The Human Capitalist (known more properly as Jason Corsello of the Yankee Group) shares his views on Performance and Talent Management. Hint: he likes it. To wit:

The solutions are not the “end-all-be-all” and will not solve all of the issues in the performance review process.  They are though a huge enabler to level the playing field, eliminate (or at least minimize) the emotional factors involved during the difficult review process, and have the ability to build in the necessary flexible required to accommodate the changing demands of an increasingly dynamic workforce. 

Turns out you were right. According to this survey outlined at Management Issues, nearly one third of the 555 senior executives interviewed rated HR as the lowest performing area of their businesses. Curiously, that bests (or worsts)even IT (22%).

Curious as to your thoughts on where this comes from?

Supposedly, there’s a list of HR Blogs at HRE Online. But I can’t get to it. Anybody know why? I’m so curious!

If you’re looking for some Human Resources blogs, don’t forget my blogroll to the right. Let me know if you think there are ones I should add.

Or so says this HBS article (via Be Excellent).

Instead, they argue it’s the job of every operating manager and senior management up to and including the board should play a part:

In this worldview, it is part of the line manager’s job to recognize his subordinates’ developmental needs, to help them cultivate new skills, and to provide them opportunities for professional development and personal growth. Managers must do this even if it means nudging their rising stars into new functional areas or business units. They must mentor emerging leaders, from their own and other departments, passing on important knowledge and providing helpful evaluations and feedback. The operating managers’ own evaluations, development plans, and promotions, in turn, depend on how successfully they nurture their subordinates.

Further, boards can play a vital role in shepherding up-and-comers. Because they are detached from  day to day operations, they can more clearly see the company’s leadership needs and bench strength.

This feels about right to me, but if it’s the case, what then is the role of HR? To me, it’s twofold: guidance and enablement.

Guidance in that HR experts will always be needed to help assess an individual’s ability and potential inside the organization. If the board adds value because they are outside the company, HR can add value by being the insider.  As far as enablement, by providing and owning strategic platforms like performance management, HR can ensure they are the fundamental enabler of leadership development and succession planning.

Thoughts?

Some good advice on dealing with a bad performance review at Fortune/CNNMoney.

The first bit: don’t be defensive. It’s everyone’s first instinct to try to prove why what we’ve done was the right thing, but often that response leads to a spiral of negativity. It’s a difficult response to control, but you’re better off seeing it as an opportunity to find out what you can do to improve.