For years there have been arguments for and against the performance review. There are many who diss the process, wanting to get rid of the actual review itself. There are others who feel it is a bedrock of information for both employee development, self checks, collecting historical data on the employee and as a way to evaluate the way a manager simply manages.

The performance review can be bad but it can also be great.

Idiots lay blame solely on a tool

if you lay blame on a tool, then that is what you are! There are valid reasons to blame your legacy system or the vendor platform you use to manage the reporting of performance. If you are an organization that can’t fork over the cash for a huge system, you may have problems with the process of implementing and getting the reviews turned in. But those who simply blame the tool or process are idiots.

It is my belief that if you had managers that were competent enough to do the job they were given, saw examples from their previous bosses, had recieved training, practice and the ability to manage their employees effectively (not just the person but also their development and performance), then you would not need the systems and deep processes. Those who blame tools are blaming band-aids for an injury rather than understanding why the injury is there in the first place.

A performance review can be bad

However the performance review is absolutely wrong if it is done only once or twice a year. This is because the all that happens within a review process is not all formal. You have to include informal talks, coaching and checks. It is not a question whether or not the review is done, but when and how often. But sadly, once detailed objectives are agreed upon and benchmarks given… that is when people usually wait until the next year to talk again.

Botome line: It’s not the review that is bad, it’s the approach and management around the review that is broken. I think many people fault a tool when they would rather not fix the person! Blaming tools is easy, fixing people is the tough part.

Those are my thoughts. What are yours? Ditch the performance review or fix the process and people around it?

When I hear the term Talent Management, I often hear it talked about in the context of recruiting and sourcing. Now I may be completely off, but to me, Talent Management is much more than just finding people for the role. It’s much more than finding the RIGHT people for a company to fill a job. Talent management is more than just recruiting. It is about how you interact, engage and build the people you have, to retain and develop them and even if they leave you, they will want to come back!

One definition I found was this: Talent Management is a holistic approach to optimizing human capital, which enables an organization to drive short- and long-term results by building culture, engagement, capability, and capacity through integrated talent acquisition, development, and deployment processes that are aligned to business goals.

Umm yeah… right. My eyes roll to the back of my head like when I was in my human psychology & anthropology classes’ freshman year.

There are many debates within the circles of HR on how you should Manage Talent. Here is what Talent Management is to me.

Talent Management = Sourcing: All you are doing is finding ways to differentiate you from the competition. Just like a candidate, you are defining and setting up how you will identify, search and contact talent. At the same time, maybe subconsciously you are projecting that beautiful and trendy word called a ‘brand’ that will attract the best, the brightest and help you somehow keep them! At the beginning of hiring, it is a sourcing strategy. You outline responsibilities; define the steps, & plans for contingencies. You also define what success looks like. Your methods become a toolkit that will set your approach and allow you to be flexible. However, this doesn’t mean you should just network or source to fill orders, meet deadlines or be “on to the next one.”

Talent Management = Talent Development: If you get the best and the brightest and ignore their need for development after they arrive, you lose the potential you once had. Talent development happens within performance management and consulting. It works when you help an individual identify and assess their needs in order for them to be prepared in performing their responsibilities to the company. By identifying where they are, where they need to be and the gaps that exist; you will keep them from or allow them to succeed. By identifying the appropriate tools and experiences for that individual, you better position the current talent to reach their full potential and contribute to the value and bottom line. This makes everyone’s job much easier ~ at least in theory.

Talent Management = Succession Planning: This simply means that an organization identifies key roles that need to be filled and the people that need to fill them when the time is right. It is preparing people and positions, getting them ready for a transition and change; not just with the possible change of a person in a position but also within the organization.

I talked to a colleague the other day and I think that there is a lack of this happening. In the current economy you would think that planning for possibility of replacement of key roles would be essential. That you would create opportunities for cross-training, identify people within the company that could fill the pipeline for unforeseen or potential. Yet with budgets dwindling and the focus being on surviving, many are forgetting that they may be surviving now, but when they get out of the trenches, will they thrive?

Talent Management = Saying what you mean, mean what you say: If you boast a great brand. Preach an awesome culture and praise what the organization will do for current and potential employees… and then don’t deliver… you not only hurt the company but also your own reputation. Now is a time where people want and appreciate honesty. Just as you are trying to make a well informed decision from the talent pool you have at your disposal, the candidates are also selecting you based on the promises you keep and the lies you tell.

Talent Management = Leadership: All of leadership, from the hiring manager and recruiter to the department head and CEO need to walk the walk, talk the talk and be ready to show that if need be, they will run with the heard to do the work that needs to be done to help make everyone be successful.

Above all Talent Management = People: In the end, it’s about people. I mean, you’re not managing androids, recruiting machines or training dogs. You are maximizing an individual’s potential to help you and the organization maximizes results! Don’t just be about the money they make for you. Don’t just hire them, forget them and then move On to the Next One…

Jay-Z Featuring Swizz Beatz – On to the next one (click for readers):

Disclaimer: This post was originally on the NAS Recruiting Talent Talk Blog in March of 2010 (without the images and narly video). NAS Recruitment Communications has created and evolved solutions to assist organizations with their recruiting, employment branding and on-boarding/retention efforts. They have not paid me nor nudged me in their direction to advertise them. Check them out.

By now everyone has heard about the rollercoaster changes to NBC’s Late night lineup and the flack they are getting. I think that companies, HR and employees can learn a little something from this situation. We all have been faced with decisions that leadership makes. There are times we agree and other times where we disagree wholeheartedly. Sometimes the disagreements are a little more hush, hush then we would like them to be. In the case of NBC and The Tonight Show this has been a series of bad to worse decisions that have created a domino effect of Brand and PR issues that this network is not appreciative of.

