Performance Management Practices That Boost Employee Engagement April 29th, 2009

Donna Ronayne

There’s a wide body of research that shows that companies whose workers are fully engaged have better corporate performance. It’s unmistakable. In these organizations the team delivers great work, innovation, and they understand that their efforts are linked to the goals of the organization, and linked to how they will be rewarded.

Join our upcoming webinar on May 12th and you’ll hear from Steve Roesler a leading expert in the field of leadership and engagement. Steve will discuss how managers are the mediators of employee engagement because employees see managers as their personal source for direction, feedback, and development, and are expected to have - and share - accurate data that can enhance daily performance.

Halogen customer Kathy Anthony, HR Leader of O’Sullivan Creel, will also share her experience of how she transformed her organization to one where performance management is ingrained in their culture, and where employee satisfaction and engagement have vastly increased.

HR professionals can expect the following from this webinar:

• How information removes a generation-long burden from performance management.
• What employees are really looking for when they talk about “being engaged” and how “frequency” and “timeliness” help the process.
• Lessons learned on how to make performance management a day to day priority, not a once a year exercise.
• A clear demonstration of how performance management best practices that improve engagement also become a valuable source of competitive advantage.

The one element in the performance process that will guarantee success. Period.
You can register for this webinar by clicking here.

Tags: goal management, performance management

Must Reads for This Week - Coaching, Perks and Where You Sit at the Table Edition April 27th, 2009

Sean Conrad

A few must read blogs posts I wanted to share with all of you:

By now, you’ve probably seen (or at least heard) of Susan Boyle, a contestant on the show Britain’s Got Talent. Peter Bregman has a great post over at the Harvard Business Blog on how Susan Boyle is a great lesson in talent management. Her talent wasn’t obvious based on her appearance, she was an unexpected contender who is now expected to win the competition. For managers, the lesson Bregman shares is that “Great managers see the unique talents of each employee, and then create the role that’s a perfect vehicle for those talents.” This post does a solid job of explaining why managers as coaches should do this and how this benefits the organization as a whole.

A common item of discussion in the HR community is about “getting a seat at the boardroom table.” Over at the HR Capitalist, Kris Dunn has a post on You Are Where You Sit at the Table. Great insights on how the seat you pick can impact perception. So, maybe the conversation shouldn’t be about getting a seat at the table, but about picking a better seat at that table?

Susan Heathfield shares some interesting findings on the About.com HR Blog in her piece Employees Don’t Get Benefits. She points out how while many employees don’t understand compensation packages, they really don’t understand the value of benefits. She looks at some ways organizations can better communicate the value of benefits to their employees, and not to assume they understand it.

Speaking of benefits, I really enjoyed this piece from Jason Pankow on Fistful of Talent. He looks at what is really a perk, and what’s a stretch. I actually laughed out loud at one point, as we’ve all seen organizations cite something ridiculously simple as a perk of working there. Jason points out that free parking, soda, coffee and birthday celebrations are better left off the pitch. I may beg to differ on the soda, as one of my friends recently was nothing short of outraged when his company eliminated free soda as a perk. Sometimes, it is the little things that really matter to your employees. Paid parental leave, educational assistance and matching gifts made Jason’s cut as true perks.

Happy reading!

Tags: coaching, talent management