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
Finding the peaks (September/October 2007)
o
Career plateaus – what to do about them (July/August 2007)
o
Workforce planning (May/June 2007)
o
Assessing your organization (March/April 2007)
o
Individual change (January/February 2007)
o
Guiding organizational change (November/December 2006)
o
One to one (September/October 2006)
o
New horizons (July/August 2006)
o
Our greatest asset (May/June 2006)
o
Bringing development and performance home (March/April 2006)
o
Progressing in your organization (January/February 2006)
o
Bringing our best to work (December 2005)
In this issue
we address “Stewardship and Governance.”
Stewardship and Governance
“We do not inherit the land from our forefathers,
we borrow it from our children” are the thoughtful words of Antoine de
Saint-Exupery (quoted by Gary Hamel in Leading the Revolution). These
words are true whether we speak of a physical presence such as land, or
of something less tangible such as an organization or community, which
is our focus here. Such stewardship of an institution is supported by a
governance structure. Here we explore what this can look like, how to
gauge effectiveness and what to do about it.
What prompts this examination? When we look at
current corporate governance we are confronted with an uncomfortable
reality of many governance structures that primarily serve the interests
of a few (those at senior organizational levels) at the expense of many
(employees and shareholders). When we look at our national governance
structure the uncomfortable reality is decisions that favor military
aggression, removal of fundamental civil liberties (removal of freedom),
and lack of concern for many in our society save for a wealthy few as
evidenced by taxation and healthcare policy. So we are challenged to
ask questions about governance and how to strengthen it.
Let’s begin by clarifying what we mean by
governance. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia
and the Pacific (UNESCAP) (www.unescap.org)
defines it this way: “the process of decision-making and the process by
which decisions are implemented (or not implemented).” UNESCAP goes on
to identify the characteristics of good governance as follows:
We see a blend of characteristics that show respect
for individuals and allow the voices of the most vulnerable to be heard
in decision-making. These characteristics are equally applicable at the
organization or community level. They can become criteria for assessing
the effectiveness of a particular governance structure. We can
acknowledge the challenge of meeting these ideals. In corporate
failures such as Enron most, perhaps all, of these characteristics are
violated. Other crises of organizational confidence may stem from
violation of one or more characteristics. Indeed, on a national level
we can rightly ask how many of these characteristics are being violated
today.
Implementing effective governance structures means
being clear about the ethical framework within which they operate.
Saner in a 2004 Canadian Policy Brief provides a foundation for
considering how to approach the creation of such an ethical framework.
He identifies two primary options, one based on commonly shared values
and one based on compliance with a set of agreed-upon standards. In the
values-based approach the emphasis is on goals that are important, means
to achieve these goals and motivations driving the organization, for
example growth or maintaining service excellence. Such an approach
provides broad guidance for decision making, is flexible and can be used
in situations that were not anticipated when the foundation principles
were created. The U.S. Bill of Rights is an example of such an
approach.
A compliance based approach, on the other hand,
emphasizes rules and limits that need to be respected by all. Features
are clarity, specificity and the ability to readily incorporate
performance measurement and audit. Unfortunately a compliance based
approach can rapidly become encyclopedic in size and still not
sufficiently comprehensive. It also tends to stifle individual
initiative. It tends to be implemented top down by edict, whereas a
values based code is built more by consensus. An example of a
compliance based approach is the U.S. tax code.
The preferred approach whether values-based,
compliance-based or a blend of the two depends upon context. For
example Southwest Airlines strictly enforces a compliance code in
instructions for pilots about how to fly planes to ensure safety
standards are met. However in meeting customer needs Southwest
encourages great flexibility by pilots and flight attendants to make the
flying experience as cheery as possible. An important decision we face
in building our approach to ethical practice is how to blend and build
these different aspects.
Implementation of an effective approach to ethics
and governance requires clarity about structures (who is involved, for
example ethics champions), processes (how they operate, for example how
policy is developed, what learning processes are needed) and standards
(content and guidelines) (2005 Canadian policy brief about workplace and
policy ethics by Saner and von Baeyer.)
Implementation of effective governance also
requires wise and caring leadership, perhaps best exemplified by Robert
Greenleaf’s description of servant leadership (www.greenleaf.org)
which is built on the following principles:
·
Listening
o
Seeking to understand the perspectives and needs of others
·
Empathy
o
Walking in the shoes of others and understanding their
challenges
·
Healing
o
Supporting people become whole in all parts of their life
·
Awareness
o
Being fully attuned to ourselves and what is going on
around us
·
Persuasion
o
Demonstrating and convincing, not using coercion
·
Conceptualization
o
Dreaming great dreams
·
Foresight
o
Understanding the lessons of the past, the realities of
the present and the likely consequences of decisions for the future
·
Stewardship
o
Holding something in trust for another (Peter Block)
·
Commitment to the growth of people
o
Nurturing the personal and professional growth of others
·
Building community
o
Creating community in an organizational or broader setting
Servant leadership, then, is about expressing who
we are in service for the benefit of others.
As we observe and participate in governance of our
organizations and institutions, we are challenged to continually examine
operating practices:
·
Performance in light of the characteristics of effective
governance
·
Balance between values-based and compliance-based ethical
frameworks
·
Implementation through the principles of servant
leadership
We can then determine our role in driving to our
needed ideal where governance becomes stewardship, holding something in
trust for another. It is through the practice of such ideal principles
of governance/stewardship in a caring and compassionate ethical domain,
using a sound structure that we create institutions that thrive,
energize and sustain.
