Rufus Leonard is an independent brand experience agency with a heritage in digital and design. They are experts in brand optimization, service design and build, organizational engagement, and technology, with an impressive roster of clients including Lloyds Banking Group, British Gas, BBC, British Red Cross, Royal Mail, and Aviva, to name a few. The agency’s investment in their own people has always been a key focus and as one of The Sunday Times 100 Best Small Companies, they’re making a name for themselves as a great place to work.

The challenge
The hugely successful projects Rufus Leonard develops are based on knowing what makes their clients tick, so the agency knows full well how important it is to give its own people timely feedback. But the outdated system they were using wasn’t creating much value from reviews. Everyone saw them as a chore, with little benefit. “Before Bob, we used traditional HR tools that were not user-friendly and not very engaging,” says Lucy Barker, Rufus Leonard’s Head of People.
Our solution
We’ve provided a centralized performance management system with a user-friendly review process and real-time engagement. Not only was Rufus Leonard able to tailor our platform to their specific needs, but our developers have adapted and upgraded review features so that as they evolve, Bob evolves. We’ve provided a tool that doesn’t just make performance management effective, it makes it a lot more enjoyable, too. In Lucy’s words: “Bob’s become a verb here, and I’ve already recommended it to several other companies.”
The results
- Both managers and employees are now much more engaged with the feedback and review process—even people who were initially skeptical about a new system.
- Everyone from the CEO down has given very positive feedback on Bob.
- Managers have regained as much as 25% more valuable time – they were spending hours coordinating reviews with HR that they can now spend working with their people.
- Managers are now confident that they have a reliable, up-to-date system for information and data, so instead of always coming to HR, they now go to Bob.
- Better communication and more timely feedback have lifted employee engagement.
- Managers can quickly spot issues and come up with tailored solutions using Bob’s intuitive and comprehensive platform.