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Independent business blogs are blogs that aren't supported by an organization like a magazine, newspaper, company, or business school. Those people provide lots of great content, but they don't need any additional exposure. In this post, every week, I bring you posts of quality from excellent bloggers that don't get as much publicity.

This week, I'm pointing you to posts on the name game, evaluations, tall poppy syndrome, understanding compensation on the front line, and video games go to work

From You're not the Boss of Me: Employee Engagement…What’s in a Name?
"Last summer I was spending a lot of time at the hospital.  My husband had had a serious stroke and so my days were spent largely going to and fro, admittedly in a bit of a haze.  I didn’t have time to notice too much of anything outside the small sphere of my personal concern but there was one thing that stood out, one thing that I noticed each morning as I walked past.  The Hospital Human Resources Department had changed its name to The Employee Engagement Department."

Wally's Comment: Gwyn Teatro wonders if a name change accomplishes much. She seems to agree with Juliet (of Romeo and Juliet fame) who said:

"What’s in a name? That which we call a rose  
By any other name would smell as sweet"

Here's the corollary. Changing the name doesn't change the smell.

From All Things Workplace: Don't Let Halos and Horns Blur Your Expectations
"What do your company's talent conversations sound like? If you've spent more than a few minutes managing, succession planning, or doing a performance review, you know that total talent conversations can morph into a bias founded upon a single experience. Here's what I mean."

Wally's Comment: Danger lurks in the bias we do not recognize. Thankfully, there's Steve Roesler to set us straight.

From HR Observations: Performance & Recognition: Does Your Unspoken Culture Weed Out the Flowers?
"In American business we like to think that we have a culture of meritorious achievement. But do we really?"

Wally's Comment: Mike Haberman suggests that you take a hard look at your company culture. Is it really a meritocracy? Or is it a place where it's dangerous to stand out?

From Compensation Force: Line of Sight: Framing It Right, Taking it Beyond Rewards
"We compensation specialists love to throw around the phrase "line of sight", particularly with respect to variable pay design. Line of sight is an expression that I am told has its origins in the military.  In this context, it means "distance to target".  In a reward design scenario, we use it to describe an employee's perceived ability to impact the performance measure(s) on which an award is based."

Wally's Comment: My friend, Pete, owed some of his quick ascent of the career ladder to hard work and talent. But he also sat down with every new boss as soon as he could and asked, "What do I need to do to get a great evaluation?" Everyone in your organization wants to know how they can do better, whether it's pay or promotion or praise. You owe it to them to let them know up front. It may be one reason why hourly workers are happier at work than salaried workers.

From the Hiring Site at CareerBuilder: How Smart Companies Use Video Games to Recruit, Retain Employees
"A reported 70 percent of major domestic employers used these”serious games” to train employees in 2008, according to the Entertainment Software Association.  That figure is estimated to increase to 80 percent by 2013."

Wally's Comment: There's been pretty good coverage of the use of video games as a training tool. But this is the first post I've seen about how businesses are using video games to aid both recruiting and retention. Hat Tip to HRM Today, for pointing me to this story.

Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.