- Thoughts and ideas for 2010-07-11 http://bit.ly/8XfCPf #
- #google will never get social, #msft doesn't get consumer #fb does get privacy + #apple doesn't get enterprise - all values based @stoweboyd #
- correction #facebook doesn't get #privacy #
- #HR won't or can't change? no risk takers? no #innovators no #passion or #purpose no #statistics skills in the dept? #disruptHR #
- @jonhusband - thanks for the great story - deep and highly provokative - questions that very few dare ask and answer - #disruptcapitalism in reply to jonhusband #
Thoughts and ideas for 2010-07-12
Thoughts and ideas for 2010-07-11
- Thoughts and ideas for 2010-07-10 http://bit.ly/c1z7Kg #
- @stephendale congrats on the new addition to the family... in reply to stephendale #
- @berendjan very happy to show you how we predict #relationships and #culture if you've got 5/10 mins to spare? in reply to berendjan #
- @ProgPart thank you very much for the #ff mention! have a great weekend... in reply to ProgPart #
Thoughts and ideas for 2010-07-09
- Thoughts and ideas for 2010-07-08 http://bit.ly/biQ2f8 #
- RT @VenessaMiemis: "what would happen if developing the human potential of its people were a top priority of corporations & organizations?" #
- Prosperians believe the economy's bug problem isn't a lack of demand or a lack of supply - but a lack of #purpose @umairh http://ow.ly/293Px #
- “Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them.” - Laurence J. Peter #
- It is time to #engage + #empower rather than tune processes + do things to people in the mode of Taylor @BillIves http://ow.ly/293X5 #
- @vineetnayar HCL - hugly inspiring story - many congrats! - can it be repliated though? http://ow.ly/2940S @profhamel #
- Many of the #tools + #methods we use to #manage people at work are ill-suited for success - new tools needed! @profhamel http://ow.ly/29444 #
- @AchimMuellers a great piece - thanks for sharing it 🙂 in reply to AchimMuellers #
Thoughts and ideas for 2010-07-08
- If #engagement is the holy grail of #HR then great #relationships makes the cup runneth over! #
- #Booz and #ATKearney end #merger talks - was it #money #people or both? http://ow.ly/280p9 #
- #HIM + #HumanEdj are the operating system for the next gen of the web - they make it work and they keep it safe http://ow.ly/280wJ #
- Shift from #transactional to #tacit #interactions requires companies to think differently about improving #performance http://ow.ly/280zf #
- A true #Reset transforms #innovation + #production + ushers in a whole new #economic landscape @jhagel @Richard_Florida http://ow.ly/280UB #
- The Power of Pull - #transition from diminishing #returns to increasing returns world @jhagel http://ow.ly/280VQ http://ow.ly/280Wt #
- It is tempting to agree that orgs are inefficient because they systematically fail to #reward the right sort of #thinking http://ow.ly/2813M #
Leadership, Intangibles and Talent Review Q1 2010
Welcome to the first update for 2010. In the spirit of new beginnings, in this issue we will look at how the debate around organisational performance is widening. We'll also look at how after 18 months of economic chaos, the fundamentals of organisational behaviour and what everyone has taken for granted about motivation and engagement could have played a key role in recent events. We'll also touch on the following themes;
- Mergers, Acquisitions and Human Capital
- Motivation and Engagement
- Myths surrounding Top Talent
- New Ways to Engage via Social Network Analysis
- Limits of Understanding around Managerial Behaviour
- Passion and Purpose
- Innovation Constraints
- Managing Tacit Knowledge
Articles are included from the likes of Deliotte, Gary Hamel, Henry Minzberg, HR Magazine, Karen Stephenson, McKinsey and Strategy + Business.
Tag Cloud
Has the CIPD just Thrown its Toys out of the Pram?
I can't help but think that the statement below, from the CIPD's Next Gen HR - Time for change, shows a profession that has just thrown its toys out of the pram. Or if you prefer your metaphors of the footballing variety, the CIPD has just done a Zidane.
Every business gets the HR it deserves
This strikes me as both shirking responsibility for people management on the one hand and on the other, a tacit acknowledgement that HR lacks anything like a consensus around its raison d'etre. Perhaps the idea that 20 - 40% of performance is determined by the quality of people's relationships might be a start?
As for the 'insight driven' approach, haven't we been here already?
Possible problems with the HR Management Framework for Enterprise 2.0
I've just read the great piece from Jon Husband at the FASTForward blog and its made me think a great deal about Enterprise 2.0 (E2) stuff and how this compares to other new technologies and methods that we've seen play out in the last 20/30 years.
My thinking is as follows;
- E2 can be framed both as a technology and as a cultural shift
- Its takeup is clearly very different from hard technologies e.g. email, personal computers, blackberries, databases etc.
