If you're a manager or an HR professional, you've probably found yourself inundated with articles discussing annual performance reviews – specifically, articles about why you should abandon them immediately. There is a new way of doing things, and it's called continuous performance management. It incorporates real-time feedback, the allocation of short-term objectives and frequent developmental conversations for all employees. READ MORE
The Management Secret Only 1 in 5 Companies Knows
For years, performance ratings have plagued organizations. Managers and employees alike have dreaded the yearly meeting when employees received their grade, for lack of a better word. But now -- finally! --employers are wising up to the ineffectiveness of employee ratings. READ MORE
4 Steps to Modernizing Performance Management, the People-first Way
The past year witnessed a paradigm shift in performance assessment and upskilling. From yearly appraisals to bimonthly reviews, and then gradually progressing into a more bespoke model – in performance management, ‘disruption’ was the buzzword in 2017.
Let’s rewind a few years when performance management was still an emerging idea at best. Evaluations were still largely protocol based, linked more to compensation and rewards that towards productivity and engagement. Enter the millennials: this is a workforce segment that demands several incentives to prevent attrition. Besides adequate wages (the baseline), what’s needed is a sense of purpose and ample opportunities to upskill and push forward. READ MORE
Chicago Tech Funding Surpassed $124M in March
Chicago tech and startup companies saw a hefty increase in venture capital funding in March, compared to February, culminating in a strong finish to the year’s first quarter.
Over the course of the month, they collectively raised at least $124 million, according to data compiled by Chicago Inno. That’s 67 percent higher than in February, when Chicago tech raised about $74 million. READ MORE
Wells Fargo Divests Payroll Assets
Wells Fargo reached an agreement to sell assets of its Business Payroll Services unit to Asure Software, the companies said in a press release on Monday (April 2).
Asure, which offers human capital management (HCM) and workplace management software solutions, will acquire Wells Fargo Business Payroll Services’ Evolution HCM customer portfolio, the firm said, and business customers using Evolution HCM will be transferred to Asure Software for payroll services. READ MORE
Kemin Crop Technologies and Plant Products Announce New Relationship
Kemin Crop Technologies, an initiative of Kemin Industries focused on providing solutions for commercial horticulture, announced a new relationship with Plant Products, a distribution company within the specialty horticulture industry with presence in both Canada and the U.S. READ MORE
New strategies replace outdated annual performance reviews
We’ve all been there, that time of the year when performance evaluations occur, instilling anxiety in both employees and managers. Not only does this annual review process create additional workload and stress, often it is not effectively linked to organizational effectiveness as a whole. READ MORE
Iowa’s Employment Problem: Too Many Jobs, Not Enough People
Manufacturers in northern Iowa are begging Terry Schumaker for freshly trained workers for their factories. The problem is he doesn’t have enough students to train.
“It’s not like we have the people beating down our door to apply,” said Mr. Schumaker, a dean at the North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City. READ MORE
Time Inc. editor gets wings clipped after Meredith takeover
Meredith Corp. has clipped the wings of Time Inc.’s top editorial executive after acquiring the parent of Time, People, Sports Illustrated and InStyle, The Post has learned.
The Iowa-based publisher of Better Homes & Gardens, which scooped up Time Inc. for $2.8 billion on Jan. 31, has slashed the responsibilities of chief content officer Alan Murray, who previously oversaw the editorial side of all of Time Inc.’s magazines, insiders said. READ MORE
Meredith Corp. exploring sale of Time, Sports Illustrated, eliminates 200 jobs
Meredith Corp., which acquired Time Inc. four months ago for $1.84 billion, is exploring the sale of several magazine brands including Time, Sports Illustrated, Fortune and Money.
The publisher, which also owns Better Homes & Gardens, on Wednesday additionally said it had eliminated 200 jobs. Another 1,000 jobs are expected to be eliminated in the next 10 months, all part of an anticipated $400 million to $500 million in cost synergies in the Time Inc. acquisition, the company said. READ MORE
Principal Financial Group (PFG) Getting Somewhat Favorable News Coverage
News coverage about Principal Financial Group has trended somewhat positive recently, Accern Sentiment Analysis reports. The research firm ranks the sentiment of media coverage by monitoring more than 20 million blog and news sources. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Principal Financial Group earned a news sentiment score of 0.15 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned media headlines about the financial services provider an impact score of 45.0651812360776 out of 100, meaning that recent media coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the company’s share price in the next few days. READ MORE
Meredith Corp. To Lay Off 200 To 300 Employees
Meredith Corp., which acquired Time Inc. in January for $1.85 billion, reportedly will lay off 200 to 300 staffers this coming week.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the nation’s largest magazine publisher will make the cuts primarily in New York and former Time Inc. employees will be the ones to go. READ MORE
Wells Fargo faces sales scrutiny in its wealth advice division
Just when it seems like Wells Fargo's troubles are behind it, another mole pops up from the whack-a-mole machine.
The bank's wealth management business is now in focus. According to The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, whistleblowers in the division, called Wells Fargo Advisors, flagged problems related to product and service sales made "with an eye toward earning more compensation than finding the best fit for the customer." READ MORE
Newsweek Couldn’t Pay Its Rent on Time and Faced Eviction
Looming investigations into Newsweek Media Group’s finances have demoralized the legacy magazine’s staff and left a cloud of doubt over the company’s long-term future. But now the company faces another more immediate issue: Whether it can stay in its New York headquarters. READ MORE
Wells Fargo accused of preying on black and Latino homebuyers in California
Wells Fargo discriminated against black and Latino homebuyers in Sacramento, California, by pushing them into more expensive mortgages than white borrowers, according to a federal lawsuit that cites former employees.
The city of Sacramento accused Wells Fargo of a "long-standing pattern and practice" of illegal lending in minority and low-income communities that reduced home values, limited property tax revenue and drove up foreclosures. READ MORE
John Deere tractor fires in South Dakota prompt suit against Deere & Co.
Scammers again target MidAmerican Energy customers
Residential and commercial customers of MidAmerican Energy are reporting receiving calls from imposters demanding immediate payment on behalf of MidAmerican Energy.
Imposter scam callers threaten to shut off power unless the customer makes an immediate payment over the phone with a prepaid debit card. READ MORE
CenturyLink's Level 3 deal enhances federal government business
CenturyLink’s acquisition of Level 3 gives the service provider not only a broader set of network capabilities but also a way to better put together solutions for the federal government. READ MORE
Serra Ventures Invests in VeriSIM Life
VeriSIM Life, the company that has developed an AI based animal/human model to dramatically accelerate the FDA animal drug testing phase has raised $1.2MM in convertible note funding from leading firms including Serra Ventures, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gate’s Village Global and others. READ MORE
Amazon Made $5.6 Billion in Profits Last Year and Reportedly Paid Zero American Dollars in Federal Taxes
Jeff Bezos is the richest person in the world, with a personal net worth of $108 billion. In 2017, Bezos’ company, the internet retail giant Amazon, reportedly took in $5.6 billion in U.S. profits. READ MORE