Welcome to the July 11, 2007 issue of The Total View

Published by Success Performance Solutions, Written by Ira S. Wolfe

Visit our Human Resources Blog and Perfect Labor Storm Blog where we can post daily (and more often) human resource updates, news, and Perfect Labor Storm facts. 

What's Inside:

1. Annual Reviews Give Performance Management a Bad Rap

Despite its critical role in growing an organization effectively, performance management in many companies consists primarily of annual appraisals. These once-a-year reviews provide a reflective snapshot of how an employee has performed over the previous year as well as suggestions for what they need to achieve in the next year. This strategy is like planning where you are headed by studying what you see in the rear view mirror.

A second significant problem with current performance measurements is that in most organizations there is no standard by which all employees are measured. In most cases performance appraisal consists of one supervisor's rating system versus another supervisor's rating. Different managers expect different things of their employees, even if they are doing similar jobs.

Managers want to tell their people the truth about how well they're doing but they also want to be good to their people, particularly in the area of compensation. The result is the Lake Wobegon Effect, the human tendency to overestimate one's achievements and capabilities in relation to others. Lake Wobegon you might recall is the Garrion Keillor's fictional town from the radio series A Prairie Home Companion, where, according to Garrison Keillor, "all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average".

The reasons for this halo effect vary. Regardless of the cause, the organization suffers when nearly every employee's performance is above average, or at the minimum rated higher than his/her performance justified. Some managers hope this halo effect boosts an employee's morale and confidence by rating his performance better than he deserves. Other managers just don't want
to be bothered writing comments justifying poor performance.

Managers select ratings that don't require any feedback or don't want to put anything in writing that might be held against them should the employee ever file a complaint. And others don't provide the rating an under-performer deserves because if the employee quits, this will make more work for the manager
that results in more interviewing and training. And who knows - the next employee might even be worse! Whatever the reason for the halo effect, many managers just choose the easy way out and exchange positive reviews for mediocrity.

But for every glass-half-full viewpoint, there exists the horn effect. This occurs when the manager believes "nobody's perfect and there is always room for improvement." These managers don't believe in rewarding an employee with a "10" (out of 10) even when he/she deserves it. A few employers actually use a rating scale of 1 to 9 because no employee deserves a 10 in their minds.

As a result, a significant of all this subjectivity, a perception gap exists between employers and employees regarding the effectiveness of performance reviews, according to the recently released Salary.com sponsored 2006 Performance Survey of 2,000 employees and 330 HR professionals representing small to large companies.

In addition to the lack of standard criteria in evaluating performance, it's not easy for a manager to drop biases or personal dislikes out of one's ratings of an employee.

With effective performance management in place, individual goal achievement feeds organizational momentum. Without it, employees and management face off in the unenviable job of explaining how and why each of them ended up where they did, neither of them in the place they intended.

Consequently individual and organizational goals move full steam ahead on separate parallel tracks. As the year end approaches, the individual or the organization- or both- often find themselves peering at one another from different destinations.

When an individual employee fails to meet his/her goals, the organization fails to meet its strategic objectives.

To learn more about getting your employees aligned with your business objectives, read about Strategic Success Model.

2. Perfect Labor Storm Workforce Statistics and Trends

China's Generation Y accounts for nearly one-sixth of the Chinese population, equivalent to two-thirds of the entire U.S. population.

Generation Y as a percentage of the working population will increase from 17 % to 28 % in India, from 17 % to 25 % in Brazil, from 12 % to 23 % in China, from 14 % to 28 % in Russia and from 12 % to 23 % in the United States.

By 2025 more than 75 % of the workforce in India will be from Generation Y and younger generations, while in Brazil the same cohorts will constitute more than 60 % of the workforce. In the United States, Gen Y and younger will make up just less than 60 %.

Source: Deloitte Research, based on United Nationals Department of Economic and
Social Affairs, Population Division, Population Estimates and Projections (New York: 2005)

Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 is now available. The year 2007 will see an increase in skilled worker shortages and more competition. The result will be higher salaries, more training and career advancement opportunities, and more flexible work cultures. How prepared is your company to find skilled and dependable workers?

Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 is the newly updated and revised 2007 edition of best-selling book first published in 2005. You can now download an advance copy of PLS 2.0. a $10 value with every purchase of the original Perfect Labor Storm, still a great value at $9.95. Order your copy today!

