Literature Review on 360 Degree Evaluation / Feedback

31 December 2013, Singapore: Few days ago, an ex-staff of mine asked me for help in one of her Master in HRM assignment. The topic was 360 degree evaluation / feedback. Happily I shared with her my previous 360 degree evaluation but since it is an MBA program I felt that I need to provide her some secondary research for her to complete her 360 literature review.

I manage to find and retrieved one of my previous collection ... "Performance Management Under The Microscope" by Christopher Mills (2002) - a publication Singapore HR Institute (SHRi)

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Extracted from page 9 and 10 ... 

360 degree feedback come formally into recognition in the 1980s. An early example from the RCA Corporation linked thier hybrid system to a 'talent inventory' of behaviours used by all of their 7,500 managers. Each manager was confidentially rated by a group of five to seven employees in his or her "work network" on two dimensions: overall performance and critical incidents using a standard alphabetical and interval rating system (Lazer & Wikstrom, 1977)

360 only became popular in the early 1990s and was used initially by UK and US based corporations for development of senior management. In two studies of performance appraisal practices in Singapore and Malaysia, appraisal was seen as one-sided because people who actually saw what was happening did not carry out the review (Mills, 1994 & Mills, 1995a op cit). It was suggested that input from peers, customers and the team they worked in would provide a more accurate and complete picture of how effective they had been at their job.

Today, some team based organizations and progressive companies use 360 for development and potential purpose. The downside of its use is often administrative. Employees often have hectic schedules and getting them to complete a 360 questionnaire may take some follow up and cajoling. Eager to get HR off their back, employees tend to complete the survey in a hurry. This raises concerns of what is known as 'central tendency' where respondents tick off the mid point for every question and the results become less valid

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I hope the above 'extraction' will be helpful for those doing their '360' HRM assignment. The book was written in 2002, now is 2014 - I believe with the maturity of e-technology, the administrative concern of managing a 360 program has been greatly reduced.

In today context, I think senior leadership will be more concern about the cost involved in running or maintaining an e-360 evaluation / feedback program.

Time now is 11.15 pm, 31 Dec 2013 ... I would like to take the opportunity to wish my reader a Happy New Year and a blessed 2014!

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Keeping Your Compensation & Rewards or Total Rewards Up-to-date

28 December 2013, Singapore: I have been heading the HR CoE for Organizational Development since September 2013 but I always make it a point to keep my compensation & rewards (aka Total Rewards) knowledge 'current' and as much as possible support my company 'Pay & Benefits' project with another colleague of mine.

Based on experience and observation, for HR professional who wish to be 'regional manager' - one of the key skills that you mush have is the ability to tackle - design - develop - roll-out compensation strategy ... be it a simple or complex one. In every organization, compensation and reward issues (e.g., internal equity, based vs variable, etc.) will always be one of the HR challenges face by a regional HR manager or director.

I would like to share the following white paper from Peoplefluent.

Click Here for Peoplefluent white paper on New Pay for Performance

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Ten (10) HR Statistics: To Improve Your HR Business Strategy & Function

28 December 2013, Singapore: I would like to share this white paper by Peoplefluent. In their studies, they have identified top ten (10) HR statistics that can help transform and strengthen an organization’s HR business strategy and function.

The ten (10) HR statistics are categorizes into five groups - see Exhibit A and click the hyperlink.

Exhibit A - source: Peoplefluent

Click Here for Peoplefluent white paper: 10 Eye Opening HR Statistics

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Lesson Learned: Don't Talk or Complaint Too Much To Your Superior?

24 Dec 2013, Sibu Sarawak Malaysia: It is Christmas eve. I just want to share my observation why we need to be cautious when bringing up negative or not popular issues about others ...

• If you shared negative information with your boss about others - you can be viewed as a person who speak 'negative' about others.
• If your boss asked you to attend training but never give you budget ... don't be too happy ... it is just a polite way of telling you that you are weak in certain area.
• If you tell your boss that a colleague is not a team player and your boss reply politely with a smile and mentioned that end of the day you are still accountable for it ... just stop the conversation and go back to work. He or she is not interested.
• If you tell your boss that one of your colleagues is not a team player and your boss suggested that maybe he is a victim of racial ... just shut up and find a job elsewhere.

Do take note that your boss is also a human being and has limitations and skills gap ...

• He or she may not enjoy listening to others problems e.g., especially your problems with other colleagues;
• He or she may not be someone who is good at handling people conflict issues.
• If he or she is at senior level, they are strategist and solving your people problem is not part of their job scope, KPI or performance measurement.

Above are just my observation ... sometimes, I see things from a different perspective.

Taking the opportunity to wish all of my readers a happy Christmas and a happy advance new year ... 2014!

