Mercedes-Benz ... Convertibles, Coupes, Full-Size Vans, Minivans, Sedans, SUVs

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Mercedes-Benz (German: [mɛʁˈtseːdəsˌbɛnts] or [-dɛs-]) is a global automobile marque and a division of the German company Daimler AG. The brand is known for luxury vehicles, buses, coaches, and lorries. The headquarters is in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The name first appeared in 1926 under Daimler-Benz.

Mercedes-Benz traces its origins to Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft's 1901 Mercedes and Karl Benz's 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen, which is widely regarded as the first gasoline-powered automobile. The slogan for the brand is "the best or nothing".

History :- Mercedes-Benz traces its origins to Karl Benz's creation of the first petrol-powered car, the Benz Patent Motorwagen, financed by Bertha Benz and patented in January 1886, and Gottlieb Daimler and engineer Wilhelm Maybach's conversion of a stagecoach by the addition of a petrol engine later that year. The Mercedes automobile was first marketed in 1901 by Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (Daimler Motors Corporation).

Emil Jellinek, an Austrian automobile entrepreneur who worked with DMG, created the trademark in 1902, naming the 1901 Mercedes 35 hp after his daughter Mercedes Jellinek. Jellinek was a businessman and marketing strategist who promoted "horseless" Daimler automobiles among the highest circles of society in his adopted home, which, at that time, was a meeting place for the "Haute Volée" of France and Europe, especially in winter. His customers included the Rothschild family and other well-known personalities. But Jellinek's plans went further: as early as 1901, he was selling Mercedes cars in the New World as well, including US billionaires Rockefeller, Astor, Morgan and Taylor. At a race in Nice in 1899, Jellinek drove under the pseudonym "Monsieur Mercédès", a way of concealing the competitor's real name as was normal in those days. The race ranks as the hour of birth of the Mercedes-Benz brand. In 1901, the name "Mercedes" was registered by Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) worldwide as a protected trademark. The first Mercedes-Benz brand name vehicles were produced in 1926, following the merger of Karl Benz's and Gottlieb Daimler's companies into the Daimler-Benz company on 28 June of the same year.

Gottlieb Daimler was born on 17 March 1834 in Schorndorf. After training as a gunsmith and working in France, he attended the Polytechnic School in Stuttgart from 1857 to 1859. After completing various technical activities in France and England, he started working as a draftsman in Geislingen in 1862. At the end of 1863, he was appointed workshop inspector in a machine tool factory in Reutlingen, where he met Wilhelm Maybach in 1865.

Throughout the 1930s, Mercedes-Benz produced the 770 model, a car that was popular during Germany's Nazi period. Adolf Hitler was known to have driven these cars during his time in power, with bulletproof windshields. Most of the surviving models have been sold at auctions to private buyers. One of them is currently on display at the War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario. The pontiff's Popemobile has often been sourced from Mercedes-Benz. In 1944, 46,000 forced laborers were used in Daimler-Benz's factories to bolster Nazi war efforts. The company later paid $12 million in reparations to the laborers' families. Mercedes-Benz has introduced many technological and safety innovations that later became common in other vehicles. Mercedes-Benz is one of the best-known and established automotive brands in the world.

For information relating to the famous three-pointed star, see under the title Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft, including the merger into Daimler-Benz.

Subsidiaries & Alliances :- As part of the Daimler AG company, the Mercedes-Benz Cars division includes Mercedes-Benz and Smart car production.

Mercedes-AMG :- Mercedes-AMG became a majority owned division of Mercedes-Benz in 1999. The company was integrated into DaimlerChrysler in 1999, and became Mercedes-Benz AMG beginning on 1 January 1999.

Mercedes-Maybach :- Daimler's ultra-luxury brand Maybach was under Mercedes-Benz cars division until 2013, when the production stopped due to poor sales volumes. It now exists under the Mercedes-Maybach name, with the models being ultra-luxury versions of Mercedes cars, such as the 2016 Mercedes-Maybach S600.

China :- Daimler cooperates with BYD Auto to make and sell a battery-electric car called Denza in China. In 2016, Daimler announced plans to sell Mercedes-Benz branded all-electric battery cars in China.

Production

Factories :- Beside its native Germany, Mercedes-Benz vehicles are also manufactured or assembled in:

Quality Rankings :- Since its inception, Mercedes-Benz has maintained a reputation for its quality and durability. Objective measures looking at passenger vehicles, such as J. D. Power surveys, demonstrated a downturn in reputation in these criteria in the late 1990s and early 2000s. By mid-2005, Mercedes temporarily returned to the industry average for initial quality, a measure of problems after the first 90 days of ownership, according to J. D. Power. In J. D. Power's Initial Quality Study for the first quarter of 2007, Mercedes showed dramatic improvement by climbing from 25th to 5th place and earning several awards for its models. For 2008, Mercedes-Benz's initial quality rating improved by yet another mark, to fourth place. On top of this accolade, it also received the Platinum Plant Quality Award for its Mercedes' Sindelfingen, Germany assembly plant. J. D. Power's 2011 US Initial Quality and Vehicle Dependability Studies both ranked Mercedes-Benz vehicles above average in build quality and reliability. In the 2011 UK J. D. Power Survey, Mercedes cars were rated above average. A 2014 iSeeCars.com study for Reuters found Mercedes to have the lowest vehicle recall rate.

