FAQs

Product & User Information

  • What is CCO?

    CCO, or Catalytic Coaching Online, is an automated and efficient approach to providing the tools you need to capture, share and organize your professional development information. It’s a process proven to energize and engage managers and employees – benefiting them and the companies they work for. Key features enable users to:

    • Save time
    • Ensure safe, effective storage of documents
    • Manage and track progress better
    • Communicate in a meaningful, effective way
    • Provide immediate feedback
    • Give/Receive coaching
    • Feel valued
    • Engage in an easy to understand process
    • Develop a meaningful career plan collaboratively

  • Why was it created?

    CCO was built to meet the demand for an online version of the proven and successful alternative to performance reviews developed by human resources expert and innovator Gary Markle.

  • Who is Gary Markle?

    Gary Markle has had a remarkable career, working internally in the field of HR for over 17 years for companies such as Exxon, Shell and Phelps Dodge to eventually become the VP of a 700 million dollar international chemical company. Later he worked as a consultant for a managing and consulting company where he spent the bulk of his time focusing on human performance management systems.

    Gary created Catalytic Coaching to engage and energize employees who had given up on the traditional system of performance evaluation as a tired ritual. Gary’s paper system, involving three simple and distinctly colored sheets of paper, as well as an emphasis on dialogue and coaching versus evaluation, has met with accolades for many years! CCO simply takes that same process online, allowing for:

    • Ease of Administration
    • Simplified Management and Tracking
    • Time Savings
    • Guided Form Completion
    • Secure, Organized Storage
    • Scalability
    • Ongoing Upgrades
    • Remote Assisted Set
    • 24/365 Technical Support

  • What can CCO do for me?

    CCO will give you the best of both worlds – Gary Markle’s proven alternative to performance reviews seamlessly integrated into an easy to use online tool. It’s available anytime, anywhere, with built in support 365 days a year. It improves the quality of the conversation between coach and employee while ensuring a user friendly, well-managed experience.

  • What does the CCO process look like?

    CCO has been designed to be as compressed as possible while still remaining meaningful. To see a breakdown of the CCO process click here.

  • What can I expect from CCO?

    CCO retains the traditional yellow Coaching Input Sheet, blue Coaching Worksheet and green Development Plan sheet used by Gary’s system for years but newly digitizes them. The result is:

    • Better organization of your Strengths and Areas for Improvement with the drag and drop re-sequencing tool; present them in the most effective way!
    • Easy editing – work on the sheets when you have time or go back later
    • Immediate feedback via a messaging system
    • Instant digital transfer of completed forms from employee to manager
    • Pre-populated Goals on the employee Development Plan that use the precise wording Coaches used in the Coaching Worksheet
    • Easy remote access
    • Intuitive interface with visuals that lay out the 3 step process clearly
    • My Team view for more convenient and cohesive management
    • Videos by Gary Markle, explaining the philosophy behind CCO

  • Why should I use CCO as opposed to traditional performance reviews?

    After over 17 years working within the field of human performance management systems Gary Markle realized there needed to be an alternative to traditional performance reviews. His innovative system, Catalytic Coaching, brought dignity and meaning back to talent management.

    The next step was logical – develop an online version of the same process. CCO takes a great alternative and gives it even more value.

  • How does CCO facilitate coaching?

    One of the keys to CCO is creating a coaching or mentoring relationship between employees and managers. In CCO the employee take an active role, filling out the Coaching Input Sheet and creating unique Development Plans. The online version makes it easier, more convenient and faster for employees to communicate with their coaches, even across distances.

    At the same time, online capability facilitates the process for coaches as well. Coaches receive documents quickly and have better storage and retrieval of those documents. The My Team section means everything is in one place and helps the coach track progress at a glance. Finally, CCO ensures that employee Development Plans accurately reflect the collaboration between coach and employee.

  • Will CCO work with every company or industry?

    The paper version of Catalytic Coaching has been used with success by companies of all sizes, and among a wide variety of industries, for years. The online version of CCO means that Catalytic Coaching has more flexibility and utility than ever before. In terms of digital storage and retrieval CCO is indispensible. It almost goes without saying that CCO would be very well suited for a mobile workforce.

  • What do Executives/Owners get out of CCO?

    Improved workplace culture: CCO is a simple step towards creating a company culture of frank dialogue and positive, meaningful interactions. Employees will become even more energized and engaged with the time saving online version.

    Great value: Replace your paper based or complex performance evaluation system with something simple, automated and convenient. Save time and save money.

    Better performance: CCO, like the original system created by Gary, helps you increase retention of your most talented employees while causing problem performers to either change or leave.

  • What do Managers/Coaches get out of CCO?

    Better communication and collaboration: the built in tools enable direct feedback and the easy arrangement of points for discussion. Coaching Worksheet feedback is accurately reflected in Development Plans.

    Coaching: CCO is a collaborative tool that leads to dialogue, both in person and now online as well.

    Tracking: My Team makes viewing the progress of your team members easy and lets you know where there’s work to be done.

    Storage: CCO means very little to no paperwork. All sheets are completed online and saved securely with no need for complex filing systems or fear of loss.

  • What do Employees get out of CCO?

    Employees get to engage in a collaborative process where their thoughts are valued and communicated. They have the convenience of working on their worksheets anytime, anywhere, with tools to edit, ask questions and track their progress.

  • Will CCO work with a distributed/remote workforce?

    Yes. The great thing about CCO is that it removes the paper process while retaining the focus on simplicity and dialogue. Employees submit forms electronically anytime and anywhere. The feedback tool makes communications between employees and coaches instantaneous whether they are in the next room or across the country.

  • How can I get my staff to use it?

    CCO is simple and intuitive to use. If you can use Facebook you will feel comfortable using CCO. Employees already using Gary Markle’s paper based system will wonder why we didn’t think of this sooner! If your company is currently using a less intuitive, more complicated system they’ll embrace CCO.

    Using our detailed training videos and reference materials employees can learn at their own pace. In our experience they should be comfortable navigating the software and using the tools in about an hour.

  • How can I get a quick start?

    If you want to dive right in, take a look at our video training modules. Offering pause and play features, they enable the user to learn at their own pace and give an overview of all aspects of the system.

Training, Services and Support

  • CCO offers remote assisted set up as well as 24/365 technical support through the Help tab always visible on the left of the screen. Our comprehensive User Guide takes you through every step of the process. Our pause and play video training modules break CCO down into manageable part that can be learned at your own pace, when you have time.

Pricing Information

Data & Security

  • Where is my data? Is it secure?

    Our servers are located in a secure CANIX data center in Quebec, Canada. The facility is monitored 24/7 with secure biometric access. For maximum uptime the facility also features diesel generators for backup power and redundant internet connections.

  • How is my data secured through your software?

    Our software utilizes 256bit encryption for all connections when a user is logged in. In addition our robust password policy ensures that your users are not using common or easy to guess passwords. At no point will we ever use your data for any purpose other than providing you the software you’ve subscribed to.

  • What happens to my data if I cancel my subscription?

    Our most important policy at Sprigg Software is that we don’t take your data hostage. If you should cancel your subscription to one of our software packages we will export your data into a suitable format upon request.