Work has changed: Culture Amp launches new capabilities to rethink how we manage too

8 October 2020, MELBOURNE – Culture Amp, the world’s leading employee experience platform, has today released Amplify, a collection of new capabilities to equip managers to lead in today’s work environment. The updates empower managers to acquire new skills, put them into practice, and drive more meaningful and productive outcomes for their teams. 

“Managers have a unique opportunity to bring change to organisations at the local level, with wide-reaching scale and impact. Managers today require additional support and new tools to excel in a work environment deeply transformed by the pandemic,” explains Culture Amp Co-founder and CEO Didier Elzinga.

“Our deliberate focus on managers in launching Amplify is not about any singular manager, but rather about helping hundreds of managers in the organisation to be better leaders, which will in turn change organisations at scale. Culture Amp is powering that change, and in doing so taking bigger strides towards our mission of building a better world of work for 100 million people,” he said.

New product capabilities

Culture Amp’s Amplify capabilities help HR teams provide their managers with the tools and personalised support to be a more effective leader in today’s work environment. By integrating into a manager’s workflow, managers can learn and apply the new skills in their everyday interactions. These skills rapidly become part of a manager’s daily practice and leads to positive impact on their teams and the broader organisation:

• Playbooks combine the expertise and applied experience from more than 3,000 companies and thought-leaders to give managers quick answers, expert advice and tools on a range of topics. Example Playbooks include building inclusive teams, managing remotely, and improving resilience.
   
• Skills Coach harnesses conversational microlearning so managers can put learning on autopilot as they receive bite-sized activities in the flow of work, via Slack, Microsoft Teams, or email. The exercises were developed by our in-house people scientists and leverage tipping point skills from our collaboration with LifeLabs Learning. Skills Coach uses the latest behavioural science and spaced repetition techniques to drive positive change in managers. The highly actionable, interactive exercises take less than two minutes to complete and help busy managers to put their new skills into daily practice. The first skill is ‘coaching’, in recognition of the importance of the skill set, followed by ‘giving feedback’ and ‘resilience’.
   
• 1-on-1 conversations gives managers a best-practice approach and centralised space to hold and track one-on-one meetings with mentees or direct reports. By actively creating opportunities for managers to talk about the issues beyond tactical updates, and by guiding the conversation, the technology helps managers to put new skills directly into practice, leading to more meaningful and productive outcomes.

Driving behaviour change in managers

An early access program of the new Amplify capabilities indicate promising outcomes for managers and organisations alike. Eighty-six per cent of managers involved in the pilot program reported a positive learning experience, with 81% of managers identifying changes in their own behaviour through use of the platform.

Significantly, while traditional learning programs struggle to demonstrate effective behaviour change, 64% of the managers’ direct reports also noticed behavioural improvements while their managers progressed through the program.  

The success has been attributed to a deep understanding of behavioural science from both Culture Amp and LifeLabs Learning. Speaking about their involvement, Co-CEO of LifeLabs Learning Tania Luna said, “We love the accessibility of Culture Amp’s platform and are eager to leverage technology to offer just-in-time support for individuals who play such a massive role in their company’s success. More great managers = more meaningful work = more great results = more fulfilled humans.”

Global Industry Analyst Josh Bersin, said of the product update, “One of the biggest challenges in business is helping leaders deal with the rapid changes in work. Amplify by Culture Amp introduces a powerful new approach -- one I call ‘conversational microlearning’ – that helps managers develop in small steps, right in the flow of work.”

Proven success with pilot program customers

A senior manager at global online design platform Canva who was part of the early access program said, “Culture Amp has been really useful. I'm often on the go all day running around from meeting to meeting but the bite-sized sessions that prompt me via Slack are perfect.”

The manager added, “Culture Amp managed to take a very big topic and drip feed me digestible chunks each day that I could action almost immediately. Culture Amp just worked for me and my schedule in that regard, I didn’t have time to think or worry, I just did it. I’m looking forward to learning more skills in the future.”

Charlotte Greer, People and Culture Business Partner at Catapult Sports, said of their participation, “Culture Amp reinforces key concepts for managers and instills it in their day-to-day. The bitesize content is valuable for managers and really works.”

Companies seeking a personalised approach to employee development can get started today, with the new Amplify capabilities available to Culture Amp customers. For more information, visit cultureamp.com/redefining-managers/amplify.
 

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About Culture Amp

Culture Amp is the world’s leading employee experience platform, helping organisations uncover what matters to their people and take action. Culture Amp is a Culture First certified B Corporation used by 3,000+ customers including Aegon, Airbnb, Go Cardless, KIND Snacks, McDonald’s, Bon Secours Mercy Health, Salesforce and Slack. Started in Melbourne with offices in San Francisco, London, and New York City, Culture Amp is recognised as one of the world’s top private cloud companies and was named on the 2020 CB Insights 50 Future Unicorns list. Culture Amp is backed by leading venture capital funds, including Index Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Sapphire Ventures, Blackbird Ventures and Sequoia Capital China. Learn more at cultureamp.com and @CultureAmp.