ISOCA presentations 2008

Human Resource Development for Social Capital- An intricate process of knowing -

International Congress on Social Capital and Networks of Trust (ISOCA 2007)University of Jyväskylä, Finland 18 – 20 Oktober 2007

19th of Oktober 2007

Tjip de Jong

SOME STRUCTURE ..

www.learningbyconnecting.com

I Background of this research

II Central questions of this paper

III The perception of knowledge and knowledge productivity

IV Return on Investments in HRD

VI Social capital: a learning landscape

V HRD and knowledge productivity

VII Concluding remarks

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BACKGROUND: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT


Human Resource Development is concerned with organising individual and collective learning processes aimed at personal and professional development of employees, as well as the functioning of the organisation as a whole (Poell, 2006).

BACKGROUND: THE EMERGING KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY


Don Cohen, consultant, researcher and founder of the journal Knowledge Directions for Knowledge Management for IBM

‘I believe that respect, trust, decision making power and autonomy is absolutely essential in being a successful knowledge based organisation. Organisations can support and maybe direct knowledge creation, but the fundamental problem is that when we think about knowledge we pretty quickly also think of collecting it in repositories.’

Larry Prusak, consultant, researcher and founder of the Institute of Knowledge Management

‘I believe that knowledge is our strongest source of wealth, even more than land, labour and capital. And it that’s true, we need to know how to work with knowledge. How do we organize it, make it productive: simply do things with knowledge? Once you say knowledge it implies a container, but it should be an active verb: knowing in organisations.’

BACKGROUND: THE EMERGING KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY


Competitive advantage of organizations relies on the capability to adapt to the changing environment by the continuous generation and application of new knowledge (Harrison & Kessels, 2004)

No century in human history has experienced so many radical social transformations as the twentieth century (Drucker, 2001)

HRD processes are key to ensuring that capability for organizations (Harrison & Kessels, 2004)

In such a knowledge economy individuals face the tremendous challenge and need for continues learning and relearning (Drucker, 2001)

Focus on knowledge creation is shifting from organizational processes to knowledge embedded within employees and relations within and across organizations (Cohen & Prusak, 2001)

We are discovering how poorly the industrial era was designed. Focussing on the hands instead of the heads. It is unlikely the industrial era is sustainable in the form we have known it (Bertels & Savage, 1998)

But, what then..? And what does this mean for HRD?

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afbeelding:Classededanse.jpg

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CENTRAL QUESTIONS OF THIS PAPER


Can HRD contribute to the process of knowledge productivity and thus also to the economic prosperity of organisations? And, if this possible, what typify these HRD-contributions and which approach on ROI is most suitable?

How do we characterise social capital and its consequential returns on knowledge productivity?

Can we connect HRD-efforts to the development of social capital and the forthcoming economic returns. Can we make it plausible that certain, knowledge productive HRD-initiatives contribute to the building of social capital and thus an increasing economic return within an organisation?

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THE PERCEPTION OF KNOWLEDGE


THE PERCEPTION OF KNOWLEDGE


Knowledge productivity is a social process and not as much an individual process of collecting and processing information. Knowledge is formed through meaningful interaction between individuals.

(Kessels & De Jong, 2007)

Knowledge does not take its form through an objective product, but is to be considered as a social process of knowing.

(Huemer, Von Krog & Roos, 1998)

Knowledge between our ears or…

KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTIVITY


Knowledge productivity entails the process of identifying, gathering and interpreting relevant information, using this information to develop new skills and then to apply these skills to improve and radically innovate operating procedures, products and services. (Keursten et al., 2006)

Tracing this relevant information, developing it and applying new competences are based on powerful learning processes. Keursten et al., 2006)

The network perspective on organizations is based on the following assumptions (Van Der Krogt, 1998):

A network is made up of tactically operating actors

Every organization is a social network

The environment of the organization is a network

Network structures come about as the result of the actors’ actions





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PERFORMANCE VERSUS LEARNING: ROI


Performance orientation Learning orientation

HRD is a process for developing and unleashing human expertise through organisational development and personnel training and training for the purpose of improving performance. (Swanson, 1995)

HRD is the field of study and practice responsible for the fostering of a long-term work-related learning capacity at the individual, group, and organizational level of organizations. (Watkins, 1989)

The assumption is that the environment in which the organisations operates is stable and that performance can be clearly be described. (Kessels & De Jong, 2007)

The assumption is that through promoting workforce knowledge development continuous improvement and radical innovation will take place. (Harrison & Kessels, 2004)



Classical ROI approach on HRD

HRD as an instrument for improving turnover

Every invested € must have a return in turnover

Interventions are often course-based and predetermined

Interventions are clearly linked to the corporate strategy

Course-based interventions can be measured relatively easily

ROI through improving knowledge productivity

HRD aims to improve the strength of social networks and social capital

HRD stands at the heart of improving work processes

Interventions are often on-the-job / work related

ROI can be measured through knowledge productivity and the increase of radical innovation



Netwerken_211.jpg



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SOCIAL CAPITAL: A LEARNING LANDSCAPE


We describe a working environment through five pillars:

1. Knowledge as a collective social process

2. A safe learning environment

3. Room for initiative

4. An appreciative environment

5. Developing social skills

SOCIAL CAPITAL: A LEARNING LANDSCAPE


In better understanding learning by connecting we use social capital theory. Social capital has a strong overlap with characteristics of a safe working environment (e.g. Cohen & Prusak, 2001; Wenger, 1999; De Laat & Simons, 2002). The most important relationship between social capital and knowledge productivity is based on the aforementioned notion of knowledge development as a social process of learning.

Social capital can be described as the network of connections between individuals, based on trust, respect, appreciation, integrity, transparency and shared norms and values (Kessels & De Jong, 2007)

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HRD AND KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTIVITY


Nahapiet and Ghoshal (1998) describe social capital as a structural, relational and cognitive dimension. We use these dimensions to describe specific HRD-interventions to increase knowledge productivity.

Structural dimension (composition and structure of connections between individuals)

- Bringing different perspectives together

- Offering an attractive structure to do so

- Facilitating meetings and creating time to investigating time to investigate each others’ ambitions and goals

- Creating room for initiative

- Encouraging and rewarding participants

HRD AND KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTIVITY


Nahapiet and Ghoshal (1998) describe social capital as a structural, relational and cognitive dimension. We use these dimensions to describe specific HRD-interventions to increase knowledge productivity.

Relational dimension (relationships that influence behaviour)

- Creating a safe and constructive learning environment

- Promoting an appreciative approach to learning

- Developing a curious attitude of individuals in order to connect with each other

Cognitive dimension (shared stories, images, narratives and meaning of individuals)

- Facilitating the reflective capacity of individuals and teams

- Facilitating the exchange of tacit knowledge through interaction

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CONCLUDING REMARKS









THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION!


Tjip de Jong

[email protected]

Education

ISOCA presentations 2008