All I have heard is negativity ever since the network announced the changes. While NBC seems as if it is trying to accommodate Leno and make amends to increase ratings of one show, they are ignoring what it is doing to the Tonight Show’s brand, much less how it will affect the other network primetime talk shows like Jimmy Fallon, etc. Conan’s full statement on the decision states so eloquently why he disagrees and what he feels is important to the network and the viewers, while respectively engaging the ultimate point – if you move the tonight show an hour later, it’s no longer the tonight show. Just because you have an egg does not mean you can call it a chicken… at least just yet.

What NBC does wrong

There Final Decision on Talent: Well now Conan is out and Leno is back in. Sad, especially since Conan is a better host and comedian than Leno. What else can be said.

They do a bad job of getting all the key stakeholders feedback: I am unsure whether Leno was consulted,  if I had to guess something tells me that he was, but Conan – the guy that should be a part of the changes – evidently wasn’t. Yes NBC is the boss but how much respect do you show when you completely leave the key person out. Now in the old days of top down leadership this would be fine, but now people don’t want to feel like they were left out. Employees know that all their thoughts will not be implemented, but we can understand and even support our bosses better if we are at least informed.

Conan: Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting.

Letting what’s wrong overshadow what’s right – Funny how one show that has not history, proof of ratings, with a host that has always, to me at least, been so-so, is shaking up the entire lineup.

NBC is a no go on the talko – As we all learned from Tiger, in times of opposition and information the worst thing you can do is keep your mouth shut. While I fully respect NBCs choice to be quiet, it is not helping them at all. As companies, we need to communicate the benefits and downfalls of a decision.

What Conan does right:

States what he believes to be what is important -

Conan: Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting.

He uses the facts to reinforce what should be important not only to him and the viewers, but also the company -

Conan: So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn’t matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.

He was still willing to be a part of the company and is open to a resolution.

Conan: There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.

Not saying I’m Right, I’m Just Sayin…

HR-The New Cool Kids

Recently, I came across an article from Fast Company written in 2007 entitled “Why We Hate HR” stating many reasons why Human Resources functions are ineffective at driving ethics, business strategy and the culture of an organization. Some points raised that were proof of this: HR people, at a Las Vegas HR conference, held education in communication at a higher value then Law, Business and Strategy. Even stating that the function did what was organizationally expedient rather then what actions were more valuable to the business. While there were many statements that were listed, one quote summarized many of the points in the article best by saying, “most HR organizations have ghettoized themselves literally to the brink of obsolescence…” ouch. A Big Lebowski ouch.

So here we are almost three years later and what has changed about the function or the people within it. I think a lot. At least from what I am seeing. While this article and those within other areas of business may find HR obsolete. I believe that this is a time where HR, HRD, OD and all the other acronyms you can list has started to see a rise in the times. In my personal opinion, I feel that HR has never been given it’s just do. But you have to get over that and suck it up because; as Tom Hanks would say there’s no crying in baseball.

Even while many of us within are doing what is needed to provide value and access, I believe that in the past, the business world has never allowed or given permission for us to be effective. It may be as if it has subconsciously set HR up for failure. Even with this past, I feel that we have the potential to be needed now more than ever. Here are some of the reasons why:

1. Building the Company Brand – An employee experiences all of HR. They are often interviewed, on-boarded; take part in performance reviews and disciplinary hearings with us present. There is no doubt that with as many people that are unemployed there will be damage to a company’s brand during the off-boarding process as well. You see this person being let go is not just an employee but may have been customer and referrer of your products and services. The negative feelings at departure could turn into negativity towards the company and a severely bad attitude toward its reputation as well. When I hear negative comments about a company, I most often times hear it in context or in direct connection to HR. While HR may not have been the cause of that employee’s unemployment, they are definitely a part of that employees experience at departure. We can be the next big game-changer of the perception of that employee and all in the future. If anything, there is a possibility that we can help turn around that person’s idea and perception of the company.
2. Re-Acquisition and Retention of Talent – “Gatekeeper” is often a word closely associated with HR. Within the recruiting cycle we source, attract and can even grant entrance to key positions within the company. With the unemployment rate reaching 9.5% as of October 2009 there are more people, talented and educated, that have been downsized. Many of these individuals are not only looking for security, but also the opportunity to help create value to the bottom line within the company. Regardless of industry, we are positioned to help the business and its managers understand who is out there and how to attract them. We, as HR, also have the potential to help management understand what it takes to develop and retain this talent so they can become a dedicated force that helps to build commitment to the company and marketers of its products and services.
3. Strategy, New Ideas and Approaches – Just under the surface, a new crop of HR professionals are molding and changing the landscape as we know it. All across the landscape in articles, un-conferences, on internet radio, blogs, tweets and in the marketing of HR, professionals are speaking up, being open and honest about the direction of the field and where we need to be as it relates to the effectiveness of the employees.
4. Law and Benefits – Let’s face it, who knows better about how new employment law, benefits and legislation changes affect the employee and business. They need us in order to assess and evaluate what options are best available. Well maybe they don’t but maybe they do!
5. Good HR can improve performance – Read the article!

SUPER HR

With the economics of today, more candidates understand the importance of contributing to a company. Yet at the same time more and more individuals are not only wanting a great career with growth opportunities, but also a work life balance with the knowledge that a company will not only let them be a functioning employee but also a fully functioning individual. When it comes down to it, good HR is good business. These are just a few of the many reasons why I know Human Resource people are the new cool kids in town. Let’s not just show everyone how cool we are; let’s make them all see just how cool of an asset have been and will be in the future.