Insights

A few years ago the book Fearless HR said that “the HR profession needs to speak with a strong point of view, a new confidence, perhaps even with swagger.” Swagger. It’s a great word, but likely not among the first 20 that you’d use to describe most HR leaders. Ideally it should be First, let’s […]

We wrote the original version of “It’s the Mortar not the Bricks” in 2019 responding to a plethora of alternative HR operating models flooding into the marketplace. Our experience told us that it wasn’t HR’s operating model that was interfering in HR’s success. It was HR’s inability to operationalize their operating model. Since that time, […]

Executive Summary Our 2024 Accountability Report shows the current and desired level of manager accountability to complete select talent practices. The findings confirmed our expectations based on our client and Talent Management Institute conversations over recent years. Key Findings There is little good news in the findings which show that the average level of accountability […]

“Just One More Thing…” is a short-form way that I share ideas, questions and guidance with more substance than a LinkedIn post and less academic rigor than my articles. I hope you find it valuable. Intelligence It’s hugely influential to success at work (and in life), yet few HR pros know its definition, where it […]

If you’ve read my thoughts on self-reviews in performance management1 or self-ratings on 360s2, you know that I’m not a fan. I base my opposition on the conclusively proven fact that human beings consistently over-rate themselves. It’s not that we sometime over-rate themselves. The best research on the topic says we almost always over-rate ourselves. It’s […]

The pandemic created a fundamental shift in where people work, followed by incendiary disagreements about the tradeoffs of where people work. Those fires have been further fanned by popular media, business media, anti-business media, social media, TikTok, surveys and academic advocates. What’s been lacking is a fact-based discussion about what science and evidence say are […]

Executive Summary Our 2024 High Performer and High Potential Development report offers a glimmer of hope but largely shows weak investment in those who contribute tremendous value. Our report presents both facts and analysis from the survey along with commentary and advice based on our consulting and practitioner experience. Key Findings Some slightly good news, […]

It’s the first morning of your new job. You’re excited because you’ve been selected to have coffee with the CEO to ask questions about the company. She has a reputation as being straightforward and a bit impatient, so you’ve thoroughly prepared for this conversation. The barista hands you and the CEO your coffees and you […]

Each year’s Harvard Medical School graduating class includes one doctor who is ranked at the bottom of their class. To be clear, this individual was the absolute worst performer in their four years at this highly esteemed institution. Every other Harvard Medical School graduate that year had performed better than they did. If you lined […]