Author: admin

January 18, 2022February 15, 2023

Towards Broader Views on Conflict in Organizations

Assessments

Miscellaneous Topics

General Resources About Conflict Management

For the Category of Interpersonal Skills:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

Building Trust

Smiling business partners shaking hands on street before meeting

Building Trust

Critical Ingredients for Building and Maintaining Trust
Various Perspectives on Building Trust

Also consider
Related Library Topics

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Building Trust

In addition to the articles on this current page, see the following blogs which
have posts related to Building Trust. Scan down the blog’s page to see various
posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or
click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog.

Library’s
Coaching Blog
Library’s
Crisis Management Blog
Library’s
Leadership Blog
Library’s Supervision Blog

Critical Ingredients for Building and Maintaining
Trust

There are numerous ingredients that must be present for there to be strong
and sustained trust in a relationship and in the workplace, for example, do
what you say you are going to do, always be clear and consistent in your assignments
and say what you mean. Different people together could probably generate one
long list. However, here are five of the most important ingredients.

Authenticity

Authenticity has become a very popular concept lately, especially as we hear
— and try to follow — a myriad of suggestions about how we “should be”
in our relationships and our work. Too many of us try to be something that we
aren’t and so we inadvertently become inauthentic. People can sense when someone
is not being true to themselves or others. The concept of authenticity has become
so idealized and romanticized that it appears that a truly authentic person
would almost be that perfect person with no faults at all. Instead, perhaps
authenticity is best described as being honest with ourselves and others. See
Authenticity.

Empathy

Empathy is the ability to relate to, and understand, others and sometimes to
even feel what they feel — to “walk in their shoes.” Empathy is not
the same as sympathy, which is feeling pity or sorrow for another in discomfort.
You can empathize with someone without feeling sympathy for them. People trust
other people when they understand each other. Skills in empathy are the basis
for accurate and ongoing understanding between people. See Empathy.

Listening

It’s not enough to be real and have the ability to fully relate to others.
You also have to hear them, to really grasp and understand what others are trying
to convey to you. Without truly listening to others, you will not have their
trust. As much as we value skills in listening, too many of us don’t have those
skills — we listen more to ourselves than to others. There are some basic guidelines
that, if followed, can make a huge positive impact on your listening skills.
See Listening.

Respectful Feedback

Ongoing, successful communication is the foundation for building trust. That
communication should go beyond sharing information about the weather. It should
include our opinions and suggestions about the opinions and suggestions of others.
That feedback can be shared in very respectful ways that sustain the respect
and trust between participants. Similar to skills in listening, several guidelines,
if followed, can greatly enhance skills in sharing feedback. See Feedback.

Ethical

Ethical behavior is always striving to do what’s morally right for yourself
and others, particularly when times are tough and we’re challenged to cut corners
to get things done quickly and cheaply. When people damage the trust between
them, it’s usually because one or more of them have done something hurtful —
they’ve done something that they would not want done to themselves. Many would
argue that a cornerstone of being ethical is the golden rule — to do onto others
as you would have them do onto you. See Ethics.

Various Perspectives on Building Trust

How To Build Trust
Keeping an Open Line of Communications with Your Employees
Trust Building
How
to Build Trust
How
to Build Trust at Work
Bridging We-They Gaps
Bringing Values to Life

For the Category of Interpersonal Skills:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

January 18, 2022September 18, 2022

Cultivating Innovation and Creativity in the Workplace

People Having a Meeting at the Office Workspace

Cultivating Innovation and Creativity in the Workplace

Also consider

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Innovation in the Workplace

In addition to the articles on this current page, see the following blogs which have posts related to Innovation in the Workplace. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog.

About Innovation

Creativity is the nature of creating something new, either a new idea, concept or method. Innovation is using creativity to enhance performance of a process, person, team or organization.

Businesses, for-profit and nonprofit, are facing change like never before. Numerous driving forces to this change included a rapidly expanding marketplace (globalization), and increasing competition, diversity among consumers, and availability to new forms of technology. Innovation and creativity are often key to the success of a business, particularly when strategizing during strategic planning, and when designing new products and services. Creative thinking and innovation are particularly useful during Strategic Planning (when strategizing) and in Product Development (when designing new products and services.) (The library includes many areas of information related to creativity. See Creativity.) Also consider numerous creative methods for solving problems and making decisions.)

Leading Innovation

Innovation is a hot topic these days. From what I have seen, organizations have been outsourcing innovation for the last 10-15 years. It began with a reliance on ad agencies and then shifted to “design” companies like IDEO and JUMP. Now the business airwaves and media announce the need for more innovation, faster and more radical than ever before, and the literature of full of “how to innovate” books and articles.

It seems easy to say we want to innovate, but it feels like going over Niagara Falls in a barrel, you are leaving all you know behind for a visit to Chaos. Confronted by all the mystery and disorder that precedes innovation, our challenge as leaders is to help people make meaning of the journey. As Dee Hock describes, “Making good judgments and acting wisely when one has complete data, facts, and knowledge [control] is not leadership. It’s not even management. It’s bookkeeping. Leadership is the ability to make wise decisions, and act responsibly upon them when one has little more than a clear sense of direction and proper values; that is, a perception of how things ought to be, an understanding how they are, and some indication of the prevalent forces driving change.” In this sense, innovation is the end product of a disruptive cycle of Adaptive Change.

