I have been unfair to the organizations I serve. As an advisor and advocate for workforce and workplace development, I have been telling employers for years that they must build great workplaces to attract and retain the talent they need. I have implored them to create people-centered workplaces. I have shown them study after study that insists that without efforts to create great cultures, to make their people feel appreciated, and to ensure that they are investing in the development of their teams, they could expect a lifetime of crippling instability in their workforce. But I failed to recognize an equally important part of the equation.
Great workplaces are crucial, and most employers understand the need for supportive working environments. But what happens if you take great pains to build a robust environment and engaging culture and then you introduce people into that system with a poor understanding of work, who do not appreciate its value, and its far reaching benefits? That culture will struggle to survive – no matter how hard you work to sustain it.
Wake-up Call
“We cannot find people who want to work!” This was my wake-up call. I have been hearing it for years now after helping manufacturers work hard to improve their workplaces. And after this work, time and time again, I hear that people are not staying around long enough for these much-improved cultures to have any impact. It seems apparent that we need to broaden our approach.
There has been a lot of emphasis on work life balance of late. This is an essential element of consideration, no doubt. However, attitudes about work are also important. Having a balanced understanding of the need for rest and rejuvenation weighed against the absolute need for impactful work, can change the dynamics of the labor market.
Not a New Debate
Work has always been a hotly debated topic. Plato thought it was beneath learned people. Martin Luther counted all work, religious and secular, as sacred. Many are fine with work as long as someone else is doing it. Current attitudes seem to lean more toward a grudging acceptance if it pays well. We’d really rather talk about retirement. Preferably before the age of forty.
We need to work. Work is impactful in so many ways. Economically, when everyone that can work is at work, everyone benefits. Socially, when people work, society works. Spiritually, we were created to work and to serve one another. Individually, work can be a form of self expression. There are health benefits that come from work. Benefits that spill over into families and communities. And the list goes on.
Balancing the Approach
It is abundantly clear that we do actually need great workplaces; people-centered workplaces. But if we are going to engage more people in the workforce, we must appeal to something more. We must help people recover a healthy attitude about doing the work. About investing their efforts and time into something that is bigger than themselves.
There are many complex challenges in our efforts to develop a stable and vibrant workforce, and they will not be solved with simple ideas and solutions. However, if we include in those solutions efforts to reenforce the value of work and begin to shift societal opinions and attitudes toward a better vision of work, we can fill those people-centered workplaces with people who appreciate them.
We ask a lot of leaders. They are guides, managers, problem solvers, and organizers. They are caretakers and decision makers. Leaders are also integral parts of several important organizational systems, and we ask them to make decisions and choices within the circumstances and contexts of those systems. Systems that are unique to each organization and behave in certain ways. Typically available, generalized leadership training may or may not add value if the systems that leaders belong to are not considered; or worse, are not fully understood.
According to Cambridge Dictionary online, a milieu encompasses the people, physical and social conditions, and events that provide the environment in which someone acts or lives. The leader’s milieu would necessarily include the way the organization recruits, trains, and seeks to retain people. This of course is what I refer to as the organization’s people development system or PDS. The leadership skills exercised in this particular system fall within these contexts – training, recruiting, onboarding, retention, performance management.
I’m most interested here in leadership at the frontline, in the trenches, and in the middle, not so much in the upper ranks. Although, they too work within a system that they should thoroughly understand. C Suite and upper management teams generally get most of the training and development though.
Obviously, a significant portion of what leaders do in front and middle operations is tied to their team’s performance. Meeting deadlines, producing results, and simply getting things done. Though much of this is managerial in nature, the way that leaders get things done requires that they use leadership skills like emotional intelligence and proper communication techniques.
There are many generic, widely taught leadership training courses available covering important subjects such as communication, emotional intelligence, delegation, etc. For these leaders-in-training an important consideration is, how are these matters generally handled in their current organizational systems?