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Tips on How to Become an Employer of Choice

17 December 2013, Singapore: Today was a long day at work. We were trying to finalized our HR CoE (Center of Excellence) 'Roadshow' presentation to the senior leadership and site HRCMs (HR Client Managers). My boss asked me to do a quick secondary research on the topic Employer of Choice. I found this article written by Marie Larsen from 'recruiter.com'. It is a short article and very easy to read for people like me with lazy eyes.

The article writes about the 5 steps a company should take to be an employer of choice.

Click here - How to become an Employer of Choice/

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Employee Engagement: Lesson Learned # 1

16 December 2013, Singapore: I am disgusted (avoid technical wording please) on what happen to my employee engagement (EE) plan. I am not going to name the company. The team put in a lot of efforts but end of the day, the report card only show a one (1) percent (%) increase. Listed below are some of the areas identified for the failure, I stand by it. In the near future, I will do it differently ...

• EE is a 'shared responsibility' - just because you are accountable for it, doesn't mean that you have to do it alone. It is a role every managers and supervisors must play a part in it.
• EE required the senior leadership to be visible at the shop-floor / production area. If your senior leadership is only interested in running the show from the ivory tower - my advice, have a private session with him. If he / she is still not interested, it is better to start proper documentation to cover yourself.
• Internally, the management may call or label an EE program as 'employee engagement' program but please (x2) don't market it as an EE to the employees. Better call it 'well-being' or other wording which employee can associate with.
• Don't just create an EE task-force or committee but if you have the manpower - create a small team who can help you publicized your EE program in a coordinated manner.
• Develop a simple motto for people to talk about .... I personally like the word "well-being" compared to engagement.
• Defined your organization meaning of Engagement and get every managers and supervisors aligned.
• EE program start with a simple 'Thank You'. It is harder to get the managers and supervisors to say 'Thank You'.
• Fight for your budget and utilized ... there is no point saving the EE budget to show a better EBIT or meeting business plan. End of the day - Finance will meet their business plan while you are blamed for failing to meet your EE obligation.
• Incorporate other 'well-being' model into your EE program ... e.g., Gallup's five (5) elements of Well-being ... [ Click here for Gallup 5 elements of Well-being ]

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Finding from Asia Leader Global Leadership Pulse Survey: Driving Business Results By Creating Trust

11 Dec 2013, Singapore: I feel the urgency to post this article - the subject is Driving Business Results By Creating Trust.

To access the report - kindly click the link: PDF Format: Forum Report - Asia - Nov 08, 2013

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Engaging Employees: What is APAC Region Motivation Factors?

08 December 2013, Singapore: I will probably use this report to justified some of recommendation for a particular set of engagement strategies. Maybe HR professional need to learn to use secondary reports / research to influence and sell their action plans.

I am still learning the trade .... 

(source: http://inside-employees-mind.mercer.com/referencecontent.htm?idContent=1428975)

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Engaging People in a Positive Way

7 December 2013, Singapore: Came across this article by headhunt.com.sg about engaging people in a positive way. I understand the concept very well but how to get the leadership into the act is another big challenge. Anyway, let us be positive and read this article.

Click the link: -

• The article: Engage People in a Positive Way
• www.headhunt.com.sg

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Singapore: HR Compliance Guide for 2014 for Recruiting

06 December 2013, Singapore: Another good resources for HR professional whose work involve managing Singapore workforce / business operations. Thanks to www.hrboss.com

Click either one of the link to access the material:

• Interactive e-book: Singapore HR Compliance Guide 2014 for Recruiting
• PDF Format: Singapore HR Compliance Guide 2014 for Recruiting 

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Video: Well-being and Engagement

04 December 2013, Singapore: This article is for readers who hates reading lengthy write-up.

• Mind webinar: 'HR policies for improving mental well-being and employee engagement'
• Gallup: Well-being defined

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"Well-being" the Emerging Tool in Enhancing Your Employee Engagement Program

04 December 2013, Singapore: Recently, my organization conducted a world-wide employee engagement survey and we found out that one of my sister company results was super high. They scored more that 85%. When I interviewed their leadership team and visited their organization, my key take-away were: -

• Engagement is a Shared Responsibility among the management team and the shop-floor supervisors;
• Making engagement fun, less format and think out the box .... stop viewing engagement from a 'Standard Work' perspective and stop setting criteria for every engagement activities. Just enjoy it.
• Deploying well-being program to enhance their employee engagement program.

Gallup (source: Well Being: The Five Essential Elements by Tom Rath & Jim Harter) cited that there are five essential area of 'well-being' an organization can focus: -

• Career Well-being
• Social Well-being
• Financial Well-being
• Physical Well-being
• Community Well-being

I guess with this article - people will understand why I advocated on 'well-being' to enhance employee engagement program. 

(source: http://www.wbfinder.com/home.aspx)

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