NOZZLE NOLAN achieved 30% GROWTH in customer retention, employee satisfaction and productivity.

What was the core problem you were trying to solve?

We were looking to solve several problems that were all interconnected. First, we needed a way to turn the data we had into a meaningful measurement of employee effectiveness, instead of just a spreadsheet that showed if someone hit a goal or not. We wanted to be able to compare each employee's performance and determine if they were truly effective or if there were other issues at play.

The second core problem was to determine when and if our goals needed adjustment. We wanted to know if goals were set too high, causing everyone to fall short, or if they were set too low and most people were exceeding them. Additionally, we wanted to know where to focus our coaching efforts on an individual employee for the greatest impact. Before, we had a monthly topic that applied to everyone, but now we can use CAARMO to identify an area where each employee can improve.

Lastly, we wanted to show employees what is possible, not just what we ask of them. With CAARMO, we can demonstrate that some people have achieved much more than our set goals, which may encourage employees to aim higher. We can also identify what successful employees are doing differently and help others learn from them.

How would you describe CAARMO?

CAARMO is a data analysis tool that enables us to evaluate the performance of all our employees, not just against our set goals but also in comparison to each other, across multiple categories. This allows us to move beyond a one-dimensional view of our employees and gain an unbiased understanding of their efficiency and effectiveness.

Can you list the names of processes you run on CAARMO?

We started using CAARMO to measure business goal and actual performance to make  necessary improvements to hit the goal. In the archetype screen, we measure our people on seven metrics that we think are essential for technicians in the field. We get an overall score for each employee and an average overall score for all the employees. We can view a chart that shows how they are performing compared to our goals and the rest of the company. We can see our goal, their actual performance, CAARMO score, and the necessary improvements to hit the goal.

On the next screen, the role summary, we can see all the employees in each branch and how they are doing. We can filter the data to see specific information and focus on one particular item.

Lastly, we have our scorecard archetype, which our managers use when sitting down with employees. They can see everything on the first page, a list of the top three performers in each category, and the low, average, and high scores for each of the seven categories. For instance, Sharon scored 79 on chemical usage, just three points away from being a high performer and well above the average of 61. This helps us understand how they are doing compared to others and how close they are to being high performers.

Overall, the dashboard helps employees see how they are doing compared to others, our goals, and their overall performance. We can identify areas that need improvement and focus on those areas to help our employees perform better.

What other software did you evaluate before you chose CAARMO? Why did you select CAARMO?

This was a really quick answer, we really didn't have much we were using the spreadsheet and we created a scoring system, basically, called a report card. And we were just kind of creating all of our employees, which is it gives them a ranking in order, but doesn't really do a good job of comparing all those individual metrics. So someone that was doing really fantastic. one specific thing could bolster other scores that were terrible and look like they were an average employee or even above average. And there was really hard for us to say, hey, this person is struggling in this one area compared to everyone else. And that's one of the main reasons why Karla has been so helpful.

How has CAARMO impacted your business – what do your clients or employees think?

How Carnival has impacted our business, including our clients and employees' impressions and metrics. I don't have much brief info on this as we are still in the process of fully rolling this out. However, what I can tell you immediately is that this has really opened our eyes to who we consider our top performers. Previously, our perspective was based on our thoughts about an employee. Sometimes, an employee is good at one standout area, and our impression of them is that they are a great employee. Conversely, if an employee struggles in one area, we may view them negatively and consider them a poor performer.

CAARMO has allowed us to have a different perspective and view the problem from a top-down approach, enabling us to see the whole range of what employees are doing. It is now clear that some employees we considered to be a mess actually have a lot of opportunities where they excel in one specific area, which is visible and stands out to us but not necessarily the most important. On the flip side, we found some people whom we always thought were poor performers, but when we looked at their performance using CAARMO, we realized that they are actually pretty good at the things that matter, such as those that affect our customer satisfaction and our ability to make money. The areas where they struggle may be very visible but not necessarily as impactful, and this allows us to focus on where we can work with them to improve their performance. The biggest impression I can give you is how CAARMO has opened our eyes.

What specific features did you like most about CAARMO? Why?

What specific features did we like most about CAARMO and why?" So, I had two specific features that I really liked. The first one is the radar graph on the first page of our employee scorecard. It's great because it provides a visual representation of all the data, taking away the numbers that some people don't respond to. When you just throw numbers down on a page, it has no meaning. The radar graph allows us to show our employees, without the numbers, where our goal is, where the average employee is, and where they are. This helps us identify what we can do to help them get to where we need them to be. It also allows us to help employees feel successful and see their progress.

The second feature I really like is our top three leaderboard. It lets you see who the best performers are and what they are capable of. Sometimes we get into the mindset of thinking that we're asking too much and that people aren't hitting their goals. But then, when you see that three people are not only hitting their goals but exceeding them, sometimes two or three times, you realize that it's really possible if you have the right people. This feature also lets you see if someone is a top performer in multiple areas and helps us identify what they're doing right so we can share it with others. Those are the two features that I really love.

Would you recommend CAARMO to others? If so, to who and why?

Well, absolutely! I would recommend CAARMO to anyone, particularly to companies that have a team of employees with measurable performance and care about their growth and development.

Specifically, any leader of a team where all team members are measured against the same metrics could benefit greatly from CAARMO. This could be a team of technicians out in the field or a team of salespeople. When you have multiple people doing the same job and being measured against the same metrics, CAARMO can help remove bias and provide a more objective view.

Having over 20 years of work experience, most of which in management roles, I can tell you that it's easy to have biases towards certain employees. It could be because you like them personally, or because they do one thing that makes your life as a manager easier. However, CAARMO can help you see beyond those biases and focus on the areas where employees need to improve.

This tool allows for more meaningful coaching sessions with your employees, enabling you to dig into the areas that can make them better and show them where they excel. By using CAARMO, you can identify where an employee is struggling and help them improve, or where they excel and reward them for their efforts.