3. Questions of the Week: DISC

Is one behavioral style (DISC) preferred more than another?

Absolutely not. The power and beauty about DISC is that it is based on a "universal" language. No style is better nor worse than another. Behavioral preferences are by themselves neutral; it is people who value positively or judge negatively behavioral preferences different from themselves. All behavioral styles predict is "how" an individual prefers to approach problems, people, pace or procedures.

Is one DISC style better than another?
No. Think about each behavioral style (D-I-S-C) as representing a different foreign language - a language by which people prefer to communicate. Is one language better than another? No. But one behavioral "language" can be more effective.

Imagine an English-only speaking manager trying to give direction to a Russian-only speaking employee. The first tendency is often to speak LOUDER and s-l-o-w-e-r - it rarely helps. But let's say the manager learns a few key Russian words or phrases and the employee picks up a few English phrases. Communication. By flexing behavioral styles, much stress and conflict is removed and communication improves dramatically.

Learn more about CriteriaOne DISC

4. NEW! SELECT for Banking Pre-Employment Test

SELECT for Banking is the newest pre-employment test added to the suite of assessments included in the SELECT Associate System. SELECT for Banking is a predictive screening tool validated specifically for the banking industry.   Success Performance Solutions is pleased to announce we are now able to offer this SELECT product as part of our assessment offerings.

What does SELECT for Banking measure?

Banking specific math problems (associates)
Analysis and word problems (manager)
SELECT also reports on areas such as:
Willingness to do common job tasks (associates)
Relevant Experience (manager)
Counterproductive Behaviors

SELECT for Banking is available in 4 different report version plus a sales/service combo. Learn more about what SELECT for Banking measures

5. "Leading Leaders, Leading Others" Leadership Development Seminar

Develop leaders to take a strategic approach to managing employees. The working seminar series addresses universal leadership principles (values) as well as key management competencies such as decision making, problem solving, managing others, motivating others, negotiation - over 38 competencie which support the vision and strategy of the organization.

The Seminar focuses on the personal development of current and future leaders plus these specific skills sets:

Achieving Results Through Others
Motivating Others
Communication
Holding Others Accountable
Coaching and Developing

Experience the most comprehensive leadership development program with measurable results by calling us at 800-803-4303 for more information or by sending an email.

We are now accepting applications for "Leading Leaders, Leading Others" tentatively scheduled to begin in November 2007 and meeting monthly (except December) through May 2008. On-site training available too.

6. CriteriaOne Certification Workshop: October 31-November 2, 2007

Learn to build a competency-based selection and performance management system to align employees with the right skills to meet the competitive demands of your business.

"Light years ahead of the competition" says one CriteriaOne participant.

"A must for anyone interested in lowering turnover and improving productivity," says another.

Don't miss the only certification workshop in 2007.

More about CriteriaOne Certification, the whole person approach to selecting and managing employees

7. Wolfe to keynote PA Chamber Skilled Worker Shortage Crisis roundtable

The Pennsylvania Chamber Foundation invites you to a free public service roundtable "Help Wanted: The Skilled Worker And Business Leader Shortage Crisis", from 8 a.m. to noon Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at the Holiday Inn Harrisburg-Hershey, Grantville, PA. Ira S Wolfe will open the event with an update on The Perfect Labor Storm.

Designed for presidents, business owners, HR professionals, supervisors, department heads and other business executives who hire in Pennsylvania, in addition to local chamber executives and state
association executives, this event will provide practical, concrete advice on how the business community can cope with the current and anticipated shortage of qualified, skilled employees and business leaders.

Read more about The Skilled Worker and Business Leader Shortage Crisis

8. Quotes from Hire Authorities

"They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them for yourself."
Andy Warhol

Permission is granted to consultants, managers, business owners and HR professionals to reproduce content from this newsletter for your internal publications, or to distribute copies to your workforce, on the condition that you reproduce the credits and contact information as follows: "Reprinted with permission from Ira S Wolfe and Success Performance Solutions. Copyright 2007 Ira S Wolfe." We also hope you will forward the newsletter in its entirety and recommend to others that they subscribe.

Ira S. Wolfe Copyright 2007 - All Rights Reserved. Reprints and other distribution by permission