Models

Current Model Range :- Mercedes-Benz offers a full range of passenger, light commercial and heavy commercial equipment. Vehicles are manufactured in multiple countries worldwide. The Smart marque of city cars are also produced by Daimler AG.

Vans :- Mercedes-Benz produces a range of vans; Citan, Vito, Sprinter and X-Class.

Trucks :- Mercedes-Benz Trucks is now part of the Daimler Trucks division, and includes companies that were part of the DaimlerChrysler merger. Gottlieb Daimler sold the world's first truck in 1886. The first factory to be built outside Germany after WWII was in Argentina. It originally built trucks, many of which were modified independently to buses, popularly named Colectivo. Today, it builds buses, trucks, the Vito and the Sprinter van.

Buses :- Mercedes-Benz produces a wide range of buses and coaches, mainly for Europe and Asia. The first model was produced by Karl Benz in 1895.

Significant Models Produced :- The Mercedes-Benz 600 or 600S Pullman Guard limousines offer the option of armour-plating and have been used by diplomats worldwide.

Car Nomenclature :- Until 1994, Mercedes-Benz utilized an alphanumeric system for categorizing their vehicles, consisting of a number sequence approximately equal to the engine's displacement in liters multiplied by 100, followed by an arrangement of alphabetical suffixes, indicating body style and engine type.

Some models in the 1950s also had lower-case letters (b, c, and d) to indicate specific trim levels. For other models, the numeric part of the designation does not match the engine displacement. This was done to show the model's position in the model range independent of displacement or in the price matrix. For these vehicles, the actual displacement in liters is suffixed to the model designation. An exception was the 190-class with the numeric designation of "190" as to denote its entry level in the model along with the displacement label on the right side of the boot (190E 2.3 for 2.3-litre 4-cylinder petrol motor, 190D 2.5 for 2.5-litre 5-cylinder diesel motor, and so forth). Some older models (such as the SS and SSK) did not have a number as part of the designation at all.

For the 1994 model year, Mercedes-Benz revised the naming system. Models were divided into "classes" denoted by an arrangement of up to three letters (see "Current model range" above), followed by a three-digit (or two-digit for AMG models, with the number approximately equal to the displacement in litres multiplied by 10) number related to the engine displacement as before. Variants of the same model such as an estate version or a vehicle with a diesel engine are no longer given a separate letter. The SLR and SLS supercars do not carry a numerical designation.

Today, many numerical designations no longer reflect the engine's actual displacement, but more of the relative performance and marketing position. Despite its engine displacement in two litres, the powerplant in the A45 AMG produces 355 brake horsepower so the designation is higher as to indicate the greater performance. Another example is the E250 CGI having greater performance than the E200 CGI due to the different engine tuning even though both have 1.8-litre engines. From the marketing perspective, E200 seems more "upscale" than E180. Recent AMG models use the "63" designation (in honor of the 1960s 6.3-litre M100 engine) despite being equipped with either a 6.2-litre (M156), a 5.5-litre (M157) or even a 4.0-litre engine.

Some models carry further designations indicating special features:

Model designation badges can be removed at the request of the customer.

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2015 & Beyond :- Rationalization of the model nomenclature was announced in November 2014 for future models. The changes consolidate many confusing nomenclature and their placements in the model range such as CL-Class is now called the S-Class Coupé. The naming structure is divided into four categories: core, off-road vehicle/SUV, 4-door coupé, and roadster. AMG GT, and V-Class are unaffected by the change. In October 2016, Mercedes unveiled the X-Class; a pickup truck built on the Nissan Navara. At the 2016 Paris Motor Show, the company announced the EQ, a family of upcoming battery electric vehicles based on a modular platform, expected to represent up to 25% of its global sales by 2025.

Note: The CLA is positioned between the A- and B-Class models, while the CLS sits between the E- and S-Classes.

In addition to the revised nomenclature, Mercedes-Benz has new nomenclature for the drive systems.

The revised A45 AMG for 2016 model year on has shifted the model designation to the right side while AMG is on the left side. This trend commenced with Mercedes-Maybach with MAYBACH on the left and S500/S600 on the right.

Environmental Record :- Mercedes-Benz has developed multi concept cars with alternative propulsion, such as hybrid-electric, fully electric, and fuel-cell powertrains. At the 2007 Frankfurt motor show, Mercedes-Benz showed seven hybrid models, including the F700 concept car, powered by a hybrid-electric drivetrain featuring the DiesOtto engine. In 2009, Mercedes-Benz displayed three BlueZERO concepts at the North American International Auto Show. Each car features a different powertrain - battery-electric, fuel-cell electric, and gasoline-electric hybrid. In the same year, Mercedes also showed the Vision S500 PHEV concept with a 19 miles (31 km) all-electric range and CO2 emissions of 74 grams/km in the New European Driving Cycle.

