Your system is open. Your people development system that is. Being an open system means that it is influenced by and therefore obliged to react to outside signals and influences. Some of those powerful influences include the mindset and motivations of generations of workers.
Randstad asked some Gen Z technology workers about their work preferences, finding some differences and a few similarities with other generations. Fortunately, the feedback provides useful insights for all employers as they consider how modern people development systems might need to evolve in the future.
This next generation of workers has different values, different ideas about work, and, like every generation before and after, will be needed in the workplace. Which means that the systems used to find, train, and retain them must adapt or at the very least, find some way to accommodate.
Knowing that these young workers are thinking about life and work differently, here are three ways to optimize your PDS to tap into their potential.
A grain of salt.
Don’t paint the entire generation with the same brush. There will be those that like to work with their hands, those that prefer to be in community with other workers, and those that are inclined to stay longer than a couple of years. Influences from other generations will still be seen in younger workers.
Optimize your people development system to tailor job postings that speak to them, job descriptions that inspire them, and recruiting methods that communicate clearly. Work on finding those outliers, they are out there.
Focus on growth.
The desire to learn and grow is not exclusive to this generation. What is different about their approach to work is their willingness to move quickly if they perceive that growth is limited. This is borne out again in Randstad’s survey results.
Reenforce PDS tools such as personalized development pathways and career ladders to communicate opportunities early and often. Augment these tools with strong onboarding practices, robust training initiatives, and focused performance management efforts.
Lean into technology adoption.
Gen Z has never known life without technology. They expect the workplace to maximize automation and all things AI. Industry and the marketplace are also driving adoption of technology, so the PDS has to do the same.
The optimized PDS will ensure that technology is used across all five of the functional areas of the system that supports all generations of workers. A workplace that utilizes generative AI and agentic AI will have a PDS that not only uses AI tools, but will teach people how to think about technology, how to think with technology, and how to use it safely and effectively. Outside influences are powerful forces that challenge PDS stakeholders to adjust and adapt. The system itself will need to change to attract and retain talented workers in Gen Z.
How will artificial intelligence change the internal systems that companies use to find, train, and retain people, what we call their People Development System (PDS)? It will involve more than just the AI tools manufacturing workers use; it will fundamentally change the way the PDS will need to support a culture that embraces AI.
“The NAM (National Association of Manufacturers) recently proposed a series of policy recommendations for policymakers to drive AI development and adoption in manufacturing, which includes a recommendation on developing the manufacturing workforce of the AI age by supporting training programs and career and technical education institutions.”
New training and strong partnerships, yes. But what must also happen within the company, especially small to midsized makers, for these new changes to make a meaningful difference?
An optimized PDS will need to be able to support AI by:
Promoting systems thinking for all team members.
Creating new job descriptions (and then appealing job postings…these are two different things!) that identify new AI and advanced manufacturing skills.
Rethinking training approaches utilizing AI tools for certain but also training team members on new ways to think about utilizing AI.
Recognizing the need for new leadership approaches for AI empowered manufacturing teams.
Developing new mindsets that allow people to think about and utilize AI and other technologies on the factory floor.
Creating a strong culture of learning and experimentation.
And so much more.
AI will change the way manufacturing systems operate. Including the one system that manages the people who operate within those systems.
There is considerable tension between these two truths – There are many things to love about the potential of artificial intelligence. There are many things to loath about the potential of artificial intelligence. AI seems to be invading all parts of life. But it is important to remember that that is the one thing it cannot do…life. And this is precisely why having an optimized people development system can help relieve some of the tension caused by arguably one of the most amazing inflection points in recent history.
Stuff happens.
Life is filled with complexity, nuances, and a wide variety of unexpectedness. It is where emotions, traditions, ambitions, and a plethora of other variables blend with tasks, necessities, and expectations, and they all must somehow be managed.
