Trending Employee Performance Software Blog Posts

Show All Articles
360 Degree Feedback
Customer Q&As
Employee Engagement
Goal Setting
HR Digitalization
Healthcare
Hiring
Human Resources General
Insights
Learning Management
Life at Trakstar
Performance Management
Remote Work
Retention
Software Updates
Talent Development
Talent Management
Training

Top HR Goals For 2023

Posted December 05, 2022 • 7 min read

It looks like 2023 will be a bumpy year for everyone, including businesses and organizations of all sizes. Anyone looking to expand and bring in new talent and employees (or nurture the ones they have) will have ample… Read more →

Does Your Employee Data Spark Joy?

Posted January 31, 2023 • 3 min read

Hi [first name]! If you have an email address, chances are you've got an email with that opening line. Does that company really think your name is "first name?" No (at least they shouldn't - apologies to anyone wit… Read more →

Your Employees Are Leaving. Here’s Why They’ll Stay.

Posted January 27, 2023 • 6 min read

What makes employees stay with their companies? What makes them leave? When we think about the fallout from the Great Resignation, we know that we collected data about why people quit. However, there needed to be more… Read more →

Creating an HR Digitization Strategy: What You Need To Know

Posted January 18, 2023 • 8 min read

You've probably heard about it a lot over the last few weeks and months: HR digitization is the future, and we all need to prepare for it. Before you start worrying about updating everything, taking years of work, and… Read more →

Performance Reviews Are Here To Stay: 5 Reasons Why They Matter Even More in 2023

Posted January 13, 2023 • 5 min read

Performance reviews are an essential aspect of any organizational structure. They provide a formal opportunity for employees to receive feedback on their job performance, set goals for improvement, and discuss their c… Read more →

5 Steps to Crafting a Winning Talent Management Strategy

Posted January 12, 2023 • 7 min read

Talent management is an integral part of any business as it helps to ensure that the right people are in the right positions to maximize the company’s potential. It is more than just a theory or a concept. It is a pro… Read more →

HR Theme For 2023: Transparency

Posted January 04, 2023 • 6 min read

There's always a weird feeling in the air about a new year. While many people have hope and aspirations about the next twelve months, there's an underlying feeling of fear and trepidation for what could be - what if t… Read more →

Trakstar’s Best of 2022: What People Read, Listened To, and Used

Posted December 29, 2022 • 8 min read

Every year, we create a ton of interesting content that people read, listen to, and use in their careers - and 2022 was no different. It’s always interesting to see what people care about - and it helps us create bett… Read more →

Old School vs. New School Talent Development: Which One Reigns Supreme?

Posted December 20, 2022 • 6 min read

If you're involved in talent development, you know it's a battle of old school vs. new school at many companies. Often, these competing factions want the best for the company and its people; they just want to go about… Read more →

Three Things HR Can Do Before The End of the Year

Posted December 16, 2022 • 5 min read

The end of the year is quickly approaching, so it’s time to make some important preparations for next year while tying up loose strings from this year. While you might be tempted to focus solely on how your department… Read more →

Employee Retention Rates: What You Need To Know & How You Can Improve Them

Posted December 12, 2022 • 6 min read

Employee turnover rates have been at the forefront of all people leaders' minds lately - and with good reason. Companies are seeing massive employee churn rates and investing more in employee retention than ever. I… Read more →

5 Warning Signs that your HR Department Needs a Makeover

Posted December 09, 2022 • 5 min read

Every organization needs the talent to succeed and prosper, but top talent can be hard to find. A dynamic and skilled Human Resources Department will help attract and retain talent and uncover the talent you didn't kn… Read more →

What Leaders Need To Know About “Workations”

Posted December 01, 2022 • 5 min read

If you work in HR, you know that people are starting to talk more about “workations” or going on vacation and working at the same time. While this may have been almost unheard of a few years ago for most people, it is… Read more →

Stop Using Spreadsheets To Manage People

Posted November 29, 2022 • 8 min read

Ask any HR professional or people leader what they use to manage people and record essential data, and you’ll get a litany of answers that tell you a lot about a person. Some people still use paper performance r… Read more →

4 Reasons Why You Need to Invest In Talent Development Right Now

Posted November 17, 2022 • 4 min read

Do you have goals for your workforce? It's time to start going after them right now. You cannot put off talent development with the way the labor market is right now. Why? People will be fighting for the best talent, … Read more →

10 Things 2022 Taught Us About the Workplace

Posted November 10, 2022 • 5 min read

The 2022 workplace is all over the place - for some, their offices are remote; for others, they’re hybrid; and still, others are back in the office five days a week. But no matter where you perform your job, we can al… Read more →

The Complete Guide To Employee Check-Ins

Posted October 17, 2022 • 7 min read

Running employee check-ins (also known as one-on-one meetings, progress meetings, appraisals, reviews, catch-ups, sit-downs, and so much more, depending on the organization) is something all good managers and leaders … Read more →

How to Build a Mentorship Program At Your Company

Posted October 14, 2022 • 7 min read

Creating a mentorship training or employee mentorship program at your company helps to share valuable information, experiences, skills, and insider knowledge that a new employee may not typically get during a traditio… Read more →

Customer Q&A: Trakstar Hire & Hub Recruiting

Posted October 12, 2022 • 14 min read

We had a great opportunity to share a conversation with Desiree Goldey, the Talent Operations Manager for Hub Recruiting. As a customer of Trakstar Hire, Desiree uses Hire for tracking candidates and recruiting during… Read more →

Old School vs. New School: Managing A Remote Workforce

Posted October 10, 2022 • 7 min read

Managing a remote workforce is challenging for even the best leaders. Whether your company has always had remote workers or you were thrust into remote workforce management because of the pandemic, it’s not something … Read more →

10 Employee Retention Strategies That Actually Work

Posted October 07, 2022 • 11 min read

Employee retention strategies seem to be what all HR leaders, C-Suites, and anyone who manages employees are talking about. Finding good employees is difficult, but keeping them is even more challenging. Everyone is t… Read more →

Best HR Books People Leaders Need to Read in 2023

Posted October 04, 2022 • 8 min read

What are the best HR books for people leaders? There are many ways to improve in your role as a people leader, whether you are the director of human resources or studying for your HR certification. Books can help you … Read more →

How Technology Can Stem Employee Turnover

Posted September 30, 2022 • 6 min read

If your company is having difficulty with turnover, it's a sign that something is happening within your organization. We can all point to studies that talk about people staying in jobs for a shorter amount of time or … Read more →

10 Things You Can Do Now To Prepare for End-of-the-Year Reviews

Posted September 23, 2022 • 8 min read

End-of-the-year reviews are creeping up - are you ready for them? If you aren't already preparing, you might be unable to get the most out of your performance review cycle. End-of-the-year reviews are imperative for m… Read more →

How To Manage Conflict In A Team

Posted August 31, 2022 • 7 min read

How do you resolve conflicts in your team? It’s difficult for managers and HR leaders to deal with conflicts in teams, particularly high-achieving teams. However, too much conflict can lead to burnout, churn, and a la… Read more →

A Conversation with Trakstar CEO Julie Rieken

Posted August 25, 2022 • 4 min read

Trakstar's CEO, Julie Rieken, has taken Trakstar through some of its biggest changes and moves, as well as challenges. She's positioned herself as a thought leader in the industry, with the PeopleStar Podcast, webinar… Read more →

What is Quiet Quitting?

Posted August 18, 2022 • 7 min read

It’s all over TikTok, Twitter, and even LinkedIn right now: Quiet Quitting. This trend is something that many HR leaders have been talking about for as long as there have been HR leaders, but now that it officially ha… Read more →

Are SMART Goals Still…Smart?

Posted August 17, 2022 • 5 min read

We’ve all been setting SMART goals for employees for a long time, but is that still a good idea? Are SMART goals still the smart way to go? You’ll see many people saying yes and some saying no. Some people use the HAR… Read more →

Releasing Today: Trakstar Benchmarking for Perform

Posted August 10, 2022 • 5 min read

Benchmarking is a practice and tool used to help leaders compare with industry peers and find out “where they stand” against their competition. For years, benchmarking was considered something used solely in the mathe… Read more →

What is Benchmarking: FAQs Answered

Posted August 01, 2022 • 7 min read

Soon, Trakstar Insights is going to be unveiling its newest feature: Benchmarking for Trakstar Perform. For this blog, we’ll talk to some of the team behind Trakstar Insights and Benchmarking to get their take on what… Read more →

Leadership Models For Human Resources: How To Be A Better Leader For Your Employees

Posted July 25, 2022 • 7 min read

The popularity of specific leadership models ebbs and flows like many other trends in people leadership. Still, one truth remains: every organization has leaders that fit into these categories, for better or worse. Hi… Read more →

Human Resources Quotes For All Occasions

Posted July 18, 2022 • 6 min read

If you are looking for uplifting, motivational, funny, or inspirational human resources quotes, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve been gathering a list of quotes about human resources to share with you for the mom… Read more →

How to Reduce Zoom Fatigue in Your Employees

Posted July 11, 2022 • 7 min read

Zoom fatigue is real! You might think leading employees who work from home means they are less stressed, easier to handle, and happier than ever. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case. Zoom fatigue syndrome is som… Read more →

Metrics To Use During The Employee Lifecycle

Posted July 08, 2022 • 6 min read

Are you using metrics to help you understand the employee lifecycle at your organization? If you aren’t, you may be missing out on key insights and information that can help you retain your best employees, predict how… Read more →

Top Human Resources Podcasts To Listen To Today

Posted July 05, 2022 • 7 min read

Finding a human resources podcast is a bit like finding a rainbow unicorn in the wild - it’s hard to do! However, there are some truly great resources for HR leaders looking for podcasts. The best podcasts for HR prof… Read more →

Employee Appreciation Ideas & Tips

Posted July 01, 2022 • 4 min read

If you are looking for employee appreciation ideas and tips, it’s probably been some time since you thanked your employees properly. The world is strange, and your workers feel a lot of it. If you haven’t shown apprec… Read more →

5 Key Metrics To Grade Your Hiring Process

Posted June 27, 2022 • 7 min read

If you are revamping the way you hire - and most of us are because of the Great Resignation, seasonal hiring, and even Beyonce - you need to seriously consider grading your hiring process. HR leaders and recruiters fa… Read more →

Insights For Trakstar Hire: Building Great Teams

Posted June 22, 2022 • 6 min read

As part of the Trakstar Platform, Trakstar Hire has helped thousands of organizations attract some of their top talents. Right now, finding talent is more complex than ever, and it seems like those challenges aren’t g… Read more →

Definitive Guide To Mid-Year Performance Reviews

Posted June 17, 2022 • 7 min read

How are your mid-year performance reviews going? You can be honest - this is a stressful time for many people (HR leaders and employees alike), and sometimes things don’t go smoothly. Mid-year performance reviews … Read more →

HR in Healthcare: Top Challenges (and How To Overcome Them)

Posted June 10, 2022 • 4 min read

Working for HR in healthcare feels exceptionally different than it does in other industries. Why? Healthcare workers have always faced pushback, overwork, and public pressures - all of those struggles are felt by the … Read more →

Every day at Trakstar, we celebrate PRIDE.

