These relationships are not mutually exclusive;
indeed some such as regenerative and inclusive are natural complements
and others such as divisive and exploitive are natural consequences of
each other.
A cooperative relationship is built on the
premise that identifying and working jointly toward common interests
will provide maximum benefit to each party. It is akin to the win/win
concept of negotiating and it is based on open communication and the
expectation that parties are operating in good faith, respecting the
needs of the other. To succeed it requires that the parties listen to
each other, and that each be prepared to accommodate the needs of the
other. The cooperative relationship is successful when the sum of the
parts is greater than each individual component. Successful
organizations remain together precisely because this is true.
A competitive relationship, on the other
hand, is built on the premise that through competition individuals will
exert maximum effort and make the greatest contribution. In this case
the underlying assumption is that competition is needed to catalyze the
effort needed to achieve excellence. Organizational structure and
formation are needed only to the extent they foster an arena for
competition. This represents a Darwinian approach to organizational
development. It can be successful if only individual initiative rather
than cooperative endeavor is the primary engine driving organizational
capability. Organizations practicing this approach need to provide
regular, immediate rewards to their employees. While some measure of
competition can spur performance, a culture that over-emphasizes
competition will likely exhibit punishment for risk taking,
over-emphasis on short-term results and stifled innovation.
An exploitive relationship can occur when
the balance of power is far from equally distributed between the
individual and the organization. Such an imbalance can lead to one
party ignoring the needs of the other and exclusively pursuing its own
interests. The example at the beginning of this article is fashioned in
this mold. The exploitive form of relationship, aside from major
ethical shortcomings, is inherently unstable and will ultimately
dissolve.
A divisive relationship is rarely sought
but sometimes created, for example as a consequence of an exploitive
relationship. In highly political organizational cultures where
progress of one person comes at the direct expense of others, management
approaches that emphasize division to limit power may flourish. Such
approaches lead to information being closely held, or worse
misrepresented. In this relationship the sum of the parts is less than
the individual components. This is a recipe for long-term
organizational extinction. This approach destroys the sense of
affiliation.
The regenerative relationship is focused on
a continuing cycle of renewal. In this case both the organization and
the individual recognize the need to evolve. While the timing of the
cycles for each may differ, typically being longer for the organization,
the relationship recognizes the need for the ongoing change and
development of each party. An underlying premise of this relationship
is the knowledge that innovation and exploration are essential to
maintaining the vitality of the relationship. This form of relationship
requires deliberate, constant challenge to the current state of
equilibrium. It has the potential for great longevity, drawing as it
does on an ever-renewing cycle of re-creation.
The inclusive relationship is one that
values differences. It embraces varied perspectives, wide-ranging
viewpoints and practices. On an individual level this means openness to
new ideas, on an organization level this means openness to people with
different backgrounds and to a breadth of partnership and community
relationships. The inclusive relationship is likely to ignite the spark
of innovation, bringing, as it does, varied perspectives together. It
is inherently regenerative due to the infusion of new ideas that are
implicit in this approach. Clear purpose and vision are needed to unite
the wide-ranging viewpoints that are central to this relationship.
Leadership wisdom is needed to take the path to
the cooperative, regenerative and inclusive relationships that foster
long term prosperity for organizations and individuals. “We do not
inherit the land from our forefathers, we borrow it from our children”
are the insightful words of Antoine de Saint-Exupery (quoted by Gary
Hamel in Leading the Revolution). The same is true for our
organizations. And so in thinking about our organizational legacy we
are challenged to demonstrate leadership courage in fostering those
forms of relationship that lead to a kinder gentler workplace and, in
turn, the organization and community prosperity and individual
fulfillment that follow.
(Some elements of this article were extracted from
“Affiliation in the Workplace: Value Creation in the New Organization”
by Ron Elsdon, Praeger, 2003.)
In the Eye of the Perfect Storm?
We can recall with great sympathy those times when
warnings of a hurricane mobilized many along the U.S. coasts, on nearby
islands or in distant lands to seek refuge from an approaching storm.