To innovate is to intentionally let go of the “way things are” and welcome “the way they could be.” Breakdown is the first step toward innovation, an intentional release of established habits of thought, expectations, assumptions, and beliefs in order to embrace “not knowing”. The concept of surfing the “edge of chaos” sounds exciting until you get there and leave control at the door. In Adaptive Change we call this the Fall.

Fortunately, Breakdown doesn’t last. As we confront the mess, we naturally make meaning of it, allowing order and Breakthroughs to emerge – the “ah-ha” moments that we love to experience. The journey from Breakdown to Breakthrough, the Cauldron of Change, is a period of stress (high enough to motivate and mobilize, and potentially immobilize), uncertainty, and unpredictability. There is no clear way forward, we are reduced to trial-and-error experimentation. This is a period that requires a rapid and straightforward learning cycle, one that encourages experimentation and taking smart risks as you learn your way forward. Sense-Test-Adapt, a biomimetic cycle that is just what it says, propels you forward as order emerges from the chaos. The faster you cycle the faster you learn.

Breakthroughs get you out of Chaos and into Complexity – you are half way home but you are still not “in control”. Complexity requires Imagination, which takes you beyond creativity and taps into mystery. Mystery allows us to explore “things in our environment that excite our curiosity but elude our understanding.[1] In the complex domain hunches and ah-has pull us forward by removing extraneous information and linking up ideas to form a system of inquiry. In this way novelty is morphed into a myriad of possibilities.

With all these possibilities we begin to follow our hunches to their logical conclusions, picking one or two and applying all our knowledge, know-how, technology, etc. to understand them. In this way we make the imagined “real”, manifest as products, programs, services, and art. Making “manifest” is the phase I call Innovation. Innovation without the journey through chaos and mystery is evolutionary at best, incremental most often. Innovation as the conclusion of the full cycle is revolutionary, tapping into our most creative spaces and pulling forth something remarkably different from where we started. Do’s for leading innovation

Foster an environment of imagination, exploration, acceptable risk, and “what ifs.” Meet the Devil’s Advocate at the door and refuse them entry. Give people time to think, toys to spark off, and diverse partners to play with. The resource needs and costs of Innovation rise over time. Resources that drive early innovation, Breakdown, Breakthrough, and Imagination, are mainly emotional and psychological support. No leader can afford to ignore these intangible costs for the foreseeable future.

Relax when things seem out-of-control, it is part of the process and can’t be skipped. Focus people on moving their “crazy ideas” forward and making sense of them. Apply the innovation cycle to your leadership development… hummm, now that’s a thought!

Linking Innovation and Operations

Development is hard pressed to interface with operations. Yet it is extremely important that this interface be workable because developments are not relevant until they find their way into operations. This is the “reason for being” of development; to have new systems and adaptive processes and structures integrated, in the long run, to foster organizational performance and adaptation.

What’s The Difference?

An operation is charted to preserve the status quo, the current thinking and methods. Operations assumes this status quo as a “given” and works within current procedures to improve them and “operationalize” them with a high degree of efficiency. In most operations the problem is clear and solutions are knowable. Fast response is an overriding value in executing a “fix” and getting the operation back on-line.

Development, on the other hand is a constructive conspiracy. It is the development function, who’s job it is to replace the current ways of doing things, with new tools and assumptions more in line with changing business and organizational conditions. Development is rife with ambiguity; it is a searching and learning process. The overriding value is gaining commitment to change.

Innovation and Development is fragile, complex and conceptual. Nothing kills it faster than premature exploitation- rushing to capitalize on it too soon. Development is not charted but it is navigable, it is a learned activity in action where hunches are tested and theory is developed in the process of action. The context of development is uncertainty. Operations on the other hand, works to reduce uncertainty to a program, an operational term.

Learning It While Doing It

Operations are based in control. Developments emerge and are always subject to un- intended consequences in action as development is moved toward its purpose. One of the themes of these essays is that developments are realized through the process of development, it is in effect learned in the process of doing it.

Usually there is not a great deal of organizational understanding and support for doing this. An often operation does not see the need or understand the purpose of the development itself. For this reason, development needs protection at a certain stage. Protection and understanding go hand in hand. As the development is understood the protection can be loosened which is necessary to gain the institutional support for prioritizing the resources for more disciplined development.

Boundary management means the protection and support of a differentiated development culture and the managed change of this culture when appropriate. Boundary management is a continual effort of judgment and balance because technical organizations optimize performance and their activities are always influenced by demands and feedback from a variety of sources in the global environment. Establishing and managing boundaries is both necessary and problematic.

Perspectives on Innovation

Additional Articles

Perspectives on Creativity

For the Category of Innovation:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

Introduction to Design Thinking
About Design Thinking
Basic Overviews of Design Thinking
A Little More In-Depth
Some Applications

What is Design Thinking?

What is Design Thinking?

Sections of This Topic Include

Also consider
Related Library Topics

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Innovation in the Workplace

In addition to the articles on this current page, see the following blogs which
have posts related to Innovation in the Workplace. Scan down the blog’s page
to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in
the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post
in the blog.

Library’s Consulting
& Organizational Development Blog
Library’s Leadership Blog
Library’s Social
Enterprise Blog
Library’s Strategic
Planning Blog
Library’s Supervision
Blog

Introduction to Design Thinking

I have been practicing design thinking for many years — helping organizations,
developing new products, servicing customer experiences and strategizing for
organizations …and for new cultures. I was attracted to it for many reasons.
First and foremost, it is made up of many disciplines: industrial design, graphic
design, anthropology, marketing, social psychology and behavioral economics.

