The performance review. It is one of the most insidious, most damaging, and yet most ubiquitous of corporate activities. We all hate it. And yet nobody does anything about it. Until now... Straight-talking Sam Culbert, management guru and UCLA professor, minces no words as he puts managers on notice that -- with the performance review as their weapon of choice -- they have built a corporate culture based on intimidation and fear. Teaming up with Wall Street Journal Senior Editor Lawrence Rout, he shows us why performance reviews are bogus and how they undermine both creativity and productivity. And he puts a good deal of the blame squarely on human resources professionals, who perpetuate the very practice that they should be trying to eliminate. But Culbert does more than merely tear down. He also offers a substitute -- the performance preview -- that will actually accomplish the tasks that performance reviews were supposed to, but never will: holding people accountable for their actions and their results, and giving managers and their employees the kind of feedback they need for improving their skills and to give the company more of what it needs. With passion, humor, and a rare insight into what motivates all of us to do our best, Culbert offers all of us a chance to be better managers, better employees and, indeed, better people. Culbert has long said his goal is to make the world of work fit for human consumption. "Get Rid of the Performance Review!" shows us how to do just that.

Do you supervise people? If so, this book is for you. One of a manager’s toughest—and most important—responsibilities is to evaluate an employee’s performance, providing honest feedback and clarifying what they’ve done well and where they need to improve. In How to Be Good at Performance Appraisals, Dick Grote provides a concise, hands-on guide to succeeding at every step of the performance appraisal process—no matter what performance management system your organization uses. Through step-by-step instructions, examples, do-and-don’t bullet lists, sample dialogues, and suggested scripts, he shows you how to handle every appraisal activity from setting goals and defining job responsibilities to evaluating performance quality and discussing the performance evaluation face-to-face. Based on decades of experience guiding managers through their biggest challenges, Grote helps answer the questions he hears most often: • How do I set goals effectively? How many goals should someone set? • How do I evaluate a person’s behaviors? Which counts more, behaviors or results? • How do I determine the right performance appraisal rating? How do I explain my rating to a skeptical employee? • How do I tell someone she’s not meeting my expectations? How do I deliver bad news? Grote also explains how to tackle other thorny performance management tasks, including determining compensation and terminating poor performers. In accessible and useful language, How to Be Good at Performance Appraisals will help you handle performance appraisals confidently and successfully, no matter the size or culture of your organization. It’s the one book you need to excel at this daunting yet critical task.

From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together

They did what?! Workplace war stories you can learn from. From dealing with underperformers to fighting off lawsuits, employee problems are the bane of a manager's existence. So what do most do? Ignore them! And that's a recipe for more problems. Written by a seasoned HR expert and employment attorney, Hard-Won Wisdom takes you inside the messy reality of situations gone wrong, including: * A joking comment taken as a command * An email exchange that escalates ridiculously out of control * A request for confidentiality that backfires in a big way * The right employee...fired the wrong way * The wrong employee...hired the right way These sometimes funny, always cautionary tales reinforce crucial lessons for managers. From failing to give feedback and withholding key information to exercising poor judgment and making faulty assumptions, every story highlights the role management plays in exacerbating (or easing) trouble. And each story suggests simple strategies to turn the situation around. The memorable lessons help managers motivate underachievers, defuse angry employees, discipline without inviting legal action-and handle every tricky-people issue they simply can't avoid.

