No more performance reviews

Finally organisations are sensing that they have wasted an enormous amount of time, money and
effort on a process that will never work properly. No more sophisticated performance review
forms and no more ludicrous performance scales. In a company I worked for the rating scale
was: poor/good/very good/excellent. This was the result of negotiations with the workers
council, and this was a way to secure that most of the people were rated at least good.
Read a nice article by Josh Bersin: The myth of the bell curve.
Question: are you abolishing your performance reviews?

The org chart is fading away

This is partly wishful thinking from my side, but there are weak signals that the org chart is
fading away. More and more graduates are recruited mainly looking at the fit between the values
of the graduate and the company, and less if the graduate fits in a specific starting position. As
the flexible workforce is growing, less and less people can be captured in the traditional org
chart.
Question: do you still have org charts in your organisation? To what extend do they reflect
reality?

Privacy seems to be less of an issue

New generations of people trackers, far beyond time tracking, are emerging. This week I heard
about an experiment where a company is trying to detect the emotions of people who call a call
center by analysing the tone of their voice. In this way you can detect people who are really
angry or disappointed, and switch these callers to your most capable call center staff.
Question: do you also have the feeling people consider privacy to be less of an issue?

The sharing economy is also entering

organisational life
Sharing cars, sharing houses and sharing garden equipment is getting more usual. The
possibilities for organisations are big, and this will take off in 2015. Who needs 100% of the
office space 24/7? What are the trucks doing in the weekend? What percentage of their time are
super technical specialists really working at full capability?
Question: can you think about other elements you would be willing to share?

 Mobile/ Mobile/ Mobile

Also in the HR domain mobile solutions will become more and more the standard. The
smartphone is essential equipment for almost all employees. Today it is all about apps, the future
will probably offer a more integrated user experience. It is not only smartphones, but also virtual
reality tools (as Oculus Rift) will enter the workplace.
Question: are your HR solutions assessable via smart phones? Are you considering to use virtual
reality tools, e.g. for training?

Real time succession management

Technology and the smart use of HR analytics enable a far more effective succession
management. In the past the succession management process was too slow, too late and too
limited. If you need good connectors to implement the strategy of your organisations, it is not
very helpful to ask senior management: Who are the good connectors in your business unit?.
The line of sight of senior management is too limited, and it takes too much time to gather the
information anyway. You better analyse the data you have, and look for certain patterns to detect
possible good connectors. A social network analysis, for example, can be very revealing.
Question: have you started renewing your succession management process?

Robots in the boardroom

Robots are not just for manufacturing. The first robots have entered the boardroom, and this
trend will continue. It can be very helpful to have a member in your team who does not have
emotions, who has a very good memory and who can analyse internal and external data very
quickly. And a robot you can always shut off (I hope).
Question: who in your boardroom do you want to replace by a robot?

The end of Powerpoint

Who likes if when a presenter enters the room and it turns out she or he is going to present a
large number of slides to illustrate the presentation? Hardly anybody likes this, only the people
who have more work to do and who can process some e-mails while the presentation is dragging
on. 2015 can be the year that the storytelling skills are really used and that stories can be told
with just a few good visuals and not a large Powerpoint pack.
Question: are you also fed up with Powerpoint and are you taking measures to promote
alternatives?

 Community management as a
recruitment tool
Recruitment has to make the shift from reactive to proactive. The practice to create communities
around your organisation, a kind of fan clubs, is growing. The communities are connected to
your organisations and through the community you can give people a real experience of what it
means to be part of your organisation. When opportunities occur, candidates from the
communities can very organically become part of your organisation.
current Issues and Trends in HRM

1. Affirmative Action: Definition and Effects on Diversity in the Workplace

Affirmative action creates a diverse workplace for organizations. Legislation was passed to help
protected groups not have an adverse impact on employment opportunities. In this lesson, find
out the difference between protected groups and adverse impacts.

2. Ability and Disability Diversity in the Workplace: Definition, Trends &

Examples

Ability and disability diversity is the acceptance of different skills and talents within an
organization. Companies need to learn to value differences within their employees in order to
stay competitive. In this lesson, discover some of the common trends that companies use.

3. Age Diversity in the Workplace: Definition, Trends & Examples

Age diversity is the ability to accept all different types of ages within a business environment.
Companies have to adjust to an aging population in various ways.

4. Gender Diversity in the Workplace: Definition, Trends & Examples

Gender diversity in the workplace is the equal treatment and acceptance of both males and
females in an organization. Diversity adds value to a company's bottom line due to the different
viewpoints and backgrounds of diverse individuals.

5. Cultural Diversity in the Workplace: Definition, Trends & Examples

Cultural diversity is a form of appreciating the differences in individuals. The differences can be
based on gender, age, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and social status. Companies have
realized the value in acquiring a diverse workforce.

6. Workplace Violence: Trends and Impact on Human Resources

The workplace can be a dangerous place, and many workers are victimized by violence while on
the job every year. In this lesson, you'll learn about violence in the workplace and steps that HR
can take to reduce it.

7. Human Resource Information Systems: Costs & Benefits to Employees,

HR and Organizations

While we may be heading to a 'paperless' office, the amount of information handled by HR

professionals seems to keep growing. In this lesson, you'll learn about human resource
information systems and how they can help with information management.

8. Pros & Cons of Alternative Work Arrangements: Home Office, Virtual

Teams and Telecommuting

Alternative work arrangements have become an important trend in work over the past quarter
century. In this lesson, you'll learn about some different types of alternative work arrangements,
including the pros and cons of utilizing them. A short quiz follows the lesson.

Outsourcing is
an arrangement in which one company provides services for another company that
could also be or usually have been provided in-house. Outsourcing is a trend that is
becoming more common in information technology and other industries for services
that have usually been regarded as intrinsic to managing a business. In some cases,
the entire information management of a company is outsourced, including planning
and business analysis as well as the installation, management, and servicing of the
network and workstations. Outsourcing can range from the large contract in which a
company like IBM manages IT services for a company like Xerox to the practice of
hiring contractors and temporary office workers on an individual basis.