving to achieve. needed.
• Know each other’s roles and responsibilities, and inter-dependencies. Working closely throughout the change • Model behaviors from leadership down. If leadership isn’t seen to be walking the walk, then employees are
process. more likely to resist.
• Have clear systems and processes in place for tracking progress, making decisions, monitoring issues, and • Encourage employees to provide feedback. Freely and honestly address their fears, issues, anger, and
resolving disagreements. Have clear communication channels concerns. Use the Perform365 check-in for this: ask a question dedicated to feedback about the rollout.

• To minimize misunderstanding and uncertainty, use simple language while communicating the message.
Head back to the People Section of this roll-out guide for some tips on who should be on your team and why.

50
5. Remove obstacles
7. Keep the momentum
When implementing organizational-wide change, obstacles will come up. Often. Anticipate what these might be
and have contingencies in place to avoid them derailing the project. They’re likely to be more people-related so
have these in your back pocket to keep the roll-out on track and successful. This step is all about keeping motivation and participation high in the early days post initial rollout. Determine
what’s working well and could therefore be scaled. And what could be improved.
• Recognize and reward employees who work hard to implement change. You can do this through @mentions
during employee check-ins in Perform365. • Experiment with new check-in questions regularly in the early days to see what works well for your people

• Give employees and managers the training, coaching, and mentoring they need to achieve their best and • Monitor employee participation and manager feedback rates using your platform analytics. These are good
tackle obstacles successfully. indicators of future success.

• If a certain team aren’t completing check-ins, find out why. Support them to make changes that work for
Identify your resistors early and bring them into the project team.
them such as changing check-in day or mixing up the questions in their check-in. It could be that their
See the 10 profiles of a resistor in the People section.
manager isn’t bought in.

• If a piece of feedback has led to a significant change or the improvement in the business, highlight it. Show
6. Set short-term goals people that their feedback has a tangible impact.

Change that sticks doesn’t happen overnight. That’s why it’s critical to set short-term goals that you can celebrate
throughout the process. This helps to maintain momentum and inspire employees.

Here’s what to do:

8. Make the change stick

• Identify achievable short-term wins, such as initiatives to reduce performance review prep time, enhance Building habits around any new change is key to making them stick. Support your people to build those habits
employee recognition, and boost wellbeing, for example. and you’ll be on to a winner. To make a change stick:

• Break the transformation project down into smaller chunks with short-term objectives.
• Identify and embrace your change champions. Which teams are leading the way when it comes to goal-
• You can then set these as goals or OKRs within Perform365 itself. setting or check-in rates? Could they share their best practice or quick wins?

• Encourage other employees by recognizing and rewarding individuals who are responsible for these quick • Make the change meaningful. Managers need to review employee check-ins, share their feedback, and
wins. champion their team through employee visibility. Without interaction back from their managers, employees
can become disillusioned and hesitant.

52
• Continue to offer training and support to all your people beyond the initial rollout. And establish these as
norms from day 1 for new staff.
 Rolling out Perform365:
54
the best practice way
See all features

The Perform365 check-in Performance conversations Agile goal-setting Data Insights

Suggested rollout: Day 1 Suggested rollout: Month 3 Suggested rollout: Month 4 Suggested rollout: Month 6

Automate up to 90% of your performance conversation Whether you’re using SMART goals or OKRs (or a From month 4 you’ll start to see employee engagement
This underpins your entire performance management
and use our Microsoft Outlook sync to book all your 1:1 and combination of both), they will help keep your people and sentiment insights. These can be sliced and diced to
and employee engagement efforts. Check-in history,
performance conversation meetings automatically. Use our aligned with the wider company’s aims. Goals are tell you team by team how your people are feeling and
manager feedback, peer recognition, and goal
library of templates and workflows or create your own to automatically added to the employee’s check-in to performing. Use this data to coach managers to give
updates all feed into performance conversations and
suit each of your departments or teams. Employees easily keep them focused on the metrics that matter. We’ve better feedback, showcase best practices, identify top
employee engagement and sentiment insights. The
pick and choose from their check-in updates and add them got plenty of resources to help with both goals and talent attrition risks, and more.Our People Science team
check-in gets your people used to regular feedback.
to their performance conversation agenda. Managers know introducing OKRs. is on hand to walk you through all the different ways you
It’s all about incremental change and something we
call Everyday Performance. what’s coming up and can prepare. can use your employee.
The Employee check-in:
A weekly check-in’s like bowling with the bumpers up
So, what is a weekly check-in all about? At its core, a check-in is about two-way feedback. And feedback is the

the critical success

foundation of personal development, engagement, and great performance.

