Imagine the workplace as an ecosystem and at its heart, lies a community of living, breathing organisms. In an ecosystem, how you work is just as important as the work you do because even seemingly small actions in this environment can have…
Performance & Personality
This Vendor Crowdsources Skills Tests
No matter how good we are at finding applicants for a job we can’t truly succeed in making a good hire if we can’t identify the best ones. One core tool we use for assessing candidates, the resume, isn’t so…
The Importance of Resilience
Note: This article is part of an occasional series dedicated to exploring the contribution of human capital assets (people!) to the valuation of a business. Welcome to The New ROI: Return on Individuals. Previous articles in the series can be found here. ∼∼∼∼∼ The ability to bounce back…
Your Execs Are Fooling Themselves When It Comes to the Feedback Office Workers Want
Think your office workers are satisfied with the level of performance feedback they receive? Think again. New data suggests that if you’re still conducting the traditional annual or semi-annual performance reviews, there’s a good chance your employees are not happy…
“We Have a Pay-For-Performance Program” Not!
My business career has spanned a long time and working from both sides of the desk. First as a compensation practitioner filling out survey questionnaires and working my way up the ladder, and then (much) later as a global compensation…
How One-on-Ones Can Make the Difference Between Loving and Leaving
It’s a well-known cliché in HR circles that employees quit their bosses, not their jobs. However, having run many employee surveys and regularly studying analytics on employee engagement, I’ve found that the root of the problem goes much deeper than…
10 Must-Have Features For Your Performance Management System
HR departments across nearly all industries are constantly trying to improve systems and processes to help increase employee engagement, recruit and retain talent, and operate on a more efficient and cost-effective basis each day. Performance management software is one of…
The 3 Dimensions of a Job: Style, Pace, Risk
I’ve spent over 25 years in human capital management and I’ve gotten 10 certifications in the space. Through the use and study of various assessments and workforce analytics, I can tell you that every job at any company contains some…
Do Your Subcultures Align Or Undermine Your Company Values?
It can be surprising when you first see the signs of an organizational subculture forming When the company is small, employees are much closer to the central embodiment of its mission, vision, and values, because everyone is working closely together….
7 Talent Assessment Myths and Why They’re Wrong
Talent assessment is all about managing people, that is, evaluating and screening candidates, hiring the right person for the right job, and managing and developing work teams. Though companies have been using talent assessment tools for many years, some are…
Build a More Engaged Workforce These 4 Ways
Companies are becoming increasingly concerned with the internal culture of their company these days – and for good reason. Gallup has famously studied and reported on the American workplace reporting that the level of engagement among employees has a huge…
What It Takes For a New CEO to Make a Successful Transition
There is nothing more exciting than the moment a new leader is announced. Employees Google the new CEO while wondering what they will do to change the organization. A new leader brings new ideas. She or he offers a new…
10 Questions to Ask To Select the Right Assessment Tools
Assessments can help you evaluate candidates, develop employees, and give you confidence and accuracy in the selection and development of talent that you depend on to make your company successful. However, assessments come in many different forms, and not every…
Being Smart Isn’t Enough to Succeed
Note: This article is part of an occasional series dedicated to exploring the contribution of human capital assets (people!) to the valuation of a business. Welcome to The New ROI: Return on Individuals. Previous articles in the series can be found here. ∼∼∼∼∼ Why do some…
Fail Fast and Take the Heat Out of Failure
I recently met with a client responsible for organizational development in the financial services sector who was seeking ideas, information, and input from ImagineNation towards cultivating a “fail fast” organizational culture. It caused me to explore what might be some…
Feeling Overwhelmed? Take a Focus Break
The human resource leader’s role is rapidly evolving with ever-changing technology. Many of the responsibilities which formerly fell to HR departments have become automated. Chatbots answer employees’ questions regarding company benefits. Employees may be responsible for enrolling themselves in health…
Evaluations Still Have a Place If You Do Them Right
Employee performance reviews are undergoing an evolution from annual evaluation to something else. It seems there are almost as many different schools of thought about the most effective way of grading an individual’s performance as articles written on the subject….
5 Ways to Make It Safe for Others to Speak Up
The reality of hierarchical social systems is that people hold deeply ingrained, taken-for-granted beliefs that it’s dangerous to speak up or disagree with those in power… It’s up to leaders to foster the climate of psychological safety required to overcome…
With Practice and the Right Approach, Feedback Can Be a Gift
Annual performance reviews are controversial. Some people praise them in public, but most hate them in private. For starters, they are a waste of time — that’s why many companies are ditching annual reviews. Also, research shows that they make…
How to Work With a Micromanaging Boss
If you haven’t worked for a micromanager, you’ve heard about them. Employees buzz about these bosses over lunch, complain about them around the water cooler, and chew them up at the dinner table with their family. At the worst situations,…