?? Shifting the narrative on performance improvement plans + Beacon's new Leadership Training Lab!

The Beacon Brief ??

For leaders looking to find and keep the best talent for your growing company.

Keeping it brief at 1800 words, a 6-minute read. ???

Keep scrolling for:

• HR Answers // Harness your Leadership Potential: Beacon’s Leadership Training Lab is live! ??
• Talent Tips // Shift the Narrative on Performance Improvement Plans ??
• Client Love: How We Helped // “HR on speed dial” with Ballistic Arts ??
• In The Community // Organizational Change with CPHR BC & Yukon ??

Harness your Leadership Potential: Beacon’s Leadership Training Lab is live!

Becoming a leader comes with a huge mindset shift that most companies leave out of the how-to manual: your job is no longer about executing, it is about supporting your team in their execution.?

Seems simple enough, right? But when you take into account the complex layers of learning (and unlearning) it takes to master this art and how deeply critical leadership is to a company’s success (70% of a team’s engagement is determined solely by their manager ), it’s mind-boggling how few companies in 2024 are offering leadership training to their employees.??

According to LinkedIn’s 2024 Workplace Learning Report, only 40% of organizations invest in career programs that yield positive business results, and just over half of those organizations invest in leadership development specifically.?

We are on a mission to change that.?

We’re thrilled to share that we’ve pooled our years of experience in developing and delivering leadership training to create a comprehensive virtual Leadership Training Lab !?

Whether you have brand new leaders on your team, or current leaders with loads of untapped potential, this new offering from Beacon will help them make some serious impact.?

Offered entirely online, your leaders will learn from experienced facilitators, connect with like-minded professionals, and gain the skills to drive organizational success.

We provide interactive and engaging workshops with modules in:

• Leadership Foundations
• High Performing Teams
• Performance & Feedback
• Change Management

Our next cohort kicks off in February (dates coming soon!), and we’d love for you and your leaders to join us! Schedule a call to discuss and click here to download the course brochure.?

Shifting the Narrative on Performance Improvement Plans

All HR folks have been there: a manager is fed up with a specific employee, for performance reasons or otherwise, and they want to speed them through a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) with the intention to terminate.?

A 2023 article from Betterworks says it best, “it’s time to reform how we perceive performance issues so we can address them at the root, not the branches.”

And we couldn’t agree more. Here are our recommendations for tackling this shift in your organization.?

STOP using PIPs as a stepping stone for terminations

This method of creating a pathway to terminate with cause is, unfortunately, a staple. But we’ll just say it: it’s mean and you’re not fooling anyone.???

“Whether you’re on the receiving end, the manager who initiated it, the leader overseeing it, or just an uncomfortable bystander — many people see a [Performance Review Plan] as the corporate version of a slow-moving car crash,” says Betterworks CEO Doug Dennerline .?

We recommend avoiding PIPs in this capacity. Instead, here are some things to discuss with the manager in question:

Is there potential for change or is the intention purely to terminate?

Ultimately, there’s no need to put employees through a PIP if there is no true intention to retain the employee. HR folks should get in the habit of mining for details to understand the situation fully.?

Start with questions about the employee’s potential:

• What needs to change for this employee to be successful and on what timeline? Is the timeline realistic?
• Has the manager brought these concerns up with the employee in the past? And if so, are these instances documented? (Spoiler alert: they need to be before moving to a PIP! Managers can use 1:1 notes for this).
• Are these growth areas coachable? And if so, what resources can we deploy to support them?

If it’s determined that the change required isn’t possible on a realistic timeline, encourage the manager to explore one last option.

Are there internal mobility options?

Sometimes it’s a case of the right person, but the wrong job. Maybe this employee is an excellent culture fit for the company, contributes in numerous ways, elevates the team, but is falling short on the skill level required for the role.?

Remember this could be a flaw in the hiring process: was the skill level properly tested for in the interview? Was the job description clear from the get-go? Has onboarding been effective? It’s important to work together to find the broken link in the system so future incidents can be preempted.?

And most importantly,?if there is a way to retain an employee who can contribute positively to the company in other roles, this should definitely be a priority.

But if change isn’t realistic and internal mobility is not an option, skip the PIP and move to terminate. Save everyone, and especially the employee, that slow-moving car crash.

START reframing PIPs as a tool for growth and success

One thing nearly all companies can benefit from is more robust development and career pathing tools for employees. Enter, ladies and gentlemen, the newly reframed PIP.?

Choosing to utilize PIPs as a tool to support an employee in their learning and growth is a huge mindset shift for a company, but one that can have lasting positive effects. Here’s how to start:

Make it clear that the narrative has shifted

Improving performance, developing new skills, and charting a path for career growth is a win-win for employees and employers alike—it’s what both parties want at the end of the day. However, the term “performance improvement plan” has baggage and it will take time to shift that narrative within your company.

