NewGlobe builds a high-performance engine for global education with Klaar

NewGlobe, a private equity-backed American company, is one of the most influential players in global education reform. With a team of nearly 1,000 people across Africa, Europe, Asia, and the US, NewGlobe partners with governments and ministries to power data-driven education systems in underserved communities. Their work impacts millions of students, but delivering that impact at scale requires operational clarity and consistent execution across countries, teams, and cultures.

Behind the scenes, though, performance management was happening manually. There was no HRIS or platform - just spreadsheets. Employees reported to multiple leaders across programs, geographies, and central teams, making the structure nearly impossible to reflect. Feedback often became a formality, and valuable insights got lost in version control and admin overload.

“When you’re operating in over 8 countries with multiple lines of reporting and matrix complexity, spreadsheets just don’t cut it. Things fall through the cracks. And that impacts your people.”

- Duarte Ramos, VP, Global Head of People and Talent, NewGlobe

NewGlobe partnered with Klaar to build a performance system that matched their operational complexity - starting with goals and performance reviews, then expanding into engagement surveys and 1:1s.

A global org with local nuances - and no platform to support it

NewGlobe’s structure is as complex as its mission is bold. Staff in Kenya or Nigeria may report to leaders in Boston, Amsterdam, or London. Performance expectations vary by entity. Each country also follows its own approach to ratings and growth conversations. And whichever platform NewGlobe chose had to be intuitive enough for their global workforce, which had varying levels of familiarity with tech.

Spreadsheets couldn’t reflect this. Generic HR tools didn’t adapt to it. Klaar did. NewGlobe configured Klaar to support entity-specific workflows, custom rating logic, and matrix reviewer mapping - all without compromising data integrity or experience.

“We tried standard tools before, but they couldn’t reflect our reality. Klaar didn’t ask us to compromise. It adapted to us.”

-Pranab Das, Head of People Operations, NewGlobe

From spreadsheet chaos to structured clarity

Before Klaar, review season meant weeks of manual work for the HR team. Aligning reviewers, compiling feedback, calculating ratings - all of it was done by hand.

Klaar changed the rhythm completely:

• Reviews ran on auto-configured workflows
  
• Ratings were calculated automatically based on the applicable logic
  
• Matrixed reviewers were looped in with clarity
  
• Feedback came in on time - with better coverage and context
  

“We’ve cut down review administration time by more than half. And it’s not just easier - it’s cleaner, fairer, and more scalable.”

-Pranab Das, Head of People Operations, NewGlobe

Better feedback. Smarter decisions.

Efficiency was only part of the win. With Klaar, the quality of feedback improved significantly. It became more balanced, timely, and actionable. Managers had structure. Employees had clarity. Leadership could finally use data to inform promotion, compensation, and development decisions. Klaar’s analytics created the base for their global virtuous loop, where performance fed into calibrations that in turn fed into feedback and recognition.

“The feedback we get now is sharper, more balanced, and less biased. Klaar makes calibration easier because the inputs are stronger.”

-Duarte Ramos, VP, People & Talent, NewGlobe

From annual feedback to continuous listening

Once reviews were streamlined, NewGlobe turned their attention to another key challenge - staying in sync with how people felt and performed between cycles. With teams spread across time zones and functions, waiting for an annual survey or informal feedback wasn’t cutting it.

Klaar became the starting point for automating their listening strategy.

• Managers were equipped with structured, recurring 1:1s
  
• HR teams began experimenting with automated surveys to capture employee sentiment more consistently
  
• The goal was to reduce the lag between feedback cycles and create an early signal system for leaders
  

This wasn’t just about engagement. It marked the first step toward building a proactive feedback loop. HR and business leaders gained better visibility into what was working, where blockers existed, and how performance culture was evolving.

More alignment. Less admin. Real results.

Klaar’s performance suite helped NewGlobe unlock tangible results:

• Over 50% reduction in HR effort during performance cycles
  
• Reviews successfully deployed across 8 countries
  
• Better feedback coverage across complex reporting structures
  
• Higher confidence in promotion and compensation decisions
  
• A unified performance language - even across diverse teams
  

“This has helped us make faster, better people decisions. And with a mission like ours, that really matters.”

-Duarte Ramos, VP, People and Talent, NewGlobe

Designed for complexity. Deployed with simplicity.

Klaar didn’t ask NewGlobe to compromise. It fit into their mission and complexity without disruption - and elevated the experience for every stakeholder involved.

“We didn’t need a thousand features. We needed something that worked in our world - fast, clean, and flexible. Klaar delivered.”

- Pranab Das, Head of People Operations, NewGlobe