by Race in the Workplace special correspondent Erica Mauter

conducting strong performance evaluations - Ask a Manager
Going beyond rating systems and filling out forms. Training from a manager for other managers.

Avoiding the gender gap - CNN.com
“The study by the London Business School concluded that teams of employees where the gender balance is equal tend to come up with more creative and innovative ideas than groups dominated by either men or women. The mixed gender groups were on average more likely to experiment, to pool knowledge and to complete their tasks as needed… This is the case regardless of whether the team leader happens to be male or female….” (via The Job Blog)

A Brand You World: Global Summit
To access all the audio from the “A Brand You World” personal branding summit, plug the feed into your podcast vehicle of choice [subscribe with iTunes] or directly download individual teleseminars.

A question for the Americans out there - Chief Happiness Officer
The CHO is visiting the United States. “Everywhere I go, I ask the same question, namely ‘what makes people happy at work here.’ And I’ve noticed that the answers are never about work itself. People talk about career opportunities, they talk about salary and benefits, they talk about getting free concert tickets.”

Mental Health Parity: Not in Workers Comp - Workers Comp Insider
“There is a bill pending in the US Congress to require parity between mental and physical health benefits… Full Parity for Mental Illnesses expands the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 (MHPA) to prohibit a group health plan from imposing treatment limitations or financial requirements on the coverage of mental health benefits unless comparable limitations are imposed on medical and surgical benefits.”

Do You Feel Dirty When You Google Candidates? - The HR Capitalist
The main question is of the legal risk associated with what you find out. (via Workplace Prof Blog)

The Building Blocks for a Promotion - The Black Factor
“If you are working in a job where you aren’t being provided with the basics that would lead to a promotion, you can legitimately raise serious concerns about the lack of opportunities and training at your job… If you are not given reasonable answers regarding obtaining these basic building blocks, you should consider speaking to another authority within your department or to an HR representation.”

Recommended Reading is a weekly feature where we link to some of our favorite workplace-related blog posts and articles. If you would like to suggest a link to Erica, please email tips@raceintheworkplace.com