 |
|
|
|||||
When it comes to processes that employers, managers, and leaders dread, its likely to be performance management. And unfortunately, according to Gartner research, 71% of CHROs agree that managers are not fulfilling their role when it comes to performance management. And as a result, employees arent getting the type of feedback that they need to perform. These shortcomings ripple beyond individual performance and can affect organizational success. A May 2024 Gartner survey of 1,456 employees found that only 52% believe performance management is helping their organization achieve its business goals. What prevents employees from getting the most out of performance management is likely due to a perception of bias or lack of fairness in the process. Surprisingly, employees are starting to view AI as being less biased than humans when it comes to performance decisions. An October 2024 Gartner survey of nearly 3,500 employees found that 87% of employees think that algorithms could give fairer feedback than their managers right now, and an additional Gartner survey from June 2024 found that 58% of employees believe humans are more biased than AI when it comes to making compensation decisions. Generative AI in performance management Employees are embracing the idea that AI or generative AI (GenAI) can increase, rather than erode, fairness in the workplace. Understandably, a healthy level of skepticism still exists. At Gartner, we found that only 34% of employees agree or strongly agree that if an algorithm provided performance feedback (instead of their manager), the feedback would be fairer. It’s the duty of CHROs to improve the effectiveness and fairness of performance management at their organizations. But if that means integrating GenAI to achieve their goals, they need to take the following steps. Step one: Evaluate the benefits of GenAI against performance management pain points To leverage GenAI to improve performance management, HR leaders need to understand the pain points at their organization. They also need to have an idea of how GenAI capabilities might be useful in addressing them. Data from Gartner employee and manager surveys, as well as interviews with CHROs and heads of talent management, revealed two common complaints about performance management. First, the effort required is too high. Employees and managers complain that the process demands too much of them, is overly complex, and relies on cumbersome technology. Second, many questioned how useful it actually is. Employees and managers shared that performance management was not relevant to how they work, not aligned with business needs, and disengaging and unmotivating. To have a greater understanding of the pain points within their unique organization, CHROs and heads of talent management should ask managers and employees across the organization to provide feedback on their biggest pain points. From there, HR leaders can assess whether GenAI is the right tool to address those issues. For example, if fairness is an issue, leaders can implement GenAI as a tool to evaluate text for bias. If time-spend and disparate technology are an issue, companies can use GenAI to summarize data and generate insights from multiple HR systems. Step two: Gauge readiness for GenAI in performance management Not all workplaces are alike, and some may be more open to the full spectrum of GenAI capabilities than others. Surveys can be a great tool to assess workforce readiness for GenAI in performance management. This way, leaders can ensure that the technology enhances, rather than detracts, from the employee experience. Leaders should combine quantitative survey data with qualitative feedback by equipping managers with tools to get a fuller picture of workforce GenAI readiness. This might mean sharing standardized GenAI statements reflecting the desired performance state with managers. For example, that might mean using GenAI as a way to level bias in performance management, increase efficiency, and employee satisfaction. In addition, question guides can also support managers in gathering candid employee input, such as whether employees are comfortable with GenAI drafting goals or suggesting performance ratings (with human oversight). Managers should collate feedback to assess GenAIs limitations in performance management. Step three: Secure employee trust to boost adoption and satisfaction Trust is a top barrier to AI adoption. This is why building a foundation of trust is important when integrating GenAI in performance management. CHROs and talent management leaders can build employee trust by increasing visibility into decision-making and establishing an open dialogue about GenAI. HR leaders should start by equipping managers and employees with the rationale for how and why the organization is introducing GenAI in performance management. A simple view into the why behind a decision helps employees accept and trust the decision. Employees also need to understand how decisions will directly impact their roles, so they can process, adapt, and move forward in good faith. Lastly, leaders should establish mechanisms for employees to share feedback on GenAI in performance management to build trust and improve processes. These kinds of mechanisms help leaders identify when there is an erosion of trust, so they can rectify it by incorporating more human touch. Effective performance management leads to better organizational performance Improving performance manageent boosts employee engagement and business success. Gartner research shows that when HR aligns performance management with employee and business needs, organizations see higher perceptions of fairness and accuracy. They also see increases in employee performance (40%), engagement (59%), and overall workforce performance (60%). Increasing performance management utility drives better outcomes for everyone. With employees starting to see the potential of GenAI in performance management, now just might be the ideal time to integrate this technology.
