The Optimized People Development System

Tag: people development system

  • Will Last Year’s People Development System do the Job in 2023?

    Will Last Year’s People Development System do the Job in 2023?

    It can mean transformation, modification, or alteration. It can also indicate an exchange, a swap, or an effort to trade out one thing for another. Change is a noun and a verb that usually means we have to do things differently. We most certainly have learned that we must do things differently when it comes to developing people.

    Organizations continue to wrestle with the unyielding changes in workforce development and workforce training, changes that come from so many directions. Whole economies are changing, global trade is changing, and even the idea of work itself is changing.

    Multiple systems, internal and external, are all in flux. And, as always, people are changing. Only now, it seems that these particular, people-related changes have more direct influences on all businesses.

    Improving the organization’s people development system requires that leaders and stakeholders look beyond the typical HR-centric goals set for the new year and look for leverage in other areas of the PDS.

    Some of the usual goals typically championed by or given to the HR team might include things like better recruiting efforts and the expansion of benefits to try and gain a competitive edge. There might also be some ill-defined declarations to increase training and maybe some focus on retention (which often means more team celebrations or events).

    All of these options offer some potential for improvement. However, with some determined curiosity, new and powerful modifications might be identified.   

    Ask: Where are other opportunities for improvement?

    Five functional areas make up the PDS. Can we:

    • Improve efforts to ensure data quality and accuracy?
    • More effectively leverage the connections between the five areas of the system?
    • Upgrade the design and/or delivery of Development Pathways (do we have these for every team member)?

    Think: Continuous Improvement.

    Optimization is an ongoing process.

    • Identify waste in the PDS and set about reducing or eliminating that waste.
    • Help all stakeholders become better at their role in the PDS. Does everyone know and understand the importance of the part they play in finding, training, and retaining people?
    • Improve communication (share goals and successes, celebrate progress)

    Look: Below the Surface

    Sometimes, the most impactful changes happen in the least visible parts of the system.

    • Engaged stakeholders bring energy to the system. Involve everyone.
    • 2023 promises to have a host of challenges. Is the PDS adaptable to shifting market conditions?
    • Ensure that the true purpose of the PDS is defined and communicated.

    The start of a new year embodies the idea of change. To optimize is to change. Intentionality is key to driving continuous improvement in an organization’s workforce development efforts. The challenge is to dig deeper – ask probing questions, think differently, and look more closely – to identify the changes that will empower a more effective people development system in 2023.

    Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay 

  • A System That Never Quits… or, Shouldn’t Anyway  

    A System That Never Quits… or, Shouldn’t Anyway  

    In some systems, processes can be easily followed from a beginning point to completion. For example, production systems tend to have a start-to-finish flow. Raw materials come in, modifications occur, and finished goods exit the process. Service delivery processes can often be easily traced within systems designed for that purpose. In these systems, it is fairly easy to understand what is happening at any given time. It is not so easy with the people development system. If leaders do not understand the dynamic behaviors of the PDS, opportunities could be missed, system performance could be limited, and poor decisions could harm the system’s effectiveness.

    Phases of Activity

    I have made the case that the PDS is difficult to see in operation. This is due to non-linearity and to multiple variables that come into play sight unseen. An important implication of this is the need to recognize what parts of the system are active and when those activities are taking place.

    As an open system, the PDS operates in and is influenced by its environment, taking feedback from other organizational systems and adjusting. The system is always active at some level. When headcount is unstable, recruiting and onboarding efforts are more active. Think of this as phase one system activity.

    When headcount is stable, the emphasis shifts to retention and performance management – phase two. Training processes support both phases of the PDS, with these activities fluctuating based on several system variables.

    Something is Always Happening

    No matter which phase is dominant, activity in the less dominant phase should still be present. Does the act of recruiting ever really come to a complete stop? In an optimized PDS, there is always some effort made to improve and refine sources, improve materials, and identify potential audiences, even if there are no current job openings to fill.

    Is the training program constantly evaluated for efficacy and efficiency? No matter where the greatest workforce development activity is focused, continuously improving training should be of paramount importance. Good training has far-reaching impacts on the organization.   

