Transforming Performance Management for One Utility Bill (OUB)

The Challenge

One Utility Bill was experiencing rapid scaling, having quickly added around 100 new employees with further expansion planned. As they grew, their existing performance management approach became a barrier rather than an enabler. Key challenges included:

• Compliance Over Excellence: Performance management had turned into a compliance exercise where mediocre performance was tolerated
• Disconnection: Reviews were completely disconnected from the company’s values, KPIs, and expected behaviours
• Leadership Gap: Many managers had grown organically within the business and lacked the external experience or tools needed to hold difficult performance conversations confidently
• Lack of Clarity: There was no clear link between individual effort and organisational goals, and team members were chasing so many metrics that their real impact was diluted
• Undefined Success: The core issue was that nobody had clearly defined what brilliant performance actually looked like across different roles and levels

The Results

Let’s Talk Talent (LTT) partnered with the organisation to co-create a five-phase “Performance Ecosystem” grounded in the STAR model (Skills, Training, Attributes, Relationships). The results included:

• Values Integration: LTT embedded OUB’s unique, living vocabulary directly into the competency descriptors, meaning the framework felt like the company’s own creation rather than an external imposition.
• Managers’ Toolkit: Designed a fully integrated, practical toolkit to help managers navigate the entire employee lifecycle—from hiring and onboarding to performance reviews and progression.Squiggly
• Career Pathways: The new framework allowed individuals to see the competencies needed to excel across the business, opening the door for lateral and cross-functional development.Technical Job
• Architecture: Created specific technical development criteria and role alignment for the development team, which ultimately informed the job architecture for the wider business.Leadership Development: Utilised a “Learning Through Play” methodology featuring customised, department-specific scenarios to build management confidence and business acumen.