Getting Manager Buy-In For New Tools

Investing in new tools to help your employees complete their jobs at faster rates is a gamble for most companies. Getting manager buy-in for new tools requires leaders to talk to management teams and team members and help them understand why there was stakeholder and leadership buy-in. You need to show why the tools were worth the investment and how the tools will be used. Some examples include improving organizational outcomes, employee engagement, performance, retention, and more – at least in the case of the Trakstar Platform, a talent management platform.

If you are part of a management team and need to introduce a new tool or solution to your team, you can also use these tips to help them understand why there is management buy-in and get that employee buy-in that can be challenging. However, our tips will focus on stakeholders and the leadership (usually Human Resources) getting buy-in from management teams.

Develop Your Pitch For Management Buy-In

You likely had to go through some hoops on your own to get your leadership buy-in. You don’t have to abandon the work you did there. Part of your decision-making process was weighing the pros and cons and determining how your new tool would help the organization reach the goals you set. Truly great leaders aren’t just thinking of themselves when they invest in a new tool. They are thinking about everyone on the team. How will this new piece of software impact workplace culture? What about your Chief Learning Officer? Or your project manager? It’s important to get down into every role and determine how they will be impacted. Then, you can start zooming out and looking at a more cohesive argument for the product.

For example, at Trakstar, our software helps to streamline talent management, automate workflows for managers and Human Resources, and improve overall workplace culture and employee retention. Click here to schedule a demo.

Provide Real Examples That Team Members Relate To

Trying to get manager buy-in? How will your new tool impact a team leader? How will it make the day easier for your sales teams? What about your senior management? Provide real examples for different departments and the key stakeholders you think will be difficult to impress.

For example, someone trying to get manager buy-in for Trakstar might highlight the following:

Retention: One of the most significant challenges managers face with talent management is retaining top-performing employees, including identifying their needs and desires, keeping them engaged, and providing opportunities for advancement and growth within the company. Retention helps company culture and project management because you have experienced people on the team.
Skills development: Managers need to identify the skills required to help their team members progress and create a plan for developing those skills. This can include providing training, mentoring, coaching, or job shadowing to grow leadership skills, soft skills, hard skills, or trying new things. Your training program should reinforce individual employees and your organization – so why not get a tool to help promote better learning?
Succession planning: It’s essential to plan for the future, and that includes identifying employees who have the potential to take on leadership roles in the future from senior leaders. Managers need to create a succession plan that outlines the skills and competencies required for each position and identify individuals who could be groomed for those roles.
Diversity and Inclusion: Managers need to ensure they are attracting and retaining a diverse workforce and creating an inclusive culture. They need to provide equal opportunities for all employees and ensure that their organization is free from discrimination and bias. DEI usually falls on the leadership team, but individual managers should be stressing it as well.
Performance management: Managers must assess their team members’ performance regularly, provide feedback, and identify areas for improvement. They need to create a plan for addressing performance issues and provide coaching and support to help team members succeed. Additionally, managers need to balance individual performance with team goals and objectives. Making performance reviews easier will help everyone.

Provide Training To Use Software

Another important thing to do to earn manager buy-in is to provide training. Consider not only your management teams, but each individual team member as well.

Providing training on new tools is crucial for several reasons:

Enhanced productivity: New tools can often streamline and automate tasks, making employees more productive. However, your team members, especially in a cross-functional team – for example, a product manager who has to meet with the product and marketing teams – need to know how to use the tools to be productive. Providing training ensures that employees can use new tools effectively and efficiently, improving productivity. These trainings should be created by project stakeholders.

To see another story about how individual employees can be impacted by changes, see this report from Harvard Business Review.

Improve accuracy: New tools can reduce errors and improve accuracy. However, employees must know how to use them correctly. Proper training can prevent mistakes and ensure that employees use the tool accurately.

Increase confidence: Learning new tools can be intimidating, particularly for employees who are not tech-savvy. Providing training can help build employees’ confidence and make them more comfortable with the new tools. It can be a crucial element of leadership development for young managers who need to teach employees.

Reduce frustration: Without proper training, employees may struggle to use new tools, leading to frustration and lost productivity. If it gets bad enough, it can even impact organizational culture. Providing training can prevent frustration and ensure that employees can easily use new tools.

Stay competitive: In today’s rapidly changing business environment, staying competitive requires adapting to new tools and technology quickly. Providing training on new tools ensures that employees can stay up-to-date with the latest tools and technology. This keeps you competitive! The ability to learn new things is a skill some organizations do not have – and executive teams should prioritize it!

Know When To Adjust For Management Teams and Employees

Organizational change is hard, and sometimes it is going to take more than employee training and buy-in from managers to really get it going. The key is to stick with it. The change needs to happen from your senior leaders, to your leadership team, to managers, to individual employees. It trickles down in that way as you set new project goals, review with the executive team, and monitor employee engagement with your new tools.

If there have been a few sprints and you still aren’t getting manager buy-in or employee buy-in, then maybe you need to change things up. It could be that you need a company-wide training session, your learning leader needs to reevaluate the training materials, or sometimes, you may want to reconsider the product for your entire organization.

Getting Manager Buy-In Is Easy With Trakstar

Trakstar is a talent management software for people operations and human resources that offers a variety of features for performance management, employee feedback, and goal setting. We make it easy to get manager buy-in, buy-in from senior leaders, and even employee buy-in thanks to our functionality, ease of use, and customizations.

Some other reasons to consider scheduling a demo today include:

Performance Management: Trakstar allows managers to set goals and track the progress of their employees while also providing a platform for continuous feedback, allowing employees to improve their performance.
Employee Engagement: Trakstar offers features for employee recognition, feedback, and surveys. This helps to create a positive work environment and increase employee engagement, therefore creating a better company culture.
Data Analysis: We provide data and analytics to make informed decisions about employee performance, engagement, and development. Our Trakstar Insights dashboard embeds into each product to help you understand what’s happening with your individual employees, departments, and overall organization.

Overall, Trakstar can help organizations streamline their HR processes, increase employee engagement, and improve overall performance.

To schedule a demo of our talent management software, click here.