Conventional management literature has prioritized positivity and suppressing one’s emotions at the workplace. Especially in the case of those who are visibly distress, they are viewed as incompetent. Yet, latest research indicates that letting it out in the name of passion is preferable in few cases. Tesla founder Elon Musk is one such advocate of displaying passion and emotion. A study conducted by professors from Universities of – Michigan, Harvard and Cornell – have deduced that men displaying such emotion have been judged more harshly than women. Disguising emotion as passion is a productive tactic, especially in talent recruitment. More than two-thirds of those experimented on tended to recruit candidates expressing themselves as “passionate”, in contrast to less than half of those who wrote “emotional” being selected. Some companies such as Bain and Starbucks have taken a further step, referring to passion as a key trait they look in their employees. Excess emotional sanitization or show of positivity can hinder fostering genuine connect.

Source:https://knowledge.insead.edu/leadership-organisations/visibly-upset-at-work-blame-it-on-your-passion-9486

Uploaded Date:27 June 2018

During performance reviews, three kinds of biases exist which often hinder the right process being followed. These biases are based on expedience, distance and similarity. Expedience is one that takes into account only certain quantifiable figures which seem most obvious and politically advantageous. Here, data is tracked to gauge business intelligence about page views and numbers. To solve this, team leaders need to adopt qualitative measures in addition to the numbers to track the real performance. Distance bias is advantageous to those physically near the team leader and one with whom there is greater interaction. Those proficient at talent management instead maintain a journal to record the significant contribution of others, so that mere physical access does not unduly benefit anyone. Similarity bias, as the name suggests attaches premium value on those who are personality-wise similar to the team manager. Instead of rewarding those with similar tastes, one must instead proactively seek common ground by establishing similar interests with all.

https://hbr.org/2018/06/3-biases-that-hijack-performance-reviews-and-how-to-address-them

Uploaded Date:27 June 2018

The handling of performance management is one of the key drivers to any company’s growth. HR systems after much resistance are ditching the traditional ranking systems and instead using business analytics powered using employee performance data to make evaluations. This helps the leadership to understand what really drives performance and employee motivation. Employees however, are generally still not satisfied with the systems. They feel that these evaluations are merely box-ticking measures, and there is a disconnect with their work. Feedback systems do not have validity with fairness missing in them. In order to take the first steps towards fairness, transparency must be shown in linking employees’ targets to business priorities. Management training sessions must be held specifically for the team leaders so they may hone their coaching skills. Standout performances need be rewarded.Goals must never be static but adaptable to the present needs.

Source:https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/the-fairness-factor-in-performance-management?cid=eml-app

Uploaded Date:23 June 2018

Skill shifts have been a constant force ever since the industrial revolution took place. Yet, the pace of change ahs never been higher than it is now aided by automation, digitization, robotics and artificial intelligence. By 2030, several present-day skills will get replaced. That is why McKinsey conducted a study across the five largest European countries- UK, France, Spain, Italy and Germany- and USA to gauge the shifts. Some major aspects were studied, beginning with the change in demand for workforce skills over time. How organizations approach this and plan for the talent recruitment for the future were the other things. As per the study, manual and basic cognitive skills will acquire a lesser portion of the pie. Social, emotional, technological and higher cognitive skills will take up a higher portion of time. Shifting skill requirement will be lost affect five of the largest industries- healthcare, energy and mining, banking and insurance, retail and manufacturing. Only six percent of all companies surveyed confirmed their expectation of shrinking workforce, while seventeen percent are optimistic of adding more jobs. Focus will shift towards developing cross-functional skills within agile organizations. Work will need to be “unbundled” and “rebundled”. The sharing economy involving gig workers or freelancers will expand exponentially. Corporate training programmes will need to retrain employees towards the newer systems and technologies. HR processes will evolve in contracting, hiring, release and redeployment. Educational institutions meanwhile will need to tweak their curricula to suit the present needs.

Source:https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-organizations-and-work/skill-shift-automation-and-the-future-of-the-workforce?cid=other-soc-twi-mgi-mgi-oth-1805

Uploaded Date:23 June 2018

Large legacy companies just do not have the advantage that they once used to possess due to their scale of operations. In fact, large teams can often prove to be a disability in the times of fleet-footed startups disrupting traditional businesses. In order to catch up with these digital natives, the larger companies need to act like twenty-thousand employees-strong startups. For this, first they need a revamp of existing talent management practices. This includes the elimination or reducing the hold of silos. Employees must be encouraged to embrace and adapt to risks. A customer-centric attitude is needed with strong emphasis on innovation.

Source:https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/five-fifty-the-twenty-thousand-person-start-up?cid=other-soc-twi-mip-mck-oth-1805&kui=RW55lYBRRjBDuYANeMzRxQ

Uploaded Date:22 June 2018

Collaboration has long been touted as a maxim to be followed in business. Great business leaders such as Apple’s Steve Jobs, Virgin’s Richard Branson and Larry Ellison of Oracle make up a small part of those advocating for this policy. Yet, the modern business scenario is struggling as a result of excessive collaboration. While earlier, a professional could grudge working under a single boss, now one receives work requests from different verticals, often with very limited relation. These requests may even be from overseas territory with different time zones. Matrix based organizations were begun to encourage innovations as opposed to hierarchical ones but have instead forged dual lines of reporting with professionals answerable to both functional and product managers. A statistic claims that knowledge workers are now spending a staggering eighty-five percent of their office hours performing unproductive tasks such as attending meetings, responding to emails or spending time on the work phone. This “collective overload” also undoes all talent management initiatives as inevitably it is the top tier of employees who are the most in demand thus their time gets most stretched. In order to survive these tendencies, such employees must start strategically calendaring to ensure they have blocked time towards top priorities.

Source:http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/much-togetherness-downside-workplace-collaboration/

Uploaded Date:22 June 2018

The biggest transition in the global labor markets over the past few decades, especially last few years has been the rise of the freelance or gig worker. Already they account for nearly a third of jobs in the US, and the proportion may soon rise. In spite of these changes, companies haven’t responded accordingly. Talent recruitment of such gig workers is still largely dominated by peer-based platforms such as Task Rabbit or Uber. Even the most successful of freelancers, on occasion admit to an insecurity. Another latest trend emerging however, is that according to a study by McKinsey, in Europe majority of freelancers are creatives or knowledge workers. A lot of them can possibly join full-time employment but choose to go independent due to the freedom and work satisfaction on offer. The insecurity reported occurs less due to their ability to perform well at their chosen field of vocation. Four kinds of connections root people to traditional jobs. These are people, places, purpose and routines. Companies should similarly tweak their policies and recruitment methods to suit these roving talents.

Source:https://knowledge.insead.edu/career/are-you-and-your-company-ready-for-the-gig-economy-8516

Uploaded Date:07 June 2018