How often have you thought through gritted teeth, ‘my manager has no idea what I do?’ Or delivered an

factor for continuous

epic piece of work that’s gone completely unnoticed. Or wanted to raise a concern but didn’t because there
was never a right time. Last year, a survey from The Workforce Institute found that one in three people would
rather quit their job than raise concerns. 83% feel that people aren’t heard equally, and almost half stated that

performance management
underrepresented voices aren’t valued by their employer.
A weekly check-in encourages people to open up by giving you and your manager a feedback framework.
Think of it like bowling with the bumpers up. Whether you’ve got a stellar boss or a useless lump, when they use
Perform365, they’ll have the right process to follow to give you feedback that’s actually useful.

A weekly check-in is a quick but structured way to give your manager a snapshot of how your week
has gone. It focuses on your day-to-day experiences and progress but doesn’t replace face-to-face Each week you send feedback upwards; your manager then responds with feedback that’s specific to that
discussion. update. That can be simple like a comment, or a question to dig deeper. You can then implement that feedback
immediately – not 6 months after the fact. It’s also private between you and your manager so it won’t get
Instead, it makes your formal 1:1 meetings more effective because they’re not bogged down in the daily details. accidently forwarded in an email trail.
As well as that, it’s about you taking time to reflect and record items for your own personal development. It’s an
opportunity to build your show reel of achievements, rather than a list of everything you’ve ever done. It’s the
critical foundation of every performance conversation you’ll have with your manager. Next, we cover the steps to rolling out a Perform365 check-in. It’s the critical success factor to
continuous performance management.

55 56
1. Tell them what’s in it for them For managers, that might mean:

Help employees and managers understand what’s in it for them. The best argument for any new tool is that it will 1. Knowing what your people are achieving each week
make your life better because of x, y and z. 2. Resolving your employee’s concerns as they happen rather than letting them escalate
3. Supporting underperformers with timely, targeted feedback
For employees, that might mean: 4. Giving credit when it’s due when your people are overachieving
1. Getting more regular feedback from your manager to help you improve and develop 5. Spending up to 90% less time prepping for performance conversations because there’s a body of evidence
already built up
2. Raising concerns as they happen rather than waiting for your next 1:1 so they are resolved quicker
6. Seeing how your people’s work directly influences team, department, and company objectives
7. Feeling valued because your contribution is seen and recognized by your peers
3. Sharing your successes regularly so you get the credit you deserve
8. Championing your superstars up the org chart for talent mapping and succession planning
4. Building a body of evidence over time so you don’t need to spend as much time prepping for performance 9. Having a consistent way to provide feedback to your team
reviews 10. Having the time and space to reflect on your own achievements

5. Understanding how the work you deliver directly influences team, department, and company objectives

6. Feeling valued because your contribution is seen and recognized by your peers

7. Seeing that your manager is championing you to their manager and beyond

8. The feedback you give leads to actions rather than getting lost in an inbox

9. Knowing that your manager is following the same feedback framework as others

10. Having the time and space to reflect on your week

57 58
2. Make sure managers review their team’s check-ins 4. Questions must be relevant to the individual and
asked at the right cadence
Managers are your secret sauce in driving participation and therefore long-term success with any check-in
tool. Nothing kills participation more than an employee sharing some rich and honest feedback only for their A surefire way to kill uptake is to ask irrelevant questions.
manager to ignore it. A simple ‘like’ or thoughtful comment added to an employee’s check-in shows their
feedback is valued. It’s easy to fall into the trap of using company jargon or technical language. Or perhaps asking a question that’s
relevant to only 95% of your people.

The frequency with which managers review their employees’ check-ins is directly linked to how often those Avoid this at all costs by setting questions at the company, department, team and/or individual level.
staff members complete their check-ins.
When setting company-wide questions ask yourself:
• Is this relevant to all our people?
Ensure your managers understand the importance of reviewing all employee check-ins and are trained in
• Are we using jargon or technical language?
how to feedback effectively. • Is this question necessary?