As such it is an inclusive discipline — no one group of experts “owns
it.” It embraces a myriad of approaches and avoids the claim that there
is one right way to do it. It thrives in an environment of both structure and
freedom to discover. It recognizes two opposable minds: the logical and the
creative. It values both fact and emotion. It is a key contributor to the rapid
growth of entrepreneurial culture both within and outside of organizations.
It has great promises in keeping those who embrace it at the vanguard of sustainable
innovation.

Its tools are far less important than the mindsets and behaviors that it values:
the bias for action and experimentation, the acceptance of failure as an inevitable
part of learning and innovation, the value of diversity and fresh eyes, and
the importance of first clarifying the design challenge before marching off
to develop solutions.

At its heart is empathy — experiencing and understanding the world from another’s
point of view. Design thinking teaches its users the importance of powerful
questions, deep listening and reflection. Empathy allows design thinking practitioners
to gain a much deeper insight into customer needs — both emotional needs as
well as technical needs.

To be clear, design thinking is not the end-all and be-all to sustainable innovation.
Entrepreneurs and innovators must still use other disciplines. On the front
end, disciplines like action learning are used to frame the right challenge.
At the back end, disciplines such as social psychology provide methods and tools
to help gain buy-in for new ideas.

About Design Thinking

Design thinking is an innovative way to solve problems, for example, identifying
relevant and realistic strategies, or developing a new product or service. It
is unique in that it is a hands-on approach that deeply involves the people
(the users) who are affected by the problem. It includes five highly integrated
phases:

Empathize – with the users
Define – user’s needs and desires around the problem or design
Ideate – examine users’ assumptions to creative solutions
Prototype – to develop solutions
Test – the solutions to verify their usefulness

The phases are not necessarily sequential, and usually are iterative. Over
time, they can produce a critical and creative way of thinking as they progress
through the phases and use Design Thinking in other applications.

The process is carried out with a Design Team comprised of people who are highly
interested in the problem. Ideally, the Team includes people from a variety
of different perspectives on the problem. A trained Design Thinking facilitator
should train the members on the process, and also guide members to clarify how
best to work with each other.

Practitioners use a variety of tools, depending on the phase of addressing
the problem and also o the on the nature and needs of the users. Together, they
form a Design Team.

Users are closely observed in how they talk about addressing the problem, for
example, how they use the prototypes and what they encounter. The process includes
what has been described as a holistic approach to learning from the users. For
example, it goes beyond noticing their behaviors, and includes noticing their
apparent feelings, such as what seemed to excite them, frustrate them, and cause
them to interact less or more.

Iterative experiences with the problem help participants to clarify its causes
from its symptoms, boundaries,

A hallmark of Design Thinking is that it often reveals how we are stuck in
our thinking about the situation and it challenges us to see situations outside
the box – in a different way.

Basic Overviews of Design Thinking

Design
Thinking Meets ADDIE
What
is Design Thinking and Why Is It So Popular?
What
Is Design Thinking and Design Thinking Process?
What
is Design Thinking? (And What Are The 5 Stages Associated With it?)
How
Design Thinking Became a Buzzword (used in schools)
Design
Thinking (references 16-minute TED talk)
Design
Thinking Process 101
Design thinking
(Wikipedia)
Design Thinking —
Design thinking is a process for creative problem solving
Creativity
at Work: Design Thinking as a Strategy for Innovation
Design Thinking
Comes of Age
Ideo’s
David Kelley on “Design Thinking” (includes history of the process)

Design Thinking is Bull$it

A Little More In-Depth

Introduction
to Design Thinking
An
Introduction to Design Thinking — Process Guide
A
Virtual Crash Course on Design Thinking
5
Stages in the Design Thinking Process
Design
Thinking: Select the Right Team Members and Start Facilitating
Why
Design Thinking is failing and what we should be doing differently

Some Applications

40
Design Thinking Success Stories
10
Examples of Design Thinking
Case Studies (in
Design Thinking)
Business
Innovation Brief (links to numerous related articles)

For the Category of Innovation:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may
want to review some related topics, available from the link below.
Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been
selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

Talent Management

PM-Conducting-observations-and-measurements-to-track-performance

Talent Management

Sections of This Topic Include

What is Talent Management?
Do We Need Innovation in Talent Management?
General Overviews of Talent Management
Major Functions of Talent Management

Also consider
Related Library Topics

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Human Resources and Talent Management

In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to Human Resources and Talent Management. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

What is Talent Management?

The phrase “talent management” is fairly new and usually refers to the activities to attract, develop and retain employees. Some people and organizations use the phrase to refer especially to talented and/or high-potential employees.

The phrase often is used interchangeably with the field of Human Resource Management — although as the field of talent management continues to mature, it’s very likely there will be an increasing number of people who will strongly disagree about the interchange of these fields. At least for now, this Free Management Library considers the topic of Talent Management to be similar to Human Resources
Management. Thus, the various aspects and subtopics of Talent Management are those listed in the topic of Human Resources and Talent Management. The links immediately below provide more overviews of talent management.

Do We Need Innovation in Talent Management?

A recent survey conducted by SHRM indicated that human capital is one of the biggest challenges in the next ten years for business. Recruiting and retaining top talent should already be a number one priority of your talent management strategy; however, the challenge will be in adjusting the strategy to accommodate changes in the workforce.

