Nonprofit Performance Management

Most human resource directors will tell you that employees don’t exactly welcome change. One reason is that change is often associated with difficulty and discomfort. When it came to their employee performance appraisal software, the HR team at this organization had no choice but to change. “Our previous software product, Performance Impact, was phased out, so we needed to find a new solution,” says their HR Manager. The company provides risk-management services for churches. These services include client visitation, insurance placement, claims management, risk management education, and loss prevention. Incorporated in 1995, the company has a total of four locations in the United States, England, and Brazil, and employs just over 140 people.

Searching for Suitable Software

Before purchasing replacement software, this team did their homework. “We shopped for three months before deciding on LightWork Performance Management,” their HR Manager recalls. Acting on advice from their Sage Abra HRMS vendor, they finally chose LightWork for its tight performance management integration to Sage Abra HRMS. In August 2010, they began using the LightWork system. A few compelling factors convinced their staff that LightWork was the right fit. “It linked to Sage Abra and allowed us to extract information from our HR program. We also liked LightWork’s usability. It was not too complicated and was in fact, very user-friendly,” their HR Manager explains, adding, “Another ‘sell’ was the customization feature. It was flexible enough that we could tweak the system to specifically meet our needs.”

If LightWork’s user-friendliness and customization impressed this group two other features sealed the deal. “We really liked the Employee Journals and Goals features. The Journals give supervisors the opportunity to document information on employees throughout the year. We don’t have much turnover, but the Journals are still helpful, for several reasons. First, supervisors can input information as they go along, instead of trying to remember everything at the time of an annual evaluation. Second, if an employee challenges something in the evaluation, supervisors can use Employee Journals as a backup. Ultimately, the software offers the transparency we need for our employee performance appraisal process.”

LightWork also assists with other aspects of employee evaluations. “The Goals area helps us evaluate employee progress. It allows us to see which direction employees are heading, and this aids talent management and promotions,” their HR Manager says.

Behind the Scenes Support

Within their Human Resources division, 16 staffers use LightWork to evaluate employees at the company’s Maryland and California locations. LightWork is still relatively new for the organization— the company began using LightWork in August 2010. While they are still tweaking the software to personalize if further, the transition has been positive. The training experience was “exceptional,” according to their HR Manager. “The process was simple because the LightWork training team was thorough and detailed.” Ditto for customer service. “It’s excellent. They always respond quickly to my inquiries, no matter how elementary they may seem,” their HR Manager says. Download the PDF