The Customer’s Core Challenge
Pennrose, an affordable real estate development and property management company with nearly 600 employees, faced a common hurdle for organizations with diverse, distributed workforces. While they had established teams spanning site operations to real estate development, their people management processes were fragmented and difficult to navigate.
The Challenges
- Limited Objective Data: Leadership was eager for people analytics, but existing insights were often based on opinion or with biases, rather than objective, actionable data.
- Fragmented Systems: The company used Cornerstone (Talent Space) and Saba, but the platforms were difficult to use and lacked integration.
- Not Enough Context: Employee engagement was measured once a year through external surveys, leaving results disconnected from performance and day-to-day work.
- Complex Review Cycles: Performance reviews were a "long process" involving multiple screens, printing PDFs, and manual note-taking.
The Solution
Pennrose chose 15Five as its solution because it is more robust than competitors like PeopleBox, yet more streamlined and user-friendly than overly complex legacy systems.
Key Features Implemented:
- Engagement Surveys: Used as an approachable starting point to get the team comfortable with the platform
- Performance Reviews: Streamlined to reduce the number of questions while increasing the quality of insights.
- Manager Effectiveness Indicator (MEI): Provided a structure for tracking communication frequency and quality.
- Objectives (OKRs): Enabled teams to align their individual work with one of eight larger company-wide strategic enterprise objectives for the first time.
The "A-Ha!" Moment
The breakthrough came when Pennrose realized they could expedite their entire performance appraisal cycle by three months. After moving the launch up earlier than planned, they were able to pay bonuses by the first month of the year, a feat previously impossible due to the administrative burden of their old system.
"Our people really took to it... they were so used to going through multiple screens and pages... they asked some preemptive questions, and we were like, 'Nope, literally that's it. You go in, click, click, click, and you’re done!’
— Becky Ballod, Organizational Effectiveness Manager
The Measurable Results:
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Performance reviews finished in half the time: No more multiple screens, printed PDFs, or manual note-taking. Pennrose completed its full performance appraisal cycle 3 months faster than ever before and paid bonuses by the end of January for the first time.
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100% of teams aligned to company-wide objectives: For the first time, every team can connect their day-to-day work to one of the company-wide strategy plans.
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Increased Manager Effectiveness in 1-on-1s: Managers shifted from sporadic check-ins to regular, structured conversations, increasing the number of performance-focused touchpoints with their teams well beyond the once-a-year review.
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Consistent manager standards: Pennrose now uses 15Five's manager competencies to build its internal leadership curriculum, ensuring everyone from the CEO to site teams is measured on the same scale.
- Reduced administrative lift: Lifecycle surveys made the exit interview process "a lot less of a lift" for the HR team while maintaining steady participation.
- Answers without an analyst: Leadership no longer has to rely on someone's opinion. With Amaya and the Insights Dashboard, the team can ask questions in plain English and get data-backed answers.
Looking Ahead
Pennrose plans to go "all in," eventually leveraging every part of the 15Five platform. Next steps include implementing Individual Development Plans (IDPs) to proactively support career growth and exploring Kona Coaching to provide real-time coaching for managers during virtual meetings.
"Jump in. Don't hesitate. It can take what you have started with and help you build for what you want in the future."
— Becky Ballod, Organizational Effectiveness Manager
Learn how 15Five can transform your performance review process.
