Rethinking performance management klaar

Why We Built Klaar

I didn’t set out to build another HR tool. Honestly? I avoided it for years.

But after nearly a decade in HR, one thing became painfully obvious: performance management was broken. Not a little cracked. Fundamentally broken.

I saw systems that treated people like paperwork. Managers buried in templates instead of coaching. Employees dreading reviews, not because they didn’t want to grow, but because the process made them feel invisible and undervalued. The worst part? Everyone knew it wasn’t working. And yet, year after year, we went through the motions.

The Problem  

Most platforms out there? Just digitized paper forms. Faster? Maybe. Better? Nope.

They take what was once on paper: forms, ratings, annual reviews, and move it to the cloud. But they don’t fix the real problem: these systems don’t reflect how people actually work, grow, and learn today.

They’re static. Rigid. Obsessed with the past instead of shaping the future. And they leave HR leaders stuck trying to drive engagement and retention with tools built for compliance, not impact.

Employees deserve better. Managers deserve better. HR deserves better. Frankly, HR deserves to destroy every. single. last. spreadsheet. Forever.

The Vision Behind Klaar

That’s why I teamed up with my co-founder, Atri. Where I’d lived the pain of broken HR systems firsthand, Atri had seen the limits of enterprise tech from a product and engineering lens. Together, we knew the world didn’t need another HR platform. It needed the only performance management platform built by HR leaders, for HR leaders.

So we built Klaar. A system that feels alive. Predictive, not reactive. Fair, not biased. A tool that surfaces what matters most, when it matters most — so leaders and teams can finally Perform Wonders.

Klaar isn’t here to tick boxes. It’s here to spark growth. To connect goals to purpose, feedback to action, and insights to real progress.

What We’re Solving

For At its core, Klaar is designed to:

●  Give leaders confidence. No more guesswork or bias...just clear, timely insights.  

●  Make growth personal. Employees deserve more than cookie-cutter reviews. Klaar personalizes development paths so people can see a future in your company.  

●  Build cultures that stick. Engagement, belonging, and performance aren’t separate, they’re intertwined. Klaar helps leaders nurture all three so teams don’t just perform, they thrive.

Building Klaar: Lessons So Far

Reimagining performance management hasn’t been easy. The things that make coaching powerful: context, nuance, trust, are the hardest to design into technology.

That’s where Atri’s product and engineering leadership has been invaluable. Together, we’ve embedded fairness into algorithms, speed into workflows, and empathy into the user experience.

We’ve also leaned heavily on conversations with HR leaders and employees who told us what they wish performance management could be. That feedback shaped everything...from how goals are set, to how 1:1s are guided, to how calibration happens.

And the early response?

“Klaar feels different from the moment you log in. It’s not just another system. It’s a platform that actually helps managers guide their teams. Growth feels personal, not procedural.”  — Head of People, Series C Tech Company

Looking Ahead

Fixing performance management won’t happen overnight. But it starts with tools people actually want to use. Tools that reflect the realities of today’s workplace and the ambitions of tomorrow’s workforce.

That’s what we’re building at Klaar: a platform that works with people, not against them. A system that helps every employee, every manager, and every HR leader Perform Wonders.

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