Dick Groat is talking about creating performance evaluation systems. He means on paper, but the tips apply more generally, as well.

A good article if you’re just starting to think about the issues involved in an appraisal system. 

Just catching up on some research.  I’m reading this note from Yankee Group on the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of on-demand applications versus on-premise, licensed software (What I like to call "Old School"). Specifically, this research talks about how this comparison affects SMBs and Mid-Market companies.

They compared two similar packages – NetSuite (On-Demand) and a combination of applications from Best Software (Old School). The results are shocking – if you make traditional software. At a 20 user level, the TCO over 5 years was 100% more for the old school solution. At 100 users, the TCO is 25% more for old school.

Obviously, this is only one example, but it does show that software delivered on-demand can save companies significant amounts of money, even over five years.

Perhaps slightly off topic, but I found it compelling so I thought you might as well.

The highly esteemed Dr. John Sullivan published on Monday the fourth part of this case study at ERE. It profiles the recruiting organization inside Valero Energy, #34 on the Fortune 500. Run by a former CEO, the department is run like a business in itself and Dr. John feels there is quite a bit to be learned from this approach – in fact, he calls it one of the best recruiting organizations in the world. A good, if slightly lengthy, read.

Aberdeen and HCI released a new report today called "the HR Executives Agenda" based on interviews with 98 executives who are members of HCI’s online community. Get it here and/or read the press release.

Some juicy nuggets:

• 59% said improving their HCM technology is a key response to the business challenges they face. Of those HCM technologies, online performance management systems are the leading planned expenditure.

• In considering technology, HR execs say they are most concerned with the best functionality first and foremost – but they prefer either an integrated suite of applications or "best of breed" software that can be integrated.

• Interesting to me is that executives said the method by which HCM software is delivered (in-house, stand-alone, part of ERP, 3rd party hosted or completely outsourced) is only somewhat important but 46% of companies called "best in class" plan to increase their use of ASP solutions.

   

  UPDATE: Another Review of the Report at Destination CRM 

Impactful isn’t a word, but it should be. Anyway, the prolific Susan Heathfield is talking about giving and receiving impactful feedback. She’s got 10 steps for both and some good tips, too.

My favorite "Give" Tip: "Effective feedback involves the sharing of information and observations. It does not include advice unless you have permission or advice was requested. "

And "Get" Tip: "Try to control your defensiveness. Fear of hurting you or having to deal with defensive or justifying behavior makes people hesitant to give feedback to another person."

The biggest shame is when feedback isn’t given at all because people don’t know how to give and receive it. Consistent feedback is to be promoted from both sides. Managers and employees should be receptive to getting it and proactive about giving it. As Martha Stewart would say, "it’s a good thing."

Workforce Week has the list of the top 30 earners in Human Resources.

#1 is Dennis Donovan at Home Depot who raked in total comp of $6.67 million in 2004.

Click for the rest of the list.(PDF Warning) 

Are these numbers reasonable? What do you think? 

Thanks to Marty Pitkow for the pointer. 

Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail had an article a couple of days ago on succession planning for the CEO role. Most Boards, the article says, are simply unprepared to replace the top executive if a sudden change is necessary. Choosing a successor is a critical decison, both becuase it determines the leadership for the company’s next phase, but also because those passed over may choose to leave for other opportunities or, worse, become demotivated in their current role.

A quote: "Rob Grandy, Korn/Ferry’s Canadian board practice leader, said directors may be neglecting this issue just because they have so many other pressing matters fighting for their time." Time is an important issue at every company, and at every level. Board memebers and managers, especially at larger companies, will simply never be able to keep track of every potential candidate for every potential position. The question alone is mind boggling.

So what then to do?

Imagine a succession planning system where every potential candidate for every role (present AND future) is identifiable with a button-click. Imagine a system where skills, strenghts and past reviews are immediately accessible to help in the decision making process. Imagine a system where succession planning for every position in your company can be thought out in advance, so you’re ready to move when change happens.

Don’t work too hard imagining

It already exists.

The quote is from a story related by Tim Toterhi of Quintiles during a webinar we held yesteday. Read to the bottom for the answer.

I generally hesitate to plug our own marketing efforts, but I think the webinar marcomm put togther yesterday with The Yankee Group and customer Quintiles is actually worth watching - even if you’ve only got a few minutes. To start it off, Jason Corsello from Yankee gave an excellent overview of the space. He covered a range of topics from specifics like technology delivery methods (on-demand vs. on-site) to high level analysis of the overall value of workforce performance management.

The most interesting bit: the discussion of Integrated Human Capital Management (Minute 11:30)

Tim Totehri from Quintiles (a customer) talked about his own process in evaluating and implementing a performance management solution (Minute 31:00). His 6 steps to getting a system rolled out:

1. Confront the Brutal Facts
2. Understand Employee Engagement
3. Build the Business Case
4. Choose a Partner
5. Get Internal Buy-In
6. Implementation

And the answer to the question of what to do when the airplane door opens:

Close It! 

Sometimes things only look like big problems. Getting a performance management system up and running is challenging, but doable. (Further context and explanation at minute 31)

Watch the Webinar | Get the Yankee Slides | Get the SuccessFactors Slides | Get the Quintiles Slides

BusinessWeek has its cover story on human capital management and the issues HR is facing today (more to come on this) and King 5, an NBC affiliate in Seattle, is talking about 360s. A coincidence? Probably not, and a remarkable thing, methinks.  From a national news weekly to local tv news, dealing wih the issues posed by human resources is becoming a hot topic in all kinds of mainstream media venues.