Case 16 Salesforce Instant Praise, Instant Criticism: Instead of waiting a year for your annual performance review, how
Posted: Fri May 20, 2022 8:24 am
Case 16 Salesforce Instant Praise, Instant Criticism: Instead of
waiting a year for your annual performance review, how would you
like to know where you stand by getting immediate feedback about
how you’re doing? After all, the once-a-year version might be
little more than a boss-administered exercise in unhelpful
feedback. The typical annual review, including past performance,
goal setting, pay, and improvement needs can be information
overload for many. For goals accomplished today, how valuable and
motivating is recognition and feedback six months from now? What if
you could get real-time feedback and coaching by asking colleagues,
managers, and peers questions such as, “What did you think of my
presentation?” or “What can be done better?” Meaningful
Recognition: In today’s business environment of rapid speed,
employers are beginning to realize the true value of real-time
feedback for employee recognition, control, performance, and
motivation. When Salesforce bought Rypple, a maker of performance
management social software, CEO Mark Benioff said that “the next
generation of HCM [human capital management] is not just about a
cloud delivery model; it’s about a fundamentally better way to
recruit, manage, and empower employees in a social world.” This
approach is nothing new for the customer relationship management
(CRM) megafirm. For most of its almost 20 years, Salesforce has
used acquisitions to expand the CRM offerings it makes available to
clients. In 2016 alone, Salesforce spent almost $4.5 billion
acquiring 13 companies. Leading up to the acquisition, Rypple’s top
management pitched its software this way: “Performance management
has become disconnected from real performance. Today, we move
faster. We’re more connected. This requires a new approach to
performance.” Rather than waiting a year to learn what managers
think of them, employees using Rypple’s platform send out a quick
(50 words or less) pointed question to folks ranging from managers
to peers to customers to suppliers. Some call this just-in-time
performance improvement. Benioff called it a winner. Enter
Work.com: Rebranded within Salesforce as Work.com, the Rypple
product provides a real-time snapshot of employee performance in a
single place, on completion of a goal, project, or quarter.
Benefits include the ability to give public thanks and solicit
feedback in a timely way. A coaching interface allows workers to
build coaching networks to spot needed improvements. This helps to
resolve problems and issues as they arise rather than after the
fact. It also means quicker implementation of needed changes.
Salesforce is always looking to expand the range of client needs it
can serve. The CRM innovator has continued to develop strategic
partnerships to fast-track its strategic goals. In February 2017,
Salesforce announced that it had entered into an “artificial
intelligence” partnership with IBM, with the goal of enhancing the
range of analytical tools it provides to clients. Artificial
intelligence plays a key role in the Salesforce.com model. Said
Benioff of the IBM partnership: “AI is accelerating … partnering
with IBM was a natural given ‘how I respect how they have stayed
true to customer values.’” More or Less Motivation?: Some ask if
too much feedback becomes a bad thing. Reliance on so much feedback
and what other people say can be a detriment to learning the hard
way—by making mistakes. Others believe that people are motivated to
work hard when their efforts are recognized in a public way. Are
you willing to wait a year until your next performance review to
get much-needed positive feedback? Or would you like to work in an
environment where real-time report cards of your progress are
common? Case Analysis Questions: 1. Discussion: Is the annual
performance review past its “sell by” date or just in need of some
revisions? If real-time reviews are available using software such
as Salesforce’s Work.com, is there a need for an annual performance
review? 2. Discussion: What are some of the potential benefits of
having a “real-time” evaluation of your performance? What kinds of
things can organizations do differently when employees have this
kind of immediate feedback available to them? What about on the
flip side? Is there a downside? What are some of the potential
drawbacks of giving employees immediate feedback? Can feedback be
“too” immediate—that is, close to the situation? Why? In what ways?