Imagine that a newly promoted manager completes a workshop to improve their delegation skills. When, in fact, the people development system that they work within does not really focus on developing and training people. Nor does it have a well-defined and properly utilized performance management process. Delegating successfully in many regards becomes challenging in these system dynamics.
Perhaps the organization needs to expand its capabilities and wants to be more innovative. So, leaders are given some basic training and asked to lead the team in this new direction. Only, their PDS isn’t structured to promote a learning culture or foster creativity, so the training only frustrates the team.
What if the company’s leaders bring in a consultant to teach leaders how to be coaches, but the PDS doesn’t effectively facilitate relationship building? This would also be an important system consideration regarding more EQ training for leaders.
No doubt, leadership training is valuable. However, if these leaders do not understand the PDS they are a part of, or if this important system is not well run, the value that training could bring will be limited and will most likely fail to have the desired impact.
In conjunction with leadership training classes or workshops, the whole team should strive to understand how their internal workforce development efforts are designed and implemented.
What are the tools used across the PDS? What data is captured and analyzed to understand system performance? How well connected are the five functional areas of the PDS? How does communication across this system work? Among the most important considerations is how well each PDS stakeholder understands their role in the system.
The milieu of leadership is complex. And while training for leaders is important, it is also important to understand the system to which they and their team members belong. With this understanding they are more likely to be successful in all the important things that are asked of them.
Acceptance, embracing, agreement, endorsement…these are some of the synonyms of the word adoption. These words point toward a shift in thinking. However, when conversations about adopting technology happen in the manufacturing realm, the general meaning seems to always be related to application or implementation. The adoption of technology involves more than just getting a bunch of new machines though. Adopting tech has other important implications.
Manufacturing has embraced the use of technology for years. Known widely as Industry 4.0, a lot of the emphasis has been on robots, sensors, and data analytics. Though now, AI is quickly making its presence felt in this important sector too.
Typically, operations and production systems come to mind when considering how to apply technology in manufacturing. This is due in large part to the fact that engineers and tech pros tend to focus on the technology itself. The machines are cool. They do cool things.
Last year McKinsey & Co. conducted a survey around the use of AI . They found that employees are taking the initiative and learning about it and using it at an ever-increasing speed. More so than many of the organizations that employ them. Apparently much more.
This survey was aimed specifically at generative AI use across multiple industries. Obviously, in most industries, people will be impacted when technology solutions are deployed. The same is true for manufacturing. Maybe to a greater extent than in other industries.
For this reason, it is important to look past the shiny robots and the slick AI generated solutions to ask some very important questions. What about your people? How will technology change the culture of an organization? How will the organization need to change to take advantage of technology? What does becoming a tech savvy team actually look like?
McKinsey’s Relyea et al cautioned that, “Technology adoption for its own sake has never created value, which is also true with gen AI. Whether technology is itself the core strategy (for example, developing gen-AI-based products) or supports other business strategies, its deployment should link to value creation opportunities and measurable outcomes.” The people development strategy should certainly be included.
The report clearly makes the connection between deploying technology and preparing/supporting the teams that use the technology. This is where a higher level of tech savviness is needed.
In the future, being technologically savvy will mean more than just knowing how to create a prompt or program a robot. It will be more than just learning how the hardware and machinery works. It will also include thinking. How to think about technology. How to think with technology. Thinking about data and thinking about problem solving from a new angle.
It is more than just training savvy people to do certain technical things with automation. It will be about learning to imagine where technology can be placed, uncovering the data that can help determine whether the change has been successful, learning how to tap into the strengths of generative AI when it is appropriate, and learning to properly evaluate the answers and suggestions given by an AI assistant.
It will require tech savvy leaders learning how to coach their team to a higher level of tech savviness. Embracing new solutions influenced by technology as opposed to being rigidly connected to traditional ways of doing things.
