No-one likes having difficult work conversations – but as a manager, it’s inevitable that at some point an issue will arise that has to be addressed. It may be that an employee’s performance has been consistently under par, a project has gone horribly wrong or a crucial meeting has been mishandled. Regardless, there will inevitably
Performance Management
With every business looking for effective ways to retain their best staff and attract the brightest talent, pulse surveys have proven a simple yet vital method of collecting targeted employee feedback. The best thing about them is that they are quick and easy to run, and the feedback can be about virtually anything, from overall
What’s been distracting you today? The relentless ping of emails arriving in your inbox? A constantly-ringing telephone? Or maybe working from home has made it difficult to separate your work and non-work life? Research carried out by Totaljobs found that on average, workers in the UK spend 1 hour 24 minutes of the working day
When your appraisals, reviews or check-ins roll around, how are they received across your business? Are employees happy and excited at the thought of discussing their performance? Or does the thought of an appraisal fill them with dread? If it’s the latter, they’re not alone. In fact, according to a Gallup poll, there’s evidence to
With all our attention focused on the continued effects of the COVID pandemic, a different kind of epidemic has also been seemingly sweeping the world of work – an epidemic of employee demotivation. Results of a recent Gallup poll found that just 36 per cent of staff are fully engaged at work, while 14 per
If the latest research is to be believed, companies are still struggling with two of the most fundamental people management issues – keeping employee absence under control and employee performance management. The latest data from the ONS shows that employee productivity has still not bounced back to pre-pandemic levels of 2019. However, whilst this is
With employer confidence regarding their prospects continuing to increase* post-lockdown, recruitment efforts are also on the rise. How can employers stay one step ahead of the rest and be victorious in this new wave of war for talent? Although many line managers are eager to recruit externally when a vacancy appears, in this increasingly competitive
For many organisations, when the workplace had to quickly adapt to cope with COVID-19, they didn’t expect to still be managing those challenges come performance review time. Yet, as November looms, that’s exactly what businesses are facing – performance management alongside COVID-19. While some aspects of performance management might remain the same, others will need
No one likes having to give an employee difficult feedback – especially with all the challenges thrown everyone’s way this year – but eventually, you’ll reach a point when issues just can’t be ignored. If performance has dipped, serious mistakes are being made, or there are problems around attitude and behaviour, it’s important to tackle
I’m really looking forward to the next round of performance reviews – said no manager, ever. Endless form filling and the task of fitting appraisal meetings into an already packed diary can make performance management feel like a real chore. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Handled well, the formal appraisal is a
It’s a fact of life that people don’t like change – so introducing any new HR process that requires people to think and act differently is always going to be a challenge. Performance management is a problematic subject – often regarded by managers as an irritating, box-ticking exercise, and by employees (particularly those who’ve had bad
Performance check-ins (or continuous performance management) are a series of regular conversations between managers and employees about work, progress and goals throughout the year. Depending on the organisation or individual, they can take place weekly, monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly. This series of conversations play a huge part in the success of many high-performing organisations. The multiple benefits
Performance management is a key HR activity for most businesses, but how it’s administered can vary greatly between organisations. Businesses managing performance via paper-based processes or spreadsheets, or standalone performance systems are missing out on the advantages of having performance as part of a wider HR system. Choosing a performance management system that is part
No-one likes to either give or receive difficult feedback, even more so right now when people are still dealing with the consequences of COVID-19. But, employee performance won’t improve unless employers communicate clearly about problems, and staff are able to take it on board and respond to what’s needed. So, what can HR do to
Often referred to as continuous performance management, employee‘ check-ins’ are a series of regular conversations between managers and employees about work, progress and goals that are on-going throughout the year. Many high-performing organisations have already realised the benefits of this continuous approach to performance management and have moved away from traditional annual appraisals. Looking at
UK productivity has dropped yet again, with the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) report showing output per hour has gone down a further 0.5 per cent. Given the amount of turbulence going on in the wider political and economic climate right now, it’s hardly a surprising result. Thanks to the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, many
The Cezanne HR team recently conducted a survey of 1,000 employees to assess the current state of UK performance management, and it’s safe to say that the findings make for an interesting read. Nearly half of the employees we polled (49%) said they are either indifferent to, or dread, their performance reviews. Indifference to performance
According to analytics and advisory company Gallup, employees who have a best friend at work are seven times more likely to be engaged with their job, and feeling more connected with colleagues can boost productivity by as much as 25%. Promoting an environment where all employees get along, with no conflict or fallings-out isn’t easy.
Paper, Excel and outdated systems – they used to be the lifeblood of organisations, with a lot of HR time spent chasing around, as many of their processes are driven by authorisation. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy for organisations to dispense with it, but today’s affordable Cloud-based HR systems can certainly provide welcome relief. Let’s
HR teams are facing unprecedented demands on their time. Hot on the heels of managing the first, fast adjustments to the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic – moving to remote working, furloughing staff, reducing headcount – comes the need to prepare for further change, and plan for the ‘new normal’. How do HR teams ensure