Author: Tim Waldo

Some are open, some are closed. Some are simple, while others are complex, ranging from a mostly linear flow to interwoven layers of relationships and connections. Systems come in all shapes and sizes. An organization’s people development system is a great example of a complex and interrelated system. These internal efforts at workforce development have certain characteristics that make it challenging to optimize them.

Difficult to See the Action

There are usually artifacts that help leaders see what the PDS is doing. Training matrices, development pathways, and performance management tools provide some visibility. However, the actual operations of the system, the functioning of various elements, are scattered around the organization and can happen at various times.

The recruiting process occurs at different levels, at various locations, and in different ways. Training schedules share some insight; however, some valuable training activities may take the form of a one-on-one encounter on a production line. Other forms of training come from informal learning opportunities, mentoring or coaching interactions, or even self-directed learning.

Retention might be strengthened through a simple conversation or in a review of a team member’s development pathway. Many of these important PDS functions are facilitated without schedules or plans and are done with little or no fanfare.

Plays out Over Time

When does recruiting, onboarding, performance management, retention, and training happen? When each one needs to. When other organizational systems send signals. When the market sends signals. All five functions could potentially be operating at different places and at different times due to a wide variety of factors that moves the system to act or to react.

Several of the outcomes of these functions, although connected, sometimes develop slowly; for example, communication, relationships, and engagement. These can all happen unpredictably and at varying speeds.

Results come at staggered intervals too. The impacts of training require follow-up to show effectiveness. Time to fill an open position is an important metric for recruiting. The effects of performance management become evident only after some interval of time has passed.    

Multifaceted

People entering the PDS, eventually work their way into all five functional areas of the system. Some of these interactions occur simultaneously in multiple parts of the PDS. For example, they will experience training at the same time as they experience retention efforts and at the same time that performance management support is given. Recruiting, onboarding, and retention are all tied together in the optimized PDS.

Multiple stakeholders

Many people play a role in the optimized PDS. As the system supports each team member, various leaders connect with those team members and with other leaders involved in worker development.

Direct supervisors encourage training and influence retention. Department heads along with supervisors get involved in the early stages of recruiting and onboarding. Senior leaders make decisions based on the performance of the PDS. Essentially, everyone is involved with the human resource management function.

­­­­Let These Characteristics Guide

Optimization requires making the invisible visible. Map the PDS and show how data flows, where communication should occur, and where leaders need to collaborate in support of the system and of the team members.

Greater visibility gives stakeholders a more holistic view of the system and allows for better and more timely decision-making. Honoring the interconnectedness of the PDS helps team members experience a smooth development journey and it promotes deeper levels of employee engagement.

Developing and maintaining an engaged workforce requires a dynamic and complex blend of processes that occurs across the whole organization. To continuously improve this internal workforce development system, it is imperative to appreciate how interdependent it really is.

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

Practically all organizations practice workforce development. In many instances, these systems can be underdeveloped leading to less than stellar performance. Here are three compelling reasons to enhance this very important system.

The PDS Supports Culture.

“Talent acquisition and retention are as critical to culture as fuel is to a combustion engine.”

Throughout their book, Culture Eats Strategy for Lunch, Coffman & Sorensen describe the attributes and qualities of high-performing cultures and how these are established and sustained. The tools and processes that enable and empower such cultures form a connected system; one that can be continuously improved.

The optimized PDS understands that the people brought into this culture are on a journey that begins with recruitment, gains momentum at onboarding, is propelled by training, and enhanced by performance management. Retention begins at the recruiting stage and ushers those people along their journey.

The PDS Supports all Other Organizational Systems

“How we manage our people is the fluid that connects all the working parts and brings them the oxygen and nutrients to keep them all working as they should.” Toyota Culture; The heart and Soul of The Toyota Way

Jeffrey Liker & Michael Hoseus explored Toyota’s HR philosophies and practices that support their famous Toyota Production System. These researchers described culture as the “blood flow” that makes the TPS operate.

A reliable system to manage this “flow” hangs on a framework supporting systematic recruitment, robust onboarding, deliberate training, and dynamic performance management. Long-term retention anchors the whole process.

The PDS Aligns

“The visionary companies translate their ideologies into tangible mechanisms aligned to send a consistent set of reinforcing signals. They indoctrinate people, they impose tightness of fit, and create a sense of belonging…” Built to Last.

Jim Collins and Jerry Porras follow this statement with a list of ways these visionary companies accomplish this. Their list describes training and onboarding practices, communication methods, and tools that include incentives and advancement criteria along with relationship-driven dynamics.

All of these require a PDS that is visible to all stakeholders, clearly connected across the organization, and in lockstep with organizational goals and objectives.

The system that organizations use to find, train, and retain people is a system within a system. This PDS serves as the connector and communication mechanism. It facilitates relationships and in so doing, directs the fuel that drives culture, provides needed substance and support to help sustain it, and ensures that important signals can pass through the system consistently.

Such a critical system can offer great rewards from continuous improvement and optimization.