At work, the systems we use to manage all of these include the people development system. Undoubtedly, AI will impact the PDS. In fact, it can improve all five functional areas – recruiting, onboarding, retention, performance management, and training. But for all its process, operations, and analytical capabilities, there are crucial functions it simply cannot do. Functions that require human finesse or just plain humanness. For example:
AI can’t capture and account for all the mental models of all system stakeholders, factoring them into decisions and plans. It can’t gauge the level of commitment by individuals to the PDS’s well-being. An AI entity can’t judge the exact time that stakeholders should perform certain system functions:
Recognizing an unexpected opportunity to have a retention conversation with an employee.
When and how to do opportunistic training that takes advantage of a teaching moment.
It can schedule performance management activities, but it can’t sense the effectiveness through behavioral observations.
It can help design a robust onboarding process. In the onboarding experience, it can’t communicate the level of excitement, pride, and commitment to quality that’s part of the organization’s DNA.
It can certainly improve recruiting and screening. It can’t sell the company or evaluate the insights gained from person-to-person interactions that come into these initial conversations.
Can AI see the potential in someone as they go about their work? Can it observe the pep in their step, the tone in their voice, or their whistling while they work? Can it sense their attention to detail or the care they express for their team members in a shared moment at lunch? Can AI detect the level of influence of a person with a servant’s heart as they interact with the team? Can AI “read the room”- see the expressions on the faces of people in the moment and discern a next step? That is intuitive. That is still a human quality.
In real time.
The PDS is dynamic and influenced by perceptions, being both pro-active and reactive to different signals and situations. Many of its behaviors require in-the-moment recognition and decision making for the system to perform optimally. This means the humans involved with the system must learn to recognize these nuances by relying on their own humanness. In some cases, maybe many cases, this could require some retraining.
They must learn to think about how the PDS is behaving alongside how individuals are behaving. Systems thinking leaders will be able to connect the dots between these two and use those connections to serve both. Being able to identify intangible forces like mood, tensions, and influential energies can help in managing these varying behaviors.
The humans in the system will need to understand context. What is happening in the moment and why? What might be influencing how people are reacting? What is coming that will change things? What are the best decisions based on these contextual factors?
Optimize for people!
Will AI create more engagement? Maybe. Will it strengthen relationships? Perhaps. Will it recognize subtle changes in the system or among the people, or connect two seemingly disparate situations that are not so disparate? Probably not. However, as AI continues to advance, there is a need to look at how it will impact key systems within the organization beyond the obvious.
Whether you love it or you loath it, artificial intelligence is here to stay. In the case of this people-centered system, within each of the five areas that comprise the PDS, AI can help. But it shouldn’t fundamentally change the focus of the system – it is for and about people. This presents an opportunity for stakeholders to emphasize their place as important constituents, forces for optimization, within the PDS. Those elements that understand how life works and that use this unique knowledge and skill set to make the system work better for all.
You start trying to keep them even before you get them. This idea that efforts to retain employees should start in the recruitment process often surprises some stakeholders of an organization’s people development system. Retaining good employees is a long journey and like any journey, a time of reflection can add meaning to life and cement the impactful parts. In fact, reflection might well be one of the most powerful yet often overlooked ways to inspire people to stay.
Many employee retention efforts, center on benefits and incentives for individuals and for the whole team. To keep people, we invest in their development, we provide great benefits packages, and we strive to help them see a version of their success that excites them. We give bonuses, we throw holiday parties, and company picnics. All good and all necessary. Although these can help promote engagement, their commonality limits their effectiveness.
In an insightful article for MIT Sloan, Catherine Bailey and Adrian Madden shared the findings from their study on meaningful work, where meaning comes from, and the mistakes managers make that can rob employees of meaning. Interestingly, the authors, in this study, found that the meaningfulness of work was not related to interactions with employers or managers. The factors were more intrinsic.
Based on their research and feedback from participants, they offered five qualities of meaningful work; one of which was reflection, unpacking what happened in the work, what was it about, who was it for, what was the big “why” of the work, etc. “Meaningfulness,” they write, “was rarely experienced in the moment, but rather in retrospect and on reflection when people were able to see their completed work and make connections between their achievements and a wider sense of life meaning.” Confirming a widely held notion that finding meaning in work comes from an inward place.
