My visit to the University of Tartu in Estonia inspired me on so many different levels. As I wrote last week, the sheer determination of the people to excel is striking, and I was so impressed by the high standards they achieve.   For my part, it is always...

  I have just been through a great online course about cybersecurity and how to be safe online. It reminded me of an old (bad) joke that used to be on the HR conference circuit: “People think they are good at three things: driving, love-making, and being a...

  We received some great thoughts from Prof Bob Garratt in response to our recent blogs about performance appraisals. Garratt is a leading consultant, academic and author[1]on corporate governance and board development. The FRC UK Corporate Governance Code 2016...

Last week, I discussed the hole that is left by abandoning the annual performance review. This week, let’s look at the parts of the review process that do indeed need to be dropped: in my view these are, forced-ranking, annual goals, review of competencies and...

Last week, I promised I would give my views on the merits or otherwise of reviewing performance against competencies and also look at manager-led appraisals.  In short, does anyone actually still use such approaches? Surely not. Reviewing performance against...

  Continuing the reflections from last week, following my guest lecture on Dr Jelena Petrovic‘s excellent HRM Masters at Kingston University, here are some points that emerged from our discussion on the value or otherwise of an annual performance...

I have just finished guest lecturing on performance management at Kingston Business School. As in previous years, the students were outstanding and we had some great discussions. I particularly want to share with you ideas from our discussion about how to get managers...

Last week, I set out two scenarios (which, by the way, I have witnessed directly) about people who were clearly out of their depth in the supposedly career enhancing posts they had been appointed to. I will be dissecting these over the next couple of weeks. Our...

 A big thank you for following us over the first six months of publication of this newsletter. There is a bewildering array of stuff out there, and our aim has been to choose the topics, and the thinkers that offer the most useful insights to help you manage...

This week I wish to comment on the second scenario of my blog of two weeks ago. It concerns the ‘high potential’ person, newly-appointed to a CEO role, on route to a much larger senior leadership role. Let’s call this person “AJ.” He is...

Congratulations to the CIPD on the launch of their new Profession Map, which sets the international benchmark for the people profession.   The map captures the business context of today and tomorrow, and reflects the full breadth of the people profession. It is...

The more I work through it, the more impressed I become with CIPD’s new profession map. It emphasises impact and value. It establishes HR as the function to add value to the organisation, and drive performance. The map not only serves as a framework for...

I have just returned from a fantastic experience presenting my talent management methodology and ideas at a conference at the University of Tartu in Estonia. I was so inspired by how a university in a country of just 1.3 million inhabitants transformed itself...

I strongly recommend this week’s featured article in our newsletter ‘Why leadership development doesn’t work.’ The points the authors make all resonate with me, and I love the way this article is written.   My first thought was to recall a...

  People benefit from feedback about their performance, and support for development. This is not in doubt. What is questionable however is how much feedback and support is beneficial.   In two blogs, in December and January, I wrote against the trend for...

  Following on from last week’s blog about research conducted by Gartner1 that found that the quality of a feedback conversation is more important than frequency, I want to address this issue of quality. What makes a conversation developmental for the...

  I recently had the opportunity to find out through a series of individual, face-to-face meetings in an organisation where we had introduced a talent strategy some eight months ago.    To give some context, the strategy sets out an approach that values...

  Modernise performance management Create a learning culture Develop an integrated talent management system Provide outstanding development for your HR team If any of these match your priorities, join us for a short webinar on 25 September, at 13.30 when we will...