New requirements for the psychosocial work environment: Why dialogue matters more than ever
Eirin Eriksen Horvei
October 14, 2026
At regular intervals it turns up: the invitation to the employee appraisal. It is time for the constructive conversation, where minds are emptied, souls are bared and everything is put on the table.
Both manager and employee are supposed to feel that they are living in perfect professional symbiosis, and on the other side the freshly cleansed and newly motivated employee should be ready for the next challenge. Or?
– Unfortunately, the truth is often different. Many managers and employees find the employee appraisal of little use, and at times downright uncomfortable, says Cecilie Lycke, CEO and founder of Motivati.
She points to the typical pitfalls: the manager googles “employee appraisal template” and is served a form with general questions that are supposed to bring out a good dialogue. When the conversation takes place, it is not adapted to the individual employee. The conversation gets derailed. No concrete measures are agreed.
And what happens afterwards? The manager puts the minutes in a drawer, relieved to be able to tick the box for having held the conversation. The employee leaves the meeting demotivated, insecure and relieved that it will be a while until the next one.
The motivation behind the company Motivati lies precisely in the failed employee appraisal. Lycke worked in HR for 20 years and experienced first-hand the need for a methodology that could take the employee appraisal to a new level.
– I was one of those who tested countless employee appraisal templates online, hoping to find a method that laid the foundation for a good, high-quality conversation. Then I came across a piece of software that, for once, started with the employee, and that set off the idea of starting Motivati.
The software was further developed to suit both Norwegian and international markets. In just five years, a wide range of companies have started using the tool.
Cecilie Lycke, CEO of Motivati digital leadership tools.
Photo: Øystein Haara
The entire software is cloud-based, and the process starts with a digital survey that takes about 15 minutes to complete and suits all roles in all types of organisations. The result highlights employees' most important motivational factors, while also giving a picture of how satisfied they are with their work situation.
– Based on the survey, the manager gains insight into the employee's working day, and it becomes completely clear to both what the conversation should be about. This makes it possible for the employee to fully understand their role and tasks, take responsibility for their own work – and thereby perform as well as possible, explains Lycke, emphasising:
The employee will feel seen, while also being held accountable by getting to suggest measures and improvements themselves. It is quite simply the best way to bring the company's strategy down to the individual level.
For the company, it has been important to develop a tool that can help managers get better at the task of developing their employees.
– They need a simple tool that supports the processes with structure around follow-up and documentation, combined with a good method. This contributes to a clear, inclusive dialogue that results in independent and satisfied employees, says Lycke.
Motivati also has functionality that makes it easier to ensure good follow-up of employees throughout the entire employee journey. The tool includes a bank of surveys that are suitable for, among other things, follow-up at the start or end of employment, follow-up of employees working from home, competence mapping, or quick pulse checks of the workforce during the working year. Everything can be adapted to each organisation's needs.
HR adviser at Osterøy Municipality, Marit Vinnes, believes the difference between the employee appraisal before and after Motivati is significant.
– There is a better focus, where managers get to talk to each person about what matters to them. It also provides an opportunity to align expectations, which is felt to be very important. The employee appraisal has become clearer and more relevant, says Vinnes.
For the municipality, the easy implementation has also been crucial.
– My experience after going through the first round is that it is simple and flexible to use. It is also of great value that the tool can easily be adapted to our structure, with many employees in different sectors, says Vinnes.
Camilla Heidenreich Bommen, CEO of SuperOffice Norway, also confirms how the quality of the conversation itself has improved considerably with Motivati.
– Both manager and employee know what to focus on in the conversation, and where any challenges lie. Not only have we become better at employee appraisals, it has actually become easier to lead as well.
Mads Nordmo Arnestad, Associate Professor at BI Norwegian Business School. Photo: Private.
The Motivati method has also been researched. The Department of Leadership and Organizational Behaviour at BI Norwegian Business School has carried out a field study of the method, led by Associate Professor Mads Nordmo Arnestad.
The aim was to find out whether employees' experience of the employee appraisal, the first time they prepare with Motivati, is significantly better than when traditional forms are used for preparation.
The results showed that there is an empirical basis for saying that the Motivati method works significantly better than the usual paper-based method we have been used to.
– These are very important factors, so this is good news, especially considering that Motivati's intervention was quite modest, with only 1.5 hours of training for the managers, says Arnestad.
Mads Nordmo Arnestad, Associate Professor at BI Norwegian Business School. Photo: Private.
Given the employee appraisal's somewhat frayed reputation, Lycke is pleased that something positive and documentable has emerged about it. The foundation the Motivati method provides is not a definitive answer, but a starting point for a conversation based on how the employee experiences their working day. Not only do you save time on the conversation itself with this method, the tool is also easy to implement and easy to use.
When carried out on the right basis, the conversation is both useful and developmental, Lycke concludes.
(The article was first published on E24.no)