The implications will stretch across the organization’s people development system as people learn to harness the full potential of technology. The culture of the organization will need to adapt to these new realities. Developing leaders will include helping to instill this new thinking paradigm. Learning organizations will thrive in this new environment.
Today employees are learning about and using AI on their own. They might be seriously trying to use it to make work easier and more efficient. Many may just be using it for entertainment. Recent studies have shown that they are also concerned about the impacts of automation, and they recognize that they must learn to work with these new tech tools. Technology has everyone’s attention.
Workplaces that help people attain a holistic understanding of technology can create and promote a culture of acceptance and endorsement of these new methods and tools. These workplaces can help people embrace technology in the workplace and perhaps understand how to use it constructively beyond their workplace. These types of workplaces can bring team members to an agreement that becoming technology savvy requires that everyone involved must learn to think and apply these concepts together.
The fifth lean principle, pursue perfection, is really that, a mindset. It is a discipline that helps teams develop habits around constantly looking for better ways to serve their customers’ needs. So, how do we apply this chasing and catching mindset to the system that organizations use to find, train, and retain people?
Define What to Chase
Applying the second lean principle helps determine the current state of the people development system. In this case via the Talent Stream Map. From this current state map, we can begin to envision and construct a future state map. If we were to actually capture perfection, what would that look like? Obviously, there’s a need for a realistic vision, but this is the chance to dream big and set stretch goals. Ultimately, what type of people development system do we want?
Once the future state is articulated, the team can rally around the vision, understand the direction, and see the challenges ahead.
The duration of the chase
My team uses the word optimization to capture the spirit of continuous improvement. Admittedly, it’s semantical, but useful and it makes a nice acronym. Apparently, we get extra points for catchy acronyms. The idea is the same, we look for ways to make the system better, more efficient, and more effective.
We see at least three levels of optimization:
System functionality. How well is the PDS working? Can we improve the connections between the five processes? Is data being collected and used effectively?
People centeredness. Is the system really focused on the people it serves? Can we expand our definition of development? Does the system help people adapt to change?
People + machines (Industry 5.0). Does the PDS help people become technology savvy (where tech might be applied, how to use data, etc.)? Does the PDS promote applied systems thinking to all stakeholders? Is the PDS capable and ready to aid in the transition into I5.0?
The important point here is that, like other systems, there are many opportunities to improve the PDS, so the journey is a long one. Done well, it can be a very fruitful one as well.
Determination in the chase
We use maps to go on journeys and journeys take time. Leaders and stakeholders of the PDS help keep the momentum of continuous improvement by constantly pointing toward the future state and reminding the team of the value of striving in that direction.
As easy, early gains give way to slower and more hard-fought progress, the determination to keep pressing forward is vital. Resolute leaders and effective communication are needed.
A chasing and catching culture
Coach Lombardi may not have been a lean guru, but he certainly understood the power of building a culture focused on constantly pushing the limits. He wanted his whole team to adopt high standards and to strive to reach a level of performance that was only possible if they reached those standards.
The fifth lean principle serves as a cultural anchor. When the whole team is fully committed to continuous improvement, the chasing of perfection becomes a way of life within the organization. Appling this type of lean thinking to the PDS can help stakeholders to catch a level of excellence that will benefit the entire organization.
Wrapping up the principles
Over these last six posts, we’ve explored how to apply lean thinking to an organization’s internal workforce development efforts.
The five principles of lean follow a logical thought process. We identify what our customers want (first principle); we know our system (second principle); we fine-tune and make our system efficient (third & fourth principles); and, from the fifth principle, we pursue the perfect system.
Although the PDS is a non-linear system that can be difficult to see in operation, these five principles are still useful when trying to find ways to reduce waste, find efficiencies, and generally make improvements. If your team hasn’t applied these guiding principles to this especially important system, try it. And then share what you learn!
In the context of the PDS the fourth lean principle can be challenging to envision, because of the element of time. Still, the concept can be useful to stakeholders.