3. Problem Solving: You’ve just taken a new job in human resource
management, and the organization’s president gave you this
high-priority task: Give us a plan that can make performance
reviews motivating to employees and bosses alike. “I’m tired,” she
says, “of hearing everyone complain that annual reviews are
demotivating. We need to review performance. Surely there are ways
that we can make ours more valuable.” As you sit down to think
about this assignment, make a few notes on the major issues and
things you might recommend. Use insights from motivation theories
to justify what’s on your list.
waiting a year for your annual performance review, how would you
like to know where you stand by getting immediate feedback about
how you’re doing? After all, the once-a-year version might be
little more than a boss-administered exercise in unhelpful
feedback. The typical annual review, including past performance,
goal setting, pay, and improvement needs can be information
overload for many. For goals accomplished today, how valuable and
motivating is recognition and feedback six months from now? What if
you could get real-time feedback and coaching by asking colleagues,
managers, and peers questions such as, “What did you think of my
presentation?” or “What can be done better?” Meaningful
Recognition: In today’s business environment of rapid speed,
employers are beginning to realize the true value of real-time
feedback for employee recognition, control, performance, and
motivation. When Salesforce bought Rypple, a maker of performance
management social software, CEO Mark Benioff said that “the next
generation of HCM [human capital management] is not just about a
cloud delivery model; it’s about a fundamentally better way to
recruit, manage, and empower employees in a social world.” This
approach is nothing new for the customer relationship management
(CRM) megafirm. For most of its almost 20 years, Salesforce has
used acquisitions to expand the CRM offerings it makes available to
clients. In 2016 alone, Salesforce spent almost $4.5 billion
acquiring 13 companies. Leading up to the acquisition, Rypple’s top
management pitched its software this way: “Performance management
has become disconnected from real performance. Today, we move
faster. We’re more connected. This requires a new approach to
performance.” Rather than waiting a year to learn what managers
think of them, employees using Rypple’s platform send out a quick
(50 words or less) pointed question to folks ranging from managers
to peers to customers to suppliers. Some call this just-in-time
performance improvement. Benioff called it a winner. Enter
Work.com: Rebranded within Salesforce as Work.com, the Rypple
product provides a real-time snapshot of employee performance in a
single place, on completion of a goal, project, or quarter.
Benefits include the ability to give public thanks and solicit
feedback in a timely way. A coaching interface allows workers to
build coaching networks to spot needed improvements. This helps to
resolve problems and issues as they arise rather than after the
fact. It also means quicker implementation of needed changes.
Salesforce is always looking to expand the range of client needs it
can serve. The CRM innovator has continued to develop strategic
partnerships to fast-track its strategic goals. In February 2017,
Salesforce announced that it had entered into an “artificial
intelligence” partnership with IBM, with the goal of enhancing the
range of analytical tools it provides to clients. Artificial
intelligence plays a key role in the Salesforce.com model. Said
Benioff of the IBM partnership: “AI is accelerating … partnering
with IBM was a natural given ‘how I respect how they have stayed
true to customer values.’” More or Less Motivation?: Some ask if
too much feedback becomes a bad thing. Reliance on so much feedback
and what other people say can be a detriment to learning the hard
way—by making mistakes. Others believe that people are motivated to
work hard when their efforts are recognized in a public way. Are
you willing to wait a year until your next performance review to
get much-needed positive feedback? Or would you like to work in an
environment where real-time report cards of your progress are
common? Case Analysis Questions: 1. Discussion: Is the annual
performance review past its “sell by” date or just in need of some
revisions? If real-time reviews are available using software such
as Salesforce’s Work.com, is there a need for an annual performance
review? 2. Discussion: What are some of the potential benefits of
having a “real-time” evaluation of your performance? What kinds of
things can organizations do differently when employees have this
kind of immediate feedback available to them? What about on the
flip side? Is there a downside? What are some of the potential
drawbacks of giving employees immediate feedback? Can feedback be
“too” immediate—that is, close to the situation? Why? In what ways?
3. Problem Solving: You’ve just taken a new job in human resource
management, and the organization’s president gave you this
high-priority task: Give us a plan that can make performance
reviews motivating to employees and bosses alike. “I’m tired,” she
says, “of hearing everyone complain that annual reviews are
demotivating. We need to review performance. Surely there are ways
that we can make ours more valuable.” As you sit down to think
about this assignment, make a few notes on the major issues and
things you might recommend. Use insights from motivation theories
to justify what’s on your list.