Why so many bad bosses still rise to the top
Narcissism. Overconfidence. Low EQ. Why do we persist in selecting for leadership traits that hamper organizational progress—and leave the right potential leaders in the wrong roles?
Content: Article | Authors: Brooke Weddle, Bryan Hancock, Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Diversity, Human Resources, Leadership, Organizational Behavior
Rethinking organizational health for the new world of work
Yes, organizational health still drives long-term performance—but the way leaders measure and diagnose health should change, new research shows.
Content: Article | Authors: Brooke Weddle, Bryan Hancock, Lucia Rahilly | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Organizational Behavior
Investing in middle managers pays off—literally
New research shows that having more top-performing middle managers leads to much better financial outcomes. Here are five actions that can set managers and their organizations up for success.
Content: Article | Authors: Brooke Weddle, Bryan Hancock, Emily Field, Stephanie Smallets | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Organizational Behavior
Stave Off Attrition with an Internal Talent Marketplace
Is your best talent hiding in plain sight? An internal talent marketplace helps match existing employees to open roles—in novel and sometimes unexpected ways.
Content: Article | Authors: Bill Schaninger, Bryan Hancock, Emily Field | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Human Resources
Why You Should Apply Analytics to Your People Strategy
Bringing advanced computing power and analytics capabilities to bear on people decisions in an organization is crucial to driving lasting and effective change.
Content: Multimedia Content | Authors: Bill Schaninger, Bryan Hancock, Simon London | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Human Resources
Bryan Hancock, Bill Schaninger
We found through our research […] what drives perceived fairness in the performance-management process. One of the drivers of fairness is that you understand how what you’re working on fits in the bigger picture. […] The second driver of fairness is that there’s an ongoing component. “My manager has an ongoing conversation with me about how I’m doing, so I’m not surprised. I know what … [ Read more ]
Content: Quotation | Authors: Bill Schaninger, Bryan Hancock | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Human Resources, Organizational Behavior
The Fairness Factor in Performance Management
Many systems are under stress because employees harbor doubts that the core elements are equitable. A few practical steps can change that.
Content: Article | Authors: Bill Schaninger, Bryan Hancock, Elizabeth Hioe | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Human Resources, Management
Boris Ewenstein, Bryan Hancock, Asmus Komm
Experts say three [coaching] practices that appear to deliver results are to change the language of feedback; to provide constant, crowdsourced vignettes of what worked and what didn’t; and to focus performance discussions more on what’s needed for the future than what happened in the past.
Content: Quotation | Authors: Asmus Komm, Boris Ewenstein, Bryan Hancock | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Coaching, Human Resources, Management
Ahead of the Curve: The Future of Performance Management
What happens after companies jettison traditional year-end evaluations?
Content: Article | Authors: Asmus Komm, Boris Ewenstein, Bryan Hancock | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Organizational Behavior
Boris Ewenstein, Bryan Hancock, Asmus Komm
Since only a few employees are standouts, it makes little sense to risk demotivating the broad majority by linking pay and performance. More and more technology companies, for instance, have done away with performance-related bonuses. Instead, they offer a competitive base salary and peg bonuses (sometimes paid in shares or share options) to the company’s overall performance. Employees are free to focus on doing great … [ Read more ]
Content: Quotation | Authors: Asmus Komm, Boris Ewenstein, Bryan Hancock | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Compensation, Human Resources
Boris Ewenstein, Bryan Hancock, Asmus Komm
Identifying clear overperformers and underperformers is important, but conducting annual ratings rituals based on the bell curve will not develop the workforce overall. Instead, by getting rid of bureaucratic annual-review processes—and the behavior related to them—companies can focus on getting much higher levels of performance out of many more of their employees.
Content: Quotation | Authors: Asmus Komm, Boris Ewenstein, Bryan Hancock | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Human Resources
Boris Ewenstein, Bryan Hancock, Asmus Komm
Managers attempt to rate their employees as best they can. The ratings are then calibrated against one another and, if necessary, adjusted by distribution guidelines that are typically bell curves (Gaussian distribution curves). These guidelines assume that the vast majority of employees cluster around the mean and meet expectations, while smaller numbers over- and underperform. […] This logic appeals intuitively (“aren’t the majority of people … [ Read more ]
Content: Quotation | Authors: Asmus Komm, Boris Ewenstein, Bryan Hancock | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Human Resources