Principle 4 – Establish pull.
Like the principle of flow, this principle is about movement through a system. If you can’t attain one piece flow in a production system, then the goal would be to establish pull, whereby the next operation gets what is needed, when it is needed so that various types of waste are minimized.
Using this lean thinking to monitor movement through the PDS helps by reminding stakeholders that progress and movement should be constant. People should be advancing. How many are moving? Which areas need more movement? If there is no movement, what actions should be taken to restart it? Having this mindset focuses attention on the near term by keeping the team engaged and growing, and on the long term by ensuring that the future talent needs of the organization can be met.
How Pull Happens in the PDS.
New opportunities create pull in this system. People are needed (pulled) into new roles when new capabilities and capacity require people to take on new challenges. The principles of flow and pull help PDS leaders identify which positions/disciplines are moving through the other organizational systems. Keeping a watchful eye on these two forces can inform stakeholders about needed adjustments to the system.
In the PDS, a type of pull is established when the organization or the organizational systems have a need for people due to three factors:
Growth – new business, new capacity, acquisitions
Expansion – addition of new technology, new capabilities, or products
Success – increase in business, new markets, or productivity
Advancing through the PDS is usually gradual and repetitive in nature. Some of the operations of the system – training, performance management, etc. – happen over and over again, making them difficult to track.
In this case, pull is accommodated not only by promotions, but also by skill level advancement and growth in leadership, cognitive training, personal goal attainment, knowledge acquisition, coaching ability, cross training in other areas, concept understanding (such as lean, kata, systems thinking, etc.), strategic thinking, etc.
Seeing the movement in the PDS.
Systems thinking really helps when applying these principles to the PDS. Is the system moving people along their development pathways? This requires the PDS to prepare people through the performance management process and through the training process using tools like the development pathways. Of course, retention must be strong as well.
The pull effect can be identified by monitoring the needs of the three internal PDS customers and ensuring that people are positioned to move at the appropriate time. Timely data and effective communication practices are necessary for this to occur.
Bottom line, using the lean principles of flow and pull to manage the PDS helps all stakeholders monitor the progress people are making as they prepare for new roles and work to gain new capabilities to help the business succeed.
Next time, the fifth lean principle – the pursuit of perfection!
Within this people-centered system, time is obviously important, as is movement. Although, the time element of flow in the people development system is different. Takt time, cycle time, and touch time don’t necessarily apply in the same ways. Those of us who have spent significant time in manufacturing might struggle with this concept because time applies constant pressure to a manufacturing process. For this system though, the work that flows through the system is the work of developing people.
Lean Principle 3 – Create flow.
The traditional definition of flow in lean means that a product moves without interruption from one production station to the next. When each production step is completed, the part can simply move on to the next station and begin being processed.
When it comes to developing people it’s not simply moving from one station to another, or one department to another, but also from one level of knowledge, capability, and competence.
The critical consideration here is that some level of advancement, flow, is being made often and with intentionality so that the people being served by the system are making continual progress on their development journey.
In production, value is added when something is done to the product as it flows through the system, which moves it closer to what the customer has asked for. In the PDS, value is added when the people served by the system grow and develop and move closer to what all of the PDS customers have asked for (the four customers described in the post on the first lean principle).
How can you tell if the PDS is creating flow?
The best way to know if people are progressing at a proper pace is to know where they are supposed to be going. Development pathways are excellent tools that track an employee’s progress along their personalized development journey. A learning management system can also help, but a pathway or individual development plan adds an element of planning that might be more visible than what is available in an LMS.
There are also key data points that help to identify flow patterns. Data that shows how many people are actively engaged in development activities; the number of people being cross-trained; how many people have been promoted through the system; new capabilities gained, and performance management successes. Just to name a few.
Tracking flow helps PDS leaders identify how people are progressing and which positions/disciplines are moving through the system by connecting key metrics from training to retention and performance management.