Behavior is a great indicator of motivation and that dependable old adage, actions speak louder than words, stands true for systems as well. A workforce optimization system that understands its reason for being will behave differently than a comparable system that simply aims at obviously significant goals.

*Donella Meadows, a leader in systems thinking, taught that “A system’s function or purpose is not necessarily spoken, written, or expressed explicitly, except through the operation of the system.” Even if its purpose is made explicit, the behavior of the system may tell a different story.

In most cases, vision and mission statements are an effort to express what the organization believes is its driving purpose. Behind these, each organizational system – business processes, production, procurement, quality, people development, etc. – has a supporting purpose.

If the exact purpose of these subsystems is not explored and established, their ability to support the vision and mission can be weakened. Defining the purpose of the PDS helps determine the system’s exact role in establishing and sustaining the organizational culture. This clarity can elevate the system’s contributions and inject accountability across the team.

Purpose is Aspirational

What is the overarching purpose of the PDS; its reason for being? Is it to help each team member achieve their highest level of individual success? Is it to create an inclusive culture? A culture of learning? Does the purpose encompass the community?

It will certainly vary by organization, but optimizing the purpose of the PDS will reflect the values of the organization and what they believe about their workforce.  

Not to be Confused with Objectives

Often used interchangeably, the purpose of the PDS is different from the objectives that it pursues.

Objectives indicate what the system has to do to fulfill its purpose. It might be stated as something like: The objective of the PDS is to support all other organizational systems by finding, training, developing, and retaining the necessary talent for the overall success of the organization.

This would then translate into the activities around attracting talent, successful onboarding, strong retention programs, effective performance management, and, of course, efficient training efforts. Beyond these, key objectives should include making the PDS visible to all stakeholders and continually promoting a healthy organizational culture.  

Important, Now More Than Ever

Aaron Hurst, author of The Purpose Economy, expressed the importance of a deeper understanding of the reasons that an organization exists saying, “The companies that are emerging as leaders in the new economy are truly redesigning every aspect of their business around purpose.” One of the most important aspects of business management is the way employees are developed. 

Surely the PDS exists to do more than just keep enough people to meet production or service levels. Expressing the purpose of the PDS can help to establish and sustain a great culture. Perhaps even defining that culture. It can help to ensure that people reach their potential, thereby helping the organization reach its full potential, and providing a crucial competitive advantage for both.

Having a clear understanding of the elements that make up a people development system is important. Constantly working to optimize the performance of that system is just as important. And, the ability to clearly articulate what motivates the system can be a subtle but powerful influence on the whole enterprise.  

*Thinking in Systems: A Primer. Donella H. Meadows 2008. Edited by Diana Wright.

Image by Anand KZ from Pixabay 

This isn’t necessarily the type of boat that Patrick Criteser was describing. He is the CEO of Tillamook County Creamery Association–a 113-year-old dairy co-op. In a Fortune.com article, Criteser highlights the innovative tenacity that drove the early founders of what would become the co-op to build a boat that could deliver their dairy products in a timely manner despite the harsh terrain and other obstacles. The real story, according to Criteser, was not the boat so much as the idea for the boat and that these farmers, “Allowed room for the kind of people who would suggest it.”

What Type of Boat?

Fast forward to today, and the connection of past to present that Criteser makes is the need for organizations to have a “better boat” – a culture that can work for and with many different kinds of people. More specifically, the article convincingly argues for a leader’s role in creating the environment for such a culture. He calls this a fluid culture, which, “Seeks to expand the potential of people and of the organization itself.” As opposed to a fixed culture which is, as the name suggests, rigid and limiting. Fluidity would allow new types of people to be added to the team. It would value participation and lend itself to idea generation and adventurous problem-solving. It would have hallmarks like openness and communication.

As I pondered that idea of a fluid culture, one that, “recognizes that excellence comes from amplifying the good, not constraining the different”, the amplifying system that sustains this culture took center stage. I see this as a culture of learning, a culture of innovation that is supported by a robust people development system (PDS) that encourages growth and celebrates all who attain it.

The Boat’s Systems

Consider all of the system elements that are working together to find talented people for an organization. The elements that sell them on the idea of joining the enterprise and expending their energy and enthusiasm to generate great ideas in support of the organization. Think of the elements that are responsible for caring for these team members, helping them develop technical skills, and helping them gain new knowledge and additional capabilities that will meet the organization’s needs as well as their own personal and professional needs.

The system would need to understand and align with the mission and goals of the organization. Such a system would have to communicate exceptionally well throughout the processes of recruiting, onboarding, training, retaining, and performance management. Strong leadership would be an absolute, and this workforce training system is responsible for ensuring that those leaders are developing and growing. To sustain such a culture of innovation, the system would have to thrive on relationship building and have access to data that would constantly keep leaders appraised of the system’s performance and health.

Is a Good Boat Good Enough?