The real challenge for the HR professionals and business will be in developing innovative strategy to meet the new normal of the business world. Unfortunately, in HR innovation seems to be a missing skill. And questioning long held beliefs in talent management seems to be an even less common skill or practice found in today’s HR departments.

As a profession, we tend to get wrapped up in the compliance piece of the job and forget about what it means to recruit and retain talent. In the most recent issue of SHRM magazine, there is a great article on the biggest missteps in performance management. The information is solid and the article is filled with
great advice. It lists information that seems to be often forgotten by managers in the workplace le reminding HR folks of all the little things managers do that drive us crazy. By being written from the vain of legal compliance, it reinforces that our job is so filled with compliance that we might not even realize that we have a greater responsibility in our roles as the drivers of talent management.

We owe it to our organizations to focus on innovative and creative strategies that will attract and retain the talent needed to meet the needs of the organization. We have to start by questioning everything we do in our current strategy and see if it actually yields the results that you have been taught that it does.
And for all of you in HR who believe our mission is about the people, you should realize that by taking care of the people in your strategy, you will retain them and that is the win-win we always strive for in this profession.

If you want a place to start, look outside of the HR department. Start with the talent.

General Overviews of Talent Management

Talent Management (Wikipedia)
7 Talent Management Practices to Help You Survive a Downturn
How and Why we Must Differentiate Talent
Talent & The “Misunderstanding Maslow” Factor
Strategic Talent Management
10 Talent Management Lessons Every Company Should Embrace
Retaining Talent
A New Talent Management Framework
An Eye for Talent
Talent Management Revisited: Where Are We Now?
Are Your Most Talented People Losing Their Minds?
Three Ways to Recognize a Talent Magnet

Major Functions of Talent Management

The phrase “Talent Management” traditionally refers to the activities of getting, developing and retaining the best employees. However, the phrase is often used interchangeably with “Human Resources.” The following links are to major sections about each of the standard functions associated with talent management.

Getting the Best Employees

Developing Employees at All Levels

Retaining High-Performing Employees

Also consider

For the Category of Human Resources Management (and Talent
Management):

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

January 18, 2022March 26, 2023

Human Resources Management

Nonprofit-Specific Human Resource Management

Written by Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD of Authenticity Consulting, LLC

Introduction

There’s a common misperception that human resource management in nonprofits is very different from human resource management in for-profits. Actually, the activities are very similar in both types of organizations, except that nonprofits often include human resources (staff members) who are volunteers– staff members who are not paid compensation.

Note that Board members of nonprofits are volunteers, but usually are not considered to be staff members. Those who know a great deal about nonprofits also know that the activities to effectively manage paid staff in nonprofits are very similar to those required to effectively manage volunteers in nonprofits, except for the topic of paying volunteers.

Understand Differences Between Nonprofit and For-Profit Organizations

Human Resources – Read This Topic First?

Because of the similarity between managing human resources in for-profits and nonprofits, the reader is advised to first review information in the topic:

Human Resources

Nonprofit-Specific Human Resource Topics

Listing of nonprofit resources from Connecticut Association of Nonprofits
Research on the Nonprofit Workforce: Here’s a Brief Overview
HR Toolkit for the Voluntary & Non-profit Sector
Top 10 Tips for Running a Good Nonprofit Hiring Process

Assessing the Quality of Your Practices in Nonprofit Human Resource Management

The following link is to a series of questions that you can consider to assess your practices in nonprofit management. The link is to an organizational assessment tool for nonprofits, including paid and non-paid (volunteer) staffing.

Audit and Evaluation of Nonprofit Human Resource Management (including Volunteers)

Also consider
Related Library Topics

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Human Resources and Talent Management

For the Category of Human Resources:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

January 18, 2022March 28, 2023

All About Human Resources and Talent Management

talent management and employees conferencing

All About Human Resources and Talent Management

Guidelines for staffing analysis, recruiting, screening, hiring and developing human resources are included in the books Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision in Business and Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision for Nonprofit Staff.

Sections of This Topic Include

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Human Resources and Talent Management

Introduction

Human Resources Applies to Any Size of Organization

This Topic Applies to Any Size of Organization

All organizations have people — they have human resources. Regardless of the size of an organization or the extent of its resources, the organization survives — and thrives — because of the capabilities and performance of its people. The activities to maximize those capabilities and that performance are necessary regardless of whether the organization refers to them as Human Resource Management, Human Resource Development or Human Resources — or has no formal name for those activities at all.

Those activities are the responsibility of all people in the organization. Thus, members of organizations, regardless of size or resources, will benefit from using the resources referenced from this topic.

Human Resource Guidelines Apply to For-Profits and Nonprofits

These Human Resource Guidelines Apply to For-Profits and Nonprofits

The vast majority of resources in this topic apply to nonprofits as well as for-profits. There’s a misconception that there is a big difference in managing human resources in for-profit versus nonprofit organizations. Actually, they should managed similarly. Nonprofits often have unpaid human resources (volunteers), but we’re learning that volunteers should be managed much like employees — it’s just that they’re not compensated with money; they’re compensated in other ways. Managing volunteers is very similar to paid staff — their roles should be carefully specified, they should be recruited carefully, they should be oriented and trained, they should be organized into appropriate teams or with suitable supervisors, they should be delegated to, their performance should be monitored, performance issues should be addressed, and they should be rewarded for their performance. Also, organizations should consider the risks and liabilities that can occur with volunteers, much like with employees. So nonprofit organizations should consider the resources in this topic as well.

