One of the challenges for today’s employers and supervisors remains the annual employee review. Whether it’s called an employee engagement survey or a worker check-in, employers continue to struggle with this yearly ritual.
Guibert Englebienne, co-founder and chief technology officer of Globant, an IT and software developer based in Buenos Aires, thinks he has the solution for the dreaded performance evaluation. It needs to be mobile.
In February, Globant launched StarMeUp, a peer-to-peer recognition program that aims to give employers the opportunity to connect with employees across large organizations. Employers can use the software to conduct employee reviews over their mobile phones, share feedback with staff, and improve productivity, according to Englebienne. The program is currently being used by big names including WalMart, Nespresso and Grupo Santander, a Spanish division of Santander Bank that has offices in the U.S.
StarMeUp helped the Spanish banking group better recognize top talent at the bank, according to Ana Botin, executive chair of Santander Group.
“This tool will allow us to understand what we do best and what areas need to be strengthened,” Botin says in a case study.
StarMeUp consist of five mobile applications that include StarMeUp, a peer-to-peer recognition system, BriefMe, an organizational news-sharing service, BetterMe, a feedback tool for employees, BeThere, a social media platform where employees can post photos and events, and TakePart, a voting system for company-wide initiatives.
Globant did not provide the pricing for the application.
“We can use that information to give [employers and HIR directors] insights into the rest of their organization, creating an organization that is smarter, knows the talent better, and retains talent much better,” Englebienne says.
What Globant is doing is not new. Elements of the StarMeUp platform have been popular for several years as software vendors recognized the need to redefine the employee engagement and performance review system landscape. But what is new, Englebienne says, is StarMeUp’s suite of mobile applications that address different elements of workplace culture.
There are also other employee feedback technology solutions similar to StarMeUp, like Achievers, Motivosity, Bonusly, and Tap My Back. Although these tools differ slightly from StarMeUp, they also provide employees with positive reinforcement for good performance.
Englebienne says the system is aimed at large, international organizations where employees may not know everyone at the company and recognizing good work is a challenge. For management, he says StarMeUp makes it easier to identify employees who may be good candidates for promotions, based on the amount of the worker’s positive feedback.
While Globant’s system can provide a comprehensive view of what’s going on at a company, Englebienne acknowledges that employees may be more likely to send positive feedback to one another on the platform. The system ensures that constructive or negative feedback from a manager or supervisor is made private, he adds.