Since 2002, Mercedes-Benz has developed the F-Cell fuel cell vehicle. The current version, based on the B-Class, has a 250-mile range and is available for lease, with volume production scheduled to begin in 2014. Mercedes has also announced the SLS AMG E-Cell, a fully electric version of the SLS sports car, with deliveries expected in 2013. The Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHYBRID was launched in 2009, and is the first production automotive hybrid in the world to use a lithium-ion battery. In mid-2010, production commenced on the Vito E-Cell all-electric van. Mercedes expects 100 vehicles to be produced by the end of 2010 and a further 2000 by the end of 2011.

In 2008, Mercedes-Benz announced that it would have a demonstration fleet of small electric cars in two to three years. Mercedes-Benz and Smart are preparing for the widespread uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) in the UK by beginning the installation of recharging points across their dealer networks. So far 20 Elektrobay recharging units, produced in the UK by Brighton-based Elektromotive, have been installed at seven locations as part of a pilot project, and further expansion of the initiative is planned later in 2010.

In the United States, Mercedes-Benz was assessed a record US$30.66 million fine for their decision to not meet the federal corporate average fuel economy standard in 2009. Certain Mercedes-Benz cars, including the S550 and all AMG models sold in the United States, also face an additional gas guzzler tax. However, newer AMG models fitted with the M157 engine will not be subject to the gas-guzzler tax, due to improved fuel economy, and newer models powered by the M276 and M278 engines will have better fuel economy. In 2008, Mercedes also had the worst CO2 average of all major European manufacturers, ranking 14th out of 14 manufacturers. Mercedes was also the worst manufacturer in 2007 and 2006 in terms of average CO2 levels, with 181 g and 188 g of CO2 emitted per km, respectively.

In May 2017, Mercedes partnered with Vivint Solar to develop a solar-energy home storage battery.

In February 2018, it was announced that Mercedes cabin air filters earned the Asthma and Allergy Friendly Certification.

Bicycles :- Mercedes-Benz Accessories GmbH introduced three new bicycles in 2005, and the range has developed to include the patent pending Foldingbike in 2007. Other models include the Mercedes-Benz Carbon Bike, Trekking Bike, Fitness Bike and the Trailblazer Bike.

Electric Cars :- Mercedes is to open its sixth battery factory in 2018, which makes it a tough competitor to Tesla, Inc. The six factories will be established across 3 continents.

The brand has also planned to launch its electric EQ brand with the EQC SUV being set for production in the year 2019. In September 2018, Mercedes unveiled the EQC, its first fully electric car, at an event in Stockholm.

2022 will be the year in which Daimler has said that the company will have invested $11 billion to ensure that every Mercedes-Benz has a fully electric or hybrid version available on the market.

While releasing details of the project, Markus Schäfer said,

"Our electric vehicles will be built in six plants on three continents. We address every market segment: from the smart fortwo seater, to the large SUV. The battery is the key component of e-mobility. As batteries are the heart of our electric vehicles we put a great emphasis on building them in our own factories. With our global battery network we are in an excellent position: As we are close to our vehicle plants we can ensure the optimal supply of production. In case of a short-term high demand in another part of the world our battery factories are also well prepared for export. The electric initiative of Mercedes-Benz Cars is right on track. Our global production network is ready for e-mobility. We are electrifying the future."

Motorsport :- The two companies which were merged to form the Mercedes-Benz brand in 1926 had both already enjoyed success in the new sport of motor racing throughout their separate histories. A single Benz competed in the world's first motor race, the 1894 Paris–Rouen, where Émile Roger finished 14th in 10 hours 1 minute. Throughout its long history, the company has been involved in a range of motorsport activities, including sports car racing and rallying. On several occasions Mercedes-Benz has withdrawn completely from motorsport for a significant period, notably in the late 1930s, and after the 1955 Le Mans disaster, where a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR rammed another car (An Austin-Healey), took off into the stands, and killed more than 80 spectators. Stirling Moss and co-driver Denis Jenkinson made history by winning the 1955 Mille Miglia road race in Italy during a record-breaking drive with an average speed of almost 98 mph in a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR.

Although there was some activity in the intervening years, it was not until 1987 that Mercedes-Benz returned to front line competition, returning to Le Mans, Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM), and Formula One with Sauber. The 1990s saw Mercedes-Benz purchase British engine builder Ilmor (now Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines), and campaign IndyCars under the USAC/CART rules, eventually winning the 1994 Indianapolis 500 and 1994 CART IndyCar World Series Championship with Al Unser, Jr. at the wheel. The 1990s also saw the return of Mercedes-Benz to GT racing, and the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR, both of which took the company to new heights by dominating the FIA's GT1 class.

Mercedes-Benz is currently active in four motorsport categories, Formula Three, DTM, Formula One and GT3.

Formula One :- Mercedes-Benz took part in the world championship in 1954 and 1955, but despite being successful with two championship titles for Juan-Manuel Fangio, the company left the sport after just two seasons. Fangio is considered by many to be the best F1 driver in history.

