Johannes Midtbö, you founded Populum, a People & Culture Experience platform, in 2015. Populum has grown strongly by radically changing how organizations involve their employees and leaders in continuous improvement work.
Johannes: Yes, the development of how organizations work takes place at a fast pace with all the change we see around us. Organizations must simultaneously manage constant change and different expectations from the younger generations.
Most change initiatives still fail, and the most common reason is that the organization does not measure and follow up with the people going through the change. The key to success is to involve employees and managers. Although organizations know they must work more data-driven, smarter, and inclusive, it is not easy without the right digital tools.
“Most change initiatives still fail, and the most common reason is that the organization does not measure and follow up with the people going through the change.”
Tell us about how the platform involves employees.
Johannes: Populum sends short, regular employee surveys—so-called pulse surveys—to measure and focus people on the areas crucial to being a high-performing and well-functioning organization. We start from the perspective of employees and managers and focus the entire organization on what is most important here and now.
The entire organization, including employees, then automatically gets access to the results and customized recommended actions the second a measurement is closed. The improvement dialogue starts immediately – and openness means every employee feels involved.
“The improvement dialogue starts immediately, and the open process means every employee feels involved.”
How is your platform different from employee engagement platforms or traditional employee surveys?
Johannes: The development of involving employees has generally been from not caring about involving employees very much to annual and administratively heavy employee surveys. Then came pulse measurements with platforms to drive engagement. The problem is that they often do not include the employees and managers enough. Data is collected, but employees do not see much after submitting their answers; only HR, senior leaders, and sometimes managers know the current situation and what should be improved. This misses an excellent opportunity to bring the employees and managers on the improvement journey.
Organizations can work on continuous improvements with our People & Culture Experience platform. Organizations will always need to improve themselves continuously. Our platform breaks down barriers and enables everyone in the organization to contribute constructively to continuously improve their work and its outcomes.
Using analytics, AI, and neuroscientific findings, we make it easy for organizations to understand the current situation, get practical recommendations and predictions (e.g., risks of sick leave), and engage everyone in the inevitable improvement journey.
“Organizations will always need to improve themselves continuously. Our platform breaks down barriers and enables everyone in the organization to contribute constructively to continuous improvements.”
How do your customers use the platform?
Johannes: The platform is used in various situations to promote performance. Partly to regularly measure and improve what underlies performance; well-being and commitment.
Another area that goes hand-in-hand with well-being and engagement is understanding how the culture enables the strategy to be implemented effectively. It focuses on the culture being lived, what works well, and what should be changed.
A third way is to measure in real-time how successful the company’s transformation journey is so that it is possible to re-align resources during the journey for what does not work in a significant organizational change.
Many customers use the entire, or parts of, our research-based standard package. Sometimes organizations may add context-specific measurement areas that are important to focus on to solve specific challenges. It becomes evident to organizations where the challenges are in the team and organization as a whole and what the most effective solutions are.
Our platform also creates a positive attitude towards continuous improvement and enables everyone in the organization to take responsibility for providing constructive feedback and ensuring that changes are followed.
