IN THIS ISSUE:

1. Feature Story: Use Performance Appraisals To Boost Employee Engagement

2. Cathie's Corner: Who Gets To Throttle The Staff?

3. When An Employee Won't Sign On The Dotted Line

4. Free Report: HR's Pandemic Flu Plan For The 2009-2010 Season

5. HR Soapbox: Do You Dig For Dirt Online About Job Applicants?

AHI's We Couldn't Make This Up 

The CEO of American Apparel allegedly e-mailed a memo to middle managers advising them to fire ugly employees. The e-mail reportedly demanded store managers send him pictures of every employee.  He planned to personally look at every photo and decide who should be fired for being ugly; males and females were equal targets.  According to the manager who leaked the e-mail, the CEO was trying to "tighten the AA aesthetic" in response to declining sales. 

Help your managers to conduct performance reviews that will increase productivity and reduce legal liability with...  

AHI's Complete Performance Appraisal Kit

The Kit is designed to help you help your organization's managers and supervisors tackle each and every step of the performance management process, including:

• The legal importance of accurate performance assessments
  
  

• How managers and employees can and should work together to establish clear, attainable goals all year long, not just at review time
  
  

• The type of feedback and criticism managers should give employees, and how they should give it in order to solicit employee feedback
  
  

• How managers should address and help employees overcome poor performance
  
  

• ...and more!

Without an effective performance appraisal system, you and your organization will wind up being held hostage to a company full of poor performers without goals or motivation.

Visit our website to get your copy of AHI's Complete Performance Appraisal Kit.

1. FEATURE STORY:
USE PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS TO BOOST EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

Many think that managers and employees alike hate performance appraisals, and they are often right.  That's because some managers so dread rating their employees' performance that they just go through the motions without offering real feedback, which gives employees the impression that the entire appraisal process is nothing more than a joke.  It's no wonder why some companies have scrapped the rating tool altogether.  A new report, however, found that performance evaluations have a positive impact on employee engagement and retention.

According to the Kenexa Research Institute's 2009 WorkTrends™ survey of workers worldwide, employees who receive a performance appraisal as compared to those who don't:

• are more engaged and more satisfied with their job and the company overall,
  
  

• have a higher degree of pride in their organization and are more likely to recommend it to others as a good place to work,
  
  

• are more likely to stay with the company, and
  
  

• have a more favorable view of their immediate manager.

"Human beings have a fundamental need to know how they are doing.  It's simply part of who we are and what we are about," said Jack Wiley, executive director, Kenexa Research Institute.

He continued, "When we gauge the positive impact of this important talent management tool, we once again see that building an engaged workforce is often based simply on the fundamentals.  In this case, it is about managers and leaders communicating expectations and providing their employees feedback." 

Regardless of whether your organization uses formal performance reviews, it's imperative that employees' supervisors regularly provide them with both positive and negative feedback.  Important: For the feedback to be of any value, both the supervisor and the employee must take the process seriously.   

When feedback is positive:  

• Offer more than a few words of praise.  Employees need to know exactly what they did to warrant the recognition, so they can repeat the performance in the future.
  

• Explain how the employee's performance affects the big company picture.  Seeing how their performance fits into the grand scheme of things encourages employees to maintain their level of performance.
  

• Use the opportunity to inquire whether there are any job-related problems the employee needs help with.  Employees will appreciate the fact that it's not assumed that good performers are immune to potential performance roadblocks.

When feedback is negative:

• Identify the subpar behavior, using specific examples.
  

• State the expected standard.  The employee needs a clear picture of what is expected.  Even if the standard has been set earlier, state it again.
  

• Ask for reasons and explanations.  Be careful not to phrase this as a "Why haven't you..." type of challenge.  Give the employee a chance to explain their actions.
  

• Decide together on a plan of action.

2. CATHIE'S CORNER: WHO GETS TO THROTTLE THE STAFF?

I heard a line of dialogue on the television the other night that had me giggling.  A couple of co-workers were battling, and I do mean battling, over a procedural question.  One of them had the other by the shirt collar up against the wall, as she verbally assaulted him with all the reasons why the procedure needed to be changed.  Unseen by either of them, their boss came up behind them and said mildly, "Strictly speaking, throttling the staff is my job."...Continue the story. 

3. WHEN AN EMPLOYEE WON'T SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE  

Every HR manager knows the importance of disciplinary documentation. Ideally, the information is accurate and descriptive, with all the i's dotted and t's crossed. But what happens if an employee refuses to sign their disciplinary memo?...Continue the story.

4. FREE REPORT: HR'S PANDEMIC FLU PLAN FOR THE 2009-2010 SEASON  
 

Check out the Free Report, "HR's Pandemic Flu Plan For The 2009-2010 Season," which gives you step-by-step guidance on how best to prepare the workplace for this year's flu season, based on newly released recommendations from federal agencies. Also included are practical and legal considerations for employers on such topics as employee leave, disability-related inquiries, and wage and hour issues.

5. HR SOAPBOX: DO YOU DIG FOR DIRT ONLINE ABOUT JOB APPLICANTS?

The rise in popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace has given rise to the question of whether employers can or should search such sites to find out more about potential employees.  Most of the respondents on message boards that I've read come down on the side of not using these sites as research tools.  And I believe there are more cons than pros to this practice.  So I was surprised to see a CareerBuilder.com survey in which 45% of respondents said they do use the sites to research job applicants....Continue the story.