Talent reviews · 9-box grids · Succession · Development · Career paths
Are you just putting people in boxes?
The talent review software built to take you beyond the 9-box grid. Turn your talent data into clear career paths, targeted development and smarter staffing decisions.
"We cut our talent review prep time from weeks to hours."
Make the most of your talent data
Most talent reviews run on messy spreadsheets and static slide decks. HR spends weeks chasing managers, completion is hard to track, and the end result is a 9-box grid that only answers a single question and is outdated before it's even finished.
Your talent data can do so much more. Useful puts it to work.
Why stop at the 9-box grid?
Performance vs. potential was always a compromise made for simplicity, but two data points can only tell you so much. Useful gathers those data points and so much more, without sacrificing that simplicity. It runs employee reviews that track the exact skills, behaviours, and experiences relevant to their role and your business.
Track the data that matters to you
Track any behaviour, skill or experience, and ask any question you need answered. Set your own skills, behaviours and experiences, levels and profile fields, in your own words. Useful fits the way you run talent today, or we help you shape the approach you want, so every review measures what matters to your business.
Gather it from any perspective
Stick with standard manager evaluations, or gather perspectives from self-evaluations, peers and direct reports. Adaptive reviews automatically tailor questions to the reviewer's relationship with the employee, highlighting alignment and blind spots across your team.
Visualise it however you want to
Build 9-box, 4-box, 5-box or custom scatter plots tracking any metrics. Visualisations update automatically as the data comes in, so nobody is ever manually "dragged into a box". See it all across your org chart too, for the whole organisation or any branch.
Put it to work for your people
See who's ready for promotion, who's suited to their role and who's falling short, level by level, across every career path. Your people see the same picture from their side: what their next level requires, where their gaps are and which internal paths they could explore. You make better internal mobility decisions, and top performers stay longer.
Turn static review data into clear decisions, guided career growth and a true reflection of your company values.
Set it up once. Useful keeps it running.
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Role-adaptive reviews. Employee reviews automatically adjust to the exact role someone is performing. When a role changes, the review changes with them, so Useful always collects the data that's relevant right now.
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Flexible cohort scheduling. Set review schedules for specific groups using fixed dates or relative intervals, like every six months. Useful prompts HR when a cycle is due, so you keep full control over when to launch.
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Effortless tracking. Preview reviews exactly as employees see them, launch cycles with a click, and monitor response rates department by department in real time.
Who is Useful made for?
Useful is made for HR teams who:
Want something tailored to their business.
Every business is different. The behaviours and skills that drive your business won't be the same that drive another. Your goals and your values are unique to you, so your talent reviews should be as well. Useful delivers your approach, not ours. And if you don't have one, we'll help you build one that works for you.
Want big results with minimal disruption.
With Useful, there's no complex, time-consuming onboarding. We can build your whole workspace from spreadsheets - however messy - and employees instinctively pick up the tool without training. Guided tours in each review can be customised with your exact wording, so the message lands exactly how you intend.
Want a partner, not just software.
You don't just get software. You get a dedicated HR professional who works with you on anything you need. They'll set you up, train your HR team and help shape your approach as much or as little as you want. No support emails, tickets or chatbots: just a human who knows your business, and who you can contact at any time.
More in Useful
Built around you from the first conversation
Useful works differently for every organisation, so we don't give you a generic demo. We find out what you need, then build a demo just for you. Nobody enjoys sitting through features they'll never use, so we don't make you.
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We find out what you need
We'll find out what you want to achieve and which problems we can solve for you. Then we'll give you an honest view of whether we're a good fit.
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We create a personalised demo
We set up a workspace around your needs: your structure, your approach to talent and the questions you want answered. It takes real work, and it's built for you alone.
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We show you how we can help
We walk you through your own workspace on a follow-up call, showing only the parts that matter to you.
Safe with your most sensitive data
Talent data is some of the most sensitive information you hold. In Useful, you have complete control of who sees what.
Useful runs on Google Cloud, whose infrastructure is certified to ISO 27001 and audited under SOC 2. Your data is hosted in the EU.
We used to spend weeks building our 9-box in Excel. Now it builds itself from the review, and we can answer the board's questions the same day.
Having our own HR professional to work with, rather than a support ticket, is what got our managers on board.
Questions
Does Useful replace our HR system?
No. Your HR system stays the record for contracts, pay and absence. Useful is where your talent reviews, 9-box grids, succession and objectives live.
Can Useful manage employee objectives?
Yes. People set objectives and check in with how confident they feel and what's in their way, so you can see what's at risk while there's time to help. See objectives →
Does Useful do 360 feedback?
Yes. Collect views from the person, their manager, peers, reports, or stakeholders. You can control exactly which information is shared and what remains confidential. See 360 feedback →
Can Useful help with succession planning?
Yes. Name successors for key roles, see who's ready now, in 1–2 years or in 3+ years, and get internal candidates suggested. See succession planning →
Can we run employee surveys?
Yes. Send surveys to exactly the people you choose and see the results by team or branch. See employee surveys →
How do we get started?
Get in touch through our short form. We'll learn what you need, and if we're a good fit, we'll build a demo workspace around it and show you on a follow-up call. See how we can help →
How do we get our people in?
Not for the demo. We build your demo workspace with sample employees, so you don't share any real data. When you sign up, we can integrate with your existing systems, or you can just send us a spreadsheet of your people and roles if you prefer.
Do we have to use everything?
No. Every feature can be switched on or off. Start with what you need and add more when you're ready.
What if I just want a simple 9-box grid?
No problem. Useful is as simple or as detailed as you make it. If you want to build your grid based on two criteria alone, that's completely fine. Useful lets you gather and measure exactly what you need; no more, no less.
Make the most of the people you already have
Tell us what you need, and we'll show you how Useful can do it.