Company-wide questions tend to be set during rollout and then nothing changes until the end of year review.
3. Don’t ask too many questions: 7 is the optimum
number per check-in This can become stale, particularly if you’re running weekly or fortnightly check-ins. Use a Core-Flexi approach.

When things are straightforward and manageable, we’re more likely to be motivated to act. This plays to the
mastery element of motivation. 5. Link participation to tangible outcomes

The way we do that in the Perform365 check-in is to ensure we’re not asking too much at any one time. When people can see the benefit of engaging with the employee engagement processes, they’re far more
likely to get involved.

Cognitive psychology tells us that brevity is important for tasks like surveys, questionnaires, and check-ins. The Highlight the positive impact check-ins are having on your people and company. Publicizing quick wins helps
ideal number of items is 7, with a maximum of 9. build a case for change and encourages further adoption from others.

Make sure you make the link between activity in check-ins and real-world changes. If a piece of feedback
Look at your check-in questions. If you can’t count them on two hands you need to rethink your question set.
has led to a new wellbeing initiative, flexible working scheme, or new coffee machine in the canteen, let your
people know.

59 60
6. Focus on wellbeing 9. Lean heavily into recognition

When wellbeing is a key focus of check-ins, it signals to your people that this is a process that is meant to Recognition is hands-down one of the best tools for motivating people to partake in check-in processes. It’s a
support them. motivator on so many levels.

This helps drive participation, giving staff a tangible benefit beyond ‘engagement’ and ‘performance’ which It feels great when a colleague recognizes the hard work we’re doing.
can feel more like business-focused outcomes.
When others see us being recognized, we get a morale and motivational boost It helps improve our career
By giving your employees a new way to raise wellbeing concerns, whether with themselves or others, you are prospects as others see our contribution.
empowering people to speak up.
We feel compelled to ‘pass it on’ which creates a snowball effect of recognizing others.
Particularly with a weekly or fortnightly check-in, occasionally asking your people how they are doing is a
powerful tool for driving participation in the process but also encouraging positive change at an individual Encourage your people to share recognition feedback within their employee check-in. Focus on unseen efforts
level. and great news stories about collaboration.

7. Set a dedicated time each week to do check-ins You can also use recognition as part of your internal employee award selection process. Use the company values
hashtag feature for nominations or as extra evidence to back up selection.
When managers prioritize a check-in as a deliverable, participation soars. Employees know that it matters
to their manager and so it matters to them. Setting a particular day and time creates the routine needed to Top Tip: If you use Microsoft Teams and Perform365, set up a dedicated Recognition Channel. Push all @
make doing a check-in a habit. mentions into the channel so the whole company can see what’s being said, by whom and about whom.

With Perform365 you can even stagger check-ins to suit each team’s requirements. Set employee-level
check-ins to a Friday and manager check-ins to a Monday, for example. This means managers can include
employee check-in feedback in their own check-ins through the pass-up function.

Managers should also set aside dedicated time to review their team’s check-ins.

8. Role-model what excellent looks like

Get key senior individuals and influencers fully invested in your check-ins. They’ll role-model expected
behaviors that will persuade others to get involved.

62
When employees see leadership taking the lead, by completing their own check- ins and helping promote
the benefits, social psychology tells us staff are more motivated to join in.

Have your key people champion the benefits of your check-in. Ask them to give recognition, shout about
their own successes, and talk openly about the benefits they’ve seen from the process.
We’re with you every step of the way

Online support
Zensai knowledge base
24/7 support site with hundreds of articles to help you find the answers to the most frequently
asked questions: here.

HR Customer Success Managers

Real people with real HR experience

Our team of Customer Success Managers are CIPD qualified and have lived experience as HR
practitioners.

They’re an extension of your HR team and can support and guide you with industry best practices
as well as be on hand to help with any templates or workflows you might want. They have a
wealth of knowledge about setting OKRs and performance too.

They can also support you with upgrades and new feature rollouts.
About Zensai

We are Zensai. Home to the only Human Success Platform, seamlessly

integrated into Microsoft 365, tailored for Teams, and powered by AI. Our
motto "Succeed like you" embodies our commitment to empowering
individuals and organizations worldwide to reach their full potential and unlock
human success.

With a presence in over 60 countries and serving millions of users, Zensai is at

the forefront of revolutionizing employee development, engagement, and
performance management.