- Adoption is also very different from technological/methodological hybrids e.g. CRM, BRP(?), ERP and JIT amongst others
- Likewise, the debate about top down and bottom up drivers of adoption is new(ish)
- E2 seeks a different culture from command and control in which to thrive
Thus;
- Given the potentially disruptive nature of E2
- Its perceived low cost of technology
- The apparent need to be integrated into processes (see Howlett for example!)
- Its material 'distributed' impact on culture and values (what can't be E2'ed?)
It will either;
Take hold on a case by case basis, varying from organisation to organisation and function to function, eventually fulfilling its potential and bringing about a subtle change in culture, the credit for which will vary dramatically and some will claim it was their idea from day!
or
Fail to take hold as the organisation seeks to control and police (in the nicest possible way of course!) the various elements of E2
Therefore;
- E2 is a bit of a slippery eel, who knows where it will go next
- E2 doesn't lend itself to linear outcomes and cost/benefit analysis (hard but not impossible!)
- Claiming credit and gaining influence for E2 is anyone's guess
As Jon writes himself;
I am not aware of significant work in the general area of changes to mainstream HR practices as a result of embarking on the path towards Enterprise 2.0. I will be delighted to learn from any of you of examples and / or issues I may have missed or glossed over.
My guess is that we'll be waiting quite a while...
Rather than bandwagoning around E2, I think that setting out to claim a element of an organisation that can be improved and has thus far been overlooked will reap richer rewards.
Many thanks to Anne Marie for the brainstorm 🙂
Up to 40% of Performance is determined by the Quality of People’s Relationships
The presentation below builds on research from Harvard, MIT, Warwick (via Proudfoot Consulting) and a meta analysis from the University of Amersterdam and Carnegie Mellon.
Shifting the People Management Worldview
Gary Hamel recently wrote about a
survey that found that only 20% of employees are truly engaged in their work — heart and soul
and yet he goes on to say that
I talk to a lot of CEOs, and every one professes a commitment to building a “high performance” organization
So why this huge, 80% discrepancy? I think Dan McCarthy get's pretty close when he talks about helping leaders to 'connect the dots', writing that
the biggest reason why we can’t seem to see what’s right in front of us is that our own “worldviews”, or “paradigms” obstruct our vision.
Other people have suggested similar things, Julian Birkinshaw at London Business School, Richard Donkin, Umair Haque and Lynda Gratton have all talked about new perspectives on management.
Why the 80% Discrepancy?
In my mind, the 80% discrepancy between what CEO's say they want and what their employees report is due to the methods and means (i.e. the paradigm) available to help manage people. The methods and approaches that are used to bring out the best in people are very different to those which are used to run everything else in a business.
What do I mean by this? If you look at the history of organisations (Managing Value Based Organsiations by Dr. Bruce Hoag is one very thorough view), you tend to find the following themes emerging;
- The methods and technologies to do things define people's day job
- These approaches are more useful if they are objective and can scale
- Subjective approaches are rarely as valuable or important
- New approaches only endure if they have advantages over the old ones
- People with P&L responsibility have the greatest power to decide things
- They also gain the greatest recognition from their decisions (if they go well)!
If we look at current examples of new methods and technologies, many suggest improvements for the organisations which choose to apply them. Improving knowledge management, green strategies, engineering influencing design, full body scanners, more powerful computers and improvements in transportation all correspond to the themes above.
How is this Different to how People are Managed and Empowered?
The biggest difference between the examples above and how people are managed and empowered is between;
- Approaches that are objective or subjective
- Approaches that are perceived to be valuable or not
- Approaches that improve P&L or not
If one looks at the myriad of methods and approaches that contribute to the management of people, it is hard to find any that fulfil the three criteria above completely. This is why there is no shortage of information along the lines of;
- Besides the transformation, why are there massive gaps in HR?
- It’s time for new thinking. It’s time to take note of new ideas
- HR = Hardly Relevant
- Critical HR Challenges for 2010
- Are Current Selection Tools up to the Task?
While there are many good things happening in people management and HR, I ultimately believe that right now, practitioner's own world views remain unchanged. Hence the status quo endures, depsite calls for something different.
While practical, micro-level details may well be expanded upon later, I think the recognition of the different paradigms above might be a starting point, or perhaps a stepping stone on a bigger journey...
An interview with Mike Haffenden, co-founder of the Corporate Research Forum and former HR Director of Hewlett-Packard
The following interview was held between Bruce Lewin and Mike Haffenden in December 2009. Mike co-foundded the Corporate Research Forum and was formerly HR Director for Hewlett-Packard. The discussion focussed on a review of 2009 and its themes for HR, along with exploring more broad topics for the function and profession as a whole.