Clarifying Some Terms — Human Resource Management, Human Resources, HRD, Talent Management

The Human Resource Management (HRM) function includes a variety of activities, and key among them is responsibility for human resources — for deciding what staffing needs you have and whether to use independent contractors or hire employees to fill these needs, recruiting and training the best employees, ensuring they are high performers, dealing with performance issues, and ensuring your personnel and management practices conform to various regulations. Activities also include managing your approach to employee benefits and compensation, employee records and personnel policies. Usually small businesses (for-profit or nonprofit) have to carry out these activities themselves because they can’t yet afford part- or full-time help. However, they should always ensure that employees have — and are aware of — personnel policies which conform to current regulations. These policies are often in the form of employee manuals, which all employees have.

Some people distinguish a difference between HRM and Human Resource Development (HRD), a profession. Those people might include HRM in HRD, explaining that HRD includes the broader range of activities to develop personnel inside of organizations, e.g., career development, training, organization development, etc.

The HRM function and HRD profession have undergone tremendous change over the past 20-30 years. Many years ago, large organizations looked to the “Personnel Department,” mostly to manage the paperwork around hiring and paying people. More recently, organizations consider the “HR Department” as playing a major role in staffing, training and helping to manage people so that people and the organization are performing at maximum capability in a highly fulfilling manner. There is a long-standing argument about where HR-related functions should be organized into large organizations, eg, “should HR be in the Organization Development department or the other way around?”

Recently, the phrase “talent management” is being used to refer the activities to attract, develop and retain employees. Some people and organizations use the phrase to refer especially to talented and/or high-potential employees. The phrase often is used interchangeably with HR — although as the field of talent management matures, it’s very likely there will be an increasing number of people who will strongly disagree about the interchange of these fields.

Many people use the phrase “Human Resource Management,” “Human Resource Development” and “Human Resources” interchangeably, and abbreviate Human Resources as HR — HR has become a conventional term to refer to all of these phrases.

Thus, this Library uses the phrase “Human Resources” and the term “HR,” not just for simplicity, but to help the reader to see the important, broader perspective on human resources in organizations — what’s required to maximize the capabilities and performance of people in organizations, regardless of the correct phrase or term to be applied when doing that.

FIELD AND ROLES OF HUMAN RESOURCES AND TALENT MANAGEMENT

Another Look at Definitions

The introduction, at the top of this page, offers definitions of common terms and phrases to help the reader to first understand the topics and their organization in this overall topic in the Library. It will round out the reader’s knowledge and understanding to review a variety of definitions. Remember that, more important than getting the definitions “right,” is recognizing the purposes and activities that the following resources refer to.

Role of Human Resources Function in Organizations

Ask HR-What is it like to work in HR

A question I frequently get from those individuals outside of HR is, “What is it like to work in HR?” Well, the answer to that question can vary greatly by HR professional and organization.

Human Resources (HR) can include a broad spectrum of specialties within organizations. Some examples of specialties include recruiting, payroll, policy, safety, training and development, and performance management. In smaller organizations, the HR professional may handle all of those specialties and in larger organizations, each specialty is most likely its own department.

The roles within HR can vary greatly as well as with many departments from the purely administrative to the executive. Another related and perhaps more important question that is often discussed is, “what should HR be doing?” For me, HR’s primary purpose is to ensure that the right people are working in the right places to accomplish the organization’s goal.

In other words, HR is responsible to develop programs that will attract, select, develop, and retain the talent needed to meet the organizational mission. So whether you are an HR department of one or a combination of multiple departments that include hundreds of employees, your primary responsibility is talent management.

Here’s a quick test to see if your programs are aligned and focused on the primary purpose of HR. See if you can answer the following questions.

What is the primary mission of the organization?
What talent is needed to meet the mission?
Which programs do you have in the following areas:
- Identifying and Attracting Talent?
- Selecting and Hiring Talent?
- On boarding Talent?
- Developing Talent?
- Retaining Talent?
How is program success measured?
In what areas do we need to improve?

If you can’t answer these questions, you have some work to do.

Additional Resources About Roles of Human Resources

Boards and Human Resources

Also consider
Professionalism in Consulting

Challenges Facing Human Resources Function

If You Want a Seat at the Table, Learn the Business

In many companies HR does not occupy a seat at the strategic planning table. Who’s to blame?

The answer to this question is hotly debated and often clear lines are drawn between those in HR and those in other functions. Many HR professionals blame the leaders for not seeing the value of their function to the organization, while some managers see HR as the roadblock to doing what needs to be done.

In a 2005 article written by Fast Company Magazine’s Keith Hammonds, Keith purports all the reasons “Why We Hate HR.” If the title itself isn’t enough to put a HR professional on the defense, then providing the declaration that “HR people aren’t the sharpest tacks in the box” as the first reason certainly will. His assertion in the article is that those who enter the HR field are not business people and are ill-equipped to understand business. He quotes a Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) study that identified which coursework HR professionals found most beneficial to their success in the field to support his message that the majority of those working in the field do not see understanding business as necessary to their success. The results showed that coursework in communications, business law, and ethics were most beneficial.

