Welcome
Welcome to the latest issue of
Bringing Work to Life.
We explored the following topics
in the past twelve issues (all newsletters are available at
www.elsdon.com/newsletters.htm):
o
Progressing in your organization (January/February 2006)
o
Bringing our best to work (December 2005)
o
The promise of affiliation (November 2005)
o
Nothing business, it’s just personal (October 2005)
o
Who are you? (September 2005)
o
Leadership roles (August 2005)
o
Leadership courage (July 2005)
o
The real scoop (June 2005)
o
Listening to the organization (May 2005)
o
A kinder, gentler place (April 2005)
o
Accelerating into your new position (March 2005)
o
Workforce leadership (February 2005)
In this issue we continue our
exploration of individual development. In last issue’s “Progressing in
Your Organization” we looked at development within an organization, from
the perspective of each of us as individuals. In this issue we examine
the organizational perspective in “Bringing Development and Performance
Home.”
Bringing Development and Performance Home
“After about five years with an organization, I am usually ready to move
on, I need the challenge. I don’t want to get stuck, to lose control of
my direction and become vulnerable.” These words combine reactions from
two clients recently in different situations and geographies. They are
a rational response to an organizational world that often views
employees as a cost to be minimized rather than a resource to be
developed. The clients are responding, in economist’s terms, to the
opportunity cost of remaining with an organization. The opportunity
cost in this case is what you give up to stay with the organization, for
example a more desirable position elsewhere. This cost can be tangible
(lost compensation from a higher paying position elsewhere) or
intangible (a more desirable working environment elsewhere). In a world
where organizations retract commitments to pension plans or scale back
healthcare benefits it is not surprising that people react as these
clients did.
From an organizational viewpoint why should we care? Why not just let
people leave and get on with our business? There are two fundamental
drivers that speak to why we should care, one is internal to the
organization, the other external. The internal aspect is the
observation (Reichheld, The Loyalty Effect) from many studies that
productivity increases with tenure in an organization regardless of the
nature of the work. This is not surprising given the growing complexity
of our work. The second, external aspect, is that of changing
demographics that speak to a significantly declining population growth
rate in the U.S. over the coming years (April 2005 issue of Bringing
Work to Life). We see this also in other developed countries, for
example Japan, which, for the first time since records were kept in the
late 1800s, has just experienced a drop in the absolute size of its
population not simply a decline in population growth rate. It will be
increasingly difficult in the future to find people with the skills
needed. Securing strong affiliation with those in the organization will
be a key source of competitive strength and, in many cases, fundamental
to survival.
This brings us to an organizational question, how do we secure such
affiliation and redress the earlier balance so the opportunity cost of
staying is less than the opportunity cost of leaving? What will
motivate people to stay with an organization? One clue comes from our
latest benchmark results based on many exit interview studies. They
show the number one reason that people leave organizations is lack of
development opportunities in their existing role. Again a rational
response as people recognize that survival in today’s workplace means
keeping skills current and staying marketable. This points to an
ethical responsibility for those in organizations namely the need to
support individual development, placing it on at least an equal footing
with short-term performance. Here, particularly, HR can become a
strategic leader and partner by being an effective advocate of workforce
development.
Let’s look at how HR, and all in organizations charged with leadership
responsibility, can re-balance opportunity costs so people choose to
stay connected. A key first step is establishing policies that balance
both equitably giving and getting with employees, and the distribution
of the organization’s resources at all levels. Such policies enable
people to align with the purpose of the organization, a critical step in
building affiliation (Affiliation in the Workplace, Praeger, 2003).
There are examples of organizations taking such approaches. Starbucks,
whose stock performance has far exceeded the major stock indices, makes
this public statement: “We had always hoped that making values-based
decisions could still be economically feasible. Turns out, taking care
of people is the best business decision we ever made.” Starbucks
offers health insurance even to part-time employees. Similarly Costco,
far outperforms its rival Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club by providing vastly
better compensation and benefits for its employees (May 2005 issue of
Bringing Work to Life). Whole Foods limits compensation of top officers
to a multiple of no more than fourteen times the average of all full
time employees, quite different from the average multiple of over 400 in
the U.S. today (November 2005 issue of Bringing Work to Life).
Once we have addressed the ethical questions of corporate governance
with respect to employees, we can focus on how to create a strong
relationship of affiliation, a two-way partnership. Let’s focus on a
central aspect of this partnership, namely that of supporting individual
development. Traditionally the emphasis in organizations has been on
short term performance, setting and monitoring progress against
objectives. Examples include “Management by objectives”, “Results
management”, “Balanced scorecard.” Such approaches have merit in
helping align efforts throughout an organization. They are, however,
based on an assumption that productivity grows by monitoring and
controlling behavior. In a past-era work world, centered on efficiency
of manufacturing and use of fixed assets such systems may have been
sufficient, although skepticism abounds about their effectiveness. As
our work world shifts to value creation being driven by human ingenuity
and capability, such systems are incomplete. In this emerging work
world, support for individual development becomes critical,
complementing and greatly extending the focus beyond short term
organizational performance. It is this investment in individual
development that secures long term survival and prosperity.