Posted June 03, 2022 • 1 min read

It’s a time to reflect on our beliefs and how, as leaders, our beliefs and experiences have the ability to affect the people in our organizations and their loved ones. A friend has a child who recently transition… Read more →

The Hardest Things in the World: Expectations and Accountability

Posted May 26, 2022 • 4 min read

As leaders, one of the toughest things we face is setting clear expectations, gaining alignment from others, and creating structures for accountability. And, if we have set expectations, we need to expect everyone to… Read more →

What Should You Do After Engagement Surveys?

Posted May 13, 2022 • 5 min read

You’ve put the time and effort into creating engagement surveys, sending them out to your employees, and reading their feedback. Now, your job is done - right? Wrong. After you complete an engagement survey, you… Read more →

Department Goals: How To Set & Reach Them in 2023

Posted May 06, 2022 • 9 min read

Setting department goals and setting reasonable department goals are two very different things. Everyone can set a goal and forget about it until performance reviews come around and they suddenly remember them again. … Read more →

What is PeopleOps - And What Does it Mean For The Future of HR?

Posted April 29, 2022 • 6 min read

People operations, also known as PeopleOps, is a popular phrase or idea in human resources, talent development, and people management. PeopleOps puts people before operations-quite literally. The goal is to create a h… Read more →

10 Tips For Handling High Achieving Employees

Posted April 22, 2022 • 7 min read

Attracting, retaining, and engaging high achieving employees is difficult for many managers to do. Why? High achieving employees tend to be the hardest workers, but they come with a peculiar set of quirks that you can… Read more →

Great Performance Review Questions for Leaders

Posted April 15, 2022 • 4 min read

Today in one of my CEO peer groups, a fellow leader posed a question: How do you survey your internal leadership teams for feedback? What do you ask? What a great question for someone who is always looking for the … Read more →

11 Practical Tips For Employee Data Protection

Posted April 05, 2022 • 7 min read

When you store employee data of any kind, there is an employer responsibility to protect employee information. Human resources has a huge part in employee data protection. This department holds some of the most sensit… Read more →

Launching Today: Insights For Trakstar Learn

Posted March 29, 2022 • 5 min read

As part of the Trakstar Platform, Trakstar Learn has already helped thousands of companies onboard, educate, upskill, and equip their fantastic teams through courses, multimedia content, quizzes, and more. Now, the im… Read more →

What is the Best Way To Onboard a New Hire?

Posted March 25, 2022 • 7 min read

Human resources leaders talk about onboarding more than they talk about almost anything else these days. Why? It's because they are doing more hiring than they've ever done, and they are starting to see that they need… Read more →

4 Points Of HR Data I Want To Know As A Leader

Posted March 15, 2022 • 4 min read

What happens when HR leaders embrace human data? This is the time for HR to stay in the seat at the table. We’ve wanted it. We’ve got it. Finding, Hiring, and Retaining talent will not get easier. It will be diffe… Read more →

Insights For Trakstar Learn: Equipping Great Teams

Posted March 08, 2022 • 5 min read

As part of the Trakstar Platform, Trakstar Learn has already helped thousands of organizations onboard, train, upskill, and equip fantastic teams. Now, those capabilities are about to go even deeper thanks to the laun… Read more →

What is the Value Of All-In-One Employee Management Software?

Posted March 04, 2022 • 6 min read

Employee management software is an important tool for all HR leaders, but there comes a time when having too many tools is just confusing and adds to the complexity of your job. The goal of all human resources tools s… Read more →

Expectation Setting in Action: A Letter To Our Employees

Posted February 25, 2022 • 4 min read

At Trakstar, we’ve been talking about expectation setting and how to align our teams and company overall. This year, I thought it might be helpful to outline what we expect from our employees as a remote company - … Read more →

How To Fight Employee Burnout In Healthcare

Posted February 22, 2022 • 6 min read

Knowing that you have to fight employee burnout in healthcare is one giant step most of us have taken over the last few years, but knowing how to fight employee burnout in healthcare is another step altogether. Fighti… Read more →

Reducing Employee Turnover: 4 Proven Tactics

Posted February 15, 2022 • 7 min read

Reducing employee turnover is the type of thing that keeps some human resources leaders up at night. It’s a very difficult thing to do, especially in today's world when employees are more willing than ever to jump fro… Read more →

How To Develop Leaders In Your Organization

Posted February 11, 2022 • 5 min read

If you need to develop leaders in your organization, you have a daunting task ahead of you. Employees need to be self-reliant and take initiative for the work that they do. However, a good workplace needs to have lead… Read more →

Returning To Work: How HR Can Plan For The Transition

Posted February 08, 2022 • 6 min read

If you are returning to work, it can be daunting. All departments are going to face particular struggles and challenges, but few will feel the push as much as human resources does. It's going to be difficult, there's … Read more →

What Integrations Does Trakstar Use?

Posted February 04, 2022 • 5 min read

Fairly often, you will see a notification go out - either on social media, within your Trakstar Learn, Hire, or Perform app, or in the newsletter - that Trakstar has new integrations. Sometimes, these integration name… Read more →

Top 7 Workforce Predictions for 2023 and How Your Organization Can Rise to Meet Them

Posted February 01, 2022 • 6 min read

Reflecting on the lessons of 2022, it’s clear we’re at the dawn of a new labor cycle; not only has the hiring market bounced back from the disruption of early 2020, but now many organizations are finding themselves sh… Read more →

Workforce Analytics: How HR Can Incorporate Metrics

Posted January 28, 2022 • 5 min read

Workforce analytics take the information HR leaders already gather from your employees, in one way or another, and give you a new perspective on what employees are doing, who they are, and even where you (collectively… Read more →

Insights: People Analytics to Strengthen Your Workforce

Posted January 25, 2022 • 6 min read

With critical workforce data from Insights at your fingertips, you can write your own narrative about how HR can help shape your business outcomes and show why you deserve a seat at the table. Introducing Trakstar In… Read more →

Navigating Laws When Hiring For The Medical Field

Posted January 21, 2022 • 4 min read

Hiring for the medical field is difficult, and HR faces a wide array of challenges, including legal challenges. Every field has its own problems, but ignoring the legal issues can lead to discrimination disputes, obst… Read more →

Four Ways to Responsibly Address Mental Health in a Changing Workplace

Posted January 18, 2022 • 5 min read

In the post-pandemic world, business is booming, but workers are stressed. While recent workplace shifts like remote arrangements are proving popular, such silver linings aren’t compensating for rising workloads and b… Read more →

Performance Improvement Plans: How To Write Them

Posted January 14, 2022 • 6 min read

Writing performance improvement plans (PIPs) is a formal way to alert an employee that there is an issue with their performance while giving them actionable feedback and goals to improve. PIPs typically outline a time… Read more →

4 Things That No Longer Matter When Hiring Someone

Posted January 11, 2022 • 5 min read

Too often, when we focus on hiring someone, we focus on things that don’t contribute to their success in the long run. This causes us to miss out on people who could be great employees. Part of this is because we are … Read more →

Upskilling: What Does This Buzzword Mean?

Posted January 07, 2022 • 6 min read

Upskilling is one of the most popular terms within the human resources space right now, and with good reason. It is a trend that promotes continuous learning and improvement of existing employees, rather than hiring n… Read more →

Building An HR Plan For 2023

Posted January 04, 2022 • 6 min read

As the time comes for performance reviews, HR leaders are faced with another challenge in the early days of 2023: building an HR plan for their companies. The most successful human resources departments will develop a… Read more →

Using Employee Performance Evaluations To Reflect On Overall Company Performance

Posted December 30, 2021 • 6 min read

As another year comes to an end, many of us are asking the same question: how can human resources complete employee performance evaluations and connect them to how the company performed overall? Was there something w… Read more →

Insights: Quantifying The Human Side of HR (So You Don’t Have To)

Posted December 27, 2021 • 5 min read

In January 2022, Trakstar is excited to reveal a new Key People Indicator (KPI) dashboard tool that allows HR leaders to gain an actionable, impactful understanding of their employees based on up-to-date data. With th… Read more →

Top 3 Warning Signs Your Remote Culture Won’t Work For 2022

Posted December 21, 2021 • 1 min read

At the outset, few of us could have imagined COVID-19’s impact on work as we know it. The rise of remote work is creating a new kind of office culture that prioritizes seamless connectivity over traditional routines. … Read more →

How to Conduct Bias-Free Performance Reviews

Posted October 12, 2021 • 4 min read

Conducting bias-free performance reviews is something many people struggle to do. Why? People, by their very nature, are prone to making unfair judgments about others. Even the most open-minded, objective thinkers are… Read more →

5 Types of Learning Styles You'll See In Employees

Posted October 04, 2021 • 6 min read

Understanding the five types of learning styles may change how companies train and manage new employees. The most effective trainers and content creators know the goal toward which you are striving is that your users … Read more →

5 Tips for Creating Talent Pools During The Hiring Process

Posted September 20, 2021 • 5 min read

Using talent pools to hire can help to streamline the hiring process and make things easier when you need to find the right employee in a pinch. Hiring is all about speed - especially when filling a necessary position… Read more →

6 Tips for Manager Engagement During the Performance Review Process

Posted September 01, 2021 • 9 min read

For many companies, the common performance review process has one major pain point: keeping your managers engaged. Engaged managers complete on-time, well thought-out and constructive reviews for their employees which… Read more →

4 Ways to Make Your New Hybrid Workplace Equitable for Women

Posted August 26, 2021 • 1 min read

More than a year into the pandemic, COVID-19 continues to disrupt the workplace. Amid the ever-shifting landscape of policies and protocols, two trends stand out: the rise of remote working and the falling participati… Read more →

Trakstar Hire Announces New Zoom Integration

Posted August 19, 2021 • 2 min read

New: Save Time with Trakstar Hire’s Zoom Integration It’s a candidate’s market right now in hiring and recruiting and we know that speed matters in attracting and hiring the best. That’s why we’ve set out to trim off… Read more →

The Trakstar Platform: integrating the best HR solutions for data-driven decisions with a dispersed workforce

Posted June 24, 2021 • 4 min read

Nearly three years ago, Trakstar set out to solve the technology problems raised over and over by our customers: too many HR systems, not enough insights. We quickly realized that leading companies need a talent manag… Read more →

A Letter from Trakstar's CEO, Announcing the Trakstar Platform

Posted June 24, 2021 • 2 min read

Almost 3 years ago, we set out to solve the HR tech problems we heard over and over again - too many HR systems and not enough usable data insights from any of them. I am excited to share with you, our valued customer… Read more →

Trakstar Is Now Trakstar Perform

Posted June 15, 2021 • 1 min read

We're excited to announce that our performance management software that has been called Trakstar will now be rebranded to Trakstar Perform. This move opens up our branding to incorporate two additional tools, Trakstar… Read more →

Pride 2021 - Be Yourself. Share Yourself.

