The Salvation Army NZFTS Transforms Paper-Based Reviews into a People-First System

The organization remained paper-based despite years of work on a custom solution. Managers filled out 20-page documents annually, but there was a tendency to complete the review, then "forget about it for another 12 months."

The organization was working on a custom system, but it wasn’t as user-friendly as the team would have liked. Managers spent their time figuring out how to use the system rather than developing their staff. 

"From my perspective, it didn’t work because it was a one-off. I sit down with my staff, I have a chat, yep, we tick the boxes, we fill in some questions. 'Can you sign this?' And then maybe I forget for another 12 months."

The organization needed a flexible, off-the-shelf, user-friendly solution to keep development front of mind rather than buried in drawers.

Why PerformYard

Peter wanted a system that managers would actually use. The decision factors were:

• User-friendly interface: "We wanted something that, when someone looked at it, they didn't have to go, 'What do I do?'"
• Automated reminders: PerformYard's notification system reminds managers when it's time for developmental conversations
• Human-connection: "We wanted people to focus on how to develop your staff, not how to use a system to develop your staff."
• Transparency: With PerformYard, both managers and staff can see performance information instead of it disappearing into desk drawers

"We wanted the system to work for us, not the other way around, which often is the case and certainly had been the case in the past for us."

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The Salvation Army NZFTS has used PerformYard to reimagine its approach to performance management.

Simplified Competency Framework

Instead of 500+ competencies, The Salvation Army simplified down to five core competencies:

• Calling: Your purpose — why do you come to work?
• Connections: How you engage with management, team, and others
• Cultural Engagement: Understanding Te Tiriti and New Zealand's multicultural society
• Role Specific: What you're paid to do
• Well-being: Always discussed in every conversation

Quarterly Developmental Conversations

Before: 1.5-hour performance appraisals 

Now: Four 30-minute developmental conversations per year. 

Each conversation focuses on one of the first four competencies and always includes well-being. 

"We were changing it to what we call a developmental conversation four times a year... doing that four times a year in a simple half an hour conversation rather than having one performance appraisal that could go for about an hour and a half, and then you forget about it for the next year anyway."

Developmental Check-Ins

PerformYard also enables informal "water cooler conversations" to be recorded as developmental check-ins, keeping development continuous between formal quarterly conversations.

Implementation Focus

To kick things off with PerformYard, Salvation Army NZFTS ran workshops focused primarily on how to hold developmental conversations, not on system training. "We spent most of that workshop time actually just talking about how to hold developmental conversations and help managers look at the person as a whole," Peter explained.

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PerformYard helped The Salvation Army NZFTS create a performance management system that aligns with their mission of caring for people.

Transparency and Adoption

"The biggest feedback we got from people was they were thrilled that it was transparent," Peter shared. The system has been successfully rolled out across the organization with minimal questions about navigation.

Additional Benefit

An unexpected benefit came from PerformYard's integration with the payroll system. "We're now helping people to ensure the employee data is all up to date," Peter noted.

Continuous Development

With PerformYard, development stays front of mind. "Having that recorded in PerformYard keeps it front of mind. We love the way that PerformYard is actually very transparent," said Peter.

The Salvation Army NZFTS is helping every person become "a better version of yourself" through transparent, continuous development that exemplifies their mission to care for people and transform lives.

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