Knowing this, how can we optimize our people development systems (and by extension our organizational cultures) so that reflection is not only possible, but intentionally built into the system’s structure? Here are three practical ideas to start the exploration.
1 Create space and support for reflection.
The number one tool for reflective learning is time. It’s also the most elusive, so put it on the schedule. Consistency is key. One approach might be to have a 15 to 30 minute reflection time scheduled for the day. Then a one-hour reflection time at the end of the week to consolidate and review each day’s reflections, and a one-hour reflection at month’s end with someone (a coach or a leader) to dig deeper into any themes, observations, or opportunities that are discovered.
Consider providing notebooks or journals. The tactile nature of writing can sometimes help by slowing down the process and enhancing the act of remembering. Although, these could be held within a learning management system along with scheduling tools that help with reminders. Aim for a structured, but simple approach.
A place for reflection that is free from distractions and that promotes a meditative atmosphere is helpful. A quiet place to contemplate and rewind the day. Going to this place to reflect can help in the habit building stages as the learning culture takes root. Having an encouraging partner also helps. Coaches that understand how reflective learning works and how they can encourage this type of growth and development helps individuals by posing questions and guiding the thought processes so that these exercises remain focused and productive.
2 Build reflective learning into the PDS.
One of the guiding principles of the Optimized People Development System framework is becoming a learning organization. In such an organization, everyone engages in learning (including the leadership team) and each person should understand how this plays out for them. The theme of learning is supported by each of the five functional areas of the PDS.
Starting with the recruiting process, explain to potential employees how learning, reflective learning in particular, is part of the organization’s DNA. Set expectations and show them how this will happen. When onboarding, give them the tools for reflection and connect them to a coach. The training process can support how to become a reflective learner and then extends through to the performance management processes in the PDS. Retention efforts then incorporate these tools, times, and steps into conversations with leaders and coaches to ensure that the learner is tapping into those intrinsic forces that create meaning at work.
3 Learning leaders.
You’ve probably heard the well-worn research finding that 80% of the people who quit a job do so because of a boss or supervisor. Adding to this, Bailey and Madden found that the factors that contributed to feelings of meaninglessness were, in fact, driven by how people were treated by their leaders.
Robust and ongoing leadership development is vital to creating a culture of learning. There are many growth opportunities as highlighted in Bailey and Madden’s “Seven Deadly Sins” – a list of management behaviors that can drain the meaning from work. Each of these seven are behavior based and are indicative of leaders with underdeveloped emotional intelligence, who fail to understand the value of relationships, and who struggle to connect their behavior to the team’s success, among other things. Most of the root causes of these leadership behaviors can be addressed through training and coaching support.
One additional way to optimize leaders’ abilities in the context of the OPDS framework is to teach them how reflective learning can strengthen them and their teams. Encourage them to share their own reflective learning experiences with the team and to ensure that the tools and supports put in place for them are being used. Most importantly, guard the time for reflection selfishly. For themselves, and their team members.
The OPDS framework allows teams of leaders to experience their PDS as a complete system, together. In this manner, leaders learn to help each other avoid those destructive “Seven Deadly Sins” and help each PDS stakeholder see how they influence the success of the PDS. Time for reflection as a leadership team can identify ways to continuously improve this important system.
Reflection as a retention tool.
Finding meaning in the work we do is a personal journey. Some days the meaning is hard to find. Other days it seems to overwhelm. Without the time to reflect and remember, the journey can slip by in the busyness of the workplace and meaningful connections are lost. For the employee, a lost opportunity to learn. For the employer, a lost opportunity to create stickiness and engagement.
A strong people development system within any workplace exists among other systems. Here’s an article I recently wrote as part of a University of Tennessee initiative that underscores the importance of seeing these systems within systems. The impacts are far-reaching.
Maps have long captured the imagination of countless generations. Whether in search of some fantastic treasure, some lost or forgotten land, or something more practical like finding the way home, maps have played a key role in human civilization. There are many types of maps helping to answer questions like, where are we now, and where are we going? What type of journey will this be, and how should we prepare?
