Situation
Paycor is known for delivering modern, intuitive recruiting, HR, and payroll solutions with a singular focus on helping business leaders, entrepreneurs, and HR professionals. They provide their clients with the most competitive Human Capital Management products on the market.
Bridging skills gap in order to improve leadership capabilities.
Challenge
In the past several years, Paycor introduced new products, which led to an increase in sales in major markets. Additionally, Paycor started to grow exponentially, in locations, revenue, and employee size, with associates more than doubling in the past four years. With this influx of employees came an increase in the number of individuals in management positions, both from internal promotions and new hires. In addition to the growth, Paycor also averages about 25% internal mobility, so many associates were moving throughout the enterprise into new roles. These two organizational changes highlighted the need to focus on leadership development to ensure managers were leading people effectively and consistently.
Initially, Paycor did not have a management development program that was consistent across the entire enterprise. They hoped to establish a baseline of what good management looked like for all managers. Paycor realized that with all the great managerial content that was already on the market, they could leverage what existed and tailor it to fit the needs of their organization. After an extensive review of existing managerial development programs, Paycor decided to work with GP Strategies and deploy a leadership experience geared toward the needs of technical people: Leading Technical People+ (LTP+). Paycor certified their own resources, who quickly became experts able to deliver the program.
Solution
Paycor chose the LTP+ program through GP Strategies in order to address the specific skills gaps that needed to be addressed, including general communication such as feedback, coaching, goal setting, and delegation. The program was linked to the proven success of hundreds of leading companies, training thousands of technical people. LTP+ is exclusively designed to equip managers with skills and strategies for engaging and unleashing the knowledge, expertise, independence, and confidence of today’s specialized knowledge workers. This specific program had the breadth of what was needed without being overwhelming, including only essential and actionable information.
Careful consideration was given to all aspects of the program, including the title that Paycor decided to keep because it is a software company and the bulk of their employees are technical people. Also critical to the foundation of this program is the presence of a continuous learning approach. LTP+ uses highly effective instructor-led training, delivered in “learning bursts,” as well as a variety of media (including mobile technology, video, and even social media). This program increases the number of learning touchpoints and extends them over time, place, and situation. Learning is retained, and skills are practiced using real-world situations.
The LTP+ program was linked to the proven success of hundreds of leading companies, training thousands of technical people.
Results
Paycor used a Coaching Index to evaluate the engagement levels of their employees. This index became the measurement tool by which the organization was able to see the effectiveness of this leadership development program. The results of the Coaching Index clearly demonstrate that the managers who went through LTP+ rated higher than managers who didn’t. When controlling for a small number of outliers, scores increased by 70% for those who participated in the program, indicating that the quality of managers had improved.
As a result of LTP+, managers had overall better communication with their teams. This can be seen in the actions they are taking, including:
- Consistently meeting with their employees to have Connect Sessions
- Encouraging new ideas and approaches
- Helping their team understand how their individual contributions impact Paycor’s success
- Providing the right amount of time for their employees to engage in personal development and training
- Communicating their vision for their teams
- Showing genuine interest in their employees’ career growth
