It’s surprising that so many organizations – even the larger and more sophisticated ones – still lack a well-designed talent strategy. By well designed, we mean a strategy that tightly flows from the business strategy, is clear about the talent team’s three or four big promises/deliverables, spans at least three years, and is specific enough to explain the activities and investment needed. Here how to do that.

Your leaders are your most powerful builders of talent. So why aren’t you using them that way?

The CEO was visibly frustrated just a few minutes into the CHRO’s presentation.
“I’m sorry, but I’m confused” she said. “This feels like the 10th different process that HR has asked our teams to absorb just this year. Why this one now?”

Few human resource tools promise as much and deliver as little as the typical leadership competency model. These models exist in a world of contradictions – simultaneously being specific but generic, ambitious but uninspiring, academically perfect but practically flawed.

There’s no good way to dress up the dreaded middle rating and no way to convince anyone that being “average” is absolutely fine. If you have these conversations coming up, here are a few practical ideas to make them easier and more productive.

As companies worldwide strive to optimize performance management, they often overlook a change that would simplify the process, build trust and increase accountability. They can eliminate the self-review.

The employee self-review continues to exist more due to benign corporate neglect than to conscious inclusion in the assessment process. Its presence can introduce bias, give cover to poor managers and create unrealistic expectations in employees.