Total Articles: 44
Performance Evaluation Worst Practices
Part 2 of our discussion on performance evaluations
Evaluation Evaluation
Are you measuring and rewarding the right behaviors? A simple tool to help you assess how your performance evaluations perform.
Performance Reviews as Plaintiff's Exhibit A: What to Include and What to Keep Out
We all know that most managers do not enjoy giving performance reviews and frequently approach them as "busy work" or just more paperwork to complete. One year of an employee's efforts is summed up in just a word or two, such as "satisfactory" or "fair" (the performance review equivalent of "fine"). Sometimes managers would rather not give honest feedback to their employees about the need to improve their job performance and just give them a pass instead. This approach, while not uncommon, is unfortunate because when managers fail to provide meaningful comments in their reviews, not only do they deprive their employees of feedback that could actually help improve their performance, but they also provide their employees with potentially powerful evidence should the company and the employee end up in litigation one day.
Resolve To Be A Better Manager
With every new year, millions of people resolve to make positive changes in their personal lives. Some even resolve to change how they "roll" at work. For owners, managers and supervisors, the fresh-start aura associated with the beginning of every new year is the perfect backdrop for making positive changes that may help them become better, more effective, and respected leaders.
When Your Job Makes You Sick: Employees Find Little Leverage in Today's Workplace
The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index registered 47.1 in August for the category titled "work satisfaction" -- the lowest it has been since the measurement was introduced in January 2008.
Don't Hate Me Because I'm Brillant: An Employee's Tale
Most supervisors have dealt with an employee who believes his work performance is better than what it actually is. It's a minority of employees who believe they are less than a "four-star" performer. But an employee who is so convinced of his personal value that he sues his employer for $75 million is a rarity, indeed. Yet, rare or not, that is precisely the case in Berry v. Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman, LLP.
Managing Baby Boomers
There have been many comments and analyses lately about how employers should handle the emerging youngest generation, usually referred to as Gen Y. But as the 77 million baby boomers begin reaching 65 years of age this year, they will present some unique challenges to employers.
Why Middle Managers May Be the Most Important People in Your Company
Wharton management professor Ethan Mollick has a message for knowledge-based companies: Pay closer attention to your middle managers. They may have a greater impact on company performance than almost any other part of the organization.
A Better Mousetrap? (Auto Dealership Update)
One area where many dealership managers continue to struggle is in effectively counseling poorly performing employees – and documenting that effort. Those managers who actually document their counseling generally tend to "write up" the employee, describing the events as the manager sees it, followed by a warning that discipline "up to and including termination" may follow. Then the manager presents the memo to the offending employee who is expected to sign it. The signed document is placed in the employee's personnel file. And life go
Avoid idiot compassion, and don't be nice
Beware "idiot compassion" at work. This is a Buddhist idea described by Michael Carroll in "Awake At Work: 35 Practical Buddhist Principles for Discovering Clarity and Balance in the Midst of Work's Chaos."
Should Performance Reviews Be Fired?
"Performance reviews." The words strike fear and dread in the hearts of employees everywhere.
March Mayhem Bracket For Employers: Final Four Revealed!
The votes are in, the contests have been played – we are down to the Final Four Biggest Workplace Headaches for 2011! We received bracket entries from employers across the country telling us about their biggest frustrations, and after tallying all of the submissions, we can reveal the most annoying four situations that employers face every day. Here are the winners, along with some practical tips for dealing with them.
Managing "March Madness" at Work.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) 2011 Division I Basketball Championship has started. By March 17th, “March Madness” will be in full swing. A Nielsen Media report estimates that 92% of basketball fans will watch the tournament online at work. Challenger, Gray & Christmas estimates 8.4 million hours of working time, with an economic cost of $192 million in lost productivity, will be spent watching the games.
Schadenfreude -- Employment-Law Style
In today’s litigious society, it’s always nice to take a step back and appreciate the problems we don’t have—even if that means indulging in a little schadenfreude. In that spirit, I give you the story of Jill McGlone, a civil servant in Norfolk Virginia.
Whac-A-Mole Maker Gets Whacked By Employee Sabotage.
Employee sabotage can take many forms. Employees can take documents with them when they leave to work for a competitor, for example. More insidious examples can involve employee destruction of files, causing enormous harm to the employer. Here’s one unfortunate story involving both kinds of sabotage committed by an employee of Bob’s Space Racers, the manufacturer of the classic arcade game, Whac-A-Mole.
March Mayhem Bracket For Employers: Biggest Workplace Headaches
About this time of year, most of your employees will start wasting a good chunk of their day filling out brackets in anticipation of the NCAA college basketball tournament. Why try to beat them when you can join them? Fisher & Phillips has created a bracket for employers, but instead of predicting basketball results, we want you to tell us your biggest headaches for employers.
EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS
Employers have different perspectives about whether to conduct formal employee performance evaluations. Some employers believe the evaluation process is too time-consuming and are unwilling to invest the energy and resources necessary. Other employers evaluate their employees on a regular basis, such as annually, or at the end of the “introductory period,” but do not think about why it is important to do so.
The 'Silver Tsunami': Why Older Workers Offer Better Value Than Younger Ones.
Just a decade ago, experts warned of labor shortages in the United States and other countries as the baby boomers marched into retirement en masse. But with an aging population facing the prospect of living for decades on shrunken retirement funds, graying individuals plan to keep on working.
Im a Sucker for a Compliment
Managers often underestimate the power of a simple compliment. A timely, sincere compliment costs nothing to give but can yield terrific returns. Yet, many leaders regularly fail to take advantage of this tool. And some people yearn for compliments more than others. With these employees, recognition of a job well done or praise for a victory is even more powerful. Compliments can be given directly to the individual or they can be communicated to the individuals peers, colleagues, or supervisors.
Part 2: Are Your Employees Really Important Business Partners?
In our last article we took a hard look at the easy-to-say concept that companies "value their employees" or that employees "are our most important asset." Easy to say, yes. But the reality is a bit more difficult and time consuming. In Part 2 we'll look at this idea in more detail.
Ranking Employees: Why Comparing Workers to Their Peers Can Often Backfire.
We live in a world full of benchmarks and rankings. Consumers use them to compare the latest gadgets. Parents and policy makers rely on them to assess schools and other public institutions, and sports fans like them for help in sizing up their favorite teams. But what about when rankings are used at the office for appraising staff performance?
The Importance of Office Space.
How important is office space to employees? Very important, apparently, according to this article discussing a "summer office swap" conducted at a Boston-area advertising agency. During the summer months at this forward-thinking firm, nearly every employee switches office space based on a lottery system.
White House Focuses on Workplace Flexibility.
Workplace flexibility has been a hot topic, a highlight of which was President Obama's White House Forum on Workplace Flexibility, televised earlier this week. The forum was designed as an opportunity for labor leaders, CEOs, small business owners, and policy experts to share their ideas and strategies for making the workplace more flexible for workers and their families. During the conference, the President compared flexible work schedules to the early stages of email: some companies have it, some dont, but eventually, all companies will. Get ready employers if you havent gotten aboard yet, the train may run you over!
Supervisors Really Do Matter.
We believe that many of the time-honored procedures relating to union organizing are going to change, although we don't know yet exactly how they will change. In our consideration of steps employers should be taking to prepare to compete on a playing field which will be decidedly tilted in the unions' favor, we have not yet discussed the role of first-line supervisors. Supervisors play a crucial role in any employer's strategy to maintain a union-free operation, and we'll consider that very important element of the employer's position in this article.
Work-Life Balance Update.
Work-life balance is a hot topic in the world of workplace initiatives. Its so hot, in fact, that it can be difficult to keep up with the latest developments. Here are a few items to get you started:
Having It Your Way.
Burger King is not necessarily the only place you can get it "your way." We believe that it's possible to have a more productive and committed work force and no union at the same time. It definitely is not a case of "either . . . or." And you can do it without fighting and conflict. Indeed fighting and conflict are generally counterproductive to the effort to remain union free and often cause employers to lose their focus on the only objective that really counts employees.
If You Dont Ask for Feedback, How Do You Know How Youre Doing?
Ahh, feedback. Its a tricky pill to swallow, isnt it? When performance-review time comes around and youre making a list of all of the areas in which you want your employees to improve, maybe you should ask yourself a few questions first. Have you really done everything that you can to address problems as they arise? Or have you waited until formal reviews to bring up those little problems that have become bigger problems?
Putting a Face to a Name: The Art of Motivating Employees.
Could a simple five-minute interaction with another person dramatically increase your weekly productivity?
In some employment environments, the answer is yes, according to Wharton management professor Adam Grant. Grant has devoted significant chunks of his professional career to examining what motivates workers in settings that range from call centers and mail-order pharmacies to swimming pool lifeguard squads. In all these situations, Grant says, employees who know how their work has a meaningful, positive impact on others are not just happier than those who don't; they are vastly more productive, too.
More Proof that Happy Employees Give Their Employers Lots of Reasons to Smile.
Fortunes Best Companies to Work For list is back. And the results are as fascinating as ever.
It's So Hard Admittin' When It's Quittin' Time.
Mary Chapin Carpenter's song sums up a lot of wisdom about life and it also conveys some important truths in the employee relations area.
Managing Whiners and Complainers: How to Handle Disgruntled Employees.