Where flow comes from in the PDS
Create flow in the PDS by ensuring that everyone is progressing along their development path, career ladder, etc. Flow increases when the PDS and its stakeholders are constantly looking for and developing key attributes and talent. In addition, flow is enhanced when departments and teams are growing in ability, capacity, and productivity, moving people into greater roles, more responsibilities, and increased levels of knowledge.
If you can’t create flow, establish pull, which is the lean principle we’ll look at in the next post.
The customer (in the case of the PDS, customers) will expect certain value from the system. We explored this in the previous post. The second lean principle provides critical visibility so that the stakeholders can identify gaps and opportunities for improvements. Creating a visual guide that shows how the system works helps stakeholders to address those often difficult-to-see opportunities. However, the map of the PDS is a little different.
Principle 2 – Map the Value Stream
The Talent Stream Map was inspired by the Value Stream Map used in traditional lean applications. Here’s the post describing the TSM.
The TSM provides a way to clearly understand how data (quantitative and qualitative), tools, and leadership all come together from across the system we use to find, train, and retain people. It also helps to clarify the connections between the five functional areas of the PDS.
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 take this improvement journey together.
Here’s some feedback that will help explain the impact the TSM can have:
“The Talent Stream Mapping portion of the OPDS exercise was a key part of understanding the current state of our processes and it is imperative that you know and understand this so that you can reconstruct a system that will lead to improvement. We clearly were doing things differently in our various departments and we needed to standardize our practices. The mapping made this clear and we can now move forward with improving.” David Roos, Operations Manager, Mid South Wire.
“I had seen an OPDS overview before, and it is great information. However, the deeper dive into our own people development system using the Talent Stream Map was helpful because it allowed us to see how each of us worked within our own programs and also how we worked within the larger program context. This created more of a bond with other team members.” Tennessee Workforce Development Professional.
“I would like to recognize the fantastic insights gained from recently attending The Optimized People Development System workshop facilitated by Tim Waldo with the University of TN, Center for Industrial Services. I loved the simplified steps on how to incorporate each function and stakeholder in developing strategies (Talent Stream Map) and how all are connected and impact the People Development System. These strategies will transform our business into attracting and retaining top talent, which results in a more positive culture and helps in achieving our business goals. I left this workshop eager for more, excited to bring this back to my organization and using the tools to improve our systems. This is not just for HR – this is for any stakeholder that wants to understand and ensure strategies align with the most important asset of any business– our employees.” Alisha Garrison, HR Manager. Parker Hannifin
A people development system has some unique characteristics, so applying lean, continuous improvement requires some thoughtful use of the lean principles. The first principle requires the stakeholders to think about who the system serves and what those customers would find valuable.
Lean Principle 1 – Define valuefrom the customers’ point of view.
You may have noticed the plural possessive use in the subheading. That’s because there’s more than one customer to consider. In fact, there are four distinct customers that require something from the PDS:
Team members – current and future
Organization teams – the department that the applicant will join
The organization as a whole, and
The customers who buy your products and services.
Team members
The person thinking about joining the organization needs to see clearly the value in doing so. There’s value in understanding what the company stands for, what opportunities exist, and exactly what the organization is looking for. Several functions of the PDS are instrumental in creating and sustaining these values.
If they are offered and accept the job, there is value in connecting – feeling valued, knowing where to start, having someone to help get them on the path. There is value in growth opportunities – seeing the pathway for development, having a say in how the path is laid out.
After they’ve started, there’s value in having their view heard and appreciated, having good communication, meaningful work, and the ability to contribute. These are just some of the things that would be valued by this PDS customer.
There are many benefits of ensuring that this PDS customer can see the value the organization has to offer: clarity around expectations, opportunities, and potential; consistency in communication, planning, and development; and a system that will engage with them all the way through their development process.
The teams
The person you’ve hired is going to join a team. These organizational teams are important customers of the PDS and have certain expectations.
