Entrepreneur Creates Opportunity to Measure Employee Satisfaction | local news

“I need them a lot more than they need me,” he told an audience of more than 200 during Thursday’s unveiling of his staff recruitment and retention solution.

The Gage app offers employees and employers the opportunity to communicate with each other in a way that is designed to promote positive growth in the workplace.

“It’s not just about money. Money is not the issue,” Henshaw said of the factors that drive job satisfaction.

While employers often cannot control how much they pay employees, there are other ways to improve job satisfaction and encourage better workplace performance. Lack of opportunities for advancement is the No. 1 issue among employees.

“People want meaningful work,” he said. “The workplace is people, not machines, not robots. Persons.”

Employers want accountability from their workers and employees want transparency from their bosses, he said. And both sides have to communicate.

Gage is the first digital platform employers can use to bridge the gap with their employees by adding accountability, transparency and communication to the workplace.

It is planned that Gage will create a rating for workers and bosses that will measure how employable they are. If all goes to plan, enough employers of all sizes nationwide will be using the app to make it as universal as a credit score that can be carried from job to job.

Another feature of the score is that it is confidential.

“It’s private,” he said. “It’s never reported. You control who sees it and contributes to it.”

Values ​​range from zero to 1,000. Everyone starts at 500, and high fives, nudges, reviews, your work history, and other aspects of job performance affect the score.

When someone does a good job, colleagues and managers can high five each other. These reinforce good behavior and move the needle up.

A nudge is less of a reprimand and more of a reminder or suggestion, and is intended to help an employee understand where they’re falling short and to improve.

The app also assesses soft skills such as communication, leadership and teamwork.

Taylor Jones, CEO of Whiteboard, the company that helped Henshaw develop the Gage app, said it will help assess a team’s overall health and allow for comparisons that can be used to determine promotions.

Henshaw said all of his employees have been using the app since March 1 and the feedback has been positive.

“The results give them something to be proud of,” he said. “It’s a product of their labor.”

The app does not allow favoritism by employers or their employees.

“We’re excited to see what the future holds,” he said. “We don’t want people to cheat or play the system. This is about strengthening the workforce, the employees.”

The plan is to roll out the app in January. There are costs for employers, but it is free for their employees.

Henshaw said the cost hasn’t been determined yet, but at the $4,425 cost of hiring a new worker, he expects employers will get a good return on their investment.