Mercedes-Benz returned as an engine supplier in the 1990s and part-owned Team McLaren for some years, to which it has supplied engines engineered by Ilmor since 1995. This partnership brought success, including drivers championships for Mika Häkkinen in 1998 and 1999, and for Lewis Hamilton in 2008, as well as a constructors championship in 1998. The collaboration with McLaren had been extended into the production of road-going cars such as the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren.

In 2007, McLaren-Mercedes was fined a record US$100 million for stealing confidential Ferrari technical data.

In 2009, Ross Brawn's newly conceived Formula One team, Brawn GP used Mercedes engines to help win the constructor's championship, and Jenson Button to become champion in the F1 drivers' championship. At the end of the season, Mercedes-Benz sold its 40% stake in McLaren to the McLaren Group and bought 70% of the Brawn GP team jointly with an Abu Dhabi-based investment consortium. Brawn GP was renamed Mercedes GP for the 2010 season and is, from this season on, a works team for Mercedes-Benz. As of 2017, the company currently provides engines to Williams Martini Racing and Sahara Force India F1 Team.

In 2014, Mercedes clinched its first F1 Constructor's title with drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg with 3 races to go, after dominating much of the season. Mercedes repeated its dominance in 2015 in similar fashion, losing only 3 races out of 19 once again. Mercedes yet again dominated in 2016, losing only 2 races out of 21. In 2017, Mercedes secured a 4th title. In these four years of dominance, Lewis Hamilton won the F1 drivers' championship in 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2018 while Nico Rosberg won in 2016.

Logo History :- In June 1909, Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) registered both a three-pointed and a four-pointed star as trademarks, but only the three-pointed star was used. To DMG, the star symbolized Gottlieb Daimler's aims for universal motorization: on land, water and in the air.

Noted Employees

Innovations :- Numerous technological innovations have been introduced on Mercedes-Benz automobiles throughout the many years of their production, including:

Half a century of vehicle safety innovation helped win Mercedes-Benz the Safety Award at the 2007 What Car? Awards.

Robot Cars :- In the 1980s, Mercedes built the world's first robot car, together with the team of Professor Ernst Dickmanns at Bundeswehr University Munich. Encouraged in part by Dickmanns' success, in 1987 the European Union's EUREKA program initiated the Prometheus Project on autonomous vehicles, funded to the tune of nearly €800 million. In 1995 Dickmanns' re-engineered autonomous S-Class Mercedes took a long trip from Munich in Bavaria to Copenhagen in Denmark, and back. On highways, the robot achieved speeds exceeding 175 km/h (109 mph) (permissible in some areas of the German Autobahn).

In October 2015, the company introduced the Vision Tokyo, a five-seat self-driving electric van powered by a hybrid hydrogen fuel-cell system. The super-sleek van is touted as "a chill-out zone in the midst of megacity traffic mayhem."

Tuners :- Several companies have become car tuners (or modifiers) of Mercedes Benz, in order to increase performance and/or luxury to a given model. AMG is Mercedes-Benz's in-house performance-tuning division, specialising in high-performance versions of most Mercedes-Benz cars. AMG engines are all hand-built, and each completed engine receives a tag with the signature of the engineer who built it. AMG has been wholly owned by Mercedes-Benz since 1999. The 2009 SLS AMG, a revival of the 300SL Gullwing, is the first car to be entirely developed by AMG.

There are numerous independent tuners, including Brabus, Carlsson, Kleemann and Renntech.

Sponsorships :- In football (soccer), Mercedes-Benz sponsors the Germany national team. Mercedes-Benz sponsors Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart and provides the naming rights for their stadium, the Mercedes-Benz Arena. The company also holds the naming rights to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, an American football stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. On 24 August 2015, Mercedes-Benz was announced as the naming rights sponsor for the Atlanta Falcons' new home, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, (Mercedes-Benz's US headquarters are in Greater Atlanta) which opened in August 2017.

Thanks to Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz

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How To Take The Stress Out Of Taking Time Off

Have you ever questioned whether taking time off is worth it because the stress of preparing for a vacation is so high?

If so, you’re not alone. Over half of Americans leave some vacation time on the table. Some of the reasons for the lack of vacations include feeling that their workload was too heavy or that no one could do their job while they were gone.

As a time management coach, I’ve observed that pre-vacation work stress typically falls into two buckets: completing work before your departure and being away from the office. Both of these categories can trigger guilt and even fear. Many people worry that if they’re not always available, something horrible will happen at work: What if once I’m out, someone notices I haven’t made progress on a project? What if something falls through the cracks? What if a client needs me? What if people think I’m a bad person for taking time off if I’m not completely on top of my work?

These fears can stop some people from taking vacation entirely — and for others, it causes them to engage in unhelpful behaviors, including attempting to get all their extra work done before they leave, or working throughout their vacation, rather than delegating or delaying projects. In the first case, you could find yourself overstressed and sleep deprived, and in the second, you could end up resentful for being physically away but mentally still at work.

While it’s difficult to remove all stress as you plan to head out of the office, the following strategies can help reduce your headache and set yourself up for success once you return.

Plan ahead. When leveraged correctly, going on a vacation can offer a tremendous incentive to get projects done — but you need to plan for it. If you intend to take a week or more out of the office, put a meeting with yourself on your calendar for three to four weeks prior to your departure date. During that planning time, get clear on must-do activities prior to splitting from the office. Then think about would-like-to-do activities.