Wall Street Journal Bestseller "The pick of 2014's management books." –Andrew Hill, Financial Times "One of the top business books of the year." –Harvey Schacter, The Globe and Mail Bestselling author, Robert Sutton and Stanford colleague, Huggy Rao tackle a challenge that determines every organization’s success: how to scale up farther, faster, and more effectively as an organization grows. Sutton and Rao have devoted much of the last decade to uncovering what it takes to build and uncover pockets of exemplary performance, to help spread them, and to keep recharging organizations with ever better work practices. Drawing on inside accounts and case studies and academic research from a wealth of industries-- including start-ups, pharmaceuticals, airlines, retail, financial services, high-tech, education, non-profits, government, and healthcare-- Sutton and Rao identify the key scaling challenges that confront every organization. They tackle the difficult trade-offs that organizations must make between whether to encourage individualized approaches tailored to local needs or to replicate the same practices and customs as an organization or program expands. They reveal how the best leaders and teams develop, spread, and instill the right mindsets in their people-- rather than ruining or watering down the very things that have fueled successful growth in the past. They unpack the principles that help to cascade excellence throughout an organization, as well as show how to eliminate destructive beliefs and behaviors that will hold them back. Scaling Up Excellence is the first major business book devoted to this universal and vexing challenge and it is destined to become the standard bearer in the field.

This trusted reference puts thousands of ready-to-use words, phrases, descriptions, and action items right at your fingertips — perfect for review time, creating development plans, and monitoring performance year-round. Whether you're an HR professional or a manager, chances are there's one task you really dislike: giving performance reviews. Even if you know the basic points you want to get across, finding the right words and committing them to paper is about as much fun as a trip to the dentist. This phrasebook puts the right words in your hands with phrases that managers, supervisors, and HR professionals can use to help them properly evaluate performance and make the whole process much smoother. In 2600 Phrases for Effective Performance Reviews, renowned career expert Paul Falcone covers the 25 most commonly-rated performance factors including: productivity, time management, teamwork, decision making, and more! Falcone also shares job-specific parameters that apply in sales, customer service, finance, and many other areas and industries. 2600 Phrases for Effective Performance Reviews is useful not just for review time but will also be instrumental in creating job descriptions and development plans as well as monitoring performance, progress, and problems year-round.

Efficiently and effectively assess employees performance. Are your employees meeting their goals? Is their work improving over time? Understanding where your employees are succeeding—and falling short—is a pivotal part of ensuring you have the right talent to meet organizational objectives. In order to work with your people and effectively monitor their progress, you need a system in place. The HBR Guide to Performance Management provides a new multi-step, cyclical process to help you keep track of your employees' work, identify where they need to improve, and ensure they're growing with the organization. You'll learn to: Set clear employee goals that align with company objectives Monitor progress and check in regularly Close performance gaps Understand when to use performance analytics Create opportunities for growth, tailored to the individual Overcome and avoid burnout on your team Arm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, with the most trusted brand in business. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

Straight-talk at work! Grumblings in offices everywhere suggest that we crave more, but don't get often enough of it. Beyond Bullsh*t reveals the dynamics of bullsh*t and why it has become the corporate etiquette of choice. It also explains how telling it straight contributes to personal well-being and business success. After decades of research and consulting, Samuel A. Culbert is convinced that straight-talk at work is possible. But it requires more than luck and willing people. Straight-talk is the product of thoughtful, caring relationships, built upon trust and commitment. There's no greater contribution to operational effectiveness and success than conversations in which people with conflicting viewpoints discuss their differences forthrightly. Readers will be engaged and delighted as the text demystifies the obstacles to getting beyond bullsh*t and guides them in developing straight-talk relationships. Further details are available at www.straighttalkatwork.com.

Are performance reviews at your company like fruitcake—you get it every year whether you want one or not? It doesn’t have to be like that. Because everyone wants to know how they’re doing, how they measure up, and what their chances are for advancement and rewards. And they want to do things right. The Essential Performance Review Handbook will help you understand why performance reviews: Serve as an important business tool. Motivate personnel and increase productivity. Help achieve your company goals. Improve manager-employee communication. Reduce your risk of legal liability. Whether you're a manager or a HR professional, this is an indispensable resource to help you create confident, motivated, and productive employees.

A step-by-step guide to creating a performance management solution tailored to your organization's needs and goals in order to meet the three objectives of great performance management: developing your people, rewarding them equitably, and driving your organization's performance.