Bill Gurley

I hate the 5 to 10 percent layoffs. You don’t get any material impact to lowering your expenses. Yet you get all the cultural negatives of having done a layoff. You get 100 percent of the pain and very little gain. And then you’re in retweet land—you end up with two or three of them.

Geoff Tuff, Steve Goldbach, Jeff Johnson

Even when interview questions are relevant, the interview is a poor predictor of future performance. It demonstrates someone’s competence to answer questions, know theory, and prioritize information – all of which may or may not correlate to what they need to do on the job.

The traditional interview also makes it more likely we hire someone in our image, the “mini me” cognitive error. We can’t … [ Read more ]

In the spotlight: Performance management that puts people first

Performance management systems help people continuously develop—but most companies fall short of best practices. A set of defined design choices can help guide leaders forward.

What High-Quality Job Candidates Look for in a Company

Some characteristics and behaviors are common to top performers across many different roles. Here are four ways that high-quality candidates may respond differently than the rest to the right interview questions.

Is Your Workplace Biased Against Introverts?

Extroverts are more likely to express their passion outwardly, giving them a leg up when it comes to raises and promotions, according to research by Jon Jachimowicz. Introverts are just as motivated and excited about their work, but show it differently. How can managers challenge their assumptions?

Jeffrey Pfeffer

We know that educational credentials help predict salary. We know that gender and race help predict salary, even though they shouldn’t. We know that years of service, or seniority, helps predict salary, and there’s some evidence to suggest that years of service is one of the more important predictors of salary.

Gender, race, years of service, and educational credentials all have nothing to do with performance. … [ Read more ]

How To Hone Your Compensation Strategy

Answering these questions will help you determine what’s working, what isn’t and explore options for a successful compensation strategy.

Atta Tarki, Tyler Cowen, Alexandra Ham

In an effort to minimize mishires, many companies have adopted extensive hiring processes … that we believe is as damaging a form of inefficiency as mishires themselves. […] And there’s no strong evidence that it’s actually even working.  The treatment has become worse than the disease.

[…]

In their review of their hiring processes, Google discovered that they could capture 86% of the value produced by … [ Read more ]

The big power of small goals

Employees who are disciplined about setting daily goals not only accomplish more but also feel better about their work. Here are three ways that managers can make daily goal-setting a habit.

Some employees are destroying value. Others are building it. Do you know the difference?

More than half of employees report being relatively unproductive at work. New research into six types of employees shows how companies can re-engage workers while amplifying the impact of star performers.

Meet the four forces shaping your workforce strategy

Specialization. Scarcity. Rivalry. Humanity. Companies that understand—and harness—these forces will have an edge in creating vibrant workforces capable of achieving sustained, positive outcomes.

Beyond the ‘Business Case’ in DEI: 6 Steps Toward Meaningful Change

Diversity and inclusion efforts that focus on business outcomes alone rarely address root causes. Jamillah Bowman Williams, a visiting fellow at the Institute for the Study of Business in Global Society, offers tips for companies navigating their next stage of the DEI journey.

Three Things All New Managers Should Be Doing

New managers typically receive no training for their new role. Wharton’s Peter Cappelli discusses three common struggles and how to avoid them.

Liz Kofman-Burns

When you’re trying to balance the hiring opinions of so many different interviewers, you don’t always wind up with the best candidate. You end up hiring the candidate that skates through by getting a more neutral opinion from most interviewers.

Layoffs Can Be Bad Business: 5 Strategies to Consider Before Cutting Staff

Many companies are quick to reduce headcount when economic headwinds appear, but they risk weakening their businesses. A case study explores the hidden costs of layoffs.

4 Reasons Why Managers Fail

Gartner research has found that managers today are accountable for 51% more responsibilities than they can effectively manage — and they’re starting to buckle under the pressure: 54% are suffering from work-induced stress and fatigue, and 44% are struggling to provide personalized support to their direct reports. Ultimately, one in five managers said they would prefer not being people managers given a choice. Further analysis … [ Read more ]

Bill Schaninger

There are things the company needs to do. Those things are activities. Those activities convert to tasks. Previously, those tasks probably were grouped together into a set of responsibilities. We called that a role and drew a box around it. Now, we’re questioning all the tasks and asking what skills we need to feel confident that a person can accomplish the task. That’s matching task … [ Read more ]

Emily Field

A digital talent marketplace creates more transparency and visibility into open opportunities. Additionally, we know that it can reduce bias. As we think about this from the diversity, equity, and inclusion [DEI] lens, we know that women are much less likely to apply for jobs if they don’t meet the qualifications. We often hear that a man will apply for a job if he has … [ Read more ]

Flawed Feedback: The Problem with Peer Reviews

People leverage 360-degree feedback systems and peer evaluations for personal gain.

Liz Fosslien, Mollie West Duffy

Many think of burnout as if it’s solely related to how much we work — and that if we take time off, we’ll soon bounce back, born anew. But a vacation will not cure burnout. Burnout isn’t only about the hours you’re putting in. It’s also a function of the stories you tell yourself and how you approach what you do — in the office … [ Read more ]