A recently released SHRM survey of HR leaders indicates the same finding. The respondents in the U.S. indicated that strategic thinking is one of the top five competencies needed for senior HR leaders; however, business knowledge was not listed. While the lineage of the field of HR coupled with the introduction of legislation to protect employers may have contributed to stereotypes that exist in the field about the HR profession, our failure as HR professionals to recognize that we are business people charged with the company’s most valuable assets will certainly continue to harbor those stereotypes we so emotionally defend. If you want a seat at the table, learn the business of business and speak the language of the executive team.

Additional Resources About Challenges Facing Human Resources

Future of Human Resources Function

“Talent Management” – New Movement in Human Resources?

Many people are beginning to use the phrase “Talent Management” to refer to the activities of attracting, developing and retaining employees — three activities also addressed in the sections below. For general overviews of talent management, see: Talent Management

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MAJOR FUNCTIONS OF HUMAN RESOURCES AND TALENT MANAGEMENT

Getting the Best Employees

Regardless of the nature of the organization, it must identify the most important roles in the organization and then recruit, orient, train and organize people to effectively perform those roles.

Paying Employees (and Providing Benefits)

The following link is to a resource that will help you establish suitable policies and procedures for compensating employees and for providing benefits in the most equitable and fair manner.

Benefits and Compensation

Training and Developing Employees

Development is more than conveying information to employees — it’s guiding and supporting them to evolve that information into knowledge that can be applied as skills in order to achieve the goals of the organization and its people — and it’s guiding and supporting those people to learn at the same time.

Ensuring Compliance to Regulations

Fortunately, compliance is no longer is seen by many as the primary role of Human Resources — it’s just one of the roles. However, compliance is as important today as ever, especially considering the diversity of people in the workplace, including their diverse values, opinions and perspectives.

Ensuring Fair, Safe and Equitable Work Environments

The care and cultivation of human resources should consider at least the following topics — the topics often are addressed as official programs in the workplace.

Sustaining High-Performing Employees

Nonprofit Human Resources

As noted in the introduction to this topic, guidelines to managed human resources in nonprofits are very similar to those to manage in for-profit. See the above paragraph These Human Resource Guidelines Apply to For-Profits and Nonprofits. After reviewing the above resources, nonprofits could review the resources from the following link — the resources mention they are nonprofit-specific.
Nonprofit Human Resources

GENERAL RESOURCES ABOUT HUMAN RESOURCES

General Resources About Human Resources

Some Blogs About Human Resources

For the Category of Human Resources:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

Performance Management: Traditional and Progressive Approaches

Overview of Team Performance Management: Guidelines and Resources

Man and Woman Holding Each Other's Hands As A Team

Team Performance Management: Guidelines and Resources

Much of the content of this topic came from this book:

Consulting and Organization Development - Book Cover

Strongly Suggested Previous Reading

Sections of This Topic Include

Description
What is Team Performance Management?
Guidelines for Implementation and Evaluation
Three Phases of Team/Group Performance Management
Suggested Additional Readings

Description

(Although the term “performance” is conventionally used in literature about management, some people might have an averse reaction to that term. For them, they might use the term “effectiveness” instead.)

Many of us have worked in groups where all of the members were focused on the same goals — they were teams. If a team was in the workplace, then it probably had a supervisor. The supervisor might not have been a team member, but was responsible to be sure the team was doing a good job in achieving its goals (it was showing strong performance).

Ideally, the goals were clear to all of us because they were written down (but that is not always the case). We worked toward the goals, always monitoring how well we were doing in achieving them.

We sometimes changed what we were doing in order to achieve the goals in an even more effective and efficient manner. Usually that cycle of activities recurred until the goals were achieved and perhaps the team no longer was needed. The cycle that were doing is called team performance management. We will define it a bit more clearer in the next section.

A team is essentially an organization — it is a system. It has a recurring set of activities, all aimed toward a common purpose (mission) and goals. A department or business unit in an organization could be thought of as a team. So most of the practices of organizational performance management apply to team performance management, as well.

Just like an overall organization, when a team gets started (that is, when it is in its first life cycle), it often does not have strong, internal practices about effectively and efficiently achieving goals (about achieving strong performance).

As the team continues to evolve, it becomes even more important to have more effective internal systems. Otherwise, the members experience increasing frustrations about not getting things done and confusion about who is doing what and by when. So they focus on making their performance management practices even stronger.

Note that team performance management usually refers to the cycle of activities to enhance the performance of a team that has had at least several meetings. The activities to first develop the team are often referred to as team building. The activities to manage each meeting are about meeting management. The activities to guide and support the members’ activities during a meeting are referred to as facilitation.

What is Team Performance Management?

We are used to thinking of ongoing performance management for employees, for example, setting goals, monitoring an employee’s achievement of those goals, sharing feedback with the employee, evaluating the employee’s performance, and then rewarding the employee’s performance or guiding the employee to improve performance. That performance management process is similar to that used in teams and organizations, as well.

Team performance management involves the recurring activities to establish team goals, monitor progress toward the goals, and make adjustments to achieve those goals more effectively and efficiently. From a systems perspective, the overall goal of team performance management is to ensure that the team and all of its members are working together in an optimum fashion to achieve the results desired by the supervisor of the team.

Those recurring activities are much of what leaders and managers inherently do in their organizations — some of them do it far better than others. So team performance management should be a standard, ongoing management practice. The process is somewhat aligned with a well-done strategic planning process and the implementation of that strategic plan.

General Guidelines for Implementing and Evaluating the Process

There are some standard guidelines that can ensure the success of any implementation of any performance management process. Be sure to read and follow those guidelines, especially if this is your first implementation of a comprehensive process. The guidelines also can be useful if you are trying to improve a process that you have already implemented.