These useful charts are for more than just simply changing physical locations though. Some maps can provide perspective and illuminate potential. Business leaders often use maps to identify improvement opportunities for their systems and processes. There are a few tried and true mapping tools that leaders have relied on for years in these efforts. Choosing the right tool is an important first step.
Lean manufacturing aficionados understand that details are important in pursuit of continuous improvement. The Value Stream Map has been used for years to visually represent all the steps involved in a process. The beauty of the VSM is its ability to show clear connections between process steps, information flows, and material flows.
However, there is a system where the traditional VSM is not the best map to allow a team to see the inner workings of a particularly important system. A system that could certainly benefit from continuous improvement efforts.
Introducing the Talent Stream Map
An organization’s internal workforce development efforts form a system, known by my team as their People Development System. It is comprised by five functional areas – recruiting, onboarding, retention, performance management, and the heart of the system, the training process.
The PDS is a complex, non-linear system. Its functions and activities occur at various times, with multiple stakeholders, in many places across the organization. For example, retention efforts on second shift, multiple training activities on all shifts, and a conversation over lunch regarding performance improvement opportunities. And, of course, the PDS does not produce a “finished” product. People should always be receiving training and getting performance management support. Retention efforts are also never ending.
Recognizing the need to help provide visibility to the structure and functions of the PDS and inspired by the Value Stream Map, my team developed the Talent Stream Map, a visual guide of all the components necessary to find, train, and retain people to help an organization meet its strategic goals.
The structure of the TSM
Four drivers
The PDS is empowered and energized by the tools used, data collected, methods of delivery, and the people involved in the processes it houses. Once identified, these components are seen side by side and gaps and opportunities can be explored.
Mapping the tools used in all the processes of the PDS allows the exploration of several helpful questions that can guide the discovery of improvement ideas. For example,
Do we have all the tools needed?
When was the last time tools were updated?
Are we using tools like development pathways effectively across the PDS?
Are we leveraging the tools from one area to another across the whole PDS?
Data is generally collected to help manage the PDS, if only at the basic level, which is fairly easy to track down. Comparing data across the whole of the PDS isn’t as simple. Gathering better data can inform better decisions. When mapped, gaps and opportunities for data collection become more obvious.
What data are we getting and are we actually using it?
What data is missing?
What correlations can be made from data across the five functional areas?
Are we asking the right questions of the data?
Exploring the delivery of the process steps and services helps stakeholders to evaluate the effectiveness of the delivery and to identify potential improvements.
Are the methods of delivery up to date? (this relates to things like technology and to people’s expectations, etc.)
Is the timing of delivery right?
Where are we delivering these steps and services?
How can we improve the delivery?
The people component of the PDS is one of the most important, and one of the most challenging to see. Leaders at all levels contribute to the PDS’s success or failure. Undoubtedly, frontline managers & supervisors impact the process of finding, training, and retaining employees. They are the main avenue of communication within the PDS – their influence even reaches the community. These important stakeholders impact culture, either positively or negatively.
Are the people involved in the PDS aware of their roles?
Are they trained to do their part (in each of the five areas)?
Are they held accountable for the success of the PDS?
How can we help people improve in their PDS related roles?
Once the mapping effort has revealed who is involved with each area and how they are involved, those leaders and stakeholders can visually see how they fit into the system and understand how and why their contributions matter.
The purpose of the TSM
To begin to improve a system, you must first establish its condition. The TSM is intended to make a complex, people-centric system more visible to identify gaps and opportunities that might go unseen otherwise.
After the current state is established and understood, the next logical step is to begin to construct a future state map. This is where the strategy development starts. Stakeholders can make observations, express ideas and concerns, and begin the process of envisioning what the system could potentially look like.
The value of the TSM
Ideally, the TSM is built by all the stakeholders of the PDS. Those being all the individuals who supervise or manage others. As the process unfolds, stakeholders will see parts of the PDS that they may not have seen or fully understood before. There will be conversations that could reveal a misunderstanding of how certain functions are supposed to work versus how they actually work. Ideas, assumptions, and concerns can be voiced. Most importantly, mental models can be aligned, or the recognition of the various mental models can be dealt with.