Scheduling time weeks before your departure allows you to honestly assess your workload while you still have time to do something about it. If you’re struggling to prioritize when you’re still three to four weeks out from vacation, ask yourself what you would do if you only had one to two weeks before you left. What you think of in this shorter time frame can become your priority activities, while everything else falls within the would-like-to-do category.

Then block out time on your calendar to complete the must-do items. Make your original plan to complete these items at least a week before you actually leave, so you still have the ability to complete them even if unexpected items come up (which they always do) or tasks take longer than expected. This week of margin before your vacation gives you flexibility to address urgent items and still wrap up.

Partner with peers. No matter how good a job you do of getting work in order before heading out, some items will likely need attention while you’re gone. If possible, see if a colleague can take on that role for you so that you can have some real time off. I recommend reaching out to your coworkers a week or more in advance to make them aware of what you will need, such as taking care of a specific responsibility or keeping an eye on certain projects. It will typically be clear who is the best person to cover for you, such as a coworker who is already on the same project. But when it’s not, talk with your boss to confirm who would be best.

You and Your Team Series

Once you’ve selected who can help, write up any deadlines and deliverables, as well as contact information for key internal and external stakeholders, clients, and yourself while you’re away. Sometimes you can explain all of this through email, but often it’s best to have a meeting or at least a phone call to make sure that you’re both clear on expectations. If necessary, do quick email introductions between your stand-in and those involved in the work so that there’s a clear handoff. Also, put an alternative contact in your voicemail message and email auto-response when you go away. That way if anything unanticipated comes up, someone knows whom to contact.

Decide to wait. Once you’ve figured out what you will do before leaving on vacation and what can be handled while you’re away, clarify what you will not do until you return. I recommend having a sense of this in your mind early. But wait until three or four days before you leave to make the final call on what’s in or out. By then you should be sure about what you can reasonably accomplish, and you can relay this information to your boss, teammates, and anyone else involved in the work.

It can be uncomfortable to have these conversations, but it’s almost always best to be up front about what to expect instead of leaving people hanging who are expecting something from you, and then having to deal with a mid-vacation crisis caused by lack of communication. Update colleagues on the status of projects and let them know that nothing will move forward until after you get back in the office. Also, give key individuals the heads-up that you won’t be available — or as available — during the time that you’re away.

Sign off. Unplugging from work for an extended period of time can make some people feel like hyperventilating. And there may be good reasons why you check in with work while you’re away, such as following up on a deal that’s about to close or responding to an urgent, time-sensitive item. If you do decide to check in, set limits. For example, you could spend one hour on work each morning and then stay away from your computer for the rest of the day. Or you could ask a coworker to text you the status of an important project so that you’re informed — but don’t have to open your inbox and get sucked into work mode.

And if you can truly unplug, do. There’s something wonderfully freeing about realizing the world can and will keep turning without you. Being completely disconnected from work has a plethora of positive health benefits including lowered stress, improved sleep, enhanced connections with others, and improved concentration and creativity. I personally believe that completely stepping away from work for a time gives us the gift of perspective. It helps us remember that our jobs really can go on without us — at least for a while. And it reminds us of the importance of life outside our work. This not only can make it less stressful to disconnect the next time you take time off but can also help you with day-to-day decisions like spending an evening at home on a weeknight without checking work email.

Is taking a vacation easy? Not necessarily. But you can plan for your time away more strategically to reduce a pre-holiday headache. Put a reminder in your calendar now for four weeks before your next period of time out of the office, with a note to refer back to this article. By following these strategies for completing work and being away from the office, you can reduce the pre-vacation stress and relax more once you’re away.

Thanks to Elizabeth Grace Saunders / HRB
https://hbr.org/2018/08/how-to-take-the-stress-out-of-taking-time-off?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_campaign=mtod&referral=00203

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If A New Hire Is Struggling, Give Them A Clear Plan To Improve

What do you do if a new hire is struggling in their role, and even dragging down your team? Prepare for a direct, and uncomfortable, conversation. The employee needs to know exactly how they’re failing to meet expectations, so they can make the necessary changes. Share your concerns and ask for their point of view about what’s been happening. The employee may be grateful for the opportunity to clear the air and work on a solution together. You can start off by saying something like, “Boris, I want to talk about the last few weeks. You’re on track in some ways, but we need to make some adjustments.” Then give clear, specific feedback on how the employee should improve. Once you’ve done this, watch how the person responds. If you don’t see significant effort almost immediately, and real improvement over the next three to six months, you may have to take more-serious action.

Source: Adapted from “What to Do When You Realize You Made a Bad Hire,” by Liz Kizlik

Thanks to Liz Kizlik / HRB
https://hbr.org/tip/2018/11/if-a-new-hire-is-struggling-give-them-a-clear-plan-to-improve

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Make Sure Everyone On Your Team Sees Learning As Part Of Their Job

As an executive coach, I speak regularly at corporate leadership development programs. During discussions, participants often confess the real reason they’re in the room, and it’s rarely “to grow and learn.” Time and again, the reasons include: they are checking a box on their development plan, their manager told them to come, or they’ve been told that their participation will increase the chance of a promotion.

