AIG has lifted the veil on their performance management processes, having benefitted from the transparency of other organizations. In this HCI Keynote video, Julia Smith details how the organizations’ deep belief that there “has to be a better way” ultimately led to more inspired employees doing better work.

Key insights:

• Use collaboration software to survey employees in a global organization rather than traditional focus groups; providing non-native speakers of English sufficient time to read, think, and respond at length in writing produces more meaningful results.
• Focus on manager ownership instead of on paper and process”-the response that “HR made me do it” when a poor rating is assigned.
• If you’re stuck in a slow, multi-tiered hierarchy, stop asking permission and find excited folks to lead change, giving them the freedom and support to do it.