Science & Technology
Science and Technology
Science and Technology
Wed, April 15, 2009
Tue, April 14, 2009 Taleo Corporation: Taleo Survey Shows That Death and Taxes Can Wait -- Job Performance Reviews Are What Americans Really Want t
DUBLIN, CA--(Marketwire - April 14, 2009) - When it comes to the top things Americans want real control over, it turns out that Uncle Sam and the Grim Reaper can take a backseat to job performance reviews, according to survey findings released today by Taleo (
The Taleo survey* asked working Americans what they feel they have the most control over this year. The results skewed heavily toward job performance: 59% of American workers feel they have control over their job performance compared, respectively, to 39% who have their health in check and a mere 2% of Americans who feel they have control over how much they pay in taxes.
With nearly 80% of employed individuals stating dissatisfaction with their current performance review process, these findings bring to light a deep desire among the American workforce to influence, impact and improve how their performance reviews are managed. Employees want the performance review process to better reflect and reward their efforts at work.
Yet, in the toughest economy in decades, this survey shows that dissatisfaction isn't all about salary. In fact, demographics weigh into the priorities of American workers in terms of their perspectives on performance review priorities. And those priorities, in turn, are not entirely in sync with today's corporate attention on performance management.
-- The number one CEO priority worldwide today is balancing talent retention with cost reduction. Many are approaching this by aligning individual and corporate goals and results to pay for performance. Indeed, of the 80% of employees who wanted to change something in their performance reviews, nearly one third (31%) agreed that they want their performance reviews tied to compensation. Interestingly, Americans in the moderate to high salary range (more than $35,000), drove this priority. -- A continual challenge in a business environment is to ensure fair, consistent performance reviews that represent a complete view of the employee's work: with feedback from peers, customers and managers. 21% of the employees in this survey felt that fairness was the main thing they would change about their performance reviews. This response was driven by employees earning under $75,000 annually. Further, those without a college degree were twice as likely to put a priority on fairness. -- The regularity and timing of reviews is also in flux in American companies. In the past few years there has been an evolution from annual "anniversary" date reviews for each employee, toward annual or semi annual full staff focal reviews that give senior management a better view of performance across the organization. Here again, demographics played a factor on employees' perspectives about more regular reviews: -- 16% of workers would like their performance reviews to be conducted more often. The bulk of respondents in this category are people under the age of 45; -- 11% of workers would like their job performance reviews to go away altogether. Most of these people either don't have dependents, or no longer have children who live at home.
"In the current economy, job performance is front and center of the corporate agenda. So it's not surprising that this is an area where American workers want to seize greater control," said Alice Snell, Vice President of Taleo Research. "With employees working hard and performing well to keep their jobs, companies need to not only know what their employees would like to get out of the performance management process, but also ensure they have effective and efficient processes in place to maximize workforce productivity and retain top talent within their organizations."
Taleo provides software solutions for employers to closely monitor all aspects of talent management -- from recruitment and performance management to succession planning -- helping them to support career goals, manage more effectively and reward strong performers.
For more information on Taleo Performance, please visit [ http://www.taleo.com/LP/death-taxes-performance-reviews/secure/ ]
* Telephone survey among 881 full- or part-time workers, 18 years of age and older, conducted for Taleo by KRC Research between March 12, 2009 to March 16, 2009.
About Taleo
Taleo (
Forward-looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the demand for and results from use of Taleo's solutions. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon Taleo's historical performance and its current plans, estimates and expectations and are not a representation that such plans, estimates, or expectations will be achieved. These forward-looking statements represent Taleo's expectations as of the date of this press announcement. Subsequent events may cause these expectations to change, and Taleo disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking statements in the future. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. Further information on potential factors that could affect actual results is included in Part II, Item 1A of Taleo's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, as filed with the SEC on August 11, 2008, and in other reports filed by Taleo with the SEC.