    Development pathways are a tool that should be used in all phases of the PDS and are especially important in bolstering retention and performance management. Are these pathways being actively managed? It doesn’t matter where the overall system emphasis is; this training map is most effective when used at the opportune time along the individual’s journey.

    Before or After

    Typically, when there is a contraction or spike in some system performance, stakeholders respond after the fact. For example, if attrition numbers change, attendance issues suddenly develop, or some quality issue points to the need to revisit the training processes.

    The optimized PDS proactively monitors data and interacts with stakeholders and the individuals served by the system to get out in front of any potentially harmful issues.

    Why it matters

    At any given time and at various levels, the PDS is active, or should be. These activities might involve both the initial phases of adding people or the secondary phases of training and retaining them. Or, it could include robust efforts in both. An awareness of the fluctuating dynamics of the system is vital to managing it well and improving overall system performance.

    Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay 

  • Identifying Waste in the People Development System

    Identifying Waste in the People Development System

    Some types of waste are easier to spot than others. In many industries, lean concepts aim to identify, from the customer’s point of view, what adds value and what does not. Whether in a product or service, those non-value-adding wastes are to be ruthlessly hunted down and banished. The wastes in an organization’s internal workforce development processes can be tangible and intangible.

    Tangible Losses

    Most organizations invest money, time, and effort in their people development system. Naturally, waste can cause losses to all three resources. The negative costs of a poorly managed PDS can occur at multiple levels over both the short term and the long term.

    Within the PDS examples of tangible wastes can include:

    • Paying people to attend ineffective training; this wastes the wages, time, and effort of participants and trainers. 
    • Wasted personnel hours in unproductive recruiting.
    • Onboarding that does not effectively engage new hires, resulting in their premature departure.  
    • If the new hire leaves before an ROI can be realized, other cost of a hire factors (pre-employment testing, advertising, placement agencies, etc.) are wasted. 
    • Mismatching people and jobs. Instead of optimizing the talent, all the effort to train them, manage their performance, and retain them in jobs that are below their potential results in a lower ROI than might have been realized if they were properly matched and thriving.
    • And, of course, there are the quality issues caused by poor training.

    Some of these costs are often captured in a cost-of-hire calculation. It is surprising though, how many organizations do not fully understand all of the costs that go into developing people.

    To prevent the PDS wasting time, money, and effort requires stakeholders to look more deeply at the system. Is data being collected that can help evaluate the effectiveness of training and recruiting? Are development pathways in place that guide the growth of each team member? Are they actively involved in constructing and managing these development plans?

    Intangible Losses 

    Then there are the wastes that are more difficult to see. These include lost opportunities, lost potential, and missed relationships. These might look like:

    • Missed business opportunities (increased productivity, launching new products, continuous improvement efforts).
    • Opportunity for teams to get a well-trained member when they need them.
    • The potential to put the right person in the right position.  
    • For recruiters to be connecting to better sources.
    • Employees are not allowed to pursue a personalized development pathway.
    • The opportunity to gather more and better data that could help improve the PDS.
    • Not using tools that connect people (development pathways, coaching, etc.)
    • Leaders not fully utilizing coaching and training techniques.

    Understanding the intangible losses that can occur in the PDS requires some reflection by all stakeholders. Does the system reliably identify the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for each position? Do we really understand the strengths and weaknesses of our team members, and have we properly aligned their development plans for their success? Does the PDS promote and help sustain meaningful relationships for mentoring and coaching? What opportunities are being missed, and what potential is being overlooked?

    Lean thinking, rooted in manufacturing, has enshrined eight types of waste to be eliminated. Some of these traditional wastes, but not all, can be identified in the systems used to develop people. However, recognizing that waste is present in the PDS, though it might be hidden or difficult to quantify, can help leaders to focus continuous improvement efforts on this very important system.

    Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

  • Four Important Characteristics of a People Development System

    Four Important Characteristics of a People Development System

    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.

    The People Development System

    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

  • 3 Reasons to Optimize Your Internal People Development System

    3 Reasons to Optimize Your Internal People Development System

    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.

  • Optimized People Development Systems Drive Better

    Optimized People Development Systems Drive Better

    The car is sliding sideways, the engine screaming, rear tires smoking, the front tires turned into a series of long, violent skids that change quickly and often. Everything is moving fast as the driver uses a combination of the car’s controls to keep the tire smoke boiling and keep it swinging wildly into the next turn.