These customers value:
Qualified candidates.
People with the right knowledge, skills, and abilities.
Getting talented people when needed.
When the team receives the new member, they want:
An onboarding experience that establishes foundational relationships with new team members.
A robust training program that matches the team’s needs and supports their mission.
Retention efforts that keep the team stable.
Performance management efforts that expand the capacity of each team member.
Reliable tools for PDS administration.
Reliable data to gage and improve the system.
Leadership development that also helps continuously improve the PDS.
The benefits of a well-run PDS for these departments and teams includes better matching of talent to their needs; broad, ongoing support as the whole team grows and becomes resilient; and leaders that can help ensure that the PDS is working for all stakeholders. Is your current PDS laser focused on this customer’s needs?
The Organization as a Whole
Defining value for this customer of the PDS requires a holistic, long-term viewpoint.
Collectively this customer values:
A stable, growing workforce that buys into the culture, vision, mission, and business objectives.
Data that informs decisions about people, in the near term and the future.
Tools across the PDS that make the process efficient, cost effective, and easy to manage.
Leadership development that continuously improves the PDS.
Help in becoming a premier employer.
An optimized PDS that offers this customer high levels of value in these areas affords the organization more precise control over this people focused system, improved ability to predict PDS performance, increased engagement, and greater capacity to make sound personnel decisions, among many other benefits. Are this customer’s value demands being met?
“The” Customer
The fourth customer of the PDS is directly impacted by all the values delivered to the first three customers. A PDS that develops and takes great care of their workers, ensures that teams are well supported, and provides the organization with better people-centered support, has greater focus and fewer distractions in pursuit of its business objectives. The external customers of the organization benefit greatly when this is the case.
Applying this first lean principle should start with all the PDS stakeholders learning more about the different customers that the PDS serves and what they value. Then closely evaluating the current system. Does our PDS provide these values to each specific customer? Are these values clearly defined and presented? Define the really important questions to consider and then find answers to them.
The second lean principle seeks to make the system visible so that gaps and opportunities are identified. That’s for next time.
Optimization is a really useful word. To optimize something is to make it the best it can be. When used in the Optimized People Development System, it is intended to convey the sense of working toward the best possible version of a system used to attract, train, and keep people. It means continuous improvement for the most important of organizational systems.
There are processes all around us that could benefit from continuous improvement and the elimination of waste. This is certainly true for an organization’s internal workforce development processes. And it’s great when you can use reliable improvement techniques on established systems.
Lean concepts emerged from manufacturing and over time have evolved into lean thinking and then further into a lean mindset with principles that can be applied to practically any process or system. Eliminate waste and make things better for people. Seems like a good idea in any industry.
However, this system, the people development system, has some unique characteristics, making the application of lean, continuous improvement a bit more challenging. Still, I believe that the principles of lean can and should be applied to the PDS.
The five principles of lean are:
Define value from the customer’s point of view
Map the value stream
Create flow
Establish pull, and
Strive for perfection.
Over the next few weeks, we will explore how each of these principles can be applied to the people developing processes outlined in previous blog posts.
Here’s a brief teaser for each. There are four customers who expect certain value from the PDS. Knowing what each one values will help stakeholders make important improvements to meet their needs.
Inspired by the Value Stream Map, the Talent Stream Map was developed to help make the PDS visible. It helps the team see gaps and opportunities as well as their individual roles within the system.
Flow in this sense is not just about people physically moving through the system, it is also about intellectual movement, emotional movement, cognitive movement. Flow implies progress and growth on several levels.
For the PDS, the pull concept is enhanced when the organization or the organizational systems within it has a need to help people advance due to three key factors – growth, expansion, and success.
Finally, pursuing perfection in the PDS is where the optimization theme comes in. Three levels of optimization can keep the emphasis on truly continuous improvement for this people centered system.
Next up, defining the customer of the people development system.
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 Optimized People Development System 