Our Economics and Health
One important aspect of governance is transparency,
openly disclosing decision making and its consequences. In that
context, the next figure from the Economic Policy Institute’s, September
5, 2007 snapshot shows the alarming reversal in earnings and income
trends this decade in the U.S. Average annual household income declined
on average .33% per year since the 1999 peak, reversing a trend during
the previous three decades that showed annual increases ranging from
0.4% to 0.9%.
From Economic Policy Institute Snapshot, September
5, 2007
Of even greater concern is growing income
inequality that has accelerated significantly since 2000, driven in part
by regressive taxation policy and growing inequality in compensation
within organizations. The following figure shows a common measure of
inequality, the Gini Index, increasing significantly this decade (a
higher Gini Index means more inequality), moving the U.S. solidly into
income distribution territory that resembles a third world country.
This is reinforced when we see the income share of
the richest 10% of our population (economist Paul Krugman citing Piketty
and Saez) exploding at the expense of the rest of our population, during
the 1980s and again since 2000, as shown in the next figure:
Our similarity to third world economies is further
heightened when we see the rapidly growing number of people who are not
covered by health insurance in the U.S. as shown in the following
figure:
Forty-seven million people now lack health
insurance, a number that grew by more than 2 million people in 2006
alone. In 2006, 12% of children were uninsured, 19% of children in
poverty were uninsured. Perhaps not surprisingly, Texas with more than
24% of its population uninsured is a particular concern as shown in the
following figure:
When we look at the number of people uninsured for
at least one month (rather than an entire year as in the previous
figures) the total increases dramatically as shown in the following
figure:
Almost 90 million people, about one third of our
population, were without health insurance for at least a month in
2006-2007, an increase of 17 million people since 1999-2000. California
alone had almost 13 million people without insurance for at least one
month in 2006-2007. On a national level more than 25 million children
and youths under the age of 18 went without health insurance in
2006-2007 for at least one month.
The cost of healthcare has far outpaced that of
inflation and wage increases over the past 19 years as shown in the
following figure from the Kaiser Family Foundation (not connected to
Kaiser Permanente):
Much of this excessive growth in costs is due to
the health insurance industry. As the Economic Policy Institute (citing
Paul Krugman) points out, the business model for the health insurance
industry is in part based on the socially questionable practice of
collecting premiums while denying deserving claims and seeking to
exclude patients from coverage. Indeed as Robert Reich points out our
healthcare insurance bureaucracy is unique in that it seeks to avoid
sick people. The problem with health insurance is illustrated in the
following figure that shows employment in the health insurance industry
growing by a staggering 52% from August 1997 to August 2007, from
293,000 people to 444,000 people, well ahead of employment growth for
physicians and nurses and employment in the economy as a whole.
In the area of healthcare there are clear,
effective solutions available, such as California’s Senate Bill SB840,
which would provide universal health coverage for all Californians. It
does this partly by eliminating the wastage and inefficiency that
currently exists in our health insurance system. It is in
understanding and supporting such approaches that address critical
social needs, that we can secure effective and representative governance
and thereby ensure that our society is a good place for all.
Quote
PITY THE NATION (After Khalil
Gibran)
Pity the nation whose people are sheep,
and whose shepherds mislead them.
Pity the nation whose leaders are liars, whose
sages are silenced,
and whose bigots haunt the airwaves.
Pity the nation that raises not its voice,
except to praise conquerors and acclaim the bully
as hero
and aims to rule the world with force and by
torture.
Pity the nation that knows no other language but
its own
and no other culture but its own.
Pity the nation whose breath is money
and sleeps the sleep of the too well fed.
Pity the nation--oh, pity the people who allow
their rights to erode
and their freedoms to be washed away.
My country, tears of thee, sweet land of liberty.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Elsdon Organizational Renewal (EOR) Recent Mentions
·
Reviews of
“Affiliation in the Workplace: Value Creation in the New
Organization.” Ron Elsdon. Praeger, Westport, CT (2003)
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.
o
Greenwood Publishing Group
·
Affiliation in the Workplace — www.greenwood.com
·
Chapter titled
“How Can You Grow Your Practice with Purpose?” in National Career
Development Association Monograph, “Starting and Growing a Business in
the New Economy” Edited by Sally Gelardin, 2007
·
Recorded
Webinar for Project Management Institute
o
“Becoming Career Fit in Turbulent Times”
·
http://pmi-issig.org/Default.aspx?tabid=319
·
“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)
o
http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0471410691,descCd-tableOfContents.html
·
“The Growing
Divide Calls for Advocacy.”
o
Article in March, 2007, NCDA Career Convergence magazine
·
http://209.235.208.145/cgi-bin/WebSuite/tcsAssnWebSuite.pl?Action=DisplayNewsDetails&RecordID=947&Sections=&IncludeDropped=1&AssnID=NCDA&DBCode=130285
·
“Reaching for
Our Deep Gladness”
o
Article in May, 2005, NCDA Career Convergence magazine
·
http://209.235.208.145/cgi-bin/WebSuite/tcsAssnWebSuite.pl?Action=DisplayNewsDetails&RecordID=625&Sections=6&IncludeDropped=&AssnID=NCDA&DBCode=130285
·
Mention in
article on cost of turnover
o
East
Bay Business Times, April 2005
·
Turnover costs exceed employers' estimates - 2005-04-25
·
“Worklife
Survival: Finding a Fit”
o
Article for HR West, February 2005 (Northern California Human Resource
Association)
·
http://www.nchra.org/StaticContent/Download/EXT0205007.pdf
·
Interview in
the education field “Affiliation as a Unifying Principle in Education”
o
Career Pro News
·
Affiliation and Education
·
MBTI Step II
workshop
o
CCDA News, April 2005
·
Local Chapter News
·
Review of ICDC
Global Issues Forum
o
CCDA, January 2005
·
ICDC Global Issues Forum
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
