One of Life Fitness’ biggest challenges is adapting to the latest fitness equipment trends, which can change overnight. But the company also needs to ensure its equipment keeps pace with customers’ evolving needs.
“Quality talent is how we handle the two issues that drive our industry,” says Robin Turner, director of global HR technologies and payroll for Life Fitness. “A strong performance management process helps employees tap into their full potential, making them more enthusiastic about their jobs.”
Stronger feedback.Part of the solution was “Coach,” the company’s performance management initiative. The goal is to empower employees to set objectives as priorities change, plus share and receive real-time feedback with managers in a unified, easy-to-use system.
Leaders say they found the perfect fit for Coach with Workday Talent Management. No longer limited to a single one-on-one meeting per year, the new system’s check-in feature allows for input from colleagues and managers at any time—and getting started is as simple as using an app. Check-ins can happen via online chat, email, video streaming, one-on-one, or in a team stand-up meeting.
“Now we have the tools to move from a once-a-year process focused on ratings to a more cyclical process that concentrates on continuous feedback, coaching, and support,” Turner says. “Objectives can be set and changed as work priorities shift, giving employees an understanding of their goals, which leaves them motivated and excited.”
Staff members have embraced the new system. Since it started, the percentage of employees utilizing the performance management process increased from 29% to 78%.
Our new talent management system means we’re retaining and attracting the best employees, which is critical to success in our highly competitive industry.
Director of Global HR Technologies and Payroll
Meatier collaboration. Life Fitness wanted to improve employee engagement by creating a culture where workers quickly confront challenges head-on. Using Coach drives a consistent, transparent dialogue between employees and managers that strengthens collaboration and achieves this key goal.
“Coach’s ability to create anytime conversations empowers managers and employees to have more frank and productive conversations,” says Turner. “Getting immediate guidance and bringing in additional team members to help with challenges has led to less burnout.”
The check-in feature achieved Coach’s goal of letting managers consistently support employees feeling overwhelmed by workloads or deadlines. When big projects demand increased effort, staff can reach out immediately to get guidance or form a team of colleagues to help tackle tough objectives.
Coach’s ability to log and organize each check-in has also helped Life Fitness’ approach to compensation planning. With trackable records of effort and achievement, managers have better guidance for giving merit-based raises.
Leaner system.Before company leaders incorporated Workday Talent Management features into Coach, employees had to grapple with numerous disjointed systems involving compensation reports, new hire questionnaires, objective lists, and other needs.
Under the new system, Coach streamlined access for each function through a single dashboard, making it easier for employees and managers to perform various tasks.
With the Coach dashboard, employees can now:
Schedule check-ins with managers anytime
Participate in guided conversations
Request and receive feedback
Compare personal and team objectives at a glance
For managers, the Coach dashboard enables:
A bird’s-eye view of all guided conversations
Continuous feedback to calibrate compensation
The filing and retrieval of performance review snapshots
Ability to highlight and prioritize organizational goals
With more clarity and confidence, employees are practically hurtling over performance plateaus.
Director of Global HR Technologies and Payroll
Healthier outlook. Besides boosting employee morale, Life Fitness continues to push itself even further. As the number of employees embracing Coach continues to grow, the company is preparing new initiatives to further support the creative minds that give Life Fitness its competitive edge.
Leaders plan to increase the agility of Coach by creating a dashboard that coordinates individual and organizational objectives. More robust succession planning is also in the works. Employees will be able to take advantage of increased mentorship opportunities.
“The results we’ve seen are amazing, but I think we’ve barely scratched the surface of what can be accomplished together with Coach and Workday,” Turner says.