Category Archives: Engagement

Ranking Employees By Performance – A Seriously Flawed Common Practice

Another noggin’ floggin’ by Kimberly M. Wiefling, M.S.

One of the most distasteful duties I’ve performed as a project leader was to rank the people on my team, from best to worst performing, during an annual appraisal process. This is akin to ranking the usefulness of different kinds of music – it’s highly dependent on the music’s intended purpose, and subject to the taste of the person judging the music.

This so-called “forced stack ranking” is something I resisted at first, but regrettably I caved in and did what was asked of me. Afterwards I went home and took a shower to wash the stench of the whole experience off me. This was many years ago, before I developed the courage to overturn such unproductive practices, as I did later in my career when I championed abolishing performance appraisals at one company. (Don’t worry, it wasn’t a free-for-all. We replaced evaluations with respectful two-way dialogues every quarter between managers and employees to mutually assess results and align future actions with company goals.) 

Simplistically, forced ranking works like this: 

  1. Make a list of people in a team, department or organization.
  2. Place the names in order of perceived performance, from highest to lowest.
  3. Turn this ranking into some kind of “grade”, which is shared with the employee:
  • Reward the top performers by using this ranking as a basis of distributing raises or bonuses.
  • Punish, humiliate, sanction, or fire the bottom 5 – 10%, presumably to make room for more top performers.

I’m sure you can already begin to imagine some of the hazards of this system and the negative impact on individual and team performance. Please don’t misunderstand me. It’s not that I think that objective performance evaluation is impossible, or that performance management is evil. As a scientist I understand that the relative contributions of individual employees can be measured objectively, but it’s often very difficult, time-consuming and expensive to do so accurately. As a professional familiar with neuroscience and the psychology of human behavior, I’ve learned that our ability to judge the performance of other people is flawed – tainted by perceptual biases beyond our control, and often beyond our awareness. But it’s my role as a leader that causes me the greatest concern regarding this widespread practice. As a leader my job is to optimize the results of a team, not merely select top-performing individuals. If you stack ranked the best musicians in the world and had them play together you wouldn’t get the best band. If you stack ranked the best politicians in the world and built a team of them you would not get the best government. And stack ranking the best individual performers won’t give you the best team.Continue reading→

How To Be A Compassionate Hybrid Leader

Although it’s not a particularly new concept, hybrid work setups have become a growing trend in industries across the world. In fact, because most offices have resumed normal operations, up to 74% of companies have said they’re either already using or planning to adopt hybrid setups. This comes as no real surprise considering that studies prove that organized hybrid work is beneficial to output and creativity. These comprehensive studies were based on a diverse range of industries and business scales, which further underscores how hybrid work is the happy medium for both companies and workers.

That said, hybrid work is not without its challenges. For most office leaders, one of the top concerns they have with this model is the lack of access between themselves and their teams. This has led some bosses to worry that their team culture may suffer or their employees will feel isolated. Conversely, 77% of surveyed company leaders have found that compassion can benefit both people and profits. Therefore, while hybrid does reduce face-to-face interactions, leaders can (and should) still exercise compassion through this particular medium. And here’s how:

Image ref: Pexels

Show your employees you appreciate them

While you shouldn’t just toss out empty praises for the sake of it, you shouldn’t hold back on showing your employees appreciation either. This shows employees that you value them and recognize the adversity they’ve overcome so that it empowers your hybrid team no matter how challenging the transition may be. That said, to underscore the sincerity of your appreciation back up your words with actions. This is especially impactful for teams that work mostly remotely as it shows that you appreciate everyone fairly.

To show employees appreciation virtually, say “thank you” through meaningful gestures. This can include sending decorations for home offices, planning a virtual hangout to unwind, or gifting food delivery cards. Through such well-thought-out executions, you show that your appreciation comes from a place of compassion which is inspiring for many workers. In fact, surveys reveal that while 46% of employees left jobs because they felt under-appreciated, 79% said feeling appreciated gave them a boost professionally and personally.Continue reading→

Seven Main Ways Millennials are Changing the Definition of Leadership in 2020

Contributed article in our business series. Enjoy! – Kimberly

Millennials are “rebellious path-breakers” who shun everything traditional and believe in making their path. And over the years, it is the millennials have collectively transformed the way we communicate and conduct business.

This is the generation that reconciles logic and emotions. The millennials are both educated and empathic, and they want to make the world a better place. And it is this optimism that reflects the way they lead business ventures as well.

Here are seven ways in which Millennials are redefining leadership in 2020

REF: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-woman-wearing-eyeglasses-3184405/ 

Personalised Professional Workplaces

Gone are the days when people separated their personal and professional spaces. The millennial work culture is more flexible, intuitive, and interactive. And the office spaces and workstations are an extension of this attitude.

Most of the start-ups that we see around have a very vibrant, friendly vide to it. Even big shot corporations like Google have incorporated the millennial culture. A millennial leader is not dogmatic or dominating. Instead, they focus on building a personal connection with their team.

However, that being said, millennial work culture also stresses on work-life balance. Effective time management, flexible working hours, home-based working options are more prevalent than ever.

Transformations > Transactional Leadership

Continue reading→

Online Marketing Strategies to Give Your Business an Edge

Contributed article in our business series. Enjoy! – Kimberly

Online marketing can be more cutthroat than you can imagine. Think of it like this “your target customers won’t buy products from you if they didn’t know you existed in the first place”. You need to make sure your voice is heard and the best way to do this is to make sure you have solid online marketing strategies. 

Online Marketing Strategies That Give You The Edge

Online marketing is an essential part of running a business on the internet. It raises brand awareness and makes sure that you’re on people’s minds the next time they need services or products that you sell. However, competition on the internet is fierce and having a weak online marketing strategy could mean that you will lose to your competitors. 

We’ve put together some of the best online marketing strategies to help you get an idea of what strategies you should be trying for your business.Continue reading→