Posted June 04, 2021 • 5 min read

At Trakstar, we're committed to creating an inclusive environment for all and get excited every year to share that intentionally during PRIDE month. This year, we asked our teammates and families to respond to a few k… Read more →

The Benefits of Qualitative Employee Performance Reviews

Posted March 19, 2021 • 5 min read

Qualitative employee performance reviews are often viewed as an outdated practice. It used to be that an employee would be evaluated on a series of generic competencies that weren’t directly related to their job. Unsu… Read more →

Checklist: Starting an HR Department in a Growing Organization

Posted March 01, 2021 • 11 min read

Starting an HR department is a difficult task for anyone. When you're a small, nimble organization, it’s fine to have informal human resources processes. If an employee needs a day off, they can just ask their manager… Read more →

Top 24 Human Resources Initiatives for 2023

Posted January 04, 2021 • 8 min read

The new year has arrived and HR professionals are busy preparing their organizations and employees for an outstanding 2023 by setting up Human Resources initiatives for 2023. A few months ago, we sent a survey to the … Read more →

Top 10 Employee Training Initiatives for 2021

Posted December 28, 2020 • 5 min read

As the year comes to an end, HR and training professionals are getting ready to help their employees acquire the skills and knowledge needed to have an outstanding 2021. We recently surveyed the userbase for our Learn… Read more →

Top Recruiting and Hiring Initiatives for 2021

Posted December 21, 2020 • 6 min read

As 2020 comes to a close, HR and recruiting professionals are busy preparing their organizations for success in the coming year. We recently surveyed the user base of our Applicant Tracking System (ATS) offering and a… Read more →

Quantitative Employee Reviews and Performance Management

Posted December 14, 2020 • 6 min read

There is a common saying in business, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” Performance reviews are meant to help employees improve, but all too often, an employee leaves their meeting with their manager… Read more →

Hiring and Interview Tips to Increase Workplace Diversity

Posted November 19, 2020 • 9 min read

Inequality in the workplace is well known yet still prevalent. According to Fortune 500 data, nearly three-quarters of business executives in the United States are white men. While getting a great job is hard enough f… Read more →

Conducting Employee Check-In Meetings (Includes an Employee Check-In Template)

Posted October 20, 2020 • 8 min read

Modern performance management goes beyond the occasional performance review. Today’s organizations ensure managers and direct reports meet regularly to discuss priorities, challenges, and how the employee can improve … Read more →

Employee Performance Reviews in a Flat Organizational Structure

Posted September 18, 2020 • 5 min read

Creating a performance review process is straightforward in most organizations. Managers are responsible for completing evaluations and meeting with direct reports to share results. There isn’t any friction as long as… Read more →

How to Create Employee Engagement Surveys (Includes 18 Example Questions)

Posted August 11, 2020 • 13 min read

Today’s leaders understand that productive employees will only take their organizations so far. It’s the employees who are productive and happy who go above and beyond. The act of doing their jobs is fulfilling so the… Read more →

Trakstar's Definitive Guide to Performance Goals in the Workplace (2023 Update)

Posted August 05, 2020 • 11 min read

Setting performance goals is essential in growing and developing talent within any organization. When we decide to improve at something or overcome a challenge, setting goals helps us see how we'll make it happen. Hig… Read more →

Best Practices for Modern Performance Management

Posted May 29, 2020 • 6 min read

For a long time, organizations took a simplistic approach to evaluating employee performance. Once a year, managers filled out the same appraisal form for each direct report and the results were used to determine rais… Read more →

Introducing the Best Version of Trakstar (Yet)

Posted April 22, 2020 • 2 min read

Today, we’re excited to announce that Trakstar will have a new and improved look. Our customers will enjoy all the great performance management features they know and love, organized in a modern, simple, and clean int… Read more →

Stack Ranking: Should Your Organization Use it in Employee Evaluations?

Posted April 03, 2020 • 7 min read

Using stack ranking, every employees’ performance review score is ordered and grouped. The group with the highest scores are deemed top performers. These are the employees who consistently exceed expectations and deli… Read more →

Creating the Right Employee Evaluation Rating Scale

Posted January 21, 2020 • 5 min read

At the heart of every organization’s employee review process is the rating scale. It’s the medium in which managers and other raters express how well an employee performs at their job, conducts themselves in the workp… Read more →

Introducing the Trakstar API

Posted January 06, 2020 • 2 min read

https://www.trakstar.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/TS-API-_-Jan-2020_blog.mp4 Today, we’re excited to announce a new feature that will help our customers get even more out of our software—the launch of our Ap… Read more →

Evaluating Emotional Intelligence (EQ) in Employee Performance Reviews

Posted December 12, 2019 • 4 min read

Think about your favorite people you’ve worked with. Yes, they were good at their jobs but that is probably not why you remember them so fondly. In all likelihood, it was the attitude they brought to work every day th… Read more →

Trakstar Receives Three Awards from FinancesOnline

Posted November 26, 2019 • 1 min read

Big news! We’re excited to share that Trakstar has been recognized for being a leader in the employee performance management industry. FinancesOnline has presented us with their Expert's Choice 2019, Great User Experi… Read more →

Performance Management Helps Retain Talent

Posted October 03, 2019 • 4 min read

Employees have more job options than ever and there are an increasing number of individuals who see job hopping as an opportunity for fulfillment and career growth. In this current climate of increased employee turnov… Read more →

Performance Management vs Performance Reviews

Posted September 24, 2019 • 4 min read

There are countless podcasts and articles out there that shed light on the negative feelings that can be associated with the performance review process. Most of us can probably relate to this feeling at some point in … Read more →

Tips for Reviewing Appraisals with Your Team

Posted September 20, 2019 • 3 min read

So you’ve done it. You’ve spent the past year working closely with your team, giving them feedback and working towards long term goals. You’ve documented that feedback and have specific, concrete examples of what your… Read more →

Performance Reviews: Why They Matter More than Ever

Posted September 10, 2019 • 3 min read

For many companies, performance reviews can be an afterthought until the process goes live, and many employees may feel forced to write glowing reviews about colleagues they hardly interact with. Because of this, perf… Read more →

When an Employee Rejects Their Performance Review

Posted August 06, 2019 • 4 min read

It's uncommon but when the performance review process is finished, an employee will sometimes raise concerns with their evaluation results. They may challenge their manager in the review meeting, take their complaint … Read more →

Adding Culture and Values into Performance Reviews

Posted July 08, 2019 • 4 min read

There is more that goes into job success than carrying out role responsibilities and completing projects. Organizations are successful when employees work well together, support each other, and buy into the long-term … Read more →

What Pride Means to Us at Trakstar

Posted June 24, 2019 • 7 min read

June is Pride Month and organizations around the world are sharing stories about diversity and inclusion. We here at Trakstar felt inspired to share our stories too. We presented our team with a few simple questio… Read more →

Trakstar Engagement Feature Update May 2019

Posted May 21, 2019 • 2 min read

We’re excited to share some new updates to our Trakstar Engagement module! The module helps organizations get valuable insights into employee engagement through frequent check-ins, surveys, and polls. We’ve been hard … Read more →

Anonymity in Trakstar Engagement

Posted May 15, 2019 • 1 min read

Trakstar Engagement is designed to provide anonymity to survey respondents. Your employees will feel compelled to honestly respond to your engagement surveys if they know their identity is protected. And accurate feed… Read more →

How to Make Your Company Culture a Reality

Posted April 29, 2019 • 5 min read

A lot of organizations talk about culture. The CEO raves about it when they stand in front of the staff. HR strives to build an inclusive and open culture. Recruiters try to hire people who fit the culture. But too… Read more →

Succession Planning with Trakstar

Posted March 18, 2019 • 9 min read

The following is a guest interview, written and contributed by Janine Nicole Truitt, Chief Innovations Officer for Talent Think Innovations, LLC Succession Planning is an important component of the health of a busi… Read more →

Stop Trying so Hard to Increase Employee Engagement

Posted March 06, 2019 • 3 min read

The following is a guest blog post, written and contributed by Tim Sackett, SPHR, SCP It goes against every HR bone in your body, doesn't it!? What do you mean "stop trying to increase employee engagement!?" We hav… Read more →

Effective Word Choice for Employee Performance Review Forms

Posted March 04, 2019 • 4 min read

While employee performance reviews are an important activity for any organization, there can be a negative sentiment among the people who participate in them. It goes without saying the average employee is apprehensiv… Read more →

Post Employee Performance Review Action Items

Posted January 28, 2019 • 4 min read

Your organization finished its latest round of performance reviews. Congratulations! Your employees were likely happy to learn how they’re doing and are now looking forward to getting back to their usual routine. … Read more →

The Value of Online Employee Performance Reviews

Posted December 28, 2018 • 5 min read

Organizations are successful when the entire staff performs to their full potential. Every employee needs to put their best foot forward each and every day. However, effectively evaluating employee performance is … Read more →