Waste reduction is the defining hallmark of lean thinking. The TSM helps teams isolate and reduce waste in the people development system. Waste in this system differs from waste in the traditional lean definition. Time, effort, and money are the main types of waste in the PDS, but there are also intangible wastes such as wasted opportunities and wasted potential.
Using the TSM
Making the complexities of the internal workforce development efforts visible can help teams in a number of ways.
Awareness. All stakeholders get a wholistic view of the system and their role within it.
Discovery. Identify gaps and opportunities across one of the most important organizational systems.
Dialog. One of the most valuable aspects of using the TSM is the conversations that occur during the map’s construction.
Business leaders are weary of trying to solve the labor issues we are facing in our state and across the country. The Optimized People Development System and the Talent Stream Map were developed to help these leaders identify often unseen levers that they might manipulate to improve their methods to find, train, and retain the people they desperately need. They help leaders focus more on the things they can control and less on the things they cannot.
The right map can make a journey more successful. The Talent Stream Map helps identify the “You are here” point in a journey toward improving your people development system. It serves as a great guide along the way, and it engages all the system stakeholders as they can make this improvement journey together.
If you would like more information about either of these tools let us know. You can reach me through the comments here or at tim.waldo@tennessee.edu.
Do us a favor please. If you construct a Talent Stream Map with your fellow stakeholders, please send us pictures and share your story. We love to learn how teams use these tools to improve their people development efforts.
The heavy cloud of concern over the American labor force continues to weigh down employers. Frustrated and exasperated leaders at all levels are struggling daily with the difficulty of finding and keeping people. My team at the Tennessee Manufacturing Extension Partnership certainly hears the frustration from those we serve.
Driven by tenacity and a pressing sense of urgency, more business leaders are looking outwardly and investing in long-term solutions with multiple partners while ramping up efforts to attract people to work now. Investing some of that valuable time and effort inwardly could also help address the challenges of finding and keeping a stable workforce.
Look again.
Many manufacturers in Tennessee have already taken a close look at their people development efforts. Some have revisited their policies, some have expanded their benefits, and others have bolstered training and development. Still, there are probably other improvements to be made. In the spirit of continuous improvement, there’s always a chance to dig deeper and uncover new efficiencies and opportunities.
The Optimized People Development System suggests that a good starting place is to create a Talent Stream Map. Based on the value stream map used in lean thinking, the Talent Stream map makes the PDS visible with all its beauty and wonder right alongside all its warts and freckles. Once all the stakeholders have their say and the TS map is complete, it becomes easier to explore possibilities for improvement.
Look deeper.
Asking more questions at more levels of the PDS can reveal overlooked opportunities. How can we improve recruiting is a good question. Can we expand where we recruit is also a good question. How are we attracting potential team members and when does attracting turn into recruiting? Can we do that part better? Digging into why we are recruiting will almost certainly stimulate some interesting discussions that cause other parts of the PDS to be reexamined.
Another good question is, how are our retention efforts? What if we explore how we are personalizing retention? When do we begin our retention efforts in earnest? How can we do that part better? There are many questions that will come from looking more intently at all five areas of the PDS. Challenge the system stakeholders to stretch their question asking skills.
Applying continuous improvement means to constantly ask more questions and explore more possibilities to make things better. If the organization has a good or even a very good people development system, there are surely other improvements that can still be made. Better questions help us to find those hidden opportunities.
Hidden in plain sight.
As the team explores the PDS, they often find things that were obvious, but unnoticed. In one instance, as a group of stakeholders stood in front of their TS map and discussed the flow of communication, they discovered that one tool they were using was not working as designed. They saw this after several questions about how the tool was supposed to be used and when. It was being used, but not consistently and not in the same way by all departments. They suddenly had a meaningful way to improve one of their processes.
Stakeholders of another system unearthed persistent inconsistencies across departments regarding how training was being delivered and even what training was available. Eight supervisors described how they individually understood the company’s training approach, and ultimately discovered that they all had a different understanding of that extremely important aspect of people development.