Performance Management for any Application: Guidelines for Implementation and Evaluation

Three Phases of Team Performance Management

The three phases are highly integrated and include:

Next, see
Team Performance Planning Phase

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Organizational Performance

In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to organizations. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

For the Category of Organizational Development:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

All About Team Building

All About Team Building

The reader might best be served to first read the topic the Group Dynamics to understand the basic nature of most groups, their typical stages of development and how to support groups to evolve through the early stages. That understanding, along with the guidelines in the following resources, helps the chair or facilitator of the team to support the team to fully develop.

Sections of This Topic Include

How to Build Highly Effective Teams
Building — Does Team Building Actually Work?
Some Team Building Activities
Some Common Types of Teams
Leading, Facilitating and Motivating Teams
Enhancing Effectiveness and Performance of Teams
Evaluating Team Performance

Also consider

January 18, 2022September 18, 2022

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Team Building

In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to Team Building. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

How to Build Highly Effective Teams

Too often, teams are formed merely by gathering some people together and then hoping that those people somehow find a way to work together. Teams are most effective when carefully designed. To design, develop and support a highly effective team, use the following guidelines:

1. Set clear goals for the results to be produced by the team.

The goals should be designed to be “SMART.” This is an acronym for:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant and
Time-bound.

As much as possible, include input from other members of the organization when designing and wording these goals. Goals might be, for example, “to produce a project report that includes a project plan, schedule and budget to develop and test a complete employee performance management system within the next year.” Write these goals down for eventual communication to and discussion with all team members.

2. Set clear objectives for measuring the ongoing effectiveness of the team.

The objectives, that together achieve the overall goals, should also be designed to be “SMART.” Objectives might be, for example, to a) to produce a draft of a project report during the first four weeks of team activities, and b) achieve Board-approval of the proposed performance management system during the next four weeks. Also, write these objectives down for eventual communication to and discussion with all team members.

3. Define a mechanism for clear and consistent communications among team members.

New leaders often assume that all group members know what the leaders know. Consistent communication is the most important trait of a successful group. Without communication, none of the other traits can occur. Successful groups even over-communicate, such that:

All members regularly receive and understand similar information about the group, for example, about the group’s purpose, membership, status and accomplishments.
These communications might be delivered through regular newsletters, status reports, meetings, emails and collaboration tools.

4. Define a procedure for members to make decisions and solve problems.

Successful groups regularly encounter situations where they must make decisions and solve problems in a highly effective manner. Too often, the group resorts to extended discussion until members become tired and frustrated and eventually just opt for any action at all, or they count on the same person who seems to voice the strongest opinions. Instead, successful groups:

Document a procedure whereby the group can make decisions and ensure that all members are aware of the procedure.
The procedure might specify that decisions are made, first by aiming for consensus within a certain time frame and if consensus is not achieved, then the group resorts to a majority vote.

5. Develop staffing procedures (recruiting, training, organizing, replacing).

Too often, group members are asked to join the group and somehow to “chip in.” Unfortunately, that approach creates “chips,” rather than valuable group members. Instead, if group members go through a somewhat organized, systematic process, then new members often believe that the group is well organized and that their role is very valuable in the group. Successful groups:

Identify what roles and expertise are needed on the group in order to achieve the group’s purpose and plans – they staff according to plans, not personalities.
New group members go through a systematic process to join the group – they understand the group’s purpose, their role, their next steps and where to get help.

6. Determine the membership of the group.

Consider the extent of expertise needed to achieve the goals, including areas of knowledge and skills. Include at least one person who has skills in facilitation and meeting management. Attempt to include sufficient diversity of values and perspectives to ensure robust ideas and discussion. A critical consideration is availability – members should have the time to attend every meeting and perform required tasks between meetings.

7. Determine time frames for starting and terminating the team, if applicable.

Now consider the expertise needed to achieve the goals of the team, and how long it might take to recruit and organize those resources. Write these times down for eventual communication to and discussion with all team members.

8. Determine the membership of the team.

What expertise might the team need to achieve the goals of the group? For example, an official authority to gather and allocate resources, or an expert in a certain technology. Always consider if the members will have the time and energy to actively participate in the team.

9. Assign the role of leader – to ensure systems and practices are followed.

The leader focuses on the systems and practices in the team, not on personalities of its members. For example, the leader makes sure that all team members: a) are successfully staffed, b) understand the purpose of the group and their role in it, c) are active toward meeting that purpose and role, and d) utilize procedures for making decisions and solving problems. (Note that the leader does not always have to be a strong, charismatic personality – while that type of personality can often be very successful at developing teams, it often can create passivity or frustration in other members over time, thereby crippling the group.)

10. Assign role of communicator – communication is the life’s blood of teams!

Communication is the most important trait of a successful team. It cannot be left to chance. Someone should be designated to ensure that all members receive regular communications about purpose, membership, roles and status. Communications should also be with people outside the team, especially those who make decisions or determine if the team is successful or not.

11. Identify needs for resources (training, materials, supplies, etc.)

Start from analysis of the purpose and goals. What is needed to achieve them? For example, members might benefit from a training that provides a brief overview of the typical stages of team development and includes packets of materials about the team’s goals, structure and process to make decisions. Consider costs, such as trainers, consultants, room rental and office supplies. How will those funds be obtained and maintained?

