Aligning Talent Strategy with Core Values at Oxfam
Challenge
Managers were not engaged in building talent due to ineffective technology and lack of a link to a comprehensive talent management strategy.
Solutions
Performance Management, Behavioral Assessments, 360 Surveys, Succession Planning, Connect, Talent Insights
Results
The senior leadership team has visibility to talent across the organization, managers are engaged in developing talent, and individuals are empowered to focus on their own growth and development.
The Challenge: Managers were not engaged in building talent due to ineffective technology and lack of a link to a comprehensive talent management strategy.
Oxfam is a non-profit organization dedicated to changing lives around the world by working to end the injustice of poverty. Everything they do is driven by their core values of empowerment, inclusiveness, and accountability. They knew it was important for their talent management strategy and technology to support their mission and their values.
However, a lack of clear talent development practices and policies, along with cumbersome technology, led to managers who were not engaged in the talent management process. Performance reviews had a completion rate of only 23%. Managers needed help building their skills around setting goals and delivering feedback.
Patricia (Pat) Hylton, Associate Director, People, Culture & Global Human Resources, fully embraced the opportunity to transform Oxfam’s talent management strategy. As work began on the project, she focused on this question: “How can we make the process more worthwhile, beneficial, useful, and get more buy-in, more ownership from an employee and management perspective?”
The Solution: Leverage easy-to-use technology and promote a holistic view of talent to build the foundation for a more comprehensive talent management strategy
While re-defining and streamlining the performance review process was the impetus for the project, Pat brought the diverse skill set of an HR generalist and took a broader perspective. She said, “Why should we limit ourselves to performance reviews? I’ve positioned this initiative as a talent management framework.”
Powerful, easy-to-use technology backed by behavioral science
Recognizing that the heavy lifting required by the old system had contributed to the gaps in Oxfam’s talent management strategy, Pat knew that it would be important to gain organization-wide buy-in and take full advantage of the new system’s capabilities. She explains, “I want to make sure managers know that Energage is a talent resource they can lean on to guide them through many of the everyday situations they encounter.”
Pat’s confidence in having managers rely heavily on Energage is based on the system’s functionality, which she says is “clean, crisp, straightforward, and allows for a lot of flexibility.” Also important is Energage’s application of behavioral science across their solutions. Because of this science-based foundation, the team is able to fully trust the insights and rationale provided and the actions recommended.
“We’ve made better decisions and pushed for results that wouldn’t have been possible without Energage’s guidance.”
Patricia Hylton,
Associate Director, People, Culture & Global
Human Resources
Leaning Into the Partnership
Throughout this project, Pat has continuously focused on elevating Oxfam’s talent management strategy and maximizing results. To achieve that, she has relied on the resources, recommendations, and best practices from the Energage team. She explains, “I’ll ask, ‘Here’s what I’m trying to accomplish. What’s the best way to do that?’, and they always have strong options for me to evaluate. As a result, we’ve made better decisions and pushed for results that wouldn’t have been possible without Energage’s guidance.”
Changing the mindset of the organization
From the beginning, this has been more than a technology rollout. Instead, the technology is supporting the revitalization of Oxfam’s talent management strategy. To nurture a change in the mindset of the leadership team, Pat has focused on ensuring leaders want to use the system and follow the processes because it makes their job easier.
She uses every conversation as an opportunity to educate the team and gain more buy-in. When managers have problems with managing and developing their team, she points them to Energage. Another key is acting quickly. Once she sees a connection between a problem and a solution, she immediately provides the information that the team needs to take action and resolve the issue.
The Results: The senior leadership team has visibility to talent across the organization, managers are engaged in developing talent, and individuals are empowered to focus on their own growth and development.
For Oxfam, the transformation of their talent management strategy is well underway. The leadership team now sees talent development differently and recognizes that every action they take delivers a message to their team. They are engaged in the strategy and taking accountability for the results.
