DISQUS

I still like email. Much more organized than going to ten different places (Facebook, MySpace, twitter, etc.) to contact different people. If all of these avenues can be merged into one, that would be ideal (i.e. Outlook connects directly to Facebook and any other communication app).

I’m not PR, but as a marketing person I would be protective about anyone talking to the press who isn’t in PR. That being said, I think the issue is more that HR should request to be utilized by PR, and vice versa. I think you’re suggestion of HR talking to the press is good, but circumventing PR (i.e. not doing it with guidance from PR) is not a good move.

I don't disagree with the points made above; however, I do view GPA as an indicator (how good of an indicator, who knows) not as a measure of intelligence but as a measure of how capable someone is at doing things. For instance, if someone has a 2.3 GPA, I want to find out if that GPA is a result of not working hard enough, or if they were working three jobs to pay for school, or what. GPA may not be a measure of intelligence, but in general I don't think it's that hard to get a good GPA - if they don't have a good one, I at least want to find out the reasons.

I actually like the word templatize. As mentioned, it says what it means, and it's necessary to use at times. What would you recommend as an alternative?

I don't like redoing work that doesn't need to be done, so I prefer to templatize wherever possible.

It would just make me hungry.

As a manager, I have found "strict" performance reviews to not be very useful. Giving number rankings to different aspects of an employee's skill set never seemed to have a positive impact - either you give them a really good score, which really isn't all that useful, or you give them a slightly lesser score (say, 4/5 - "Why didn't I get a five?") and then they're pissed off.

I prefer less structured reviews where I can give feedback and ask for it, but not give specific scores. When scores are involved, the employee zeros in on those rather than taking to heard more open-ended criticisms and praise.s

Does that woman come with the nubrella? Being from Seattle, I haven't used an umbrella since I was five years old - no hat or umbrella in pouring rain is the way to go!

Good comments all around. I also take issue that these severances are basically treated like bonuses, only are not tied to performance in any way. The "commenters" make a point that severance is often decided before a failure, but doesn't that mean the system of calculating severances are flawed?

IT human capital is a huge asset. My ex company wouldn't even allow us in marketing to announce new hires as the demand is so competitive for quality talent.

I have been involved in companies that worked from a very centralized matter, and and they have struggled to keep up to every-changing demands of the Internet age.