When trying to solve the problem of turnover, making the right decision at the point of hire is critical. But what can an organization -- and more importantly a manager -- do to ensure employee retention? This was the question we sought to answer when developing our new product: Traitify Engage.

Data shows that two leading factors of employee turnover are lack of employee engagement and no clear opportunities for growth (both within a current role and within the organization). Our initial version of Engage focused on the employee experience, taking the Big Five assessment data and using it to generate concise, digestible, and most importantly personalized development content that could be utilized by an employee at any point in their day, even in a time crunch.

This self-directed approach provides workforces with the resources needed to grow both personally and professionally, while also giving organizations an opportunity to engage employees without inundating them with information they have neither the time or desire to read.

With the employee version of Engage now being successfully used by Traitify customers, our team has now turned our attention to developing a manager version. The Traitify Engage Manager Toolkit provides an interactive report for each employee and allows a manager to not only learn about techniques to develop each employee’s skills, but also put those insights into action based on each employee’s unique personality.

Traitify Engage Manager Toolkit

While knowing an employee’s personality is vital, this knowledge is nothing without the tools to understand how to apply these insights. The Traitify Engage Manager Toolkit gives managers the ability to invest in their team and further enhance their potential identified at the point of hire, while also developing the manager’s skills in understanding, recognizing, and responding to the principles of human behavior.

For each employee, a manager will have access to a unique version of the Manager Toolkit built off the employee’s Big Five results and consisting of five distinct sections: Archetype Overview, Insight Spotlight, Target Goal, Exercises, and Personality Breakdown.

Traitify Engage is informed by an employee taking the Big Five assessment (either as part of application process pre-hire or upon starting in the role). This Big Five data is used to generate a robust report that can be shared with the employee immediately and provides quick, actionable insights into their unique personality.

Archetype Overview

Based on the Big Five assessment results, the Manager Toolkit identifies the employee’s archetype and gives the manager quick insight into the employee’s personality and how it may manifest in the workplace. This section includes both text describing the employee’s archetype and a short video overview.

Insight Spotlight

Recognizing patterns in how an employee’s mind works begins with a manager’s awareness of their own behaviors and motivations. The Insight Spotlight identifies various phenomenons within human psychology to assist the manager in comprehending behavioral patterns in their team and learning techniques to manage those behaviors effectively. Content within the Insight Spotlight section will update periodically, delivering new learnings frequently without overwhelming the manager.

Target Goal

Following the Insight Spotlight, the Target Goal outlines practical steps the manager can implement into supervision and interaction with individual employees and the broader team. Each Target Goal is personalized to the employee and gives the manager next steps to engage with that specific employee, putting learnings from the Insight Spotlight into action. As with the Insight Spotlight, the Target Goal will update periodically, giving new suggestions on how to implement these insights.

Exercises

The Manager Toolkit features an interactive component that provides managers with the ability to assign bite-sized, action-oriented exercises to employees. Initially, three exercises will be available to assign. Each will then appear on the employee version of Engage, with notifications via email and SMS. Employees can complete the exercise directly on their Engage report or by responding to the email or SMS. Once the exercise is done, the manager will be notified and able to view the employee’s response. This feature of the Manager Toolkit allows for quick engagement between the manager and employee, ultimately giving the employee opportunity to grow and the manager insight into the employee’s growth and satisfaction.

Personality Breakdown

As with the employee version of Engage, the Manager Toolkit provides an overview of the employee’s levels for each of the dimensions of the Big Five: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability. For each of these dimensions, the manager gets an overview of what that particular level (High, Medium, or Low) means for the employee, as well as what the employee might say (“I’ve got an idea!”) and a tip for how to leverage this information in the workplace (“Ask this employee to be the one to test and evaluate something new”). As with the other sections of the Manager Toolkit, the Personality Breakdown gives managers quick insights that have staying power and can be applied to various situations with individual employees or the whole team.

What’s Next?

We’re currently working with Traitify customers to get feedback on these initial concepts for the Manager Toolkit and would love to have you involved in that process. If you’re interested in previewing the Traitify Engage Manager Toolkit, please reach out to your Traitify Customer Success Manager or send us an email at support@traitify.com. The Manager Toolkit will be available later this year for all customers and the Employee Engage report is available now.