15Five Lands $8M To Expand Use of Its Coaching Software for Managers

The aim is to keep employees on track to achieve their organization’s top goals, while also to “liberate them to do their best work,” says co-founder Shane Metcalf, a former executive coach who is now 15Five’s chief culture officer.Metcalf says the authoritarian “I’m the boss” model of management is a toxic holdover from the assembly line environment of the industrial revolution, which required repetitive labor and standardized practices.By contrast, 15Five and and other next-generation management software companies are trying to teach bosses how to tap into the creativity and internal motivations of workers, he says.Metcalf says 15Five has direct competitors, including Reflektive and Lattice (both San Francisco-based), that share its vision of management grounded in positive coaching.15Five is planning product improvements including deeper analytics, and tools that employees can use to track the progress of their careers.