Empowering employees through personal development tech: Anna Rasmussen, Founder, Open Blend

What is the true potential of HR and how can technology help us to achieve it?

In this installment of our Tech Founders series, Anna Rasmussen, Founder, Open Blend, makes the case for personal development technology as a key source of motivation for employees and a major driver of business success.

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What is Open Blend?

OpenBlend is a people centered performance management platform. It facilitates coaching led conversations that support all aspects of an individual’s development journey and enable businesses to truly accelerate the performance of their people.

Why was it necessary to create Open Blend?

I’ve been a leadership coach for over 15 years supporting high potential individuals to reach peak performance. 8 years ago, I started recognizing a pattern and a theme that was acting as a blocker for them reaching their full potential; this was the outdated notion of work life balance and a sense of demotivation due to not achieving it!  As a coach, my job is to shift mindset, so I created a tool called work life Blend. This enabled each individual to identify the 8 things in their work & life that need to be fulfilled in order for them to reach their full potential.

The impact of using this tool was profound. It created drive and motivation and most importantly, demonstrated that an action plan surrounding an individual’s drivers should underpin every performance conversation in the workplace. Without it true peak performance couldn’t be achieved. This is when OpenBlend was born.

Why is HR technology crucial to the success of a business?

We live in a fast paced, 24/7 and truly agile world that relies on technology for efficiency. HR tech is no different. By replacing traditional paper based appraisals with an agile tech platform it doesn’t just meet the modern workforce but it also provides the business with people data that otherwise they would never be able to obtain.

How can an organization most effectively implement new HR technology?

Every business is different. We work with clients such as M&C Saatchi, Depop, ECB  and IAG Cargo, all of which have significantly varying cultures and approaches. Our implementation process is bespoke to each client. This is to ensure adoption, regular usage and so we engrain in their day to day. Any HR tech that doesn’t acknowledge the uniqueness of an organization would struggle to be implemented successfully.

What do you think is the biggest challenge affecting organisations today?

Driving productivity, engagement and therefore retaining of the modern workforce for longer than 12-18 months is a challenge for most businesses.  Attrition is at a 6-year high and companies need to readdress the way they work with their talent to face this head on.

Which emerging technologies do you think will transform HR in the future?

Anything people focused. Technology that places the individual at the heart and enables HR to gain a greater understanding of individuals either before, during or after a given time frame will revolutionize the way HR operates. Empowering HR with data to back the right decisions at the right time, is paramount to the success of this function and will give them a powerful voice at board level.