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Article
Forrester says vendors are breaking new ground in performance management
Continuous performance appraisals provide more business value, according to a Forrester report, which also lists upstart vendors with breakthrough products. Read Now
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Article
Halogen and SAP recognized for new applications
An industry conference highlights vendors offering mobile applications to support continuous employee feedback. Read Now
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Article
Kanjoya develops machine learning to automate performance evaluations
A user recommends Kanjoya software, saying it streamlines review writing and links performance with engagement. Read Now
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Article
SAP may approve continuous performance management
SAP is testing the effectiveness of its own application, with an eye toward possibly implementing continuous performance management for 80,000 workers across the globe. In the meantime, SAP is retaining annual reviews. Read Now
Editor's note
Continuous performance management is a raging trend in HR -- as hot as machine learning, chat bots and predictive analytics and just as capable of disrupting HR technology and processes.
Long one of the pillars of HR, performance management is becoming continuous, or more frequent, at many companies. As businesses focus on teams and become less hierarchical, many are scrapping scaled ratings of employees, streamlining annual reviews and using software to encourage constant feedback and coaching.
General Electric, once noted for "stack ranking" employees depending on their performance, adopted continuous performance management for 180,000 salaried employees and deployed an in-house mobile application. The method is also used at other big companies such as Schneider Electric, Accenture, Adobe and Deloitte Consulting.
Software vendors are providing tools to meet the demand and automate the process.
SAP, for example, introduced a continuous performance management application that facilitates frequent feedback among employees and then stores achievements and feedback to allow easier completion of annual reviews. Newer vendors such as Reflektive, Zugata and TINYpulse provide similar applications.
Forrester Research examined continuous performance management and found that the method can boost business outcomes partly by improving collaboration and freeing managers from completing multipage annual reviews that require a lot of time.
Forrester cited BetterWorks, 7Geese and Workboard for offering continuous performance management to improve Objectives and Key Results, a method for managing goals.
While at least one critic says it can be distracting or open to abuse, especially if the feedback is anonymous, the change to continuous performance management is expected to accelerate. In a report, Deloitte said the trend will continue to disrupt HR technology in "a massive way."
1Why companies are overhauling performance management
Companies are seeking to engage employees with a new type of performance management that encourages participation in weekly feedback or daily huddles along with frequent updating of goals. This section describes why companies such as General Electric, Deloitte Consulting, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Adobe are adopting continuous performance management to supplement or supplant annual reviews and scaled ratings. It also examines why the trend is speeding up and how software can help organizations scale new ways to evaluate and motivate workers.
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Article
Continuous performance management rocks HR in 2016
Analysts explain why performance reviews are a dominant topic in human capital management. Read Now
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Podcast
Performance evaluations still needed for pay and promotions
An expert explains that performance management may be more frequent, but the aim still is to help determine an employee's pay and future success. Listen Now
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Article
Companies embrace frequent feedback with new software
Two companies discuss their use of TINYpulse software for continuous performance management, while a law professor says the method is potentially divisive and should be tested first. Read Now
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Article
General Electric drops scaled ratings, calling them demotivating
General Electric caused a national stir when it killed employee ratings this year and began using a simple annual review, along with an in-house application for quick feedback among employees. Read Now
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Article
Performance reviews provide 'gold mine of data'
Continuous performance management software can link the goals of employees to a company's overall aims and generate reams of data for HR analytics. Read Now
2Users weigh their picks for performance management vendors
Companies face difficult and diverse choices in selecting a vendor for continuous performance management. In these articles, business leaders talk about how they structure performance management and the reasons they purchased products.
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Article
Workboard focuses on teamwork and goals
Memorial Health System and TeraRecon use Workboard as a platform for tracking goals, improving teams and real-time communication. Workboard also reduces reliance on email. Read Now
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Article
Zugata allows more honest criticism with anonymous feedback
An HR leader at Gainsight explains how the company is promoting anonymous feedback among employees and why the unusual approach works at her company. Read Now
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Article
SAP SuccessFactors enables different types of performance programs
Senior managers at three different companies testify to the flexibility of SuccessFactors for performance management. Each uses the software in different ways to guide employees. Read Now
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Article
Tango helps HR manager embrace performance management
Lindsey Zan implemented SilkRoad Life Suite to revamp performance management at her company. She also finds inspiration in the tango and uses Dilbert to lighten the mood during the review process. Read Now
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Article
DigitalOcean hooked on Reflektive for performance management
An executive at a rapidly growing company discusses why performance management should be ongoing. Matt Hoffman also says that change needs to be managed to be effective. Read Now