How to Manage Employees with Extroverted Personality Types

Posted November 19, 2018 • 7 min read

We’ve all heard quiet people say they’re introverted and outgoing people say they’re extroverted. But life experience tells us there are more than two types of people in this world. If you’re familiar with the Myer… Read more →

How to Manage Employees with Introverted Personality Types

Posted November 12, 2018 • 7 min read

These days it seems like everyone self-identifies as either an introvert or extrovert. However, introversion and extraversion are simply the two overarching categories for the 16 distinct personality types covered by … Read more →

Introducing Trakstar Engagement

Posted October 05, 2018 • 2 min read

The Trakstar team and I are excited to announce a brand new offering — Trakstar Engagement. Now you can get valuable insights into employee engagement with frequent check ins, surveys, and polls; all within your perfo… Read more →

360-Degree Feedback and Your Appraisal Process

Posted September 24, 2018 • 6 min read

What is the 360-Degree Performance Appraisal Process? The performance appraisal process is similar to building blocks, you can pick and choose what you would like to include to make up your final product. From c… Read more →

Our Dog Friendly Workplace Policy, why and how it works

Posted September 24, 2018 • 5 min read

A Dog-Friendly Workplace Trakstar is home to great employees and their dogs. The pets in our office bring joy and companionship and add to our culture. We enjoy their playfulness and the connections we make with the … Read more →

3 Steps to Flatten Rater Bias

Posted September 24, 2018 • 4 min read

Rater bias is, by definition, an inaccurate distortion of a measurement. Everyone has biases, and we bring our biases to the table when appraising employee performance. Our biases can inflate or deflate an employee'… Read more →

8 Rater Biases that are Impacting your Performance Management

Posted September 24, 2018 • 5 min read

Employee performance is tricky to measure, but one strategy used by millions of domestic and international companies is performance rating. What better way to determine employee abilities than to ask their supervisors… Read more →

Why It's Important to Cascade Goals Across Your Organization

Posted September 21, 2018 • 5 min read

If you own a business, you may have many high-level organizational goals. However, many business owners keep these goals to themselves, thinking that their employees either do not care about the goals or should not be… Read more →

Critical: What Managers Should Ask at the 90-Day New Hire Performance Review

Posted September 19, 2018 • 6 min read

You learn a lot about a new employee during their first few months on the job. While the hiring process provided insight into their skills and experience, you can’t truly judge a new hire until you have seen them in a… Read more →

How to Write SMART Employee Review Goals For The Performance Appraisal

Posted September 18, 2018 • 5 min read

Most organizations have some sort of performance appraisal system in place to evaluate decisions related to promotions, salary hikes and professional development. To execute that, a set of expectations is established … Read more →

How Frequent Feedback Improves Annual Reviews

Posted September 17, 2018 • 4 min read

The annual performance appraisal is a staple in many organizations. Human resources is tasked with ensuring managers assess all their team members’ performance and make time to discuss the results with each person. Fo… Read more →

How to Handle a Successful Employee with a Bad Attitude

Posted July 23, 2018 • 4 min read

Everyone has stories about people who are difficult to work with. These experiences are often what makes an otherwise good job a dreadful experience. Often times, the saving grace for these people is they’re good a… Read more →

Common Problems Growing Companies Face

Posted June 29, 2018 • 3 min read

Every company strives to grow. It means customers are happy, employees are working hard, and the business is achieving its goals, maybe even faster than anticipated. However, with success comes new hurdles to overc… Read more →

Happy Pride!

Posted June 13, 2018 • 11 min read

Here at Trakstar we wanted to celebrate Pride Month by sharing what Pride means to some of our employees. Kicking off with our CEO Julie Rieken, read below to see how Pride positively impacts our employees and company… Read more →

Father's Day 2018

Posted June 08, 2018 • 5 min read

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from your dad about work? My dad is the hardest worker I know. He loves work of all types. He is one of the founders of Trakstar. He had an idea and fully commi… Read more →

10 Tips for Keeping Employee Satisfaction High

Posted May 29, 2018 • 5 min read

Employees are the most important asset a company has. They do all the little things that add up to make a business successful. And because employees do so much for the company, it’s important the company does what … Read more →

How to Identify and Keep Top Performing Employees

Posted April 19, 2018 • 5 min read

Every professional has aspirations to grow their career. They hope hard work will pay off and result in a promotion that comes with more responsibility and higher compensation. Unfortunately, few organizations actu… Read more →

Low-Cost Tips for Boosting Employee Morale and Productivity

Posted March 09, 2018 • 4 min read

Morale and productivity go hand in hand. People do their best work when they enjoy what they do for a living. Fair compensation and a positive work environment are naturally the main requirements for maintaining a… Read more →

5 Best Practice Tips for Reducing Rater Bias in Performance Reviews

Posted August 03, 2017 • 5 min read

Effective performance management relies on accurate information from performance reviews. Rater bias undercuts this effort by calling into question the accuracy of these ratings. No one is immune to rater bias, so eve… Read more →

Succession Planning in Trakstar – The ‘Why’ and The ‘How’

Posted July 25, 2017 • 2 min read

If done right, succession planning is a great way to prepare your workforce and your organization for success in the future. Succession planning is the practice of identifying high-potential employees who will do well… Read more →

Rating Scales - Why The Words Matter

Posted July 20, 2017 • 3 min read

In two separate studies, Willis Towers Watson found that 45% of employers found that their own performance management systems were ineffective and Deloitte reported that 58% of HR executives felt that performance revi… Read more →

Support Employment Related Decisions With Performance Management Software

Posted July 18, 2017 • 5 min read

Employment related decisions have always been challenging. There is so much about management that can seem subjective, and it is difficult to keep track of everything to get a clear picture of what is really going on.… Read more →

Including Goals On Your Performance Appraisal Forms

Posted July 13, 2017 • 3 min read

Say the word "performance appraisal" and you will likely register a nearly audible groan in your managers. The truth is, the idea of capturing a person's performance in a basic appraisal form is an exercise in futilit… Read more →

Focal Point Reviews vs. the Anniversary Date Appraisal

Posted July 11, 2017 • 4 min read

The dawn of the 21st century saw a new employee performance evaluation process begin to take hold in organizations across the country. What was once a commonly accepted practice, anniversary date appraisals are being … Read more →

How to Increase Employee Buy-In to the Appraisal Process

Posted March 14, 2017 • 3 min read

Many employees and managers alike are not huge fans of the performance appraisal, which can defeat the purpose of giving one. Dissatisfaction with, and perceived unfairness about, the performance appraisal process can… Read more →

Modernizing Access with Single Sign-On

Posted January 19, 2017 • 4 min read

As more and more organizations choose Trakstar, we see an increasing variety in how organizations provide their users access to important applications. Recently, we’ve made major improvements in how users can sign in … Read more →

Do You Know When or When Not to Give Employee Feedback?

Posted January 12, 2017 • 3 min read

If you were to take a quick look at all of the leadership and workforce articles you’ve read in 2016, there’s a good chance a large portion of them focus on how to give employee feedback. The general consensus is that… Read more →

5 Tips for Engaging Employees with Career Development

Posted January 10, 2017 • 3 min read

Any seasoned manager knows that engaging employees and helping them pursue career development are vital to company growth; Particularly, career development improves morale, career satisfaction, motivation, and product… Read more →

How to Align Employee & Business Goals with Performance Management

Posted January 05, 2017 • 3 min read

Achieving alignment between your performance management software and your company’s goals doesn’t happen with a few minor tweaks. It takes a full top-to-bottom transformation. Employees need to be working toward somet… Read more →

Welcome Peer-to-Peer Feedback in 2017 for Better Performance Management

Posted December 29, 2016 • 4 min read

The moral of 2016’s story is that feedback is an employee’s earth, moon and sun. From positive to constructive, and everything in between, employees want a constant view of their work from the perspective of managemen… Read more →

Attention Managers: Quit Being Cautious When It Comes to Giving Feedback

Posted December 22, 2016 • 3 min read

As a manager or leader, one of the most difficult parts of your job can be giving feedback to subordinates. Only 29% of people in a recent Leadership IQ survey said they ‘Always’ know whether their performance is wher… Read more →

Combating High Turnover with Feedback Loops: How to Do It

Posted December 20, 2016 • 4 min read

Retaining and engaging employees will always be important to business success, which means a continuous search for the answers on how to combat high turnover rates. At the heart of this search is conversation. Not the… Read more →

How Performance Management is Different for Extroverts and Introverts

Posted December 15, 2016 • 4 min read

The most effective managers are those that understand the different needs and communication styles of their workforce. The tactics they use to inspire and correct performance have to be adaptable to the employee they’… Read more →

How to Use Performance Management Software to Further Employee Development

Posted December 08, 2016 • 3 min read

If there is one thing employees want, it’s growth. Whether it be growth in their positions, or growth in their careers, having opportunities to evolve in a company are important. Keeping employees continually evolving… Read more →

Be Thankful for These Employee Feedback Best Practices

Posted December 06, 2016 • 3 min read

Employee feedback is hard to get right, especially without any guidance. However, it’s vital that your employee feedback is curated, and delivered, just right; A CareerBuilder survey found that 50% of employees belie… Read more →

Your Biggest Leadership Challenges Fixed with These 5 Solutions

Posted December 01, 2016 • 4 min read

“Leadership is less about who a leader is and more about the value a leader creates for someone else.” -Dave Ulrich (@dave_ulrich) The person who sits at the helm of your organization greatly affects how the co… Read more →

3 Recommendations for Transforming Your Performance Management Process

Posted November 29, 2016 • 3 min read

Technology has come a long way, especially in the last few years. We are now at the point where it has become a simple task to manage and monitor the performance of employees with an online performance management proc… Read more →

3 Pitfalls to Avoid When Designing an Effective 360 Feedback Program

Posted November 22, 2016 • 2 min read

Using 360 degree feedback to get a better understanding of an employee’s performance can be a great way to build a more comprehensive performance evaluation, but it can also lead to problems if you don’t take care whe… Read more →

Everyone Has an Opinion on your Performance Review System – Now What?

