Ideas to boost manager engagement

We have found that when HR teams spend a little bit of effort to introduce Impact Platform to managers and encourage widespread use of the tool, not only does usage go up, but HR and managers alike save time and improve effectiveness. That’s good for you, good for managers and direct reports, and good for business. Here are some of the ideas Impact Platform customers have used to increase adoption and engagement.

Introduction and reminders

Testimonials from key leaders

Managers are more likely to embrace Impact Platform if they hear about it from senior leaders they know and trust. This could happen via word of mouth, a simple introductory email from the leader or — as one enterprising Impact Platform customer did — through a special testimonial video shown at Impact Platform kickoff sessions.

Highlight use cases at kickoff

Have managers who didn’t attend a Impact Platform-led kickoff session, where we share manager use cases? Share the use cases listed in the article How managers can use and benefit from Impact Platform, which detail instances of just-in-time learning, skill building, using Impact Platform to coach direct reports and more.

Emphasize 24-7 and mobile-optimized access

Learning doesn’t have to happen during work hours. It can just as easily happen from a manager’s phone during a morning or evening transit commute.

Inactive reminder emails

What if some of your managers aren’t using their Impact Platform licenses? Quick email reminders from you or other influencers at your organization can nudge managers toward the help they might not even realize they need.

Using Impact Platform to support your trainings and business processes

Pre- and post-reads

Impact Platform content is PDF- and print-friendly (icons at the bottom of every page), so it’s easy to send articles, worksheets and tools to help managers learn the basics ahead of time or reinforced what they learned at your in-person training.

Informal sessions

Our customers use Impact Platform content to feed voluntary “coffee talks,” lunch and learns and more.

Business process support

We have ready-to-share curated content you can send to managers to support your various business processes. See the “Support business processes” section of the HR Center for topics.

Strategically-placed Impact Platform content

Content packs for new managers

Set newly promoted managers off on the right foot by giving each a “Management 101” pack of curated Impact Platform content to help them with all the basics, from First 90 Days as a Manager to Building a Team Culture. Be sure your managers understand that Impact Platform can serve as an ongoing resource to help them build skills and solve common problems.

The public-space Impact Platform content folder

Some of our customers employ creative ideas to foster casual learning in ways that don’t take up work time, such as playing a physical “Manager Folder” in the office kitchen filled with print outs of relevant articles for perusal.

The “Did you check Impact Platform first?” mentality

Help your broader HR team help managers by fostering a “Did you check Impact Platform first?” best practice. This accomplishes two things. First, it frees up overburdened HR teams to focus on issues too complicated, individualized or sensitive to resolve through online learning. Second, it conditions managers to exhaust the resources available to them before knocking on HR’s door (or flooding your inbox). Over time, this ensures that you and your managers operate at maximum efficiency — and get maximum value from Impact Platform.

Encouraging team sharing

There are many ways that managers can spread Impact Platform’s positive impact among their entire teams. They can send PDF worksheets to direct reports for goal setting or creating 1-on-1 agendas, or take advantage of what we call the “Impact Platform coaching trick:” The links in our regular newsletter remain open to anyone for two weeks after publication, even if they don’t have a Impact Platform license. This can spark useful sharing such as the manager at a large e-commerce company who challenges her team to implement Impact Platform’s “one simple tip” for better management each week, and kicks off her team meetings asking everyone how it went.

Embed Impact Platform content into your intranet and relevant software

Many of our customers embed our links so that their employees with AllAccess Pass licenses can access via their intranet, talent management software, or internal communications tools (like Slack or Yammer).

Reducing access friction

Embed Impact Platform within your company’s internal tools

If you’re finding that some of your managers aren’t naturally going to Impact Platform for help, then you can bring Impact Platform to the internal tools that managers are already using. Post Impact Platform links within chats and threads of your company’s internal communication tools (like Yammer or Slack) so that useful manager development content is only a click away and be sure to asking your Implementation Strategist about setting up Single Sign On (SSO), you can even do it yourself!