    This is one modern-day definition of drifting – lots of speed, lots of adrenaline. Course adjustments yield instant results. The ability to guide the speeding car effectively is a critical skill.

    Steering something that moves at a snail’s pace offers a whole new set of challenges and requires unique skills for those doing the steering.

    Workplace culture moves slowly, sometimes imperceptibly, and sometimes when we wish it wouldn’t. Gallup recently published an insightful article called How to Steer a Drifting Culture in which they highlighted some of the dynamics that cause this slow drift.

    Alongside some great advice for managing constantly-shifting cultural influences, there is also an underlying challenge for organizations to consider how well their internal workforce development system functions as a whole. In other words, is their people development system optimized to help provide the guidance required?

    The People Development System

    The article highlights three important system requirements:

    • The system must provide clear feedback.
    • The PDS should be purpose-driven.
    • Communication and relationships across the PDS are vital.

    Information Needed

    The authors suggest, “…leaders should measure the strengths and weaknesses of their one-of-a-kind culture…”

    The PDS has to provide various types of information to help determine conditions. If the recruiting is strong but training is weak, culture will be negatively impacted. If retention efforts are weak, a strong onboarding process will be less successful. A robust performance management element will help bolster retention. An optimized PDS provides this data.  

    Communication transmits culture. And that flow of communication starts at recruiting and continues all the way through to retention and performance management. Capturing strengths and weaknesses in this type of system can only happen when communication is open and flowing through an optimized PDS.

    A poorly connected siloed PDS will be unable to read the culture properly. Continuously improving the PDS ensures that leaders are getting useful and timely feedback. 

    Purpose Drives Culture

    “…the best leaders consider their purpose and brand when designing their culture…”

    In a recent post, I suggested that a workforce optimization system that understands its reason for being will behave differently than a system that simply aims at obviously significant goals. Taking this idea further, the Gallup article highlights the connection between purpose and brand and how employees can be motivated if they understand both.

    Optimizing the PDS helps to refine the system operation so that these two important drivers are clearly embedded as team members encounter the system from beginning to end.

    Clear, Continuous Communication

    The authors suggest four questions helpful in determining where and how culture drift has occurred. These questions relate to:

    • Subtle unseen changes that occur within the system.
    • Affected perceptions of employees (and other stakeholders).
    • What the PDS is promoting about the culture.
    • The employee value proposition (telling the organization’s story to existing and potential team members – from the start of the conversation (recruiting) all the way through to retention).  

    All of these dynamics can be difficult to ascertain. The system has to be able to understand subtle shifts and monitor things like mood and attitude. As I see it, the only way to effectively answer these questions is by having an optimized people development system operating as a system, not as five siloed areas. A system that is sharing data and having connected conversations.

    Drifting cars require several system elements for control – brakes, throttle, transmission, steering – all working in concert. Steering a slowly evolving culture also requires a system that works together.

    In short, if the system that organizations use to find, train, and retain people is taken for granted; if it is not subjected to continuous improvement and optimization; if its complexity is unappreciated and unaccounted for, it will struggle to guide critical adjustments over the very slow drifting cultural journey.

  • After A Great Start

    After A Great Start

    Growth requires the ability to maintain a type of momentum. The Aspin Institute hosted a webinar today, one of the best I’ve seen in a while, titled Opportunity by Design: A Discussion on Growing Worker Skills and Talent in the Workplace.

    The panel included representatives from two large employers, a national labor/management organization, and a researcher from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

    The discussion was very insightful, with the panelists sharing best practices and describing innovative programs they had launched. The research findings described the needs, as well as some of the gaps that exist. Personal reflections and advice were offered, with a high level of passion that each felt for their work.

    Preparing for Momentum

    As I listened to the exchanges and read the comments that came across the chat window, I couldn’t stop thinking about the small to midsized employers. How would their internal workforce development efforts need to change in order to handle these new approaches to finding, training, and retaining people?

    Unless their people development system (PDS) is optimized, it is unlikely that they will be able to sustain this new direction.

