How NPact Boosted Employee Engagement and Reduced Voluntary Turnover by 6%

‍TL;DR: When NPact opened an HR department, the company turned its disconnected culture into one rooted in empathy, collaboration, and recognition. With Lattice by its side, and leaders advocating for the platform, NPact saw a 45.6% increase in employee recognition and a 6% decrease in voluntary turnover — and won Lattice’s 2024 ROI Innovation Award.

We love a company that walks the walk like NPact. This grant manager software and consultancy company enables nonprofit organizations to grow, create impact, and increase community giving by accessing powerful technology. 

NPact has an empathetic and transparent culture, but this wasn’t always the case. Before NPact added an HR department, people were focused on work but not on engaging with one another. 

This made teams siloed and not overly communicative. Also, employees didn’t have a clear performance management system or a recognition program. 

So, when Hannah joined NPact as an HR director, she immediately conducted a listening tour to identify organizational gaps. Then, she laid out a strategy to address those issues and increase engagement with the company and HR processes. 

This is where Lattice comes in — NPact already had the tool in place but it wasn’t being used to its full potential. “It was my first time using Lattice. I knew it was great as soon as I got into the system.  I could use it right off the bat without somebody having to explain it to me or watch videos. However, the utilization rate was low,” says Hannah Ortman, Director of HR at NPact.  

After reintroducing Lattice to the organization and gaining leadership support, the usage rate is now upwards of 70%, depending on the module. Also, NPact’s workforce currently seeks to understand others and solve issues in a smarter and more empathic way. 

But how did NPact get there? Let’s dive deeper into these  results: 

Engaged Leadership in People Processes

It’s almost impossible to lead a cultural transformation without committed leadership. Fortunately, it was easy for Hannah to get buy-in for all of the proposed changes, including a heavier Lattice adoption. “I had to make sure the leadership team was using it too. This was easy because they love using Lattice and it helps them to do their jobs better,” adds Hannah. 

Although Lattice plays an important role in simplifying people’s processes, NPacts results are also a testament to its leadership. “We encourage people to speak their minds, share ideas, or give their opinions on what is going right or wrong,” says Hannah. 

But listening is only half of the equation, NPact leaders go the extra mile to turn those insights into active changes. “I think employees felt that they were the ones who had to do a lot of the work [being responsible for HR processes]. Leadership involvement shows that the work is now being done on both ends,” says Hannah. 

Getting leadership buy-in was the first step to transforming the organization’s culture. 

Streamlined and Clear Performance Management

NPact didn’t have a formal performance review process or a place to set or track goals. This led to managers tracking progress and results in notes, emails, or Teams. 

After relaunching Lattice as the go-to HR performance management system, NPact compiled goals and performance reviews in a single place. “Within the first six months of relaunching Lattice, we had already reached nearly 35% utilization. This rate kept increasing as we discovered new ways to use the platform,” adds Hannah.

Additionally, NPact was holding two performance reviews a year. But people found it hard to keep track of their results. Now, Lattice Performance allows them to store all of the documentation discussed in 1:1s, see previous review ratings, and access recognitions. “Lattice has enabled teams to do performance reviews quicker and more thoroughly than before,” says Hannah. 

Increased Morale Based on Recognitions 

Before NPact hired an HR department, morale was pretty low. Introducing a recognition program was a cost-efficient and easy way to show people their work was appreciated. Recognition also creates a sense of belonging and tends to increase productivity and efficiency.

NPact implemented this through Lattice Praise. “As we all know it can be hard to get an engineer to do any sort of recognition. But even the engineers will use the platform, celebrations, and emojis,” she adds. This led to a 45.6% increase in recognition over the past two years. 

These changes have made a positive impact on the organization. “Since implementing Lattice we’ve increased retention and lowered voluntary terminations by 6%,” says Hannah. “I think a lot of that is because people have more structure and know the expectations for their role.” Also, with a more open culture, employees now rate their overall engagement with the company over 90%. 

Streamlined Onboarding

Lastly, NPact also uses Lattice to onboard newcomers due to its flexibility. For instance, NPact used to have two co-CEOs. Although it seems like a tiny detail, Hannah believes it’s important to share the business structure with new hires. “ But the only tool that supported our organizational chart was Lattice, so I moved part of the onboarding into it,” says Hannah. 

While she doesn’t host the complete onboarding on Lattice, people are tasked to go into it to find out information about employees and departments. 

NPact: Lattice ROI Innovation Award Winner 2024

All of the mentioned initiatives made NPact the winner of Lattice’s 2024 ROI Innovation Award. NPact grew its team from 60 to 78 employees, expanded its team beyond the US, and reduced turnover by 6%. “People really love the platform, and that should be celebrated,” says Hannah.