What are some steps needed for this, at an organizational systems level,
and an individual manager level? First let’s recognize that these steps
take place in the context of the following principles:
In fostering such an environment we create fulfilling work experiences
for individuals; and we create organizations with flexible, energized
and productive workforces, having the deep resources needed to weather
future storms and seize future opportunities.
Workforce Trends
The employment situation continues to strengthen as we move closer to
that perfect storm in the U.S. when short term tightening of the labor
market converges with the long term slowing, workforce growth rate
(Bringing Work to Life, April, 2005). Several indicators point in the
direction of a tightening labor market. While showing a slight upturn
in December 2005 and a brief increase due to the tragedy of hurricane
Katrina, mass layoffs have generally declined steadily since early
2003:
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Release January 25, 2006
Hires have exceeded separations in most months since early 2003: 
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Release February 7, 2006. (Hires
and separations rates calculated by dividing the number of hires or
separations respectively by employment, and multiplying by 100)
Resulting in a steady increase in job openings over the same time
period:
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Release February 7, 2006. (Job
openings rate calculated by dividing the number of job openings by the
sum of employment and job openings, and multiplying by 100)
Not surprisingly this translates to a steady decline in unemployment
rates, with a particularly significant drop in January 2006 as the
unemployment rate fell to 4.7% in the U.S.:
Unemployment Rate (%)
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics data
We are again approaching a situation of full employment. Those
organizations that choose to value their employees by listening to
employee issues, supporting employee development, providing employment
continuity and seeking equitable distribution of resources internally
will be the organizations that survive and prosper in this environment.
Quotes
“Myth: a story about the way things never were, but always are.”
Thomas Mann
“The Bible is true, and some of it happened.”
Catholic priest
“Now I don’t know if it happened this way or not, but I know this story
is true.” Native American storyteller
Quotes from The Heart of Christianity by Marcus J. Borg.
Upcoming Elsdon Organizational Renewal (EOR) Events and Recent
Mentions
Upcoming Events
·
Web delivered seminars for U.C.
Berkeley, Haas School of Business
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March 20, 21, 2006, “Negotiating Entry”
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April 24, 25, 2006, “Progressing in Your Organization”
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Workshop for U.C. Berkeley, Haas
School of Business Alumni, Berkeley
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March 28, 2006, “Finding Your Right Path Forward”
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Presentation for Mount Diablo
ASTD Chapter, San Ramon
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April 18, 2006, “Listening to the Organization”
Recent Mentions
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Reviews of “Affiliation in the
Workplace: Value Creation in the New Organization.” Ron Elsdon.
Praeger Publishers, Westport, CT (2003)
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Harvard
Business School
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HBS Working Knowledge: Organizations
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Global Diversity Institute
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Global Diversity Institute - The Journal of Diversity Praxis
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Journal of Asian Economics
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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.
o
Greenwood Publishing Group
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Affiliation in the Workplace — www.greenwood.com
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“Building a Strong Workforce
Through Affiliation.” Chapter 26 in “On Staffing: Advice and
Perspectives from HR Leaders.” Eds. Nicholas Burkholder et al, John
Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken NJ (2004)
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http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0471410691,descCd-tableOfContents.html
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“Reaching for Our Deep Gladness”
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Article in May, 2005 NCDA Career Convergence Magazine
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http://209.235.208.145/cgi-bin/WebSuite/tcsAssnWebSuite.pl?Action=DisplayNewsDetails&RecordID=625&Sections=6&IncludeDropped=&AssnID=NCDA&DBCode=130285
·
Review of MBTI Step II workshop
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CCDA News, April 2005
·
California Career Development Association - Articles
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Recent mention in article on
cost of turnover
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East
Bay Business Times,
April 2005
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Turnover costs exceed employers' estimates - 2005-04-25
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“Worklife Survival: Finding a
Fit”
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Article for HR West, February 2005 (Northern California Human Resource
Association)
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http://www.nchra.org/StaticContent/Download/EXT0205007.pdf
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Recent interview in the
education field “Affiliation as a Unifying Principle in Education”
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Career Pro News
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Affiliation and Education
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Review of ICDC Global Issues
Forum
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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
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Experts to gather and analyze information, moving your organization to
action
·
Individual leadership coaching
to give you world class leadership capabilities
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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
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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:
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Linking objectives throughout the organization
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Strengthening key competencies
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Making sure you have the bench strength where and when you need it
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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