Fortunately, on some occasions ferocious storms abated before landfall,
or changed course to come ashore at a place where there were few
people. Such a storm is gathering in the world of work and we are hard
pressed to know whether it will intensify or moderate before making
landfall. That storm is driven by growing demand for, and slowing
availability of, people. It is fuelled by a strong economy in the short
term and by an aging population in the longer term. These factors are
about to converge.
Let’s look at the short term factors. The
following figure shows the U.S. unemployment rate from 1990 to February
2005:
U.S. unemployment rate (%), Source: Bureau of
Labor Statistics.
The unemployment rate has declined rapidly since
its recent peak in mid-2003. The trend over the past four years, as we
have emerged from an economic slowdown, matches closely the historical
relationship between changing GDP per capita (based on the workforce)
and changing unemployment rate as shown in the following figure:
The data points in purple, identified by year, show
the recent economic recovery. It was only in 2002, in the aftermath and
economic impact of the terrible events of September 2001, that we see
significant variation from the trend line as organizations were more
reluctant to hire at that time. Since then actual behavior has closely
tracked past experience and predicted behavior.
The derivation of the trend line, based on data
from 1947 through 2000, is described in Chapter 6 of “Affiliation in the
Workplace” (Ron Elsdon, Praeger, 2003). As long as GDP per capita
(based on the workforce) grows more rapidly than about 1.7% per year
(the point where the line in the figure crosses the horizontal axis) the
unemployment rate will continue to decline. GDP per capita in the U.S.
is currently growing at a rate well above 1.7% per year so we can expect
to see further significant declines in unemployment rates. The 2004
growth rate of 3.8% in GDP per capita is higher than at any time during
the 1990s, we have to go back to 1984 for a higher growth rate than in
2004 and before that to 1966. So the pace of economic growth fuels
significant decreases in unemployment rates. We can see this in the
following figure that shows the unemployment rate in San Jose,
California, the heart of Silicon Valley, from 1990 through January 2005:
San Jose unemployment rate (%), Source: Bureau
of Labor Statistics.
The precipitous decline in unemployment rates since
2003 takes us back to the level of the mid-1990s of around 5%. We are
beginning to approach full employment again. We are also now
approaching a time when a longer term demographic trend, namely
declining growth rate of the U.S. workforce, driven by an aging
population, begins to take effect, as shown in the following figure:
This is a result largely of declining participation
rates in the workforce as people approach retirement. Declining
participation rates in the workforce are now surfacing, having dropped
to a level not seen since the late 1980s, as shown in the following
figure:
And so the perfect storm may be gathering. Those
organizations blessed with insightful leaders and concerned about their
workforce are already taking steps to secure and strengthen this
relationship. Others, during the recent slowdown, have taken advantage
of their workforce. Regardless of whether the storm clouds are
gathering or not, in our information and service based economy, value
creation is all about people. Those organizations that value people as
central to their success will be the organizations that survive, prosper
and adapt successfully in the uncharted waters ahead.
Quote
Vocation: “the place where your deep gladness
meets the world’s deep need.”
Frederick Buechner quoted in Let Your Life Speak by
Parker Palmer.
Upcoming Elsdon Organizational Renewal (EOR) Events and Recent
Mentions
Upcoming Events
·
“Careers in Turbulent Times:
Accelerating to Opportunities.” Presentation for UC Berkeley, Haas
School of Business, East Bay Alumni Association.” Berkeley
o
Haas Alumni Event
o
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
·
“Introducing the Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator Step II.” Presentation for the California Career
Development Association at Sacramento State University, Sacramento
o
Friday, April 1, 2005
·
Workshops for UC Berkeley, Haas
School of Business. Berkeley
o
“Developing Your Interviewing Techniques.”
