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MICHAEL KERR, VP & CHIEF HR OFFICER - ASTON MARTIN LAGONDA LTD

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SPECIAL REPORT NEVER LET TRANS

EMPLOYEES LEAVE THINKING YOU DON'T RESPECT AND

VALUE THEM, BELIEVING COMING OUT IS GOING

TO BE UNWELCOME

DECEMBER 2017 | ISSUE 158

TALENT The tables are turned in the war for talent. Supply and demand has created a costly, candidate-controlled jobs market

FROM HR TO PEOPLE SCIENCE HR's relationship with data is like that of a lamppost to a drunkard, it provides support rather than enlightenment

THE FUTURE OF WORK Backward work practices feed a dispiriting notion we are busy with an endless distraction of whack-a-mole

KEEPING WORKFORCE SKILLS UP-TO-DATE The natural cycle of working your way up, gaining qualifications is grinding to a halt

theHRDIRECTOR #158 DEC FINAL.indd 1 21/11/2017 13:12

34 | thehrdirector | DECEMBER 2017

insight | FROM HR TO PEOPLE SCIENCE www.thehrdirector.com

t h ea p p l i a n c e

o f n u a n c e

That we still need behavioural specialists to deliver more subtle data, pulls into sharp focus the requisite competencies of a future HR professional, tasked to draw upon leading-edge OD approaches such as; Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS), Container Difference Exchange (CDE) and Polarity Management. Organisations are evolving in complexity and this demands more refined skills of the HR professional; being fluent in MBTI - being black belt in mindfulness no longer impresses. Emotional Intelligence has become more prominent, but this only delivers so much - understanding yourself and others does not solve complex systems problems at the level of organisational or group. What other skills are required?

Typically these will fall into three categories: Diagnosis skills; application of complex models to aid understanding and Intervention skills. Diagnosis skills include the classic large scale interventions which yield organisation-wide data, such as Appreciative Inquiry Summits, World Cafes etc. More importantly, they include an understanding of Complex Adaptive Systems, viewing organisations as emergent and organic living organisms rather than mechanical systems. Identifying patterns and ‘fractals’ of behaviour, which expose at a micro level what is hidden at a macro level, should be in the HR repertoire. Organisations are constantly adapting to their environment, so models have to deal with issues quickly and in-depth - cursory analysis does not deliver.

Application of models includes using the Eoyang Container Difference Exchange Model. This is a powerful tool often applied in

self-managing teams, which can also be used to explore dissonance and lack of coherence between teams, divisions or group companies. The model highlights at a behavioural level what process maps show at a logical or procedural level, yielding difference in value sets, principles of engagement, ways of working and therefore prevailing culture. The 'container' is the boundary defined by organisation structure or physical location (all media teams, the research centre), by like interests (affinities such as race or gender), or by principles/ideologies, (such as a shift in culture around a powerful new leader).

Differences are those aspects of values, beliefs, interests or positions which create dissonance or issues within the container. So a new leader may be changing the organisation for the better if you are in sales, but for if you are an analyst, it’s not your lucky day. Differences can reinforce patterns of behaviour, (think of the challenges of embracing diversity) and are in turn influenced by patterns. Poorly designed bonus schemes create entrenched patterns of behaviour to surface winners and losers, who view the system very differently. Differences can be intangible, unsaid, or transient, and the opposite of these. What matters is that they are present and compromise alignment and coherence within the container. This usually manifests itself in wasted energy, time and cost. Exchanges include the sharing of information, understanding, knowledge or power. These help those in the container explore why they have differences, how these might be aligned and how best to move to a better way of being and doing. Using this

model requires a strong combination of facilitation, analytical and gestalt skills, coupled with maintaining a genuine curiosity and intent to develop new approaches which may shift power, share information and understanding, and realign interests

To quote Barry Johnson: "Maintaining regulatory compliance while encouraging innovation" is one such pair, but there are many to be found as organisations become more fractionated and diverse. Balancing focus on task with focus on relationships is another eternal challenge; one person’s conversational gambit is another person’s waste of time, while another’s focus on the job in hand can be taken as rudeness. The skill is in understanding how the subtleties and nuances of the differences can be optimised and adapted in real-time. Helping an organisation or group manage its own sense of balance is a worthy intervention and, as with CDE, takes practice. Intervention skills include being a skilled facilitator and moderator. Being skilled in Gestalt techniques, understanding group dynamics theory and making pragmatic in-the-moment interventions are all part of the kit-bag required to turn data driven solutions into practical reality.•

HR PROFESSIONALS WILL NEVER KNOW AS LITTLE ABOUT PEOPLE SCIENCE AS THEY DO NOW. MACRO, MICRO, WHICHEVER LENS YOU CARE TO SQUINT THROUGH, DATA USUALLY ONLY TELLS US THE

‘WHAT’ NOT THE ‘HOW’, WITH LITTLE TRACE OF NUANCED AND SUBTLE DETAIL.

Organisations are evolving in complexity and this demands

more refined skills of the HR professional; being fluent in MBTI -

being black belt in mindfulness no longer impresses

ARTICLE BY MIKE ROBINSON, MANAGING DIRECTOR - BERKSHIRE CONSULTANCY LTD

FOR FURTHER INFOwww.berkshire.co.uk