Almost every workplace has one - the disgruntled employee who frequently complains to supervisors and co-workers.
Will Cleaning Windows Improve Employees Morals?
BYU researchers claim that improved morality can be linked to Windex. No kidding. Kate Liljenquist and her team tested individuals reactions when introduced to a room that smells like Windex, the popular blue window cleaner.
EVALUATING PERFORMANCE BASED ON SUBJECTIVE CRITERIA.
Performance evaluations and performance improvement forms, such as warnings, receive more scrutiny during employment litigation than during employment. When the employment relationship has decayed to the point that a lawsuit occurs, employment lawyers scour annual reviews, disciplinary records, and contemporaneous supervisors notes for evidence.
What Can Employers Learn From Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize?
What Can Employers Learn From Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize?
Job Survival Advice: Don't Fear the Whitewater.
Change is the new status-quo, and success at work will require agility, talent and the ability to learn from -- rather than fear -- failure, according to Gregory Shea, adjunct professor of management at Wharton, and business writer Robert Gunther. The two recently co-authored a book titled, Your Job Survival Guide, a Manual for Thriving in Change. In an interview with Knowledge@Wharton, the authors compared the economy and job market to a whitewater river in which every kayaker is certain to spend a significant part of the journey under water.
Politics in the Workplace: The Heat Is On.
As the November 4th Presidential election approaches, so too does the unavoidable political discourse. Invariably, the discussion finds its way over to the water cooler, creating a politically charged environment rife with disruption. Workplace friction imposed by emotionally contrasting viewpoints often leads to a corresponding decline in morale. As the distractions increase, productivity inevitably suffers.
Not What, Not How, but Who? Western Companies Face a Worldwide Talent Crunch.
Faced with an aging workforce and a growing demand for skilled workers in emerging markets like China and India, companies in the West are grappling with a talent crunch of unprecedented scope. According to experts at Wharton and The Boston Consulting Group, firms are increasingly questioning their workforce requirements and quality, training and development, and wage levels. Responses include over-hiring to meet future needs, upgrading training in concert with universities and in-house corporate schools, and extracting greater productivity through innovation.
Bringing a Knife to a Gunfight: The Problem of Under-trained Supervisors.
In a culture of empowerment, where so many employers strive for a leaner, flatter management hierarchy, supervisors are increasingly called upon to make risky, potentially costly personnel decisions. This is an especially dicey responsibility during tough economic times, when disgruntled former employees are having a more difficult time finding work. Unless they have enough training to know when and how to seek assistance, these supervisors are flirting with disaster.
Generation Y @ Work: Part 1.
An estimated 80 million members of Generation Y have joined the American workforce. These youngsters, born after 1980, present new challenges for employers. One of these is the Gen Y mindset that they are one-person enterprises entitled to sell their work experience, and the proprietary information they can gather, to the next highest bidder. Another is their willingness to change jobs often and with little notice.
Economics for Humans: Tyler Cowen on Using Incentives for a Better Life
Are most employers, then, squashing the natural motivations people have to work hard? Is there sometime wrong in focusing too much on salaries as an incentive?
Waking Up on the Wrong Side of the Desk: The Effect of Mood on Work Performance.
You know how it goes: A traffic jam blocks your way to work. A rude driver swerves in front of your car and you spill that just-purchased caf latte into your lap. You arrive late, in a lousy mood. From there, the day just goes downhill and your workplace performance falls to pieces.
Heading for the Fast Track? New Studies Examine Who Gets Promoted and Why.
Even as two big labor unions decided this week to defect from the AFL-CIO, claiming that it had failed to stop declining union membership or push hard enough for labor reform, debate about the alchemy of promotion -- who gets it, when and why -- animated a recent conference at Wharton organized by the School's Center for Human Resources. Labor economists and human resource specialists attending the conference, entitled "Careers and Career Transitions: New Evidence for a New Economy," tackled a number of issues, including whether or not a "fast track" really exists, the effect of corporate restructurings on professional advancement and the likelihood of promotion for insiders vs. recent outside hires.
Goal setting and Cheating: Why They Often Go Together in the Workplace.
From childhood on, individuals are told that setting goals for themselves will make them more successful in whatever they set out to do - whether it's win tennis games, ace their exams or become CEO of their company. But goal-setting also has a dark side to it, according to a recent research paper by a Wharton faculty member and two colleagues. In addition to motivating constructive behavior, goal setting - especially if it involves rewards such as bonuses or perks - can also motivate unethical behavior when people fall short of the goals they set or that are set for them.
a primer on 360-degree feedback.
Discusses "360-degree" performance review model, which (unlike a traditional model) involves obtaining job perforamnce feedback from supervisors, co-workers, clients, etc.
