10 signs it's time to let an employee go

Everyone has done it – held on to an employee too long. For whatever reason (the person is family, a friend, or you just fear the whole process), you just can't seem to muster up the courage to get rid of that one particular employee. For some managers/owners, it's a simple process. For others, the prospect of releasing an employee is a gut-wrenching experience they'd rather avoid. It doesn't have to be. Not when you have telltale signs it's time to let that employee go. Sometimes, he or she is practically asking for it.

Use these as tips for how and when you should release an employee.

1. Apathy
2. Disappearing acts
3. Arguments
4. Productivity decline
5. Secrecy
6. Disaffection
7. Pot-stirring
8. Unreasonable demands
9. Redundancy
10. Internal affairs

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Goodbye annual appraisals, IBM embraces 'Checkpoint' rating system

During a townhall at one of IBM's largest centers in Bengaluru on Tuesday, chief executive Virginia M "Ginni" Rometty asked the employees to answer some questions with a show of hands.

"How many of you here have worked at IBM between one and five years," asked Rometty, according to at least three employees present at the meeting. A bunch of hands went up in the auditorium that was packed with 5,000-6,000 employees.

"Five to 10 years?" A few more hands went up.

"Over 10 years," she asked next, and that was when largest number employees raised their hands.

To those experienced IBMers, Rometty stressed on the need to reinvent and transform themselves at a time when the global technology industry is undergoing tectonic shifts with the emergence of cloud computing, Internet of Things and cognitive computing.

"Just because you started your careers in a certain role, let's say hardware engineering, does not mean you'll end your careers in hardware," said Rometty, according to the people ET spoke to.

Amid the push for employees to re-skill and reinvent themselves, Rometty on Tuesday announced a string of new employee appraisal measures for the India operations, including a new appraisal system called "Checkpoint."

IBM India has also abolished the company's previous yearly appraisal assessment methodology, according to the sources.

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26 Books Every Recruiter Should Read

Reading resumes, job descriptions, and candidate requirements may be part of the job, but if you’re looking for a change of scene, we have just the thing to one-up your hiring game.

We spoke with The Sourcing Institute President Shally Steckerl to get his list of must-reads for talent pros determined to change, improve, and learn the ins and outs of effective outreach, engagement, and hiring.

What we came up with is the official World’s Greatest Sourcer collection of 26 books that should be sitting on your nightstands, packed in your work bag, marked up and tagged on your desk, passed off to every recruiter you know – you get the idea. Here’s the grand list.

Know them

10 Tips on How to Shine in a Talent Review Meeting

If you’re a manager, at some point in your career, if you haven’t already, you’ll be required to participate in something called a “talent review” meeting. That’s HR-speak for a meeting where a bunch of managers get together behind closed doors and talk about their employee’s strengths and weaknesses. Like it or not, employee ranking is still a fact of organizational life.

There are usually three reasons why organizations conduct these meetings:

1. Succession planning and leadership development.
2. Downsizing.
3. Performance appraisal and/or compensation administration.

Here’s 10 tips for how to shine at a talent review meeting:

1. Understand the process.
2. Do your homework.
3. Take a “we” approach, not a “mine and yours” approach.
4. Be candid, objective, and provide examples,
5. Be succinct and direct.
6. Be prepared to listen non-defensively
7. Be engaged.
8. Take notes.
9. Follow the ground rules
10. Follow-up on commitments.

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17 Rules Successful Companies Use to Attract and Keep Top Talent

This book is about developing outstanding employees and getting them to stay. It’s about building a workforce that’s truly engaged, committed, aligned with strategy, and capable of incredible performance.

Simply put, it’s about optimizing the #1 factor associated with outsmarting, outhustling, and outexecuting your competition: your people.

You’ll learn exactly what great companies do differently when it comes to managing their people. And you’ll learn how to apply those lessons in virtually every aspect of your organization: from resourcing and compensation to leadership development, culture, and beyond.

Want people who care, engage, work hard, support your strategies, and deliver results? Start right here.

The 17 Rules Are:

Rule #1: Understand why employee comw and why they stay

Rule #2: Play “Win-Win” with Your Employees (and Allow Them to Be All They Can Be for Self and Company)

Rule #3: Cultivate Leadership, Not Management, and Know the Difference!

Rule #4: Provide Ample and Appropriate Resources

Rule #5: Demand Contribution; Be Worthy of Receiving It

Rule #6: Applaud Effort; Reward Contribution

Rule #7: Cheerlead; The “Magic” of M&Ms

Rule #8: Build a Workplace on a Foundation of Respect

Rule #9: Cultivate the Risk-Trust Dynamic

Rule #10: Make Room for Fun in the Workplace (Nurture Lightheartedness/Levity)

Rule #11: Create Opportunities for Employee “Alignment” with Vision, Values, and Mission

Rule #12: Understand Human Capital

Rule #13: Treat Employees as “Volunteers”

Rule #14: Know Your Culture

Rule #15: Understand the Nature of Change and Prepare Your Employees to Embrace It

Rule #16: Cultivate Organizational Ethics; Demand and Reward Ethical Behavior

Rule #17: The Last and Overarching Rule: Tell the Truth! (and a Few Action Items to Grow On)

Author: David Russo