If you intend to reutilize PIPs as a tool for growth and development, here are some change management tips you might consider:

• Consider a rebrand. If the term PIP carries too much weight at your company, a name change could be hugely beneficial? (i.e. Development Plans).
• Address the shift and provide context. Ensure that this information is shared through multiple avenues (i.e. All Hands, the employee handbook, manager training, etc.) and repeated often—the shift is not going to happen overnight.?
• Make manager-employee development plan conversations required. If it’s typical to discuss improvement opportunities on a quarterly basis, the need for “emergency” PIPs (and their negative connotation) should start to fade. Note: this should be separate from Performance Review discussions and focused on growth.?

You want your employees to be excited about the prospect of improving performance, and to see it as preparation for the next step of their careers. Once you’ve got the narrative shift underway, the next step should be ensuring the development plans are created for maximum impact.?

Get clear on goals, support and next steps

A huge part of the ongoing mindset shift here is that managers begin to see themselves as a crucial component of improving their employee’s performance. That means leading clear conversations about current performance, growth opportunities, and the employee’s own development goals.?

• Get clear on goals. Managers should mutually define this with employees and spend dedicated time on what success will look like. SMART goals are a great framework to lean on here.?
• Get clear on timelines. Work together to decide a realistic timeline for these improvements, and build in regular check-in points to support the employee on their progress.
• Get clear on what support is needed. Different employees will require different kinds of support. Hear directly from the employee on what will help them be most successful in this work. Deploy any company resources that may be helpful (i.e. training budgets, coaching, mentorship, etc.)
• Up the feedback game. Providing clear, actionable feedback on the specific behaviour or area of improvement will be crucial to an employee’s success. Check out our June newsletter for tips on strengthening your feedback muscle.

Want to learn more? We’re diving into all things performance management at our next client webinar on Friday, November 15th at 12PM ET. Not a current client? No problem! Join us anyway to learn a thing or two and see what Beacon HR is all about.?

“HR on speed dial” with Ballistic Arts

Ballistic Arts is a high-touch digital marketing agency that focuses on online lead generation and brand awareness for mid-market B2B companies with very specific niches. The agency acts as their clients’ marketing department with full divisions in lead generation digital marketing, graphic design, video production and web development, all for the fraction of the overhead of having the labour in-house. Ballistic Arts provides effective ROI for businesses who want to raise brand awareness and gamer tangible leads for their business growth.?

AskHR clients have ad hoc HR needs. It’s a cost-effective service that offers ‘HR on speed dial’ to help solve HR questions and issues quickly as they arise to reduce business risk. Ballistic Arts currently subscribes to our AskHR service for support with day-to-day HR operations.

Through our On Demand Recruitment service, we worked closely with Ballistic Arts to enhance their recruitment process to attract high-quality candidates aligned with both job requirements and company culture. We revamped their job descriptions and interview guides to emphasize relevant skills, experience, and core values. This strategic approach helped refine the talent pool and align candidates with the company’s needs.

We successfully hired four critical positions with candidates who were not only qualified but also culturally aligned with the organization. This initiative streamlined hiring, ensuring both operational and cultural fit.

Roles Hired:

1 Operations Manager

3 Account Executives

See what CEO of Ballistic Arts, Ted Lau, has to say about us!?

Beacon HR on Organizational Change with CPHR Yukon & BC

Last month Beacon’s own Nicole Davidson joined the CPHR BC & Yukon webinar on Leading Change and she dropped some serious knowledge on Organizational Change & Development. Here are the biggest takeaways:

Did you know? Accenture’s 2024 Pulse of Change Index , revealed a 183% rise in the rate of business change in the last 4 years.

Change fatigue is one of the most complex and pressing issues facing employees, leaders and HR teams today. So what is it and why does it matter?

• Change fatigue is a feeling of exhaustion or cynicism that individuals or organizations might experience when undergoing frequent or complex changes.
• Prolonged exposure to continuous change without sufficient support can lead to burnout.
• Employees may feel disengaged, which leads to higher turnover rates and lower productivity.

So how can we reduce the impact of change and better support employees?

Enhance your Organizational Resilience through:

• Transparent communication
• A supportive leadership approach
• Fostering psychological safety

Build a Change-Ready Culture by:

• Pacing change strategically
• Collecting ongoing employee feedback

We at Beacon would love to delve deeper to help strengthen your company’s relationship to change. Reach out to set up a discovery call to learn more!

And that’s all she wrote! If Beacon can help your company in Q4 and beyond, reach out here or DM Nicole Davidson . We love to dig into all things HR and how we can best help your team ??