How Uncommon Goods Enhanced Alignment with 15Five

The Challenge: Greater Alignment of Performance and Business Goals

Uncommon Goods, a Brooklyn-based e-commerce gifting company, wanted to create a greater connection between team member performance and business goals. The personal goals of individual contributors needed to be more closely aligned with the overall business goals.

Chief People Officer Beth Rivera found that goals were scattered across various business tools, which hindered a clear and unified view of performance. The People Team and leaders had access to engagement data, which was then communicated to managers. The team at Uncommon Goods wanted to democratize the results by sharing them directly with their leaders and managers. 

The Solution: An All-in-One Platform for a People-First Culture

Uncommon Goods chose 15Five for its seamless, all-in-one approach, which aligned with their company culture. The platform's ease of use and mobile-friendly design were critical, especially for their large team of warehouse workers who are rarely at a desk. The implementation was flawless, with a seamless ADP integration that provides a 24-hour data feed, a significant improvement from their previous feeds.

Instead of a company-wide mandate, the People Team took a soft-launch approach, introducing features incrementally and finding organic champions to drive adoption.

Key Features Implemented:

• Weekly Check-ins & 1-on-1s: Created a structured, non-obtrusive feedback loop for ongoing communication and growth discussions.
• Goals: Centralized goal-setting for all team members, better linking individual performance to the company's financial goals.
• High Fives: Transitioned their existing recognition program into the platform, making it a natural extension of their culture while capturing critical data points.
• Manager Dashboards: To democratize insights and data, managers were given direct access to engagement and performance data, empowering them to take ownership of their team's development.

The Results: Greater Empowerment and Growth

By implementing 15Five, Uncommon Goods transformed its approach to performance and engagement, resulting in immediate and measurable improvements.

• Greater Performance Review Participation: The new process saw a 100% participation and completion rate, ensuring every team member received a structured review.
• Increased Goal Usage: Centralized and easy-to-use goal-setting led to a rise in adoption and enhanced visibility into goals across the organization.
• Improved Manager Effectiveness: Managers at all levels can better support their teams, provide more effective feedback, and guide career development with direct access to data and easier insights.
• Strategic Workforce Planning: The platform's data is now being used to identify and assess high-potential team members for the purpose of promoting and developing them in their careers. This effortless approach to analyzing data enabled the People Team team to drive more proactive efforts and programs. 

The Ultimate Value

15Five has become an extension of Uncommon Goods culture, providing a single source of truth for all performance, engagement, and development data. This has not only improved manager-team member conversations and goal attainment, but has also built the foundation for future strategic initiatives, including calibration, succession planning, and creating "next level excellence" by clearly defining what outstanding performance looks like.

"It doesn't feel like software, it feels like an extension of our culture... It's just housing all of  what’s happening between communication, feedback, and recognition in one central location that you're actually leveraging more than twice a year."— Beth Rivera, Chief People Officer, Uncommon Goods

Learn more about how 15Five can improve performance and engagement at your organization.