    The People Development System

    Small employers typically have limited resources. It is difficult for most of them to launch new workforce initiatives, connect to external workforce development systems, or secure funding. Although, due to the volatility of the labor market, many are open to these changes. However, there is the challenge of sustaining these efforts, once they are underway.

    Managing Momentum

    The panelist talked about building career ladders and development pathways. These are extremely important and versatile tools that take time to design and implement. Using these tools effectively over time requires a strong training element within their PDS. It also requires that all the PDS stakeholders utilize these tools in a timely manner as the person climbs the ladder or travels their path.

    It is one thing to attract new talent and quite another to retain it and continue to help those folks develop as they grow into their career. Enhancing the retention and performance management elements of the PDS will also be crucial to sustaining momentum.

    Connecting to the greater workforce development system offers another sustainability challenge. The webinar participants encouraged these connections, as did many attendees via the chat box. The internal workforce development activities must align with these external systems in several important areas to take full advantage of these options and to ensure that new momentum lasts.

    Sustaining Momentum

    Most organizations have an internal system for finding, training, and retaining people. Many do not actually see it as a connected system that could benefit from continuous improvement; what I call optimization.

    Being a system, it can benefit from a systems-thinking approach and from lean thinking. Helping organizations build a culture of learning, actually seeing themselves as a learning organization, can also aid in building the type of PDS that can make a lasting impact with these new approaches to job designs and learning opportunities.  

    Done well, designing jobs with advancement in mind and expanding learning opportunities for workers would definitely produce growth for small to midsized employers. Though, it seems that most of the discussions around these opportunities center on the need for change and the importance of implementation.

    If these initiatives are to have staying power, the company’s internal workforce development system has to be ready to take the momentum from these opportunities and translate it into sustainable practices. Helping them optimize this system can ensure successful implementation and translate into long-term success.

  • What is the Purpose of Your People Development System?

    What is the Purpose of Your People Development System?

    Behavior is a great indicator of motivation and that dependable old adage, actions speak louder than words, stands true for systems as well. An optimized workforce development 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 

  • Optimized PDS Drivers

    Optimized PDS Drivers

    This is the system that gets things done. It is arguably the most important system within an organization; literally empowering all other organizational systems – production, procurement, quality, and business operations. It is the system that cultivates talent and creativity, supplies ideas and powers implementation. It puts faces and names to the organization’s culture by attracting, training, and retaining people. Practically every organization has this workforce development system in some form, operating at some level of performance, although, it is a very difficult system to see. Its elements function at multiple levels, with many different stakeholders, and at various times as the organization marches toward its vision. Because this system is so vital to the overall organization, it makes sense to continuously improve its capabilities. It makes sense for all stakeholders to optimize their people development system (PDS).

    Four Key Drivers

    An act, process, or methodology of making something (such as a design, system, or decision) as fully perfect, functional, or effective as possible – this is, according to Merriam-Webster.com, the definition of optimization. Continuous improvement is to pursue optimization relentlessly. For the PDS it means an intense, long-term effort to:

    • Optimize the purpose
      • Know the why behind the objectives that drive the PDS.
      • Establish higher standards and expectations.
    • Optimize processes
      • Make the complete system visible.
      • Understand and improve the connections between system elements.
      • Remove waste and inefficiency.
    • Optimize performance
      • Utilize system elements more effectively.
      • Use more and better data to make decisions.
      • Sustain the system.
    • Optimize people
      • Expanding the idea and concept of development across the system to include:
        • Professional growth
        • Personal progress
        • Facilitating relationships
        • Enhancing culture

    Three Key Tools

    Optimizing the PDS is the ongoing process of improving and aligning these key drivers so that all other organizational systems have the support needed to achieve business goals and objectives. There are three key tools that support this journey toward a more powerful and effective people development system. Systems thinking brings connections to light, illuminating system behaviors. Lean thinking helps to identify waste and keep the team focused on continuously pursuing perfection. And foundationally, the concepts supporting a learning organization help to sustain a more robust PDS and enhance employee engagement.  

    I look forward to exploring the different facets of optimization for the PDS in future posts. I would love to learn from your experiences too. How have you seen this optimization play out within your organization?

  • Employers: Fight Inflation by Improving Your Workforce Development System

    Employers: Fight Inflation by Improving Your Workforce Development System

    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.