Posted November 17, 2016 • 3 min read

When implementing any system, especially a performance review system at your organization, it is important to solicit, collect, and consider feedback from both stakeholders and end users. In order for a positive adopt… Read more →

Your Best and Worst Employee Are the Same Person

Posted November 15, 2016 • 2 min read

Last month, I was having a conversation with an HR Director who was brand new to her role in a company that she had experienced both love and loss with. She told me a story of when she first started with the company, … Read more →

How to Go About Choosing Competencies for Your Online Performance Review Software

Posted November 10, 2016 • 1 min read

The process of choosing competencies can help identify performance areas that support organizational success. Core competencies within your online performance review software are instrumental tools that are needed t… Read more →

Stop Being Nice and Start Getting Real About Performance Management

Posted November 08, 2016 • 3 min read

It may sound harsh, but managing employee performance is about creating a supportive workplace where employees feel safe, productive and engaged, not making best friends. Most days will be spent getting work done alon… Read more →

Avoid a Performance Management Nightmare with These 4 Must-Haves

Posted November 03, 2016 • 3 min read

Most existing performance management systems are stuck in the past - quite literally. They focus on what an employee has done over the last 6, or even 12, months. This doesn’t sound pleasant, especially when trying to… Read more →

An Employer’s Perspective on the DOL’s Overtime Rule Changes

Posted October 31, 2016 • 3 min read

Employers across the country are reacting to the Department of Labor’s (DOL) overtime rule changes that are set to take effect on December 1st, 2016. For anyone unfamiliar with the overtime rule changes, under the … Read more →

How to Improve Employee Success and Development

Posted October 27, 2016 • 5 min read

A performance management program that incorporates 360-degree performance reviews, and frequent feedback, benefits productivity and gives directions needed for employee success. PwC found that 72% of employees under 3… Read more →

5 Performance Management Trends to Watch for 2017

Posted October 25, 2016 • 3 min read

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could peek into a crystal ball and see your company’s employment future? We can’t tell you who will apply tomorrow or predict the next superstar, but we can give you the tools needed to… Read more →

5 Signs You Have Disengaged Employees on Your Team and How to Fix It

Posted October 20, 2016 • 5 min read

Employee engagement is everything; Disengaged employees are the difference between an amazing team and a failing team, a productive team and a useless team. The problem is, actual employee engagement is elusive. … Read more →

The Consequences of a Poorly Constructed Performance Management System

Posted October 18, 2016 • 3 min read

The process of building and maintaining a performance management system for your employees isn’t the easiest thing your company will ever do, but It may be one of the most beneficial. Speaking of all the benefits a gr… Read more →

5 Ways to Help Your Team Keep Their Goals on Track

Posted October 13, 2016 • 5 min read

In the business world, goals are everywhere. Any given businesses may have sales goals, client goals, culture goals, and maybe even overall business goals. As a manager, you delegate tasks to your employees, but when … Read more →

6 Reasons to Never Get Rid of Performance Reviews

Posted October 11, 2016 • 3 min read

Human Resource Departments tend to become frustrated with the lack of results from their performance reviews. Around 70% of companies are now reconsidering their performance management strategy. Are you? Compa… Read more →

Using a Performance Review System to Develop Your Organization and Talent

Posted October 06, 2016 • 2 min read

We live in a time of an ever-evolving workplace where change is seemingly constant. Amid the tumultuous environment it can often be difficult for organizations to figure out what is working well and who the top perfor… Read more →

How to Use STAR Feedback for Evaluation in Your Performance Review System

Posted October 04, 2016 • 6 min read

Writer’s block always strikes at the worst possible moment, doesn’t it? When your performance review system calls for you to leave notes or comments on your employees, you can bet it will make an appearance. No matter… Read more →

3 Tips to Share with Your Employees for 360-Degree Review

Posted September 27, 2016 • 4 min read

Using 360-degree reviews in your performance management plan can add many benefits to your workforce, one being well-rounded feedback for employees and managers. Implementing a review based system is more important th… Read more →

Why Performance Reviews Are NOT Going Extinct

Posted September 22, 2016 • 3 min read

Performance reviews catch a lot of criticism from both employees and management. The process of delivering a performance appraisal often focuses on a list of what each employee did, or didn’t, do, which can become qui… Read more →

4 Performance Review Questions You Should Never Ask on an Appraisal

Posted September 20, 2016 • 5 min read

Performance reviews are an integral part of the employee-employer relationship. These reviews give us insight on how employees are working and what they are doing to help grow and expand the company as a whole. Why C… Read more →

Implement SMART Goals in Your Performance Evaluation Software

Posted September 15, 2016 • 4 min read

We can all agree that being successful in our career, and moreover our life, is something that we strive towards each and every day. Whether you use performance evaluation software or not, one incredibly effective way… Read more →

What's Trending in Performance Management?

Posted September 13, 2016 • 3 min read

Whether technological, societal, or even fashion related, it’s easy to spot trends that affect us all. What is less easy to see are trends that happen in our professional life. Performance management, like any discipl… Read more →

8 Habits of Highly Successful HR Admins

Posted September 08, 2016 • 4 min read

We often get asked here at Trakstar about best practices around various aspects of appraisals and performance management. While each organization has their own culture, goals and processes to contend with we want to p… Read more →

Performance Management: The Evolving Mobile Workforce

Posted September 06, 2016 • 3 min read

The workforce is doing what the workforce does best: adapting and evolving. Today’s employees are on the move, and while that provides more innovation and culture, the mobility change can put a great deal of pressure … Read more →

What Does It Mean To Be a 3?

Posted September 01, 2016 • 3 min read

The five-point Rating scale, we see it everywhere. From restaurant ratings, to movie ratings, and even the employee (or manager) performance review, a five-point scale is becoming the norm when talking about how succe… Read more →

Performance Management: DIY Style

Posted August 30, 2016 • 4 min read

Often we discuss the ways you, as a manager, can help build performance management strategies for your team; we like to cover the little techniques that make a good strategy become a solid one. As a leader, you spend … Read more →

Why Employees Want Performance Management Software

Posted August 25, 2016 • 3 min read

From a corporate perspective, it is important to have your employees understand how their day-to-day tasks ultimately affect the overall company, and its overhanging goals. One of the best ways to share these corporat… Read more →

How to Deliver Negative Feedback in a Constructive Way

Posted August 23, 2016 • 3 min read

Delivering negative feedback isn’t the most enjoyable part of managing a team. In fact, a study determined that 43% of leaders feel giving corrective feedback is a “stressful and difficult experience.” Like it or not,… Read more →

The Golden Rule of an Employee Evaluation System

Posted August 18, 2016 • 3 min read

Do as I say and not as I do. This idiom is repeated time and time again from parents to children and management to employees, specifically with employee evaluation systems. While we are all aware of the underlying … Read more →

How Prepared is Your Team for 360-Degree Reviews?

Posted August 16, 2016 • 3 min read

There is merit to performance management strategies that include 360-degree reviews. It eliminates a great deal of the bias that managers can’t help, but have sometimes anyways, as well as gives employees a clearer pi… Read more →

How to Avoid Bias in the Performance Review Process

Posted August 11, 2016 • 6 min read

You can be the greatest, most experienced leader and still suffer from bias. In fact, everyone does to some extent. Despite our best efforts, our thoughts and opinions are influenced by factors we’re not aware of. … Read more →

Revamp Your Performance Reviews by Starting with These 3 Questions

Posted August 09, 2016 • 3 min read

Performance reviews have long been viewed as a checkpoint in one’s employment. We’ve said it before, but the performance appraisal is a management tool for success, and the process lives among employees, which means t… Read more →

Behavior-Based Goals: Apply Them to Performance Management

Posted August 04, 2016 • 3 min read

When it comes to setting goals, often we are hung up on the numerical progress. Think: increase customer sign ups by 10%. Though that train of thought is important to the success of a goal list, Employees are motivate… Read more →

How to Give 360 Degree Feedback About Performance to Your Manager Effectively

Posted August 02, 2016 • 3 min read

Using a 360 degree feedback system has many benefits to your team and organization. 41% of companies who use peer-to-peer recognition have seen positive increases in customer satisfaction. Despite these benefits, many… Read more →

How to Write Employee Performance Goals Like a Boss

Posted July 28, 2016 • 2 min read

Employee performance goals that are well-written and to the point can sometimes be the difference between a team that continuously reaches their goals and one that comes up short time after time. According to a recent… Read more →

Developing Employees Into Leaders Through Performance Management

Posted July 26, 2016 • 3 min read

Being a good leader is no easy task. In fact, only 27% of Millennial men and 21% of Millennial women believe they have strong leadership abilities. These statistics probably leave any executive a little uneasy, as som… Read more →

3 Ways to Identify High Potential Employees in Your Organization

Posted July 21, 2016 • 3 min read

Companies are always looking for ways to identify employees who have the potential to become skilled leaders within their organizations. These high potential individuals, or HiPos, play key roles within the organizati… Read more →

The Ultimate Guide to Giving Better Performance Reviews

Posted July 19, 2016 • 2 min read

When it comes to the performance review, are you always 100% focused on the task at hand in order to achieve a meaningful outcome for both you and the employee? Only 8% of companies report that their performance manag… Read more →

Award Winning Performance Includes 360 Degree Feedback

Posted July 12, 2016 • 3 min read

When we hear 360 degree feedback, generally we think of peer to peer assessments and while they are an important part of the process, a successful 360 degree process will bring together the customer or client perspect… Read more →

3 Ways to Engage Employees Before Performance Problems Arise

Posted July 05, 2016 • 3 min read

Engaging employees is a widely discussed business strategy and considering how much better an engaged workforce performs, there’s really no question as to why. Engagement is more than just a happy or productive team. … Read more →

5 Employee Feedback Tips for Clearer Career Progression

Posted June 21, 2016 • 4 min read

Four in 10 employees believe they will need to leave their current organization to see any career advancement. How many employees do you have on your team, in your department, in the company as a whole? No matter you… Read more →

Performance Management Steps That Are Often Overlooked

Posted June 16, 2016 • 3 min read

Performance management is not just about the numbers or performance appraisals. We like to think that adopting the newest techniques in employee management will equate to the best team. While you should explore trends… Read more →

3 Things Your Performance Management System Should Upgrade this Year

Posted June 14, 2016 • 3 min read

Did you know 70% of employees who gave their managers high ratings also rated their performance management system as “very good”? We can’t say that all good managers have good tools, nor can we say effective tools … Read more →