Category:
E-Commerce
Outdoor product company Yeti is best known for its coolers, but this summer, it has a surprise hit product that doesn’t having any cooling functionality at all. It’s a tote bag that’s been part of its existing product offering for yearsbut has gone viral on TikTok after taking a page out of the Stanley playbook, with product offerings that are colorful, accessorizable, and collectible. Launched in 2018, the durable, waterproof, $150 Yeti Camino Carryall Tote Bag isn’t new, but now dubbed the hottest mom tote of the summer, it’s taking on a new life as the sort of colorful must-have consumer product we’ve seen previously with the likes of Stanley cups or Trader Joe’s totes. At least one analyst credits the bag’s new level of popularity with a rise in stock price for the company, which reported quarterly sales of $351 million, up 3% from the same period last year. [Photo: Yeti] The bag’s hefty design is at the heart of its appeal. At 18.1 inches by 15.2 inches, the bag is big, “but not too big,” according to Yetis product page. And though it weighs barely more than 3 pounds empty, the tote’s oversize handles were built for carrying a lot at once, including bottles and half-gallon jugs that can be organized with deployable dividers. As its name implies (camino means road in Spanish), it’s tough and designed to be used on the go. “You can carry everything from firewood to kids’ sand tools to water for washing your hands after camping somewhere,” Yeti’s head of marketing, Bill Neff, told Fast Companys Jeff Beer in March. “Then you can hose it out. It became the super versatile piece for us.” The idea behind the Camino was Yeti cofounder Roy Seider’s, but not everyone at the company saw its potential at first. It was Yeti’s second bag product after branching out into the category in 2017, it and became a quick hit. “We didn’t know what it was going to be,” Neff said in March. “We thought it was going to skew female. No one really understood it, except for Roy, but we launched it and it was bananas how fast, for both male and female customers, it became the product that they used for everything.” For a company whose coolers have been called a luxury good for bros, though, the tote has offered an avenue to market specifically to women. Product images and TikTok videos tagged with the bag skew female, while colorways like influencer beige, pink, and cherry blossom cater especially to female tastes. As of this writing, all the fun colors are sold out on Yeti’s website and you can only order the Camino in boring colors: olive or navy. It’s clear the Camino is not just a bag for the outdoorsman anymore. It’s become a bag for moms too, as a heavy-duty, all-purpose utility purse or as a beach or diaper bag for long summer vacations or a quick trip to the park. It’s functional for sure, with room for everything, but like a dude donning North Face in the city, there’s an element of gorpcore in its appeal as an accessory. The ability to customize the bag with patches, charms, or Labubus, plus a rotating, limited-edition seasonal colorways, gives the product an extra edge on TikTok, where newness, exclusivity, and conspicuous consumption reign supreme. Yeti is now doubling down on bags. The company bought the Montana bag brand Mystery Ranch in January, and on its earnings call in May, CEO Matthew Reintjes credited the Camino specifically for helping Yeti’s strong quarter. “Yeti is bringing a unique point of view to this fragmented bag space supported by our strong design, brand and commercial engine,” Reintjes said. “We remain very optimistic about the massive global addressable market we see in front of us across premium bags, packs, and luggage.” Reintjes calls the Camino tote “the sleeper product” in Yeti’s portfolio. “It’s like the Swiss Army knife of bags,” he said in March. It’s more than just its versatility and durability, though, that have proven valuable for the company. Every brand is looking for its Stanley cup moment, and with the Camino tote, Yeti has found in its portfolio a product capable of viral TikTok infamy of its own.
Category:
E-Commerce
Legos newest set is a replica of a Nintendo Game Boy, and its designed to tap into the millennial nostalgia thats ruling the cultural zeitgeist. The 421-piece set is the latest in a series of collaborations between Nintendo and Lego, which have included builds based on the Super Mario, Animal Crossing, and Mario Kart worlds. Currently, the Game Boy is available for preorder at a price point of $60; it will be purchasable online and in stores starting October 1. [Photo: Lego] According to a press release, the collectible is an almost one-to-one replica of the original Game Boy, standing at just over 5.5 inches tall and 3.5 inches wide. It comes complete with a control pad, A and B buttons, a contrast adjustment, and a volume dialessentially, all the elements youd find on the original device. The main drawback is that, tragically, the brick-based Game Boy is not playable. However, it does come with a Game Pak slot and two Game Paks (also made of Legos, of course) based on The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening and Super Mario Land. The Game Paks come with lenticular screensor screens that use light deflection to mimic movementreplicating scenes from the respective games, so you can briefly pretend that its a functioning electronic. Legos Game Boy replica comes as 80s and 90s IP has flourished in pop culture. Movies like Barbie and Twisters, fast-food menu throwbacks, and the return of 90s fashion (like via the long-dead J.Crew catalog) have all brought millennial nostalgia into the limelight. [Photo: Lego] Theres also renewed interest in retro tech aesthetics, even among younger generations who werent around during the products heydays. In 2024, that meant product releases like Anduril founder Palmer Luckeys 90s-esque portable gaming device and a pager by Sega that only sends emojis. So far this year, the Commodore 64 PC has already made a comeback and the iPod Nano got turned into a design object. Now the Game Boy is on sale againif only in Lego form.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||