As we wrap up January 2015, many organizations have closed out the 2014 end of year performance appraisal process. This year, more than ever, I’m hearing from clients that their evaluation process “just isn’t working”. Their feedback is that for the last several years we go through the same process and the results aren’t worth the effort.

A few things have been going through my mind recently: Football, Leadership and Performance Management. While these three topics sound disjointed, hang on for the ride – there is a touchdown at the end of this!

Performance reviews often get such a bad rap – and yet, we HR Professionals know how critical they are in terms of managing organizational effectiveness. At Helios, we work with many of our clients to revise their performance review process and we’ve learned many lessons along the way. With these 3 easy adjustments, you can start improving your performance review process today.

Companies that have a culture that incorporates gratitude, appreciation, and recognition have more engaged, self-motivated employees. And every client I work with wants that!

It’s been said that on the first date, there are two things you don’t discuss: politics and religion. For generations, the same could be said for one topic in the workplace: how much money you make. But now, the Department of Labor is proposing a new rule that would “bar pay secrecy and encourage pay transparency among federal contractors”.

I get asked a lot by my clients to help them plan for the future. As an HR Business Partner at Helios HR, my job is to work with senior management teams to plan for the unexpected. To help them continuously move their human capital forward successfully. Sometimes, these organizations that want to plan for the future just want to mitigate their risk of an employee leaving the organization. So this got me thinking, what is the true difference between succession planning versus replacement planning?