5 Easy Ways to Learn More About Performance Management

Posted June 07, 2016 • 5 min read

For many managers, whether they’re new to the game or a seasoned veteran, performance management is no easy feat. 96% of businesses that responded to a recent survey said performance management is important to their o… Read more →

How to Get Rid of Useless Meetings with Effective Performance Management

Posted June 02, 2016 • 3 min read

Meetings have a bad reputation in the workforce. In the US alone, there are 11 million formal business meetings each day and it wastes an estimated $37 billion. Of course, the meeting will never go away especially as … Read more →

Leaders vs. Managers in your Performance Management Software

Posted May 31, 2016 • 2 min read

Representing leaders and managers in your performance management software can be a tedious task, especially if you are in the beginning stages of identifying the qualities of each. You’re probably thinking, “Hmm, well… Read more →

Annual Performance Appraisals are a Tool, Not the Goal

Posted May 26, 2016 • 3 min read

The annual performance appraisal is pretty underappreciated these days, or at least, 98% of 2,677 HR managers, CEOs and other employees feel they are unnecessary. There are many contributing factors, but most often we… Read more →

Ascending Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs with a Performance Review System

Posted May 24, 2016 • 2 min read

In 1943, humanist psychologist Abraham Maslow first published his “Hierarchy of Needs” theory as a model for how individuals within a society reach their full potential. The theory emphasizes an idea that all people h… Read more →

Performance Management Goals and Their Role in Your Success

Posted May 19, 2016 • 4 min read

At the center of all business achievements is one small technique that has a massive effect on everything: goal setting. Setting performance management goals is not only an art, it’s a necessity. Luckily, it is comple… Read more →

Performance Management is the UI of Employees

Posted May 17, 2016 • 5 min read

Recently we launched the new interface of Trakstar and we can’t help but admit how exciting it is to update our look. Though a design reinvention includes modernization of aesthetics, what our update really means is w… Read more →

3 Pillars of a Timeless Performance Management Strategy

Posted May 12, 2016 • 3 min read

Last year Millennials rose to make up the largest population of the workforce causing quite the stir. Other generations were quick to reprimand Millennials for being “entitled” or “needy”, but as the bashing becomes t… Read more →

7 Facts You Need to Know Before Giving Employee Feedback

Posted May 05, 2016 • 4 min read

We’ve all heard the numbers around what an engaged employee means for your profits or how detrimental an actively disengaged employee will be to your entire team. However, here are seven things we think you should kno… Read more →

Questions To Ask Your Team Before Employee Performance Appraisals

Posted May 03, 2016 • 4 min read

Creating a collaborative environment for your employee performance appraisal process can make the experience more meaningful and ensure you’re touching on what the employee finds important. Ask these 7 questions befor… Read more →

Introducing Trakstar's New Look

Posted April 28, 2016 • 2 min read

The past few months our team has been heads down redesigning the new look of Trakstar, and on Saturday, April 30, our new look will be live! Some highlights of the new user interface include streamlined typefaces and … Read more →

How to Foresee the Future with Performance Management, Development, and Culture

Posted April 26, 2016 • 3 min read

Anticipating the unknown is a stressful job. Are we hiring the right people? Are we providing them the right resources and environment to succeed? Questions like these could really use a crystal ball but since that’s … Read more →

3 Reasons Why a Performance Review Application can Help you Handle Exceptional Performance

Posted April 21, 2016 • 1 min read

If you were to ask a manager about the type of performance they worry about how to handle most, many would say performance that falls below average. Many companies have a process in place in their performance review a… Read more →

6 Practical Rewards to Increase Employee Performance

Posted April 19, 2016 • 3 min read

80% of employees say they’re stressed at work. While this may not come as a surprise to you, it is also not something we should ignore. Stress can lead to dissatisfaction, which whether or not an employer is at fault … Read more →

Don’t Fear the Peer Review

Posted April 14, 2016 • 3 min read

Ah, the peer review. Some leaders swear by it while others fear or loathe the idea of its implementation. A few weeks ago we addressed the struggles of employee peer review practices and how those issues can be resolv… Read more →

4 Things Every Manager Needs to Hear Right Now

Posted April 12, 2016 • 4 min read

Managing people is difficult. Between learning personalities, pushing deadlines and hitting company goals, leaders feel pressure to ensure none of the hypothetical balls drop. Meanwhile, there are the technical respon… Read more →

Making Performance Feedback Count

Posted April 07, 2016 • 4 min read

Giving performance feedback is sometimes a dreaded job. While improvements need to be made in employee performance, it can be a challenge to get feedback across in a way that is digestible and actionable. Every manage… Read more →

Performance Management from the 80s, 90s and Today!

Posted April 05, 2016 • 3 min read

Recognize this slogan from your favorite radio station? Well, it holds true in performance management too. Performance management is a relatively new function of business. Many of today’s most common performance appra… Read more →

3 Non-Traditional Sections You Need to Build in Your Employee Evaluation System

Posted March 31, 2016 • 3 min read

Efficiency is something we hear a lot about when helping organizations take their employee reviews online. Our goal is to get the most information collected through a streamlined and electronic process. One thing w… Read more →

How Building a Learning Organization Affects Performance

Posted March 29, 2016 • 4 min read

Does the idea of “change” give you chills or leave you excited? How about "high performing organization"? That probably has a positive connotation. However you might feel about change, businesses are finding that in o… Read more →

360 Degree Reviews Gone Wrong: 4 Struggles Employees Have

Posted March 24, 2016 • 5 min read

The idea of a 360-degree view is wonderful when it comes to the Grand Canyon, but many people are less fond of an overall view when it comes to employee performance reviews. The benefits of having a complete look at e… Read more →

10 Performance Review Tips Every New Manager Should Know

Posted March 22, 2016 • 7 min read

Any new management position comes with an onslaught of responsibility, and while it helps to have experience in management, it still doesn’t guarantee the transition will go smoothly. First-time managers have to build… Read more →

How to Find the Best Performance Appraisal Methods for Your Team (Part 2)

Posted March 17, 2016 • 3 min read

Last time we discussed manager-driven performance appraisal methods and what some of the more commonly used ways are to track and rate employee performance. Now, we are diving into peer and employee-driven methods bec… Read more →

How to Find the Best Performance Appraisal Methods for Your Team (Part 1)

Posted March 15, 2016 • 3 min read

Managing employee performance is a delicate process. Weeding out inefficiency and determining where a company’s strengths lie isn’t just a hop, skip and jump away. Every company is different and within every company a… Read more →

Giving Feedback to Employees? Hold Them Accountable

Posted March 10, 2016 • 4 min read

Giving feedback to employees can be a rewarding experience. As a manager, you are directly involved with career development that is, in some cases, life-changing. Performance conversations give managers the opportunit… Read more →

The Top 3% - Cover Letter Examples

Posted March 08, 2016 • 3 min read

You’re looking for a new job. You decide to apply online to a company you're interested in. But, you don’t have any connections at the company, and you want your resume to stand out. Can you get the attention of the… Read more →

10 Crucial Features to Look for in Employee Evaluation Software

Posted March 03, 2016 • 3 min read

Looking for a new employee evaluation software can be a time-consuming, trying process. You want your software to be simple, flexible, and powerful. There are tons of online performance review software systems, so be … Read more →

360 Feedback: Do I ask the same questions? Different? Both? Help?

Posted February 25, 2016 • 1 min read

The concept of 360 feedback in a work environment is hotly debated. Its value is questioned, the “hows” and the “whys” are often contentious. But as Bill Gates said at his 2013 Ted talk: “We all need people who will … Read more →

The Importance of Adding Continuous Feedback to Your Online Employee Assessment Tool

Posted February 18, 2016 • 1 min read

In order to be useful, performance feedback should be an ongoing habit and documented in an online employee assessment tool. It should be provided on a constant, year-round basis — not only during the annual performan… Read more →

The Importance of Continual Training and How a Performance Review System Can Help

Posted February 11, 2016 • 3 min read

We are all familiar with the classic model of training: you get a new job, you go through an on-boarding process, you move into your permanent role, and your performance eventually starts to slip as you get bored or b… Read more →

Collecting Succession Planning Data in your Performance Management Software

Posted February 04, 2016 • 1 min read

A few weeks ago, we discussed the importance of succession planning at an organization and outlined one way to go about it: the 9-box grid. This week, let’s take a closer look into how you can create a performance rev… Read more →

Identifying the Halo/Horns Effect with a Performance Review System

Posted January 28, 2016 • 3 min read

Most managers like to think they are fair as possible when completing employee performance reviews. Many even spend hours poring over every score on every competency. But despite the attention to detail, it’s common f… Read more →

A Step-by-Step Guide to Hiring for Cultural Fit

Posted January 21, 2016 • 7 min read

We love bringing new people on board at Trakstar. But, like you, we worry. Will we choose the right person? Will he/she fit in with the team? Hiring for cultural fit is a really big deal at Trakstar. I might even s… Read more →

Non-Traditional Questions in Performance Evaluation Software

Posted January 14, 2016 • 3 min read

Why Questions Work For employees and managers, an upcoming performance appraisal can be seen as a nerve-wracking task on the horizon. These reviews can have a profound effect on company culture. So why not put yourse… Read more →

Using the Reject option in your Performance Evaluation Software

Posted January 07, 2016 • 2 min read

Is your organization making full use of Reject Approvals? They can serve a pivotal role in the performance appraisal process. A route for approval is a standard step in many performance review systems. It allows an… Read more →

A Very Sweet Trakstar Team Outing this Holiday Season

Posted December 18, 2015 • 1 min read

This December, the Trakstar team got to explore Theo Chocolate, a local chocolate company here in Seattle. We had an awesome afternoon of team bonding, chocolate trivia and, of course, plenty of tastings! A big thank … Read more →

You Made a Bad Hire. Now what?

Posted December 10, 2015 • 4 min read

Say it isn’t so: Red flags with your new employee, within the first three to six months. Maybe you did everything right — you interviewed, you checked references, your team was involved, and still, it’s not working. … Read more →

Why you need a Performance Management System

Posted December 03, 2015 • 2 min read

We get asked a lot about what the difference is between investing in a performance management system and just conducting performance appraisals. But really what's the difference and why care? Performance appraisals ar… Read more →

Electronic Performance Appraisals: Peer Review, Upward Review, 360 or Multi Rater. What's the difference?

