Two recent publications that might be of interest, especially to those in the public sector.
The first is the recently completed 2008 IPMA Benchmarking Report dealing with performance management in the public sector. Even though I have a personal interest, I have to say this is a very well done report.
The conclusion of the article is that:
The survey showed that respondents felt performing any of the following made their
system more effective:
1. Aligning individual goals to organizational goals
2. Including core competencies
3. Addressing team as well as individual performance
4. Linking unit/department performance to the employee’s performance evaluation
5. Having employees provide input into the performance appraisal process
6. Providing training to employees on conducting performance appraisals
7. Conducting performance reviews more frequently than two times per year
The second is an article in ACN that summarized some of the discussions we have had here regarding Googling for information on job applicants. Our article concludes that:
We think the critical point is the need to develop consistent policies for reviewing and making decisions based on social networking sites. As with other HR procedures, there should be documentation and consistency. From an assessment and psychological standpoint, there is another interesting issue. The searches are a method used for screening, selection, and assessment, but what are the constructs being investigated? What kind of decisions are being reached and how valid are those decisions? It would appear that a lot of the decisions involve using negative information to select people out of the hiring process. Can managers or HR professionals make such inferences or decisions with any accuracy? Is the negative information receiving too much weight? We do not know, but as with any type of assessment, it would be intriguing to look at the reliability and validity of such decision processes.
