Case Study: Somerset County Council achieves streamlined online appraisals and improved performance management with Totara

Somerset County Council transforms personal and team development with online appraisals

Somerset County Council, a UK local authority with over 5,000 staff, needed a smarter way to move beyond annual reviews to continuous personal and team development. With five guiding principles around expectations, feedback, development and recognition, the council sought an online appraisal system that supported manager and peer feedback, structured discussion, clear task ownership and sophisticated reporting.

By extending their existing Totara Learn LMS (with support from Learning Pool), the council digitised their appraisal process—adding staged workflows, automated notifications, personal development plans, goals and 360° feedback—while reusing existing platform data. The project was delivered on time, received positive user feedback, and gave managers powerful reporting tools to turn appraisal data into actionable insights for individual and organisational development.

Somerset County Council

Hugh Griffith

Head of Organisational Development