Every week, I review blogs that cover talent development to find the very best talent development posts. This week, you’ll find pointers to pieces about retaining employees, what scrapping the annual performance review looks like, hiring, and agile organizations.
From Steve Ford: Resolutions for Retaining Employees in an Improving Economy
“Retaining talented employees has become a higher priority in an improving job market. Currently, 87 percent of employers are worried about losing key employees, with 58 percent moderately concerned and 29 percent very concerned, according to a survey by OI Partners, a global coaching and leadership development and consulting firm. To help retain talent, four out of 10 companies are providing coaching to executives and managers to invest in their careers and ensure they are equipped to develop critical skills in their subordinates, according to the survey”
Wally’s Comment: Steve Ford gives a teaser report on some OI Partners’ research and then suggests six resolutions bosses can make to improve retention. They’re not exactly novel, but they’re a good checklist of things you should be doing to make your workplace one where the talent wants to work.
From Derek Irvine: What Scrapping the Annual Performance Review Looks Like in Practice
“Getting rid of the annual performance appraisal is only possible if replaced or supplemented with a program for informal, frequent and timely feedback and recognition from more sources than just the manager.”
Wally’s Comment: It’s pretty simple really. You can eliminate the annual performance review ritual. Then what? Top talent wants feedback and performance review is one way they establish themselves as “top.” Derek Irvine takes a look at different ways we may replace the annual performance review with something better.
From Mike Haberman: Hiring is NOT an Impulse, It Is an Investment
“If you worked for a small company and were presented with a purchase that was going to cost $5,655 how careful would you be in making your decision on that purchase? Would you shop around and see if you were getting the best value? Would you check and see if you were getting a quality product for that amount? Most purchasers would. Most people do not consider $5655 an impulse purchase. Yet companies do it all the time in their hiring, often for amounts much greater than $5655 which is one employee being paid minimum wage ($7.25) who works 15 hours a week for 52 weeks. Given those numbers you need to realize that hiring is not an impulse, it is an investment.”
Wally’s Comment: Mike Haberman gives us a good reminder of why we need to pay attention to the hiring end of the hiring-training-retaining continuum.
From Josh Bersin: We are Greater than Me: Building an Agile Organization
“It all comes down to one thing: agility. The word “agility” is complex: it refers to strategy, leadership, management, and learning. Agile organizations evolve their strategy but deepen it where they have strength. Their leaders drive execution but they also empower people. Management is thin, hands-on, and highly engaged. And people and teams are constantly learning.”
Wally’s Comment: Josh Bersin describes three characteristics of agile organizations and adds this powerful note, “HR in Agile organizations plays quite a different role than it does in more traditional hierarchical organizations.” While you’re pondering that, you may want to check out a previous Bersin post, “The Agile Model comes to Management, Learning, and Human Resources,” and “Agile Leaders Generate Greater Corporate Performance” from Erik Samdahl.
