Hiring great people is just the start. Keeping them engaged, helping them grow, and making sure they stick around? That’s where the real challenge begins. If your talent management strategy feels outdated, clunky, or just plain ineffective, you’re not alone.
That’s where Sage People comes in. Designed for mid-sized businesses, this cloud-based HR solution makes performance and talent management smoother, smarter, and way more effective. In this article we’ll dive into how it can help you build a high-performing, happy workforce.
Let’s be honest – yearly performance reviews can feel more like a box-ticking exercise than something that actually helps employees grow. With Sage People, you get a continuous performance management system that makes feedback a regular thing.
Managers and employees can check in regularly, set dynamic goals, and have real conversations about development – not just once a year, but all the time. This keeps employees engaged, helps resolve issues before they become big problems, and creates a culture where growth is constant.
We’ve all been there – trying to hit vague, unrealistic goals that don’t seem to connect with what’s really happening in the business. Sage People makes goal setting simple and meaningful by linking individual and team goals to bigger company objectives.
Employees can track their progress in real-time, ensuring that no one’s left in the dark. You can also break bigger goals into bite-sized tasks, making it easy to celebrate progress along the way. Plus, with priority tags and weighting percentages, your team will always know what to focus on and when.
The best companies don’t just hire great people – they help them get even better. With Sage People, HR teams can build personalised development plans, mapping out clear career progression paths and skill-building opportunities. As with most things, both inside of work and out, we engage more with something that is personal and aligned with our own motivations and preferences. Development planning should be no different, as what is right for one employee may not suit another’s temperament, learning style or ambitions.
Need to identify your next leaders? The platform’s skill matrices make it easy to see who’s got the strongest capability matches for specific roles or projects, ensuring you’re always developing talent from within. Similarly, it can highlight any gaps in your team’s capabilities, so you can prioritise your training efforts and budgets in the areas that need them most (and avoid unnecessary effort on skills that are already embedded).
When it comes to talent management, data is your best friend. Sage People provides powerful analytics and reporting tools, giving HR leaders real-time insights into performance trends, training needs, and employee engagement.
And it’s not just about celebrating top performers – Sage People also helps you spot when someone is struggling. By tracking objectives and performance data, you can identify issues early, have meaningful conversations, and take action before things escalate. Plus, with built-in record-keeping, you’ve got a full audit trail of performance discussions if you ever need it.
Happy employees stick around – and engaged employees do their best work; CIPD reports that there is a well-established correlation between high engagement and high performance. Sage People makes it easy to foster transparency, celebrate achievements, and encourage open communication amongst your team.
The Recognition tool, one of our favourite features, allows anyone to give a public shoutout to a colleague, whether it’s for great teamwork, a job well done, or just a simple thank you. Small gestures like these go a long way in building a positive company culture.
Talent management isn’t just about filling roles – it’s about creating an environment where people thrive. Sage People takes the guesswork out of performance and talent management, helping you support your employees at every stage of their journey.
If you’re currently using Sage People, but are not sure you are getting the most from all its features and functionality, consider getting some expert support from our consultancy team. Because when your people grow, your business grows too.
James is our Chief Operating Officer, leading the service delivery and operations for Phase 3.
