Bracing for the Impact of 'The Great Resignation'
As news about mass resignations spread in 2021, Thoropass's executive team began to have concerns about their workforce. As a growing business, losing mission critical employees would spell disaster for its growth efforts, not to mention culture.
Faced with a looming crisis, the executive team turned to its VP of People & Operations, Joe Bast, to develop a retention strategy.
"We looked for a solution that could help us identify key talent which would allow us to focus retention efforts on people who are mission-critical to the Business."– Joe Bast, VP People & Operations, Thoropass
For Bast, one thing was clear: To implement a strategy that retained the company's mission critical employees, he first needed to identify them. The best way to do this, as it turned out, was to use performance reviews.
The Challenge: Traditional Performance Tools Fall Short
However, today's performance review technology doesn't give HR leaders instant visibility into who's truly making the most impact in a company. In addition, manager reviews and 360s do a poor job of capturing the full picture of an employee's contribution.
Bast needed a solution that would actually surface Thoropass's true "10x-ers", quickly.
The Solution: Leveraging Organizational Network Analysis
While searching for a way to easily identify the top performers at Thoropass, Bast discovered Confirm.
Confirm is an all-in-one performance management platform that provides the tools that HR leaders need to build effective teams and retain key talent, such as:
- Built in promotions and PIPs
- OKRs and goal management
- Performance reviews
But the platform isn't just a suite of performance tools.
The ONA Advantage
Confirm is a unique platform that uses a science called organizational network analysis (ONA) that shows who's making an outstanding impact and who may need attention or support. This helps HR leaders and managers make promotion, PIP, and retention decisions based on data.
"Prior to using Confirm, we didn't have good data and accurate measurement on who is best connected, who are people going to for advice and who needs help. Organization network analysis (ONA) is an absolute breakthrough with performance management; it is exceptionally insightful."– Joe Bast, VP People & Operations, Thoropass
It's the data within Confirm's platform that was the major selling point for Bast. It was exactly what he needed to set his retention strategy in motion.
Implementation: Data-Driven Stay Interviews
In just one performance cycle with Confirm, Bast knew precisely who the most influential employees were based on the feedback of the whole Thoropass team, not just managers or a select group of leaders. A stark contrast to performance review tools today.
Bast's retention plan involved meeting with each employee in stay interviews. During these interviews, Thoropass's founders would meet with each employee to get their input on the business, brainstorm on how best to move the organization forward, and discuss the future of the business.
Results: 100% Retention of Mission Critical Employees
During a period when most companies were losing 30-40% of their workforces, Thoropass had less than 10% turnover. In addition, they retained 100% of their list of top performers.
The Cost of Losing Top Talent
To put Thoropass's retention accomplishment into perspective, Gallup estimates that replacing a top performer in the US costs 1.5 to 2 times their annual salary. This includes hidden costs such as recruiting and training.
Non-Technical Role
Average Salary: $81,261
Replacement Cost: $121,891+
Software Engineer
Average Salary: $141,313
Replacement Cost: $211,969+
While these numbers are illustrative only, one thing is clear: For a growing company like Thoropass, losing top employees can become an existential risk, quickly.
With the help of Confirm's ONA data, Bast saved Thoropass millions of dollars by retaining its top performers. All while the U.S. saw a historical number of resignations.
"By using Confirm, we now know who the influencers are, the high and low performers, who needs help, and what to do to keep the best."– Joe Bast, VP People & Operations, Thoropass