All of this seems somewhat obvious, doesn’t it? After all, most organizations have processes in place for workforce development. They provide some type of workforce training. They work to retain their best team members. But, how good is the PDS boat…really? Criteser urges leaders to look more intently at their culture. Can it absorb new ideas, be adaptive, be flexible? Are they as leaders inviting change? Extending this a bit deeper, does the PDS support such a culture? How would it need to adapt and change in order to support a learning organization of this caliber?

It would seem that only an optimized PDS could support a truly dynamic, fluid culture. A siloed workforce development approach can’t support a fluid culture. Neither could a system that is not people-centered. Building a “better boat” is a great metaphor for working to optimize the system that is responsible for finding people, bringing them into the organization, and cultivating relationships that makes them want to stay. A better boat that supports a robust development system that allows more room for people and their ideas, can help organizations navigate unrelenting change and chart new courses in the stormy waters of today’s marketplace.  

Covid 19 and inflation have this in common; few escape the impact that they have inflicted. These wide-ranging effects are felt everywhere – at home, at work, and in every community; demanding that we change and adjust to their presence. In the case of inflation, the first line of attack for businesses usually includes the search for lower material prices, cost savings in operational areas, and, unfortunately, the perceived need to cut staff levels. However, with supply chain issues complicating matters and labor market challenges confounding the picture, there is a need to look in other places for efficiencies, savings, and improvement opportunities. As organizational leaders search for these elusive prospects, don’t forget to look at your people development system (PDS).

Continuous Improvement for the PDS

Although the concepts of continuous improvement have gained ground in many industries, often times, the PDS is overlooked as a system ripe for improvement efforts. For clarity, the typical PDS consists of the processes needed to attract, train, and retain talent:

• Recruiting
• Onboarding
• Retention
• Performance management, and the engine that drives the PDS
• Training

Even if these workforce training and development processes seem to be doing well and yielding acceptable outcomes, the system as a whole, and each of these processes separately, can still be examined to identify waste and opportunities for improvement. In future posts we’ll explore the potential of improvement in other PDS functions, but for now, let’s consider the processes for recruiting and onboarding.

Look for the Less Obvious Options

At a chamber of commerce sponsored event last week I heard a panel of employers discussing the changes they made to improve their efforts to attract and retain talent. The bulk of the conversation focused on the obvious levers – increasing wages, offering flexible schedules, increasing benefits, etc. Not much was said about the less obvious opportunities. Those opportunities that are often part of the system and can easily become invisible. These are varied and can include things like creating more inviting job postings that appeal to different audiences. Connecting to new and different recruiting avenues in the community that might help diversify the team. Evaluating recruiting sources and methods. Looking closely at communication pieces that are shown to potential new team members or to the community. How might these tools used during the recruiting effort be improved?

The Importance of Connections

The optimized PDS operates as a complete system utilizing connections and feedback from all five areas. For example; does the training program inform your recruiting efforts by helping to identify the ideal candidate’s knowledge, skills, and abilities? Does the training program also help build out the job descriptions and job postings thereby increasing the probability of training success? By connecting training to recruiting, the PDS becomes more efficient and can ultimately save money by making the recruiting process more effective. Connections should exist across the PDS, how might they be strengthened?

Versatile PDS Tools

Enhancing employee engagement can reduce turnover, driving down costs. These efforts start in the recruiting stages, gain momentum in the onboarding process, and are sustained throughout the other PDS processes. Using an onboarding plan and schedule can help with new employee engagement and potentially reduce attrition at the early stages of their time with the organization. Presenting a new hire with a personalized development pathway can increase the likelihood that they will stay connected longer, allowing the company to realize an ROI. This pathway is created by and used throughout the whole PDS. If you have this tool, how well is it performing? If you don’t, can you add it to your PDS tool kit? Also, a well-designed onboarding process will optimize the time and effort of everyone involved. Another source of savings.

Other Potential Improvements

It seems as though, pressured by current circumstances, many companies have made the screening process less strenuous by lowering standards and eliminating requirements and steps. After all, there is a need to get people in the door quickly. Could this be contributing to the cycle of high turnover that many are experiencing? There’s a future blog post on this whole idea, but for now the question is; can the recruiting and onboarding process be improved by updating screening tools and methods? Bringing the right person on in the right way could help reduce losses when a mismatch results in their departure. When they walk out the door, the organization’s investment up to that point goes out the door too. Perhaps the better investment is to be more selective in the early stages. It might seem counterintuitive, but certainly worth debating.

Improving the PDS Adds Value

For organizational leaders, in the face of stubborn inflation, the challenge is to find innovative ways to offset higher costs by gaining efficiency, cutting waste, and improving processes in all the systems within their control. Since every organization has a PDS in some form, operating at some level of efficiency, it stands to reason that working to continuously improve this important system can contribute to the bottom line, often in dramatic ways.

It’s Worth the Time and Effort

Like improvement efforts on all complex systems, it will take time to explore the PDS for opportunities. Numerous studies, papers, and articles suggest that high inflation is going to be with us for a long while. Which means that the time invested to improve the system should allow the ROI to be realized in the current circumstances and any changes implemented to pay dividends even after inflation is tamed.