Peer 1 Hosting has a traditional annual performance review cycle, but it starts the beginning of the year with a process called Peer Promises, an objective-setting exercises. The system enables employees and managers to spend time together and collaborate to set their promises to deliver and be accountable for the forthcoming year.
The system enables employees and managers to spend time together and collaborate to set their promises to deliver and be accountable for the forthcoming year.
Helen Ives, HR director, says: “Everything we do from a learning, recognition and performance standpoint is very collaborative and peer-to-peer led.”
The organisation’s Peer Promises system has an objective about employees’ great ideas, identifying what they can bring to the organisation and what goals they would like to meet over their career.
Ives adds: “We try and keep the system side of reviews as light as possible and focus on conversations. We see ourselves very much in the relationship business and in order to deliver a good system we have to have good, motivated people.”
The organisation also runs a Team Awesome recognition programme, which is an online programme where employees can recognise each other when they are spotted ‘living’ the employer’s values.
Ives says: “That’s had a remarkable impact on our engagement and motivation.”
For instance, the organisation’s engagement score increased in 2012 from 39% in 2011 to 51% in 2012. It is also due to introduce an online tool, which will enable its employees to write and create online training for each other.
Ives adds: “As a technology organisation, we have a lot of young and gifted people working here with a lot of knowledge and we want to make the most of that by creating a platform for peer-to-peer learning.”