Posted November 24, 2015 • 3 min read

When it come to electronic performance appraisals you may have seen the options to include a peer review, upward review, 360 review or Multi Rater. Here's our take on what each means and why you may use them. What’s … Read more →

Why Create Two Appraisals for an Employee in Your Performance Review System

Posted November 19, 2015 • 2 min read

First, you might be asking what an appraisal set is. An "appraisal set" provides rules for the employee performance review with a specific manager, form and schedule. There are various reasons as to why you ma… Read more →

Understanding Employee Happiness and Productivity With An Employee Evaluation System

Posted November 13, 2015 • 3 min read

There are often assertions that happier employees are more productive, but until recently it’s been largely speculation driving that claim. The Social Market Foundation, in conjunction with the University of Warwick’s… Read more →

Succession Planning with The 9-Box Grid on Performance Reviews

Posted November 05, 2015 • 6 min read

Time has a funny way of continuing on whether we like it or not. One day your organization is operating at full speed and the next a key member of your team shares the news they’re leaving. You can do everything in yo… Read more →

How to Disagree with your Manager

Posted October 29, 2015 • 2 min read

We’ve all been there: Your instinct is to speak up but instead you pause, maybe there’s an uncomfortable shift and you bite your tongue. Many employees might never think to openly disagree with their boss, but… Read more →

Severity and Leniency Bias in Performance Management

Posted October 15, 2015 • 3 min read

In the business of performance management, we strive for accuracy above all. Call out performance for being what it is – the end goal is an accurate picture of where an employee, team or department is at. But what is … Read more →

Why Words Matter in Employee Evaluation Systems

Posted October 08, 2015 • 3 min read

Use your words. It’s very likely that many of us have heard or used this phrase at some point in our lives. For me, it brings up memories of my childhood. My parents would often use this in an attempt to help me descr… Read more →

9 Action Items for HR Directors when Approving an Employee Performance Appraisal

Posted September 17, 2015 • 6 min read

You’re a manager’s manager (or HR) and you have been asked to approve a performance appraisal before it goes back to the employee. You’re wondering, “What should I look for?” 1. Low scores. On a five point scale, an… Read more →

Avoid Going in Circles with 360 Reviews

Posted September 03, 2015 • 2 min read

We at Trakstar are completely devoted to performance appraisals, so when we’re having our morning coffee and NPR has a news segment about peer reviews and the appraisal process, we turn it up. This particular piece f… Read more →

Employee Review process broken? Is your organization guilty of doing these things wrong?

Posted August 27, 2015 • 3 min read

It can be a challenge to get an organization to accomplish anything on time - including performance appraisals. If your organization is guilty of one or more of the things on this list, consider changing the game. … Read more →

How We Make Employee Appraisals Work: Tips from a Pro Admin

Posted August 20, 2015 • 3 min read

Whether you are new to completing online employee appraisals or they are a staple of your human resources program - a new perspective is always helpful. We think our administrators are our greatest resources when it … Read more →

A Leg To Stand On: Why Core Values Differentiate You

Posted August 14, 2015 • 2 min read

We hear a lot about Core Values here at Trakstar and it’s something we spend a lot of time thinking and talking about. One of our favorite parts of helping companies is learning about their Core Values (or lack there … Read more →

Should you allow employees to do a Self-Appraisal?

Posted August 06, 2015 • 3 min read

An interesting perspective on self-appraisals recently came to our attention at Trakstar. A customer wondered, “Some employees are more comfortable with self-promotion and give themselves higher scores on a self-appr… Read more →

Complete Employee Performance Reviews Like a Boss

Posted July 30, 2015 • 4 min read

“Time for employee reviews!” We know that phrase can elicit all sorts of reactions like excitement, dread, and possibly a small amount of sweating. If you’re a manager, here are 9 quick things to keep in mind … Read more →

Tips on How to Make a Remote Team Thrive - From a Team that Knows.

Posted July 23, 2015 • 2 min read

Okay so we’re not located globally (yet), but we are spread across three time zones in the US. So, how do we all stay on the same page and remain such a tight-knit team with that much variation? Keep reading to find o… Read more →

Making it Stick: 5 Tips for Introducing New Software in the Workplace

Posted July 16, 2015 • 2 min read

So you’ve completed the implementation of a new software tool and you’re excited to get started, but how to do you make sure that all of your hard work isn’t lost? Adoption of new software can be tough on an organi… Read more →

They aren't listening. I want the button to say, "Employee Reviews."

Posted June 19, 2015 • 3 min read

Customer: “We love your software. We’d like to change the button that says Appraisal to the word, ‘Review.’ It’s a must-have for our culture.” Employee reviews, check-ins, evaluations, appraisals…there are many varia… Read more →

How to Recover After Failure

Posted February 04, 2015 • 5 min read

It's okay, Seattle. It happens to the best of us. When I was in the 7th grade, my mom asked me to make a banana cream pie. No big deal. A store-bought crust, some pudding and Cool Whip. The pie was nearly finished w… Read more →

Lessons Learned during Software Implementation

Posted February 02, 2015 • 4 min read

When I was single, I thought my dog was like a child. When we had our first child, I thought that books on parenting made me an expert. When I ran my first race, I thought things would go according to the training pla… Read more →

Trakstar Superbowl Favorites

Posted January 30, 2015 • 1 min read

It’s Superbowl Sunday this week, and maybe you know this…but Trakstar headquarters is on Capitol Hill in Seattle. The office is a *little* excited right now. We took a survey about the big game and here are some of o… Read more →

How do you tackle a really big goal?

Posted January 21, 2015 • 3 min read

Have you had a really big goal? One your manager gave to you, like “Become an expert at social media” or something similarly vast? I had a really big goal. In fact, it is to become (using tip #9 and adjusting the goa… Read more →

2013 BF (before Frozen) v 2014 AF (after Frozen)

Posted December 22, 2014 • 2 min read

There was a holiday season before Disney’s Frozen. There were other songs. Christmas carols, even! I can't remember that time. Yesterday we went to hear a choir sing for the holidays - with one child dressed in an Els… Read more →

Positive Online Performance Appraisals: UWT Logistics Success

Posted December 17, 2014 • 3 min read

Today I had a discussion with John Frye of UWT Logistics. Great story about positive performance appraisal success, the 3rd in a series. UWT Logistics is a world leader in supply chain services. They help manufacturer… Read more →

A no-excuses plan to keep Performance Appraisals on track in 2015

Posted December 10, 2014 • 3 min read

Now that your appraisals are online, things flow all by themselves, right? Wrong! Keep Performance Appraisals on Track: A Plan Yes. Even when your system is online and automatic reminders are sent, the process sti… Read more →

Holiday Office Poll - Trakstar's favorite things!

Posted December 05, 2014 • 1 min read

What fun, a holiday office poll revealed some things about the the Trakstar team and our holiday favorites! Here's what we asked and the answers: Will you celebrate something in December? 90% - Christmas 0… Read more →

4 Elements on the Best Staff and Employee Appraisal Forms (Template)

Posted December 02, 2014 • 3 min read

Wondering how to make staff and employee appraisal forms? After seeing hundreds of appraisal forms from hundreds of customers, we’re boldly declaring there are 4 elements that make up the very best ones. The best s… Read more →

You're Awesome. Now Write a Great Self-Appraisal.

Posted November 24, 2014 • 2 min read

Done a self-appraisal lately? Did you have to dig in your mental archives to list your accomplishments and projects? I know I did. Need some tips for writing a good self-appraisal? This manager was so lucky. I rec… Read more →

Positive Online Performance Appraisals: Mediware's Success

Posted November 21, 2014 • 3 min read

A Positive Online Performance Appraisal Story This is the 2nd story in a series about positive online performance appraisals. We’re interviewing customers who do appraisals consistently and successfully. Then, we'll … Read more →

Positive Online Performance Appraisals: ACME's Success

Posted November 21, 2014 • 2 min read

I’m embarking on a series of interviews to uncover stories about positive online performance appraisals and the stories behind the success. This is the first story! About a month ago, I interviewed a large customer t… Read more →

Top 20 Most Popular Competencies for Performance Appraisals

Posted November 13, 2014 • 0 min read

Most Popular Competencies Want to know the most popular competencies for Performance Appraisals? We pulled a list, and starting with the most top most frequently used (Communication.) Communication Job Knowl… Read more →

A Manager's Confession on Performance Feedback

Posted November 11, 2014 • 2 min read

Performance Feedback: A Missed Opportunity I should have provided more feedback during the year. I can barely remember what I had for breakfast. I wish I could remember all the good things Joe has done this year. I… Read more →

Focal Point Performance Appraisals, or Date-of-Hire?

Posted November 06, 2014 • 2 min read

Trying to decide if you should conduct Date-of-Hire (DOH) appraisals or focal point performance appraisals (everyone at the same time)? We randomly sampled 100 customers and found 81 did Focal Point appraisals, and 1… Read more →

Chickening Out on Difficult Feedback

Posted November 04, 2014 • 2 min read

Quick story of a chicken. Have you ever had to give difficult feedback or ask a difficult question and chickened out in the end? You're not alone! I was listening to the This American Life podcast this weekend, a r… Read more →

Teamwork with Sticky Notes: Visualizing Complexity

Posted October 30, 2014 • 2 min read

Visualizing the Customer Experience Visualizing complexity is hard. Where do you start if you have a story with lots of twists and turns? How do you draw a picture of a complex process? We’re lucky and excited to ha… Read more →

Performance Appraisal process not getting done?

Posted October 27, 2014 • 1 min read

Is the performance appraisal process broken at your organization? Here are some signs: Managers do not complete the performance appraisal process without prodding Appraisals are partially done and neve… Read more →

How to Keep Job Descriptions Up-to-Date

Posted April 17, 2014 • 2 min read

Ever notice that just as soon as you write a job description, things change? We’ve noticed that, too. How about using your Appraisal process to help keep things up to date? It’s a great way to get direct feed… Read more →

Top 3 Employee Fears about Appraisals

Posted April 04, 2014 • 1 min read

According to SHRM, the most serious employee complaint about performance appraisals is not how the appraisal is conducted, but rather a.) was the review promised and never done? b.) is the review delinquent? Here a… Read more →

Managers in the US were rating employees higher. Is that fair?

