Businesses are being encouraged to track every data point about their employees. We know first-hand that such analytics is powerful, but we think its unhealthy, creepy and counter-productive. Employees are not customers and they should be treated more like family members than strangers. Combining explicit employee feedback with passively collected data the right way will maintain trust and give the best insight.

We believe that in business, people dont just want more insight, they want improvement. Zerophase not only gives data, it is engineered to introduce change, and it provides our customers with the ability to manage transformation, and demonstrate improvement.

We at Zerophase have been living agile for years, and know that the benefits aren’t just for tech businesses. We frequently see large investments in development programs at the start of the financial year, with only cursory assessment of their impact before next the year kicks in. We are advocates of doing small things and measuring their impact before putting all your eggs in one basket. Zerophase is agile, for people management.

We’ve have all gotten used to providing feedback, and in the workplace its no different. Most of us are tired of it. While there have been attempts to get rid of surveys, there are some things that just aren’t discoverable without feedback. We believe that rather than getting rid of it, we should be improving on it, and learning where feedback helps rather than hinders.

Many approaches to collecting feedback are lazy. Surveys ask for things that are (or should) already be understood, they interrupt work, lack context and often don’t lead to any specific outcomes. When Zerophase collects feedback it asks specific people for different information, on the basis of what is most needed. It also goes to where people are working, and doesn’t drag them away from what they are doing. We think this is partly why we get such strong participation.

There are many frameworks for improving behavior and culture. We think many of them are great, but businesses are as unique as the people in them, and there are plenty of ways of being good without copying the latest HBR article. Our objective is to let leaders learn from evidence what is best for their business, and help them move it in that direction.

Employees have both the right and the responsibility to manage themselves, and should be the first in line for data to help them do so. This is even more important with flexible work arrangements, and remote teams of knowledge workers. Its also true for contractors, consultants and contingent workforce, whose behaviors shape culture, but who sit ‘outside’ of management frameworks. For these reasons we give all the data employees, and management don’t get special access to individual information. That keeps people empowered, and helps support real conversations.

Zerophase provide everyone with real-time insight and coaching to equip them in their work. However, its only fair to provide this to people that are contributing information to help others get the same benefits. Zerophase embeds reciprosity so that there are no ‘takers’ and lots of ‘sharers’. After all, feedback is a gift.

We know that when it comes to providing feedback, everyone is different. Some people provide lots and others provide little. Some are ‘soft’ while others are ‘hard’. Zerophase is pragmatic. It understands this and doesn’t try force anyone to do anything. Instead, it adapts intelligently, and accommodates the diversity.

Knowing the reality is a good thing, even when it’s inconvenient. Genuine transformation requires a willingness to be real. There is no point dressing up reality and pretending that things are fine when they aren’t. It gives you a starting point and place to improve from.

We are a technology business. We need to understand the business of our customers deeply, but we want to focus on our strengths. That means we will partner with others whose strengths are complimentary where it provides a better customer experience.