Every week, I’ll be reviewing blogs that cover talent development to find you the pick of the lot for the week. In this post, you’ll find pointers to pieces about engagement, onboarding, the newcomer advantage, flexible work (and life), and performance reviews.
From TomorrowToday: Employee Engagement Report 2010
“Towers Watson is a global professional services company that does an excellent annual report on employee engagement. I have read it through quickly, and was drawn to the section on “Toward a New Employment Propositionâ€. They suggest that there are three key issues that must underpin employee engagement in the new world of work.”
Wally’s Comment: Graeme Codrington does a bit of analysis on the annual Towers Watson review of employee engagement. There’s also a link to a site where you can register to download the full report.
From HR Bartender: Creating an Onboarding Plan
“Some people think of orientation and onboarding as the same thing. I view onboarding as a longer process which includes orientation.”
Wally’s Comment: Does this situation sound familiar? Your company spends time and money to find the best possible candidate for a job. You want, even expect, that person to be successful. The new hire is raring to go, excited about your company and the new job. That lasts until the first day, when he or she either gets bored into a stupor listening to lectures that replay the personnel manual or left killing time waiting for someone to “show you around.”
That’s a common situation and it’s enough to suck the enthusiasm out of even the best hire. You can do better. Really. And Sharlyn Lauby has some advice about how.
From Bob Sutton: Why Newcomers Often See Things More Clearly Than Old Hands
“The young and under-socialized are often those who see the world for what it is, and speak up about it.”
Wally’s Comment: People new to your organization see you and what you do with “fresh eyes.” You can use those eyes to gain immediate value from a new hire by finding out how he or she sees what you see every day, but differently.
“Maybe it’s the seven years I spent as a banker in New York City working with business owners before b-school, but I believe that the only way to drive real and meaningful change related to work+life fit and flexibility is to consider the realities of the business.”
Wally’s Comment: Far too many discussions of work+life balance or flexibility center on the needs and benefits to the individual, with minimum lip service paid to organizational needs. Cali Yost suggests that considering both, with a little seasoning of reality, is the most productive approach to creating wins for everyone.
Fm DDI: The Truth about Performance Reviews
“If you’ve read the business news in the last few days, it’s likely you’ve seen something about UCLA professor of management Samuel Culbert’s book “Get Rid of the Performance Review!†The Wall Street Journal even published a piece by Culbert titled “Yes, Everyone Really Does Hate Performance Reviewsâ€. The truth is that everyone doesn’t hate performance reviews. It’s all about how managers and employees handle the review—never the tool.”
Wally’s Comment: Since Sam Culbert’s article in the Journal and the publication of his book commentators seem to have been choosing up sides. Some advocate “ABPR,” Anything But Performance Reviews. Others flip open the manual and list the reasons why we should keep doing what we’ve been doing, maybe with a few changes. Bob Rogers’ post is both balanced and helpful.
Thanks for the mention Wally. Really good reading on this list – a few posts I hadn’t seen already.