It has never been tougher to find people to help an organization fulfill its goals and purposes. Looking at and engaging with outward workforce development efforts to ease the struggle is important. However, overlooked improvements in the organization’s internal processes could also help fill positions and keep them filled.
Discovery of these opportunities comes from thoughtful, purposeful exploration at all levels of the PDS and a willingness to dig deeper. Even though you’ve looked already, look again. Go another layer or two in. There just might be overlooked opportunities that could help reduce the amount of frustration and helplessness that your team is dealing with.
The optimization process for the people development system is no different than any other system improvement journey. Start by thoroughly understanding the current system. Mapping the current state of the PDS with all the stakeholders can help uncover the “why” and “how” parts and allow for more precise improvement efforts.
Here’s an article that I wrote about one company’s mapping efforts.
They are usually abandoned gradually, though unintentionally. They live on determination, but when discipline fades, these are among the first attributes to disappear. Ironically, growth and success often cause them to be compromised and quietly forgotten. They are the fundamentals, the essential, bedrock practices so vital for success.
It’s been said that fundamentals win championships. Look up almost any famous athlete and they often point to their mastery of the fundamentals as the main driver of their success. The concept applies to organizational habits as well; especially when it comes to developing and keeping a strong workforce.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is a human being.”
Football is a complex game. When coach Vince Lombardi embarked on a journey to build a championship team, he went all the way back to the most basic concept. He reintroduced his 1961 team to the football, not to a strategy, to some new rules, or to new ways to play the game, but to the ball itself. He refocused their attention on the most basic of the basics. A detail easily taken for granted. This article from James Clear discusses the impact of Lombardi’s simple idea.
At its most basic level, an optimized people development system is about people. Its role is to serve people well, treat them well, and keep them well. To do this, the system must value relationships and foster effective communication. Appreciating the whole person and committing to their development and growth are basic principles for an effective PDS. But it’s easy to lose sight of the basics.
Fast-paced workplaces busy trying to remain competitive and satisfy customers, can let important practices drift, and begin to assume that the basics are somehow happening. Surely everyone knows that the organization values people, right? A detail easily obscured by daily pressures.
If your PDS seems to have lost something, has grown weak, or worse, has never been strong, perhaps there’s a need to revisit the fundamentals. Was there a time when the PDS was more focused on people? When the basics of valuing every individual were much more prevalent? Has the system crept away from this basic tenant?
Of Great Consequence.
Merriam Webster.com offers another nuanced meaning of fundamental, “It applies to something that is a foundation without which an entire system or complex whole would collapse.” The role of the PDS is fundamentally important.
This system supports all other organizational systems. Practically every organizational system requires people (sounds basic, doesn’t it?). If those people who operate all the organization’s systems are unhappy, underdeveloped, or undervalued, there can be serious consequences. However, when systems are difficult to see (as the PDS is), it is easy to forget how important they really are.
In practice, this means that leaders and stakeholders of the PDS must constantly assign high levels of importance to the PDS and be disciplined about maintaining this focus. Previous posts on this blog explore this idea in more detail.
Avoid a Slow Surrender.
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “All compromise is based on give and take, but there can be no give and take on fundamentals. Any compromise on mere fundamentals is a surrender. For it is all give and no take.”
Abandoning the fundamentals that empower an organization’s people development system is a slow surrender. It starts when the stakeholders fail to value relationships. When they forget that treating people with dignity and respect is non-negotiable, when they fail to encourage their people to learn and grow, they give up future potential and miss the opportunity to deepen engagement. Communication weakens and powerful components of success slowly disappear.
When the perceived importance of the PDS diminishes, training gets pushed off and staff development sees little or no investment. When leaders take the PDS for granted, they can inadvertently compromise the organization’s vision.
Modern methods for finding, training, and retaining people are very complex. In the spirit of Vince Lombardi, leaders should ensure that the basic practices that support their people development system are not lost in the melee. In addition, they should strive to constantly highlight the importance of the system to the organization’s goals.
