“Issues over pay and career progression are clearly a cause of stress for finance professionals. Managers need to take a consultative approach and communicate openly with employees about performance and expectations,” Ian Graves, Managing Director Continental Europe, Robert Half International, told onerec.com. “”Employers should aim to work with their staff to set clear goals and objectives.”

In order to provide clear performance measures and consistent measurement, many organizations, including small businesses, are turning to technology. Technology, like SuccessFactors Manager’s Edition and Vurv Express Performance, enables individual managers or small business owners to produce and deliver professional quality reviews with ease and reduces the potential for disgruntled employees to claim unfair treatment by automating the employee performance review process.

SuccessFactors Manager’s Edition

"We are seeing an increasing number of people who are leading small businesses or managing small teams who want a more effective employee performance review process," said Karen Melchior, Director of SuccessFactors Manager's Edition. "These individuals understand the importance of performance and talent management and are eager to put an automated solution like Manager's Edition in place."

Worldwide, SuccessFactors helps 1.8 million customers with performance and talent management and performance reviews with web-based, on-demand solutions.

Companies, both large and small, from the financial services, education, information technology, insurance and mortgage, medical, manufacturing, marketing services, security and construction, are seeking better ways to conduct employee performance reviews. Even firms like Harvard University, British Telecom, Reebok, MasterCard International and Grant Thornton, are looking for ways to make the process more efficient for managers and employees alike.

SuccessFactors customers report saving 50 percent of the three to four hours it typically took to write a employee review. Many rate the competency library, featuring 51 skill categories, and the writing assistant that "fine tunes" feedback, among the most popular features.

"The writing assistant is fantastic. One of my employees thanked me profusely and said it gave her something to live up to," said President of Luggage Direct, Kevin Vincent, who scored SuccessFactors a 9 out of a possible 10.

Used in 134 countries, SuccessFactors’ Manager’s Edition promotes and delivers visibility, accountability and results that enable companies to forego politics that can impede or destroy motivation and performance. Ideal for managers in larger companies or for small business owners, it is available for a limited time for $99.95 per year for up to 10 employees and $199.95 per year for up to 25 employees.

Vurv Express Performance

Previously known as Performance Impact Workplace (PIW), Vurv Express Performance helps identify underperformers and boost employee retention by engaging employees in the performance management process, aligning and managing goals, and by providing coaching ideas and employee development plans. Vurv Express Performance shares a common behavioral competency model with Vurv Express Recruitment, formerly known as Prohire, a web-based recruitment and applicant tracking system.

“Competencies are an underlying foundational element of all the applications in a talent management application suite,” Gartner Research Vice President Jim Holicheck said. “It is important to have a competency model that is shared and consistent across all the applications.”

More than 2,000 customers are using Vurv Express Performance, with another 600 or more using Vurv Express Recruitment. Among the organizations relying on Vurv Express are McDonalds, Nascar, Porsche Cars North America, Barnes & Noble, Hair Club for Men & Women and Carnival cruise Lines.

Contact Vurv at www.vurvexpress.com/performancequote.cfm for a Vurv Express Performance price quote.

John Carmean , Oct-18-2006  Fairness in Performance Appraisals From the Harvard Business Review March 2006 in the article “Why It’s so Hard to be Fair” By Joel Brockner we read “Studies show that when managers practice process fairness, their employees respond in ways that bolster the organization’s bottom line both directly and indirectly.” Use of advanced appraisal technology like MindSolve's Visual Profiler, streamlines the appraisal process, Visual Profiler's drag-and-drop interface, also improves accuracy and reliability of your performance rating data, giving managers better information and enabling them to make decisions that are more fair. Decisions that create better employee buy in to the PA process. John C. Florida