Pavestone Interlocks 20 Offices from Coast to Coast with A Single Employee Performance and Talent Management System
Summary
Pavestone Company, the largest producer of interlocking concrete paving stones and segmental retaining walls in the United States, selected a web-based employee performance appraisal and compensation management system to streamline the management of 20 offices from coast to coast. Halogen eAppraisal™ and eCompensation™ enable Pavestone to:
- Create time savings for all involved in the process;
- Provide HR and executives with an accurate and up-to-date picture of appraisal and compensation details; and
- Bring together appraisal and compensation processes in a single solution within a complex management and reporting structure.
Company Profile
Pavestone, in operation since 1980, is an innovative and entrepreneurial company with a presence in more than 40 states, a workforce of well over 1,400 and sales approaching $300 million. Through a strong retail presence and rapidly growing markets in landscape contracting and design, Pavestone has established its position as the dominant player in interlocking concrete paving stones, segmental retaining walls, landscaping systems, erosion control products, architectural paving slabs, and precast architectural site furnishings.
Challenge
Pavestone had developed a paper-based employee appraisal and compensation process that involved the creation and distribution of a booklet for each of the company’s 1,400 employees. With 20 locations across the U.S. booklets had to be mailed out to managers at these locations, filled out and then mailed back to HR at headquarters in Dallas each year.
After joining the company and completing one annual process, Pavestone’s Director of HR, Rusty Gordon recognized that there had to be a more efficient way to execute employee performance and talent management. “The old system was fraught with problems,” said Gordon. “There was significant lag time between when booklets were sent out and when we got them back. We didn’t have a handle on where documents were in the process or what was and wasn’t completed.”
Gordon quickly identified a web-based system as the best way to meet Pavestone’s need to streamline the existing process, bring appraisals and compensation together in a single solution, and provide both HR and executives with visibility into the process. Being able to get the new system up and running quickly was a requirement for Pavestone.
Solution
After a review of vendors in the employee performance and talent management market, Gordon and his team selected Halogen eAppraisal and eCompensation, part of the Halogen Employee Performance and Talent Management Suite.
“We assessed available solutions and once we had a demonstration from Halogen, we knew they offered all the features we wanted and we were confident that the system could be quickly implemented,” explained Gordon.
Within a couple of weeks of selecting Halogen, Pavestone began implementing the solution to be ready for the next annual appraisal cycle.
“We definitely put a rush on things and Halogen handled it beautifully. We were trained on our schedule and met the goal of a quick implementation. Every person we dealt with at Halogen was dedicated to keeping our timelines on track and exceeding our expectations,” remarked Gordon.
With offices from coast to coast, Pavestone needed to be able to deal with a complex management reporting structure while ensuring specific evaluation and salary information remained confidential. Pavestone uses the optional Multi-Rater Assessment Module with Halogen eAppraisal to gather feedback from multiple managers while ensuring sensitive, job-specific or personal information is kept private.
“We’re not a typical organization, and Halogen’s offering enabled us to deal with these complicated reporting relationships in a way that actually strengthens our performance management process,” said Gordon.
In moving paper processes online, Pavestone ensured that the compensation portion of the appraisal process was included. The company’s executive team required the ability to quickly and easily view appraisal and compensation data at the same time, and break down and sort this data. With Halogen eCompensation, Pavestone is able to integrate compensation and appraisals, and provide managers at all levels in the organization with secure, simple to use tools to allocate merit-based compensation including base salary, variable pay, bonus pay and stock options.
Results
Pavestone has now completed its first annual employee review process with the new web-based system. Since rolling out the new Halogen solution, Pavestone has dramatically improved the process for all involved. Managers and employees have reacted favorably to the new system, requesting only a few minor changes to be incorporated into future appraisal cycles.
“Everyone saw the benefit of this new way of doing things immediately,” explained Gordon. “For all involved, this was a major leap forward with everyone saving time and knowing what was expected of them in terms of requirements and deadlines.”
As a leader and innovator in their market, Pavestone understands the value of best practices. “The way the Halogen offering is built, it ensures proven best practices are in place and manages everyone involved in the process. No one has to guess what is supposed to happen next,” said Gordon. “With only one process under our belt, the change has been remarkable. For our next process, we’re aiming for perfection and are looking for new ways to make things even better.”
Now both HR and executives have visibility into the employee performance process. HR has insight into the status of appraisals and compensation adjustments for more than 1,400 employees across the U.S. “If something was overdue or missing before, we would not know days or even months later. Now we can log-in and know where things are at across the country instantly,” remarked Gordon.
Pavestone executives are hands-on when it comes to HR, and with the Halogen system they are able to collect the data they need, from high level summary data to detailed compensation data. “Our president has been very pleased with how quick and easy it is for him to get the information that matters most to him,” said Gordon. “For me, if my internal customers are happy that’s the true measure of how successful we’ve been in updating and improving this process. Everyone from the president down is happy so we’ve met the mark. Halogen’s system, and outstanding service and support have made this possible. I would recommend Halogen to any company looking to streamline their appraisal process across multiple locations.”