Posted March 25, 2014 • 2 min read

A customer recently observed that in their organization, US-based managers rated employees higher (high rater bias) than counterpart managers in another location…let’s say, Asia. What does this mean and what c… Read more →

5 Tips for Great Job Descriptions

Posted February 25, 2014 • 2 min read

Should you take the time to write good job descriptions for your organization? Yes! I worked for a large technical fruit company for 10 years. It wasn’t until my last week that I saw my actual job description! (Let… Read more →

Plussing: Feedback that works!

Posted February 04, 2014 • 2 min read

Recently I was asked how to effectively teach feedback strategies managers can use in order to give good feedback—feedback that will be well-received and encourage growth and innovation. Have you heard of a strate… Read more →

Top 5 Performance Resolutions for 2014

Posted January 15, 2014 • 1 min read

1. Share your core values. Again. Post them. Talk about them. Write an email reminding employees what your organization stands for. Consider highlighting a short story about an employee that exemplified the values in… Read more →

It's Goal Setting Time!

Posted January 15, 2014 • 1 min read

It’s a new year and it’s time to set goals. We’ve all heard about S.M.A.R.T. goals and it’s a great time for a quick refresh! When setting goals, make them SMART and ask yourself these questions: Specific: What … Read more →

Fixed Date Notifications

Posted December 17, 2013 • 1 min read

Need to send an email on a specific date to all Trakstar users? Now you can! We call this feature "Fixed Date Notifications." - Send a reminder about internal processes on January 15th. - Share training dates w… Read more →

6 Common Mistakes with 360 (Multi-rater) Feedback

Posted November 15, 2013 • 5 min read

An HR Director recently told a story about how multi-rater feedback had been used in her previous organization. “A manager would ask a whole bunch of people to provide input on other employees. Employees got way too… Read more →

6 Tips for Better Performance Meetings

Posted October 24, 2013 • 3 min read

For many organizations, the end of the year means Performance Appraisal time! Employee appraisals are scored, meetings are held and new goals are set for the coming year. If it’s that time of year for your organiza… Read more →

5 Tips for Managing Rater Fatigue

Posted September 19, 2013 • 1 min read

Rater Fatigue. It's real. It's what happens when a rater gets tired of rating an Appraisal, and may hurriedly rate elements on an Appraisal form. Rater Fatigue can affect an individual's Appraisal score, by providi… Read more →

16 Great Questions for Your Appraisals

Posted September 19, 2013 • 1 min read

Looking for a way to get good feedback from your Appraisals? Ask good questions. Here are some of the questions we've seen and liked: What would you like your next position to be? How do you think you can best wo… Read more →

Making the Case for Competencies

Posted September 19, 2013 • 1 min read

Our customers often ask, should performance Appraisals include competencies in the form? Or, should an appraisal contain only individualized goals, or reflective questions. Let's make the case for using competencie… Read more →

Fancy Fridays

Posted July 19, 2013 • 0 min read

Twice a month on Fridays, our Seattle office holds "Fancy Fridays", a day on which all employees make an effort to pull out the ironing board and wear something not purchased from REI. This looks like success! Read more →

New Note-taking Preference: Managers can take notes on all employees

Posted May 23, 2013 • 0 min read

Managers can take only notes on their subordinates Managers can take notes on all employees (NEW) Employees can take notes on all other employees Read Support Article Read more →

Adjust Weights as Manager or Employee

Posted May 23, 2013 • 0 min read

It's now easier for your managers and employees to adjust weights on elements within a section or on the section itself in Trakstar. Here's a link to the support article. It's important to note that only section… Read more →

Export Narrative Question Answers to Excel

Posted May 10, 2013 • 1 min read

Do you have questions on your Appraisal forms? Maybe something like... What are your Professional Development plans for the coming year? What would help improve your current productivity? If so, you may want … Read more →

Who has finished Appraisals? Who has not?

Posted April 30, 2013 • 1 min read

If you'd like to know the status of Appraisals in the scoring mode in your organization, use the Appraisals tab in Trakstar! Here's a link to the video: http://www.trakstar.com/appraisal-status/ When in the A… Read more →

3 Strategies That High-Performing Companies Always Follow

Posted April 19, 2013 • 2 min read

3 Strategies That High-Performing Companies Always Follow Any HR professional can tell you that, in the end, company success comes down to who you hire and how well they perform. But, with so much advice out there,… Read more →

Happy, happy org chart.

Posted April 12, 2013 • 0 min read

Our fantastic developers added something special to help our customers, a visual org chart. Use it to make sure your hierarchy is correct and to visualize the routing process. You may have great ways to use it we hav… Read more →

Document Management updated

Posted April 12, 2013 • 0 min read

Trakstar Admins can edit dates, managers and positions on actual Appraisal documents. New features include "ad hoc" appraisals and two Appraisal sets. Read more →

Office Construction

Posted April 12, 2013 • 0 min read

We've added new people and had to expand the office. But before the walls came down, we took some time to express ourselves artistically and draw some portraits. Read more →

Manager rater bias in the real world

Posted September 14, 2012 • 1 min read

Today I want to talk about the dreaded term Rater Bias (cue scary ghost sounds). So what is "Rater Bias"? And what's this "real world" you speak of? Rater Bias is a reflection of what it means to be human. Som… Read more →

Show All Articles
360 Degree Feedback
Customer Q&As
Employee Engagement
Goal Setting
HR Digitalization
Healthcare
Hiring
Human Resources General
Insights
Learning Management
Life at Trakstar
Performance Management
Remote Work
Retention
Software Updates
Talent Development
Talent Management
Training

Does Your Employee Data Spark Joy?
Your Employees Are Leaving. Here’s Why They’ll Stay.

S01E48 - Interview With Interview With Michael Saterman
S01E47 - Interview With Interview With Neil Katz
S01E46 - Interview With Goeffrey Roche

Hire Benchmarking: Starting a New Narrative
Simplifying the Magic of Integrations
End Of Year Account Clean Up

Talent Development & Human Resources Blog

Top HR Goals For 2023

Does Your Employee Data Spark Joy?

Your Employees Are Leaving. Here’s Why They’ll Stay.

Creating an HR Digitization Strategy: What You Need To Know

Performance Reviews Are Here To Stay: 5 Reasons Why They Matter Even More in 2023

5 Steps to Crafting a Winning Talent Management Strategy

HR Theme For 2023: Transparency

Trakstar’s Best of 2022: What People Read, Listened To, and Used

Old School vs. New School Talent Development: Which One Reigns Supreme?

Three Things HR Can Do Before The End of the Year

Employee Retention Rates: What You Need To Know & How You Can Improve Them

5 Warning Signs that your HR Department Needs a Makeover

What Leaders Need To Know About “Workations”

Stop Using Spreadsheets To Manage People

4 Reasons Why You Need to Invest In Talent Development Right Now

10 Things 2022 Taught Us About the Workplace

The Complete Guide To Employee Check-Ins

How to Build a Mentorship Program At Your Company

Customer Q&A: Trakstar Hire & Hub Recruiting

Old School vs. New School: Managing A Remote Workforce

10 Employee Retention Strategies That Actually Work

Best HR Books People Leaders Need to Read in 2023

How Technology Can Stem Employee Turnover

10 Things You Can Do Now To Prepare for End-of-the-Year Reviews

How To Manage Conflict In A Team

A Conversation with Trakstar CEO Julie Rieken

What is Quiet Quitting?

Are SMART Goals Still…Smart?

Releasing Today: Trakstar Benchmarking for Perform

What is Benchmarking: FAQs Answered

Leadership Models For Human Resources: How To Be A Better Leader For Your Employees

Human Resources Quotes For All Occasions

How to Reduce Zoom Fatigue in Your Employees

Metrics To Use During The Employee Lifecycle

Top Human Resources Podcasts To Listen To Today

Employee Appreciation Ideas & Tips

5 Key Metrics To Grade Your Hiring Process

Insights For Trakstar Hire: Building Great Teams

Definitive Guide To Mid-Year Performance Reviews

HR in Healthcare: Top Challenges (and How To Overcome Them)

Every day at Trakstar, we celebrate PRIDE.

The Hardest Things in the World: Expectations and Accountability

What Should You Do After Engagement Surveys?

Department Goals: How To Set & Reach Them in 2023

What is PeopleOps - And What Does it Mean For The Future of HR?

10 Tips For Handling High Achieving Employees

Great Performance Review Questions for Leaders

11 Practical Tips For Employee Data Protection

Launching Today: Insights For Trakstar Learn

What is the Best Way To Onboard a New Hire?

4 Points Of HR Data I Want To Know As A Leader

Insights For Trakstar Learn: Equipping Great Teams

What is the Value Of All-In-One Employee Management Software?

Expectation Setting in Action: A Letter To Our Employees

How To Fight Employee Burnout In Healthcare

Reducing Employee Turnover: 4 Proven Tactics

How To Develop Leaders In Your Organization

Returning To Work: How HR Can Plan For The Transition

What Integrations Does Trakstar Use?

Top 7 Workforce Predictions for 2023 and How Your Organization Can Rise to Meet Them

Workforce Analytics: How HR Can Incorporate Metrics

Insights: People Analytics to Strengthen Your Workforce

Navigating Laws When Hiring For The Medical Field

Four Ways to Responsibly Address Mental Health in a Changing Workplace

Performance Improvement Plans: How To Write Them

4 Things That No Longer Matter When Hiring Someone

Upskilling: What Does This Buzzword Mean?

Building An HR Plan For 2023

Using Employee Performance Evaluations To Reflect On Overall Company Performance

Insights: Quantifying The Human Side of HR (So You Don’t Have To)

Top 3 Warning Signs Your Remote Culture Won’t Work For 2022

How to Conduct Bias-Free Performance Reviews

5 Types of Learning Styles You'll See In Employees

5 Tips for Creating Talent Pools During The Hiring Process

6 Tips for Manager Engagement During the Performance Review Process

4 Ways to Make Your New Hybrid Workplace Equitable for Women

Trakstar Hire Announces New Zoom Integration

The Trakstar Platform: integrating the best HR solutions for data-driven decisions with a dispersed workforce

A Letter from Trakstar's CEO, Announcing the Trakstar Platform