With apologies to Mr. Twain for paraphrasing, reports on the death of performance review ratings are not only grossly exaggerated, but missing the mark entirely. The issue isn’t just about pay-for-performance. Develop effective performance management processes. MORE

That’s why staff members complain and protest about inaccurate assessments, data-driven errors and unpopular decisions – HR reporting fails to deliver unless the HR reports dig down into the databases to get the most accurate and relevant performance information, employee profile data and business intelligence. Data-driven decision management , or DDDM, is an approach that uses verifiable data to assist in decision-making processes. MORE

An inspiring manager creates more team engagement. This piece also provides an in-depth comparison of the top 20 employee engagement software platforms on the market. Data can be a valuable metric, but the feedback/engagement connection is also intuitive. MORE

Over time, ratings created across many performance reviews throughout the organization can provide real insight into a number of things. Having this capability allows organizations to zero in on performance issues and opportunities. MORE

Employee development is at the heart of successful talent management. But it’s the ongoing training that’s at the core of talent management —and of retention. Succession planning is a talent management must-do for organizations of all sizes, whether a global corporation, a small non-profit, a mid-sized college or a family business with a dozen employees. Institutional knowledge/Knowledge management. Career development coaching. MORE

In the following graph, we see how many hires are being made, by comparison to the number of job openings: For nearly the entire history of the JOLTS data, more hires are tracked than job openings, but recently this relationship has switched. MORE

Expectations for productivity are as high as any other time of year, and for some organizations the mid-year performance review is just around the corner. Maybe right now you’re doing performance reviews only once a year. How do you evaluate performance on outdated objectives? MORE