Performance management hardly elicits passionate discussions and responses during normal times. For many orgs, it was relegated to the back even further as other immediate priorities took over during the last two years.

But what if performance management could help your organization experience higher employee engagement, a more positive employee Net Promoter Score (NPS), or achieve its business goals? What if, by redesigning your performance management, you could achieve all this and more, such as improved employee perceptions of fairness and consistency of their performance evaluation?

So, what does this new performance management process look like? Our latest study, Performance Management for Hybrid Work, reveals that connection is a critically important aspect of performance management in current times. In addition, orgs must continue to focus on building a culture of clarity and capability of managers. Companies that emphasize connection, culture, and capability of managers—the "3Cs"—are more likely to have employees who are: 

• 4x more likely to give a positive NPS
• 3x more likely to rate their managers as effective
• 1.6x more likely to have high engagement
• 1.5x more likely to report that their companies met business goals

These are significant findings, especially in the context of current times as orgs struggle with setting policies around hybrid work and attracting and retaining talent.

It's time orgs took a fresh look at their performance management practices and asked if they work for everyone in the new hybrid work environment. And if you need another data point to convince yourself on why this is important, here it is—in orgs that have redesigned performance management processes within the last 2 years, 56% of employees believe their evaluation process is fair and consistent, as compared with only 36% of employees in orgs that haven't redesigned their processes.

Want to know how you can get started? Read our research or check out the summary infographic to learn about the specific practices that can help drive culture, capability of managers, and connection for effective performance management.

***This wasn’t the post I planned to write—that one was about our brand new performance management research (which you should check out)—but this is the newsletter blurb I needed to write, given the events of last Friday.*** 

Once again, as with #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo, what was political or personal became professional last week here in the US. The Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade, impacting women, their healthcare, and in some instances, their jobs and livelihoods.

To this point, the most common response by organizations has been to ensure women still have access to reproductive healthcare by offering travel stipends to places offering that healthcare. Others are going further by allowing employees to relocate without business requirements. Others are donating financially to services that support reproductive care, including abortions. And others, like Patagonia and Live Nation entertainment, are going all-in— offering to pay the bail of employees arrested for peacefully protesting.

This is not, though, the approach taken by all companies. A significant number of companies—many of whom have publicly spoken out on issues such as #BlackLivesMatter and voter restrictions—have chosen not to respond—yet.

It’s easy to understand why: Abortion is a divisive and nuanced topic within the US, and coming up with an acceptable solution for everyone will be difficult, if not impossible.

As an HR leader, you are again on the front line of helping organizations manage through “unprecedented” times. And we know how hard this is.  

No one has a playbook for this (though those links might help), but everyone has experience and perspective that can help this community. To that end, we are convening a roundtable THIS Thursday, June 29, at 12:30 PM ET to discuss how organizations are responding. This will be a highly interactive, civil session. To facilitate that, we will be limiting enrollment. Join the waitlist here if you want to participate in the conversation.

We are in times that require our best leadership, greatest patience, and significant grace. I hope you all can find those qualities in the coming weeks and months— I know I am searching for them myself.

The problems L&D is tackling—upskilling, agile workforces, mobility, workplace culture—aren’t small. They’re big and important, which is both a blessing and a curse. L&D has been seeking a “seat at the table” for years. They finally, undeniably, have one.

The question now is, do they have the skills they need to do something at that table?

To put it bluntly, most of them probably don’t. Our recent research on L&D skills indicates that even as L&D pros are being involved in strategy, workforce, and other key discussions, they recognize that they need stronger leadership, decision-making, and core business skills to be effective.

Two of the many interesting differences between L&D pros in high-performing organizations and those in other orgs:

• A different focus on traditional core L&D skills. While most L&D pros are focusing on training delivery and content creation, those in high-performing organizations see skills like the ability to upskill, strong learning experience design, and needs analyses as crucial for the future.

• A different focus on core business skills. L&D pros in high-performing organizations see creativity and innovation as much more important than their peers in other organizations.

On Thursday, June 23 at 1pm ET, we’re reviewing some of the other findings from this research. I’ll be joined by Linda Jingfang Cai, VP of Talent Development at LinkedIn. Together, we’ll discuss how L&D pros can prepare for the future—overcome some of the challenges they’re facing and build their skills to truly become leaders in their organizations. Register here.

Last month we published the executive summary of our 2022 People Analytics Tech study. Since then, we have received numerous emails asking when the complete report will be released.

Well (drumroll), we are super pumped to announce the publication of our 3rd People Analytics Tech report!

The report is currently only available to our members and includes juicy information, such as details on each vendor category, additional vendor capabilities, pricing models, and the future of the market, among other things.

For example, our study revealed that:

• About 50% of people analytics tech (PAT) vendors integrate existing employee data with other internal and external data
• Only 36% of PAT vendors are offering capabilities that help people managers prioritize actions

We also found some fascinating findings on how vendors are shifting their pricing models and the specific challenges they are helping customers solve. Become a RedThread member to learn more about them.

Not ready to join the membership yet? We'll hold a webinar on July 13, 1 PM ET, to discuss our findings and answer your questions. Register here.

Thank you to all the vendors and customers who participated in our study. Your continued support makes our work possible.