StaffCircle, the workforce culture and performance platform, has released a new integration with Microsoft Teams, enabling thousands of businesses to integrate their employee engagement and performance management processes into the world’s leading collaboration tool for businesses.
The integration of StaffCircle into Microsoft Teams directly addresses the needs of businesses that are struggling to maintain a high-performance culture and engage employees who have suddenly found themselves having to work remotely as a result of COVID-19.
With StaffCircle, Microsoft Teams users can now integrate their performance management and employee engagement processes into their wider internal communications and collaboration strategies to deliver a seamless employee experience. Employees and managers can undertake all performance management and engagement activity without having to leave Teams and the familiar Microsoft interface.
Mark Seemann, Founder and CEO of StaffCircle, said: “This is a game-changing development for any business using Microsoft Teams. Our Azure-based platform provides Teams users with the processes, visibility and insight they need to create a high-performance culture. It’s the missing piece of the puzzle for businesses that are using Teams to communicate across their distributed workforce. COVID-19 has changed working patterns and employee expectations forever, so business leaders have to start developing strategies to develop, motivate and reward remote workers, not just during the pandemic but beyond it.”
By installing StaffCircle into their Teams account, users can now access a wide range of functionality, either on mobile or desktop, all through a familiar interface. This includes booking one to one meetings with their managers or team members, creating objectives, sending multi-channel critical alerts to teams or specific sites (via SMS, email or push notifications), giving feedback and awards and booking annual leave.
Thousands of organisations have deployed Microsoft Teams during the pandemic as a way to communicate with their distributed workforces. Microsoft reported an increase of 31 million daily active users in the month of April alone. However, many businesses are still struggling to engage, recognise and motivate workers during these challenging times, with traditional touchpoints no longer available. Recent research conducted by StaffCircle found that half (50%) of UK employees have not had a performance appraisal since lockdown restrictions came into force in March and 47% reported that their employer is still reliant on paper-based processes for performance management.
Unlike existing point solutions, StaffCircle combines performance management and employee engagement into a single cloud-based platform that integrates with the Microsoft 365 suite. This allows employers to achieve a better performing culture with higher employee engagement and more transparency across the organisation.
Importantly, StaffCircle’s functionality includes digitised feedback channels and social feeds to give employees a voice and foster a culture of inclusivity and engagement. This also provides businesses with real-time insight into performance, sentiment and culture, allowing for smarter and faster decision-making and strategic workforce planning.
Seemann concluded: “By combining performance and engagement, and integrating this with the powerful functionality of Microsoft Teams, we can bridge the gaps in traditional HR solutions and enable businesses to offer first-class experiences across the employee lifecycle, for all workers, regardless of role or location.”