·
Monday and Tuesday, April 11 and
12
·
“Building Employee Affiliation
in a Growing Economy.” Presentation for Foreword Financial Bank Human
Resources Conference, Memphis
o
http://www.fwfinancial.org/promotion_bankhr.html
o
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
·
“Create a Business Case for
Workforce Development.” NCHRA workshop, San Francisco
o
NCHRA Meetings & Events : Event Registration
o
Thursday, May 26, 2005
·
California Career Development
Association First Annual Author’s Showcase. Pomona College, Claremont
o
Pomona College : CCDA Author Showcase
o
Friday, June 10, 2005
·
“Becoming Career Fit in
Turbulent Times” for PMI-ISSIG PDS’05 Symposium, San Francisco
o
http://www.pmi-issig.org/pds05/agenda.asp
o
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
·
“Building the Organizational
Bridge for Career Development” Professional Development Institute for
NCDA Global Conference, Orlando
o
NCDA: National Career Development Association
o
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Recent Mentions
·
HR West, February 2005 (Northern
California Human Resource Association)
o
http://www.nchra.org/StaticContent/Download/EXT0205007.pdf
·
Reviews of “Affiliation in the
Workplace: Value Creation in the New Organization.”
o
Harvard
Business School
·
HBS Working Knowledge: Organizations
o
Global Diversity Institute
·
Global Diversity Institute - The Journal of Diversity Praxis
o
Journal of Asian Economics
·
ScienceDirect - Journal of Asian Economics : Ron Elsdon, Affiliation in
the Workplace: Value Creation in the New Organization, Praeger
Publishers, Westport, CT (2003) 280 pp. (hardcover), ISBN 1-56720-436-8,
$49.95.
·
The Alliance of Chief Executives
o
Alliance of CEOs - Ron Elsdon
·
Recent interview in the
education field “Affiliation as a Unifying Principle in Education”
o
The Bridge
§
http://community.bridges.com/content/resources/feature/aupe.html
·
Review of recent ICDC Global
Issues Forum
o
CCDA, January 2005
·
California Career Development Association - Articles
About EOR: Our Value Contribution
We enhance your workforce,
leadership and organization by:
·
Using proprietary approaches to
understand workforce and leadership challenges
·
Creating tailored action plans
and solutions to strengthen workforce and leadership practices
·
Building individual capabilities
and contributions
We enable you to focus on
external results and building value, confident that your organization
and leadership are operating at peak effectiveness.
Our Mission
To support your organization by
enhancing performance, productivity and effectiveness through
revitalized workforce relationships and leadership practices.
Our Approach and Values
We tailor our engagements
to the needs of each organization with a process designed to surface
critical issues, identify root causes, build effective solutions,
monitor progress and implement.
With a scope that ranges
from system and organizational interventions to work with individuals,
our focus is on the heart of the relationship among the individual, the
organization and the community. We believe that organizational and
community prosperity are built on enabling each person to fulfill his or
her potential.
Our Services
We work with individuals and
groups in your organization to drive performance and development for
both the short and long term. As a result people will choose to work in
your organization and will prosper there.
We bring solutions when you need
to:
·
Reverse declining revenues and
performance
·
Revitalize your workforce
·
Stem the loss of key talent
·
Redirect your organization to
new areas
·
Stop losing customers or market
share
·
Penetrate new markets
·
Combat aggressive competitors
·
Handle major change
·
Break down communication
barriers
·
Energize your leadership team
·
Successfully build on an
acquisition or merger
Our proprietary services
include:
·
State-of-the-art tools to take
the pulse of your organization and then move to action
o
Web enabled systems
o
Experts to gather and analyze information, moving your organization to
action
·
Individual leadership coaching
to give you world class leadership capabilities
o
Leaders who know themselves and their aspirations, build their
capabilities and become catalysts developing others
·
Workshops to build interpersonal
skills in your organization so that:
o
Communication is timely, concise, accurate and personal
o
People listen to each other
o
Negotiations are quick and effective
o
Differences create rather than destroy value
o
Teams move forward, get results and quickly commercialize new products
and services
o
People understand and link their motivations to your organizational
needs
o
Your teams understand what it takes to create a committed, energized
workforce
o
People use their time well
·
Systems that make it easy to
drive performance and build capabilities by:
o
Linking objectives throughout the organization
o
Strengthening key competencies
o
Making sure you have the bench strength where and when you need it
o
Giving people tools to take charge of their own careers and development
and have a major long term influence on your organization
·
Proprietary simulation and
modeling techniques that let you explore how to maximize the value of
your workforce
o
Move from guessing what might happen to looking in depth at the
financial impact of different approaches