12. Identify the costs to provide necessary resources for the team.

Consider costs, such as paying employees to attend the meeting, trainers, consultants, room rental and office supplies. Develop a budget that itemizes the costs associated with obtaining and supporting each of the resources. Get management approval of the budget.

13. Contact each team member.

Before the first meeting, invite each potential team member to be a part of the team. First, send him or her a memo, and then meet with each person individually. Communicate the goals of the project, why the person was selected, the benefit of the goals to the organization, the time frame for the team effort, and who will lead the team (at least initially). Invite the team member to the first meeting.

14. Early on, plan team building activities to support trust and working relationships.

Team building activities can include, for example, a retreat in which members introduce themselves, exercises in which members help each other solve a short problem or meet a specific and achievable goal, or an extended period in which members can voice their concerns and frustrations about their team assignments.

15. Carefully plan the first team meeting.

In the first meeting, review the goals of the team, why each member was selected, the benefit of the goals to the organization, the time frame for the team effort, who will lead the team (at least, initially), when the team might meet and where, and any changes that have occurred since the individual meetings. Have this information written down to hand out to each member. At the end of the meeting, ask each person to make a public commitment to the team effort.

16. Regularly monitor and report on status of team members toward achieving the goal.

It is amazing how often a team starts out with a carefully designed plan, but then abandons the plan once the initial implementation of the plan is underway. Sometimes if the plan is behind schedule, team members conclude that the project is not successful. Plans can change – just change them systematically with new dates and approval of the changes.

17. Support team meetings and the members’ processes in the team.

At this point, it is critical that supervisors of team members remain available to provide support and resources as needed. The supervisor should regularly monitor team members’ progress on achieving their goals. Provide ongoing encouragement and visibility to members. One of the most important forms of
support a supervisor can provide is coordination with other supervisors to ensure that team members are freed up enough to attend meetings.

18. Regularly celebrate team members’ accomplishments!

One of the best ways to avoid burnout is to regularly celebrate accomplishments. Otherwise, members can feel as if they are on treadmill that has no end. Keep your eye on small and recurring successes, not just the gold at the end of the rainbow.

Also consider
Team Building Primer
The History of Team Building

Team Building – Does Team Building Actually Work?

An article in The Wall Street Journal* suggested that while team building exercises may be fun (for some people), they really don’t do much to solve workplace issues.

Team building doesn’t just mean getting the team together

For example, sales executive Paul Garvey claimed that the most insightful team-building exercise he ever participated in involved paintball, which in no way helped to resolve the relationship issues back at the office. Speaking of his former company, he said that colleagues would poach each other’s deals while
their manager played favourites. Someone decided a paintball exercise would help. It didn’t, and merely reinforced the divisions and favouritism already present.

Another instance of completely inappropriate team building involved the team from a contractor on an Apollo space project. They were asked by their HR department to participate in a role-playing exercise where they had to return safely from the North Pole. Their day-to-day job involved helping astronauts return safely from space. What additional insights into teamwork did HR think this role play could teach them?

The point is that these weren’t team building programmes at all, rather they were generic activities imposed upon teams without any real consideration for what the team wanted, or needed.

Similarly, while it may be fun and friendly, a corporate fun day involving inflatable suits where you hurl yourself at a Velcro wall, sumo wrestling a colleague, bungee running, quad biking, karting or clay pigeon shooting, won’t necessarily build team relationships or address any problems in the group. While it may be just the right event for a seasonal celebration, especially if it involves families or partners, this kind of “team build” is seen mainly as an informal motivational activity. ”They make us feel good,” said Margaret Neale, Professor of Organizational behaviour at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. “What they don’t do is improve team performance.”

For this, you need a more considered approach and above all, something where the objectives are clearly stated and can be met. You need to take into account specific issues that need to be addressed and the sorts or personalities involved in the team. The resulting programme could well involve a ruthless battle for a trophy in an inflatable Olympics arena, but for a hard-working, hard-playing and highly competitive sales team, perhaps this might be exactly what’s needed.

For most, however, while it may be fun to get out of the office, you can’t expect that blasting each other with paint pellets is going to be much of an exercise in resolving trust or communication issues. Perhaps a programme involving something a bit more creative and less physical – indoors or outdoors – with plenty of time for discussion is a good place to start. There are always going to be those resistant to the very idea of “team building” or others whose comfort zone is very small. Acknowledging this and creating a programme that takes it into account is going to pay far bigger dividends than forcing them to jump out of aeroplanes or role play in Arctic expeditions.

Also consider
All About Facilitation

Team Building Activities

Some Common Types of Teams

Leading, Facilitating and Motivating Teams

Also consider
Leadership

Enhancing Effectiveness and Performance of Teams

Evaluating Team Performance

Team Building: Calculating — Team Building R.O.I.
Sample peer evaluation form
Measuring the Hard Stuff: Teams and Other Hard-to-Measure Work
Zigon Performance Group
What are Belbin team roles?

Also consider
Evaluations

General Resources

For the Category of Facilitation and Teams:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

Self-Directed and Self-Managed Work Teams

Businesspeople-having-discussion-meeting

Self-Directed and Self-Managed Work Teams

Note that the reader might best be served to first read the topic Group Dynamics to understand the basic nature of most groups and their typical stages of development. (It’s not clear at this time if online groups have similar nature and stages.)

Sections of This Topic Include

Self-Directed Work Teams
Self-Managed Teams
Facilitation Library

Also consider
The following are group-based methods.