The reality is that most people are not set up to take advantage of development opportunities. Many organizations view learning as something extra, something to fit in on top of the regular work. But to create a culture that encourages employee growth, managers need to make learning an expectation — not an option.

Learning helps people keep a broad perspective. When we feel expert at something, sociologists have shown, the earned dogmatism effect sets in, causing us to be more close-minded and to disregard new ideas and perspectives. For managers, suggesting that team members go to a training or take an online course isn’t enough; for many professionals, that’s just more work on their plates. Instead, managers need to encourage continual learning with supportive behaviors that, in turn, will shape their company culture.

Be a vocal role model. Managers should frame learning as a growth opportunity, not as a quid pro quo for promotion.

A good starting point is simply to talk about your own development. When managers open up about their personal areas for improvement, it becomes more acceptable for everyone else to do the same. Ask yourself: What skills are you most excited to develop? What areas do you need to grow the most in? What insights have you found helpful in accomplishing these goals? Then share your answers with the rest of your team.

You should come back from every workshop or training with a story about what you learned. Rather than the typical, “It was interesting,” be specific. For example, you might say, “I thought I was a good listener, but I can see that this is a growth area for me. The day showed me new ways to interact with others, and though they aren’t necessarily comfortable for me, I’m going to try them out.”

If you talk about learning as being enjoyable, you set a playful tone that encourages people to be adaptively authentic — and open to trying new behaviors.

Celebrate growth and lean into failure. Carol Dweck and her colleagues at Stanford University recently published research showing that people don’t simply have passions, they develop them. The best way to determine what you enjoy is to try new things, even when those things are challenging or uncomfortable. If you want your team to be excited about and find purpose in their work, encourage them to be curious and experiment.

A successful learning environment celebrates growth for growth’s sake. One way to develop this kind of culture is to recognize employees when they make progress on a new initiative — even if it doesn’t hit the goal — because they have proactively created a learning opportunity for themselves and the company at large. In addition, when you promote team members, do it for their professional development, even if it means you lose them to another division.

You can also support learning by not hiding failures. One technology company I advise began instituting mandatory post-mortems for all of its product releases and major programs, no matter the results. Team members were able to both celebrate successes and illuminate failures as a matter of regular business, creating an environment that encouraged transparency and continuous learning. People felt free to discuss issues without blame, and interdepartmental communication improved.

Make it easy for people. People usually take on development opportunities on top of their regular workload, so the easier you can make it for them to find the right program, the better. A Google search for “management training” will undoubtedly lead you down a rabbit hole for hours. Instead, try asking HR for recommendations. If that doesn’t give you the results you’re looking for, crowdsource what you need. Ask colleagues inside and outside your office what they’ve recommended to their teams. You might end up with a repository of vetted ideas.

When someone is attending a program, lighten their workload to reduce stress and allow them to be present. I’ve heard many employees complain that their boss recommended them for a development program only to email them constantly throughout the session, forcing them to step out to address work issues.

And make it easy for participants to apply the learning. In an attempt to show “value,” managers often require team members to present their takeaways or train others after completing a program. But doing so just creates more work for the participant. It’s more valuable to let people apply what they’ve learned to their own projects first. This gives them the opportunity to determine what lessons are relevant before sharing them with the rest of the team.

Foster new experiences. Research shows that to be inspired, we need to transcend current thought and become aware of new or better possibilities. As the adage goes, if you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.

Cross-functional projects, role rotations, and geographic relocations are just a few ways to expose people to new learning experiences. Special assignments that last at least a year will help give your team a chance to “eat their own cooking,” or witness the impact of their decisions. People benefit most and feel empowered when you allow them to weigh in on what learning opportunities are of the greatest interest to them.

New experiences can feel daunting, especially when someone is accomplished in their current role — but that’s exactly why you should foster them. Only by tackling unfamiliar challenges will people get the feedback they need to learn. Your team may not always succeed when faced with challenging situations, and that’s OK. The goal is for them to learn from the task, not necessarily to knock it out of the park.

Companies are investing considerable money and time into developing talent, but without doing the up-front work to ensure that leaders are building a learning culture. Frontline managers have the largest and most immediate influence. If you’re a manager who wants to grow your team, demonstrate that you’re committed to growth yourself.

Kristi Hedges is a senior leadership coach who specializes in executive communications and the author of The Inspiration Code: How the Best Leaders Energize People Every Day and The Power of Presence: Unlock Your Potential to Influence and Engage Others. She is the president of The Hedges Company and a faculty member in Georgetown University’s Institute for Transformational Leadership.

Thanks to Kristi Hedges / HBR

https://hbr.org/2018/09/make-sure-everyone-on-your-team-sees-learning-as-part-of-their-job?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_campaign=mtod&referral=00203

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Use Of Bell Curve In Performance Appraisals – Good Or Bad?

Before you're stuck in the science behind the Bell Curve performance appraisal, do you really think it is fair to categorize your employees in different boxes designated as 'top performers', 'average performers' and 'low-performers'! May or may not.

