Let's talk Performance Management. Agile Performance Management that is. As technology enables the transformation of business, Performance Management is an aspect of HR and company process that needs to undergo a significant evolution. In the context of Performance Management, combining the best elements of the traditional approach with newer methods like crowdsourcing and social feedback create a much more agile and fully rounded process, enabling better results and higher levels of productivity. In the Agile context, the two most important features are a development focus and regular check-ins. It’s critical to realise that these two important features are part of a wider group of improvements in the area of Performance Management. This shift from the older, more traditional style of Performance Management recognises that:

1. A more skilled and capable workforce can perform at a higher level.
2. Just like on an elite sporting team, regular feedback, communication and coaching is needed to create high levels of performance.

One of the most challenging areas for HR is Performance Management. It is perhaps, one of the least progressive areas in HR because it is one of the most challening to deploy and measure. Measuring performance against brand, culture and values through a social, democratic and horizontal system is where Subscribe-HR sees Performance Management heading in the future. The importance of getting this aspect of the HR scorecard right can been seen when calculating turnover costs.

It's easy for HR to dismiss the benefits of measuring the metrics within your organisation. After all, numbers are often considered to be the responsibility of the Finance Department. However, case studies prove time and again that if you want to know what your people think, what matters to them, how you're tracking against the important things and generally how you're performing as an organisation, it is imperative for you to decide on some metrics and then measure them religiously and regularly.

Starlight Children's Foundation is an organisation whose star is definitely on the rise. Those of you who know Starlight’s mission and the fantastic programs they provide to seriously ill children, young people and their families, know that they do great things out in the world. However, as an organisation that is now 27 years old, their journey to greatness internally, as an organisation of choice for employees, has been a long and sometimes challenging journey.

Subscribe-HR is pleased to announce its latest integration partner : Indeed, the World's number 1 Job site. The addition of Indeed to our growing list of integrated platforms and applications, means more ways that HR Professionals can create better work, better workplaces and a better world. By enabling HR Professionals to do less of what they don't like, and more of what they love - like making a difference to their employees and sourcing / retaining top tier talent, Subscribe-HR's HR Software gives HR Professionals more options than ever to excel, to lead and make the lives of employees everywhere, better, happier and more productive.

If one thing is for sure, it's that Performance Management is a rapidly evolving aspect of the Human Resources landscape. Bersin by Deloitte's 'The Guide to Performance Management Software: 2015' outlines the main trends in the changing world of Performance Management and the progress that software providers need to make to support that change.

The two recent 'Thought Leadership Papers' by Avril Henry have highlighted the key intergenerational factors in attracting and retaining employees. It's clear that Baby Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y all value different things, and as the mix of generations in the workforce shifts, it's important for HR Professionals to have intimate knowledge of what makes each generation tick. We've put the essentials into an InfoGraphic to make it easy for you keep track of what matters most.

Ahead of next week's second paper from Avril Henry, we continue our deep dive into the current Human Resource, HRIS and HR Software trends. This Blog looks at the predominant HR trends in small and medium sized businesses. Because the industry is constantly evolving, with regulations regularly adapting to market forces, and employee desires and values changing as well, small and medium sized businesses have to be flexible enough to keep up with them.