Critical to that evolution is technology that supports the team. Pat explains, “We have sophisticated tools and resources. The team is seeing that they have a tool that is easy to understand and implement, which makes it that much easier for them to assimilate it into their conversations and their work styles. That’s what’s making them very, very excited about working with Energage.”
Performance Reviews: New mindset, unbelievable results
The attitude and message around performance reviews is completely different than it was when they first started out. At first, managers were disconnected from the process. After one short year, they now rely on the insights that performance reviews can provide. They’re asking, “Can you tell me how my organization is doing? What percentage of completion do we have?” As a result, performance review completion rates have made a complete turnaround, going from less than 30% completed in 2019 to nearly 80% in 2021.
Not only have completion rates improved remarkably, the entire process has been improved. It starts with better goal setting. Employees now have clear objectives, so everyone knows what they’re being measured against. Performance reviews are calibrated so that ratings are more accurate and standardized across the organization. Self-reviews are required for all team members so that everyone is engaged.
Successful launch of 360 reviews for senior leadership
As part of this initiative, Oxfam implemented a 360 review process for the senior leadership team. Both the technology and the mindset are new. Initially, managers viewed the 360 review as a punitive process. Now, they recognize that the 360 is an investment in their growth, uncovering possibilities for them to expand their capabilities. “It’s the opportunity for them to see how their self-perception compares to the perception of others. They get insights about
their strengths, the values they demonstrate and where they may need some improvement,” explains Pat. While providing feedback in a 360 review is still optional, the response rate has been incredible – between 78-100% for each of the senior leaders.
Sophisticated, data-driven insights
As the new strategy and technology have rolled out, the quality of the conversations about talent management has changed across the organization. The entire team has access to data-driven insights that help them take well-informed action to hire, manage, develop and retain talent. Pat says, “We’re using metrics that we did not have before. I can easily pull together information and provide it to managers.”
That upgrade in the quality and sophistication of available talent insights carries over to the board level. Some members of the Oxfam board are focused on talent. In the past, their analysis was based on disjointed materials that had been cobbled together. Now, the HR team can quickly provide comprehensive resources and metrics that reflect the more cohesive talent management strategy and provide the board with a clear picture of talent across the Oxfam
team.
“We’re using metrics that
we did not have before.
I can easily pull together
information and provide it
to managers.”
Patricia Hylton,
Associate Director, People, Culture & Global
Human Resources
Fostering accountability at all levels
Accountability is one of Oxfam’s three core values, and that is now reflected in their talent management strategy. Expectations and supports are in place to encourage accountability throughout the organization. Pat explains, “In HR, we’re shifting accountabilities to be on the leaders and managers. They identify what the individual contributors’ responsibilities are. And, we now have a system that comes behind to support and augment that strategy.”their strengths, the values they demonstrate and where they may need some improvement,” explains Pat. While providing feedback in a 360 review is still optional, the response rate has been incredible – between 78-100% for each of the senior leaders.
Amplifying the successes
Oxfam began their transformation in 2020. In spite of the pandemic, they have made remarkable progress. “We pushed for performance reviews, and we’ve been able to deliver on that and much more. These results have been well-received and appreciated by the organization. We’re now better-positioned to look at talent overall, from the small day-to-day conversations where feedback is shared, to our overarching talent management strategy,” says
Pat.
Oxfam will continue to build on their success with Energage as a strong partner providing both technology and support.
Pat shares, “Together, we’re developing a better understanding of what our strengths are, where our talent is in the organization, how we move that talent cross-functionally and how we develop a latent skillset for a team. We’ve created the foundation for us to have those kinds of conversations in the future.”
“In HR, we’re shifting accountabilities to be on the leaders and managers. They identify what the individual contributors’ responsibilities are. And, we now have a system that comes behind to support and augment that strategy.” – Pat Hylton, Associate Director, People, Culture & Global Human Resources
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