Today I received the following email from Sonar6 (See image below.) Their tag line... "performance reviews that don't suck." Gotta love it.
Full disclosure - I met the principals a couple years back and had dinner with them and fellow FOT'ers @Kris_Dunn and @jessica_lee ... the Sonar6 team were great guys with a great approach to HR software. I am a non-attorney spokesperson and no compensation was provided.
The Email
Here's an image of the email I received... (click image to go to the video.)
Why I like this...
First...
Like they say in the email - creating the video was a great team-building activity. I'm sure they had discussions around what was important, what should be included, how to present that information. If you think about it - that's a great way to garner alignment and agreement on your business proposition. At the end of the day - their 3-minute video was what every employee should know and believe about their company. What a great way to ensure alignment. Wouldn't it be cool if they did a series of these vignettes - each around a different value they bring to the table - create a library of who they are and what they bring to their clients - great engagement... great training asset.
Second...
This is also a customer engagement tool. They are sending out to their customer base a real picture of who they are and what they do. Real faces, real voices, real stuff. Not edited and committee-written emails, brochures, website links, etc. This is who they are. (okay - some editing - would have been better with an outtakes trailer... )
One Email - Two Results
In my mind this is a great way to kill two engagement objectives with one stone. Engaging employees with the company mission, values, proposition - and the customer with a real connection to the people who they may just end up working with. What a great way to pull people into your "tribe."
One more thing...
Could they have assigned different teams with the same task and done some sort of incentive with awards for best video?
Possibly - but I think the idea of doing the video and knowing it would be used to help the company is reward and recognition enough. This IS one of the places where incentives may keep employee teams from being authentic and real - forcing them to worry more about technique and style - ultimately, defeating the purpose of the exercise.
Check it out... and ask yourself - what's your video?
Paul --- Brilliant; imagine that: performance reviews that "don;t suck". A mighty tall (and well nigh unbelievable) claim, as I haven't seen one (a "non-suck" version) in over 40 years.
I've already forwarded your blog to a "former organization" to have them check it out.
PS. And I thought the Aussies had strange accents!
Posted by: Scott Crandall | July 13, 2011 at 11:29 AM