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HR, Transparency and performance management.
By Martin English | November 13, 2007
First there was this, from David Stewart, group managing director, John Holland, the Australian construction group, explaining the company’s decision to reinstate Facebook access after banning it for a few weeks, as reported by the Sydney Daily Telegraph.
“We’re all baby boomers and we are making the rules, but it’s important to understand that all our recruits and all our people are coming from a different mindset and a different space. A lot of our new employees are all generation X, generation Y, et cetera. If you don’t create the environment that keeps them in the system, they’re gone.”
A couple of weeks ago, James Governor also picked up on this and extended it.
Most people, I suspect particularly the generation that went to college in the last ten years or so, will want to work for employers that trust them, not those that try and control them. They will also want to work at places that allow them to use the tools they know make them productive. Forget ROI studies- this generation doesn’t need, expect or want someone else to tell them whether web services might make them more productive. It would be like saying no you can’t use a pen- you have to use this chalk and slate. Forget the phone we have this cool pigeon service…
Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0 and so on are not matters for IT professionals to decide, really. They are questions for managing directors and human resources professionals. If you want to hire top talent you need to trust people and help them become even more effective. Shutting things down won’t cut it. Is training required alongside the trust? Absolutely. Does your corporation need clear policies about acceptable behaviour, online and off? Obviously.
And now, business week have a story about India’s HCL Technologies, where workers get to grade the boss, and everybody can see the ratings.
Instead of asking why should you open up performance management for everyone to see, I’d suggest you ask, “why not?” What is the point of having an elaborate recording keeping system if it is kept looked away? Imagine how much more seriously managers would take 360 degree feedback if it was open for the whole company to see?
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