TM - February 2008 - (Page 28)

recruitment & retention assessment & evaluation compensation & benefits performance management learning & development succession planning ences employee behavior and the quality of the employee’s work. Any manager’s goal is having high-performing direct reports, so this is where the focus should be. One-size-fits-all surveys won’t generate the same return on investment that a focused direct-report assessment will. After all, only direct reports can tell us their perception of how well the characteristics of the workplace and their boss’s management practices affect performance. Like T-shirts and ball caps, one-size-fits-all fits no one well and everyone poorly. • There often is too much data in a 360-degree report for a manager to get his or her head around it in a reasonable amount of time. Too much data severely limits understanding and application. • The assessment provided by the boss of the manager being assessed competes with and will trump all other data. Pleasing the boss has been a favorite sport for a long time and will continue to be. However, most employees aren’t in the dark as to what the boss thinks anyway — performance reviews and routine interaction provide sufficient data. What is not needed is managers who make improvement efforts in the arena of “boss pleasing” rather than in what they can do to improve the way they manage down. The boss is not in the best position to judge management practices for direct reports. Bosses mainly experience “follower behavior” and, all too often, assume management practices follow accordingly. • If peer assessments are needed to create higher levels of cooperation and teamwork, use a tool that will provide focused information in that area. Don’t contaminate data about how direct reports rate managerial practices with peer assessments. It just adds to the data, which is not a good thing, and provides a generic view by peers that usually is not focused on the specific areas of concern. When utilizing a direct report assessment it is important to assess characteristics that: • Align with management practices that correlate with discretionary effort, high performance and loyalty. • Are directly related to the management training curriculum offered by the organization. All too often, an assessment of management practices is chosen with little, if any, thought about these two issues. Research firm Bersin & Associates uses the Leadership Impact Survey, which is designed to efficiently and effectively survey two critical organizational performance areas: 1. Assessment by a manager’s direct reports regarding the appropriateness and effectiveness of how they are managed on a daily basis. 2. Assessment of the current working environment — in areas that managers have control over — from the employee’s perspective. The Leadership Impact Survey also provides feedback on critical characteristics that influence employee engagement, discretionary effort and loyalty, as well as the critical management practices that help managers improve those characteristics. The five areas measured are: 1. Employee engagement. This is based on the critical elements that research indicates talented performers require in their workplace. 2. Performance accountability. This provides feedback on employees’ perception of consistent and fair performance accountability in the workplace. 3. Effective communications. The quality of the performance discussions managers/supervisors have with direct reports. http://www.hrsmart.com http://www.hrsmart.com http://www.hrsmart.com/FREEdemo

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of TM - February 2008

Talent Management - February 2008 Editor's Letter - Talkin' 'Bout My Generation Contents Human Performance - Achievement Motivation: Top Talent At Any Age Leading Edge - Who's On First? Foundations - Managing the Next Generation Workforce Viewpoint - Talent Strategies That Work Are Talent Strategies That Stick Those Who Have Left: The Value of Building Employee Relationships Alternatives to 360s: The Manager's Role Compensation and Benefits For X&Y Build A Multigenerational Performance Management Strategy Development's Role in Creating A Culture Of Inclusion Tomorrow's Leader: Identifying the Next Generation Integrating Talent Management Systems Strategically Seagate Uses Yearlong Evaluations to Help Integrate Talent Efforts Western Union: Connecting Strategy and People Globally Advertisers' Index Editorial Resources Full Potential - The Best Time to Change? Right Now!

TM - February 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.