Vijay Bankar

We started to interact with computers by typing commands using programs in DOS. Then we used clicks to get things done in Windows. With the advent of Smartphones, we started moving from clicks to tap. And these days we are conversing with Smart Speakers like Alexa, Siri, Cortana, and Google Assistant. Just to note that according to Loup Ventures , Google Assistant is smarter than Siri, Alexa, and Cortana. You want to rearrange your shift schedule and you say ‘HeyAlexa’ or ‘OK Google' and it's done in a few moments. Similarly, if you want to know about company rules, practices, salary slips, or any other information and you get it by simply asking your Chatbot / Smart Speaker. Now we can provide AI-based CUI-Bots to help our employees to get the relevant information for smarter decision-making. It sounds easy and convenient freeing you to focus on your strategic priorities. Recently we have witnessed enormous developments in the field of Artificial Intelligence ...

On October 8, 2018, LinkedIn acquired Glint and entered the segment of “Employee Engagement”.  According to Josh Bersin, “Glint, is a comprehensive employee experience platform that stores data from onboarding, new-hire experience, ongoing pulse surveys, and open interviews.” It is important to note that Microsoft – LinkedIn approached this market segment through the acquisition route. On November 11, 2018, SuccessFactors announced an acquisition of Qualtrics. No wonder that ‘Employee Engagement’ is gaining leadership attention and becoming the organizational priority.   Even Jack Welch thinks that ‘Employee Engagement’ is number one indicator of organizational health. Gallup carried out research in 155 countries and found 15% engaged employees, 65% not engaged employees and 18% actively disengaged employees. The report further states that engaged employees increased productivity (17%), sales (20%), and profitability (25%). And reduced absenteeism (41%...

The recent trend in Performance Management is moving away from Annual Performance Review to the process of regular Check-ins. The main reason behind this trend, as Laszlo Bock says: "The major problem with performance management systems today is that they have become substitutes for the vital act of actually managing people." There’s this so-called Pearson’s Law which says: “When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported back, the rate of improvement accelerates.” A similar quote by Peter Drucker says, "What gets measured gets managed” & even Louis Gerstner says the same thing, "People don’t do what you expect but what you inspect." Hence it is important to Measure what matters. Recently I read the book by John Doerr  ( Measure What Matters , 2017). Let’s see what is OKRs ( Objectives and Key Results ) & How this ‘Goal setting system works'. Origins of OKRs: During his tenure at In...