How do leading Vice Presidents of Human Resources get “so smart”? As the head of HR at San Francisco State University, I am privileged to get to meet the best VPs from the best Silicon Valley high tech firms. Two years ago, we began a program focused on identifying “Why do …

No, everyone doesn't use Job Description (JD's). I know several hi-tech firms that don't have them and are proud of it. Now they do have "thought up on the run" one paragraph recruitment postings but, these show no measurable-- irreverent look at job descriptions--correlation to the final hiring criteria, which by "Hi-tech law" (at least in the Silicon Valley) MUST be made up during the interview process. (apologies in advance to the three-letter computer company that let me in on the "secret ") :-)

Increased feedback and multi-source feedback results in a change in management behavior and an increase in performance. Theoretically, anonymous feedback is more open and honest then one-on-one feedback. The assumption is that honest feedback changes management behavior faster than restricted feedback.