Want to Use Feedback As a Development Tool? Ask, Don't Tell

The honest truth about performance feedback in business, as I've observed it over the years? Typically, it's been a top-down process used simply to satisfy requirements for annual reviews. And usually, it's a chore that both managers and employees loathe. When I joined Accenture in 2008, however, I discovered a slightly different way of running the feedback process: The company had a philosophy and system that made feedback the responsibility of the individual, not the manager. In other words, if you wanted feedback, you had to ask for it.

3 On-the-Job Learning Tools for the New World of Work

Employee turnover remains one of the hidden -- but increasingly significant -- costs of running a successful business. A company will spend as much as double a position's annual compensation to hire and train a new employee, according to the American Management Association. But with 91 percent of millenials expecting to stay in a job for less than three years, it begs the question why companies bother to invest in training and career development in the first place.

A New Way to Survey Training...Without the Survey

The surveys passed out after training sessions are largely ineffective for evaluating training because they are often too long, poorly written, ignored by participants, and, therefore, don't contain actionable data. Even so, we conduct them because it's easy and it's what we know.

What Every Manager Can Learn From a Trainer

I have yet to come across a manager who at some point hasn't complained about subpar performance on his or her team. The common refrain I hear: "No matter what I do, I can't seem to get through."