Well, we can help you make a perfect decision on this! Read on.

Organizations believing in pay for performance, exhilarate the concept of performance appraisalon the basis of outcomes observed over a specific time period. It helps to:

1. reward top performing employees to boost their confidence and motivate them to achieve business goals
2. encourage mediocre performers to work harder and get into the square of highest performance
3. identify low performers to guide them right and get them back on the track of better performance

If this is all that you wish to do, Bell Curve is the right thing on your mind.

Now think for a moment! How cool does it sound when HR people embrace a trigonometric plot (Bell Curve Distribution) calling it to be their strategic distribution of evaluating employee performance?

Believe it or not! People in past have used Bell Curve distribution for carrying out appraisal process brilliantly. To an extent, it is all about enforcing the accountability on the employees and expecting them to do better and better. The normal distribution of this systematic bell-shaped graph places the majority of people in the average performance area while keeping the exceptions on both sides of the dropping slope.

A lot of debating has happened over the forced ranking system of appraisal. It is now very clear in the minds of HR managers that 'though bell curve for performance review is the right tool to understand and implement evaluations, yet it is not an ideal outlook for people to think, expect and perform'.

Forced rating assumes that all the employees in a company can be ranked as follows:

·        » Top performers – 20%

·        » Average performers – 70%

·        » Non-performers – 10%.

Some HR professionals believe that while carrying out the performance management process, a bell curve graph is the best way to identify the top performers and under-performers, whereas others believe it compels the appraiser to use a forced rating instead of a fair one. However, the truth lies somewhere in between. Let us explore some advantages and disadvantages of using a bell curve for appraisal from the organizational perspective.

Advantages of the Bell Curve System

Identify Top Performers through the Bell Curve Grading

The forced ranking compels managers to make decisions and differentiate between different employees. Those who are identified as high-top performers are rewarded: they feel motivated and work harder to grow in the company. Their growth and career plans can be developed suitably, and initiatives taken to retain them within the company. This not only helps retain the top talent but also builds succession pipelines.

Manage Lenient and Strict Ratings of Managers

The bell curve is perhaps the only method that can be used by the organization to manage leniency and strictness of managers' ratings. Lenient scores mean a larger cluster of employees in a high-rating group (a right-skewed bell-curve), and strict scores mean large numbers of employees in a low-rating group (a left-skewed bell curve). These unbalanced scoring may demotivate high performers and retain mediocre employees. The average manager tends to rate on a lenient scale.

Identify Suitability of Employees in a Job Position

An underperforming employee may be more suited for another position in the company. The forced ranking with adequate analysis and HR intervention can identify other positions for employees. By digging deeper into the competencies, strengths and career plans of employees and placing them in positions which map better to their capabilities, HR can play a key role in employee development.

Manage Training Needs

The training management talks about the importance of the correct allocation of training to employees. The bell curve graph can help identify the training that is most applicable to different categories of employees.

Disadvantages of the Bell Curve

Too Rigid

Using the bell curve model in performance management may be considered a rigid approach for rating employees. Sometimes managers need to put employees in specific gradients just for the sake of bell curve requirements. This happens more often when the manager's teams are small.

Loss of Morale

The bell curve appraisal creates doubts in the mind of both managers and employees, who may worry about the possibility of an exit during tough job market conditions. This may lead to a loss of morale and further deterioration of job performance.

Not Suitable for Small Companies

The performance review in bell curve is not suitable for small companies where the number of employees is less than 300. With fewer employees, the categorization cannot be done properly, and the results are mostly erroneous.

While there is an ongoing debate on the bell curve based normalization methodology, an additional 360 feedback may help ease some of these doubts. Employees' desired and actual performance can be viewed through a bell curve in Empxtrack's Appraisal dashboards. The bell curve can be normalized or used to view the performance gaps of employees.

Thanks to Tushar Bhatia ... CEO-founder of Cloud-based Global HR Platform Empxtrack / Empxtrack

https://empxtrack.com/blog/bell-curve-for-performance-appraisal/

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The HR Role In Promoting Corporate Social Responsibility

Your Employees Respect and Identify with Employers Who Give

The world is a smaller place thanks to the internet, global trading and new communication and technology advancements. More U.S. companies are expanding overseas, and now manage a global workforce that has unique benefits, rules/laws, and different languages and currencies. With this global expansion comes a responsibility.

When companies are global, an important challenge in garnering success is to respect other cultures and workforce environments and start forming a global profile or social consciousness. Recognize these differences with a sound Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) plan that can simultaneously increase shareholder value, boost employee engagement and increase employer brand recognition.

Human Resource departments play a critical role in ensuring that the company adopts CSR responsibility programs. Furthermore, HR can manage the CSR plan implementation and monitor its adoption proactively, while documenting (and celebrating) its success throughout the company.

HR technology can help with a CSR program, including reducing the company's carbon footprint to benefit the planet. Start with these areas:

• Implement and encourage green practices.
• Foster a culture of social responsibility.
• Celebrate successes.
• Share and communicate the value of corporate social responsibility to employees and the community.

