Which People Program is right for your company?

Goal setting, performance management, and engagement surveys are the three
foundational components to your People Program. The combination and timing of these will need to reflect several factors, including your business’s pace of change, the speed at which employees progress, and how independently teams operate. Goal, review, and survey cadence will also inform other components of your People strategy, including employee development, compensation cycles, and more — making them especially important to get right.

Answer these six questions, and we'll let you know which People Progam Model is recommended for your company:

QUESTION 1

How fast your organization is experiencing changes, be they internal or external / market-driven?
This often translates to how often leadership considers changing business objectives.
HIGH PREDICTABILITY - There's predictability in our organization and in our industry. We can plan at least a year out and it's unlikely that those plans will shift considerably.
MODERATE PREDICTABILITY - There's some unpredictability in our organization and / or in our industry. We may try to plan a year out, but our plans are likely to shift half-way through that year as new realities emerge.
LOW PREDICTABILITY - There's a fair amount of instability in our organization and / or in our industry. We need to reassess our situation every quarter or two and adjust plans, given how quickly new realities emerge.

QUESTION 2

How fast your organization is growing?
SLOW GROWTH - On average, a given team in our organization is unlikely to add more than 1 or 2 new members in the next year. The organization is growing up to 10% a year.

MODERATE GROWTH - On average, it is likely that up to half of a given team in our organization will consist of new team members. The organization is growing between approximately 10% and 40% a year.

FAST GROWTH - On average, a given team in our organization is likely to double in size over the next year, or split into two or more teams. The organization is growing faster than 40% a year.

QUESTION 3

How fast are your employees progressing through their roles?
STABLE PROGRESSION - A given employee in our organization spends 2+ years in a given role before it's reasonable to expect for them to be promoted or to change roles.
MODERATE PROGRESSION - A given employee in our organization spends 1-2 years in a given role before it's reasonable to expect for them to be promoted or to change roles.
FAST PROGRESSION - A given employee in our organization is expected to stay in the same role less than one year before they are promoted or change roles.

QUESTION 4

How much control teams have over their own processes and goals (vs high levels of cross-team collaboration)?
LOW AUTONOMY - Most operationally relevant processes and decisions are made at the senior leadership levels.
MODERATE AUTONOMY - Some operationally relevant processes and decisions are made at the senior leadership levels, and some are made at the department or team levels.
HIGH AUTONOMY - Teams generally function independently of one another, and most operationally relevant processes and decisions are carried out at the team level.

QUESTION 5

Type of work that your industry requires.
PROJECT-BASED - Employees are primarily responsible for project-based work determined by discrete periods of time (uncommon). Examples include creative agencies, consultancies, and professional services.
RAPID / HIGHLY-DEFINED TRACKS - Most employees have highly structured roles through which they are expected to advance levels quickly (uncommon). Examples include retail stores and real estate agencies.
STANDARD – The workforce is a mixture of roles with defined, consistent work as well as collaborative, project-based work (most common).

QUESTION 6

How far is leadership from the front lines?
CLOSE - Our leadership is one or two levels from the front lines (typical of organizations of less than 100 people)
MODERATELY REMOVED - Our leadership is several levels removed from the front lines (typical of organizations between 100 and 500 people)
REMOVED - Our leadership is many levels removed from the front lines (typical of organizations of more than 500 people)