Editor's Note

Annual performance reviews –Should it be or not is a much debated topic. When some think it should have been dead long back, some still believe it as an integral part of the system. If annual performance reviews are totally eliminated, what are the other options that can balance it? How are millennials looking at the process? Coming to HR, does HR have a significant role in the enterprise performance management (EPM) process?You can find the answers in this issue of the magazine.

Performance Management Is Not An HR Process: An 8-step approach to improve performance management

Very soon, management consultancy firm Accenture will join the expanding list of companies like Google and Microsoft, which have bid adieu to conducting annual performance appraisals. The shift is aimed at having a new “performance achievement” approach that embraces real-time, forward-looking conversations about setting priorities, growing strengths and creating great career opportunities for employees. However, there are many other organizations that still see appraisals as an integral part of a “‘performance management system” designed to guarantee that employees are aligned with developments of the business. So the debate of annual performance reviews continue, but the question here is, what is the role of HR in the enterprise performance management (EPM) process? Do they have a significant role for HR? Or even better yet what is their role? Debbie McGrath, CEO of HR.com talks with Nick Holley, Director of Henley Business School’s HR Centre of Excellence about the future of the performance management lifecycle.

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Bid Adieu To Performance Appraisals: If not the annual performance review, then what?

Managers must invest countless hours in a process that endeavors to boil a year’s worth of a human being’s contribution down to a series of check boxes, numeric ratings, and bulleted highlights. Employees — those human beings whose contributions are being over-simplified — may look forward to a chance to discuss their performance (since those conversations generally happen infrequently) but often leave feeling empty, demoralized, and undervalued.

Identifying And Incentivizing The “Yuccies”: Know the strategies to retain them

Recently,26-year old Mashable writer David Infante coined a new term for a subset of the endlessly talked about millennial generation. He has dubbed them “Yuccies,” or Young Urban Creatives. Yuccies have abandoned traditional 9-5 office jobs to work out of coffee shops and co-working spaces as consultants, social media experts, web designers, and entrepreneurs.

The Future Of Learning Is NOW!: Individualized approach is a must for effective L&D programs

We Need the Future of Learning ASAP. Millennials are here! For years we were saying that Millennials will soon take over the job market. Well, this reality is already here. According to Pew Research more than 1 in 3 American workers today are Millennials, and for the first time as of this year they compose a larger group than Generation X. We spend much time talking about the “Future of Work” and the “Future of Learning” what will it look like and what tools we should use. However, the reality is that this future is already happening, yet half of the time we are not sure how to deal with it. For example, according to a study conducted by elanceodesk, 53% of hiring manager say it’s difficult to find and retain Millennials. A recent Gallup survey showed that Millennials are the least engaged age group in the workplace. So while we can argue about the right methods and tools to be used for retention, engagement and learning for the future that is 10 years from now, perhaps we should first make sure that we figure out how to create relevant learning, employee engagement, hiring and retention models now.

Nature Or Nurture: Good managerial skills can be innate or inculcated

Earlier this year, Gallup issued a fascinating study that looked at why great managers are so rare. It concluded that while one of the most important decisions a company can make is whom they select to manage, companies fail to choose the candidate with the right talent for the job 82 percent of the time.It turns out managers drive 70% of employees’ engagement and experience of work, which makes their role crucial in retaining talent as well as achieving organization goals.

CEO Perspective: Tapping talent technology for better business insight

As a CEO with a background that includes a decade spent on Wall Street as an equity research analyst and six years of CFO roles in software companies, I’m a finance guy by inclination and education. I live in a world of strategic business plans powered by complex financial models communicated to investors who are also financial professionals. However, in people-centric industries like technology, finance, retail, and business/consumer services,we need to move beyond the income statement and balance sheet in order to identify and empower the key individuals who make our business work

Why Everything Annual Is Dead: Processes that do more harm than good

We’ve been talking about the death of the annual performance review for a long time now. Most of us know why they don’t work (and if you’ve forgotten, we’ll review a little later). But the reality is, there are several other annual or semi-annual processes you are still putting your people through, and these processes are probably doing more harm than good.

Transforming The Employee Evaluation Process: A clinical strategy

The employee evaluation process should not be a stressful, summative and conclusive exercise.It should not be a mystery or a subjective process involving only perception and or observation. The evaluation process should be an exercise that will encourage collaboration and participation. It should be scientific, formative and based on specific criteria familiar to both the supervisor and the employee. Effective and reliable supervision requires the“ability to provide effective formative and summative feedback” (Falender et al., 2004, p. 778)The evaluation of an employee should result in an ongoing formative process that will improve performance on the job and encourage the employees to seek and participate in professional development.