To keep the fundamentals at the forefront of the organization’s collective mindset takes discipline and determination. Champions pay attention to the fundamentals. They commit themselves to them and practice them consistently. Building a championship-caliber people development system requires the same level of commitment.
There’s fierce competition in all industries to find, train, and retain the talented people that thriving businesses need. In recent posts, we’ve been looking at four tips to help organizations win or improve their performance in this competition. The fourth tip is about staying power.
Becoming an employer of choice is about more than simply having people choose your organization over others from a list of prospects. A strategy for moving up the list of preferred employers should include a commitment to continuously improve your internal people development system.
Embarking on an effort to improve your ranking as EoC would be an exercise in futility if the system you use to find, train, and retain people is not functioning effectively. Some companies striving to become EoCs often take time-worn steps such as training leaders, working on retention plans, or maybe offering training to high-potential team members. These are all good steps, but many times they have less-than-desirable outcomes.
If you expose your leadership team to quality training then send them back into a PDS that is inefficient, disconnected, and practically invisible, how effective can they be with this new training?
If you add new benefits and retention bonuses and then subject the people for whom they are intended to a PDS that does not facilitate strong communication and provide opportunities for relationship building, what are the odds that your investment in retention will pay off? You get the picture.
The PDS must be strong enough to improve your position in the EoC race then help you hold that position and possibly climb higher. Here are some ways to strengthen this important system. To start, use systems thinking to help your team see the whole PDS – its connections and interactions and the opportunities for improvement; this is where lean concepts can be applied to make the system more efficient and effective. Then, strive to become a learning organization to drive engagement and create the stickiness that keeps people coming back.
See The System
The PDS is a non-linear system. It is complex and involves many people acting at various times and at various levels. Making it visible starts with a current state map. Get all the stakeholders to help build the map and identify gaps and opportunities. What data is being collected? What tools are being used? Who is involved at various places across the system? How is each area influencing what is happening in the other four areas?
Once the map is completed, a strategy can begin to take shape to improve the PDS and its effectiveness.
Lean The System
Like most other systems, there can be waste in the PDS. Some of that waste is tangible, like money and lost opportunities. Some are intangible, such as time, effort, and potential relationships. Once the system is more visible, efforts can be made to reduce or eliminate waste.
Waste can occur when a trainer is investing time training someone using poorly designed training programs. In the recruiting process, waste can come from job postings that are ineffective. If a company cannot launch new products or expand operations due to workforce issues, perhaps the fault lies with a weak PDS.
When a good recruit is mismatched in a job, the opportunity to maximize that person’s potential can be lost; often leading to their departure from the team. If the PDS does not support great retention and performance management activities, powerful, potential relationships might not develop. This is a type of waste with long-term ramifications. Lean thinking is about continuously improving a system. This particular people-centric system should not be overlooked when it comes to pursuing perfection.
Make the System Sticky
A learning organization attracts people and holds their attention. In such an environment, everyone understands the importance of learning, and everyone participates in learning. Development pathways and training matrices are prominent, learning is celebrated and rewarded, and engagement deepens.
Team learning, personal mastery, and knowledge sharing are just some of the key elements engrained in a learning organization. The best employers understand this and constantly work on creating a culture of learning. The journey to become a learning organization requires a shared mindset whereby a team works individually and collectively to increase knowledge, skills, and abilities. The PDS is the mechanism that allows this mindset to take root and thrive.
You’re Already in the Race
So, how do you position your firm in the minds of your employees and potential employees as a great place to work? It takes a well thought out strategy that includes:
Building a strong, continuously improving system to develop people.
Understanding the nature of the competition.
Helping stakeholders grasp the importance of their role in the organization’s success; and
Recognizing that there are important choices to be made, and not just by the talented people the PDS will bring in.
Decent wages and benefits that attract people are the table stakes in today’s labor market. However, in this instance, winning such a ubiquitous competition involves the idea that people will not only choose your company but will enthusiastically choose to stay and make meaningful contributions. And, leaning on a time-honored axiom, remember; that becoming an employer of choice is a marathon, not a sprint.
The Optimized People Development System 