Implement and Encourage Green Practices for Corporate Social Responsibility

Implement green practices to assist in environmental waste reduction, while promoting and encouraging stewardship growth, better corporate ethics and long-lasting practices that promote both personal and corporate accountability.

The value inherent in embracing green aspects of corporate responsibility is clearly understood, given the direct impact that rising energy and utility costs have on employees' pocketbooks. Conservation has become an accepted means of making our planet healthier.

Reducing each employee's carbon footprint is a great way of getting energy conservation and recycling waste initiatives off the ground. Here are suggestions to start:

• Recycle paper, cans, and bottles in the office; recognize departmental efforts.
• Collect food, and especially donations, for victims of floods, hurricanes and other natural disasters around the globe.
• Encourage reduced energy consumption; subsidize transit passes, make it easy for employees to carpool, encourage staggered staffing to allow after rush hour transit.
• Permit telecommuting and allow employees working remotely to the degree possible.
• Encourage shutting off lights, computers, and printers after work hours and on weekends for further energy reductions.

• Work with IT to switch to laptops over desktop computers. (Laptops consume up to 90% less power.)
• Increase the use of teleconferencing, rather than on-site meetings and trips.
• Promote brown-bagging in the office to help employees reduce fat and calories to live healthier lives and reduce packaging waste, too.

Foster a Culture of Corporate Social Responsibility

Creating a culture of change and responsibility starts with HR. Getting the younger employees, who are already environmentally conscious, excited about fresh Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives is a great way to begin. A committed set of employees who infuse enthusiasm for such programs would enable friendly competition and recognition programs.

Over the past few years, major news organizations have reported on large, trusted companies that have failed employees, shareholders and the public (i.e., Enron, Lehman, WaMu). These failures created a culture of mistrust in the corporate world.

All too often, employees and employers at all levels, who competed for advancement and recognition in harsh workplaces, were forced to accept corporate misconduct and waste as “business as usual.”

Employer brands are being eroded and the once sacred trust that employees had with stable pensions, defined benefits, and lifelong jobs, are being replaced with pay for performance and adjustment to new learning goals. In this environment,

Corporate Social Responsibility can go a long way in rehabilitating the employer brand with potential new hires and society at large. It can help defeat the image that corporate objectives are rooted in single-minded profit at the expense of society and the environment.

Social and community connections that are encouraged by employers give employees permission to involve their companies in meaningful ways with the community. Employers can connect with their employees and the community through:

• Company matches for employee charitable contributions;
• Community programs and volunteer days;
• Corporate sponsorship of community events; and
• Encouraging employees to participate in walkathons, food banks, and so forth.

Celebrate Corporate Social Responsibility Successes

Celebrating success is important to sustain the momentum of any CSR program. Involving company leaders, and praising the success of these initiatives, gives the program real meaning.

In the rapidly expanding global workplace, the celebration of these successes not only drives the implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives but also allows sound corporate HR practices to enable them.

Additionally, the publicity about these successes creates a mutual understanding of the cultures within each region that the company serves. The local population knows that, in addition to providing jobs, the company takes an active interest in, and participates in local issues.

Three Key Areas of Corporate Social Responsibility

Focusing on three key areas of Corporate Social Responsibility can help create a cohesive map for the present and future:

Community Relations

Encouraging Community Relations through your HR team includes implementing reward programs, charitable contributions and encouraging community involvement and practices.

Examples of these programs include sending emails and company newsletters to staff members that highlight employees and managers involved in community relations or creating monthly reward programs to recognize efforts by individuals within the company.

Training and Development

Training and Development programs that explain the connection between the company’s core products or services and the society at large and their value to the local community. They must also identify ways in which employees can get involved in appropriate CSR projects that would sustain and direct these initiatives.

A Cohesive Global Corporate Social Responsibility Platform

Global Corporate Social Responsibility policy, centrally managed, is important to acknowledge successes and measurements according to accepted standards. Central to measuring and communicating these results is the use of a web-based Human Resources Information System (HRIS) that is available globally to employees and managers with any Web browser.

To encourage and maintain a clear and cohesive global workplace, it is critical for the entire global workforce of a company to be on a single, multi-functioning HR platform, which allows for distributing a sound corporate responsibility plan.

Having a global HR solution that offers companies flexibility, ease of use and the right mix of tools is essential to the success of both employees and employers alike, as they manage and maintain work-life balance and thrive in a changing environment that includes taking on social responsibility.

The success of your Corporate Social Responsibility plan is possible with an HRIS that provides the capability to plan effectively, control and manage your goals, achieve efficiency and quality, and improve employee and manager communications.

The flexibility of your HRIS system is critical to tracking and pursuing a sound Corporate Social Responsibility plan, and a Web-based system provides an unparalleled level of both scalability and accessibility to implement your Corporate Social Responsibility plan at a global level.

It is an increasingly important endeavor, as companies, societies, and people coexist productively and in harmony, across the planet we all inhabit.

Thanks to Shafiq Lokhandwala / TheBalanceCareers

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/the-hr-role-in-promoting-corporate-social-responsibility-1917743

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