In his “Landmarks of Tomorrow” published in 1957, republished in 1996, Peter Drucker introduced the seminal definition of knowledge workers where post-war (yes, World War II) organizations would form around the power of highly skilled workers and information to achieve organizational shared goals through increased performance. No longer the whole is equal to the sum of its parts (e.g., 1+1 = 2), Drucker suggested a non Descartian equation where the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts (e.g.., 1+1 > 2) because Drucker came to see that information flows and computing advances, even as far back as the late 50s and 60s, would dramatically affect and reshape the role of work, the resources needed to perform the work and how management would need to change to be effective as leaders and enablers. The knowledge worker definition has been one my key concepts and grounding principles as to how work can be organized for over 20 years.
HR Software Market Reinvents Itself
Josh Bersin (@Josh_Bersin) in his July ‘Forbes’ article provided a great summary of continuing disruption and innovation with the HR software market. Providing a timeline of changes (e.g., evolution of the HR software market – see below), Josh describes the intense competition occurring to capture the $14B+ market.
Josh also describes movement from ‘Talent Management’ to ‘People Management’ where vendors are bringing in Next generation performance management, team collaboration, feedback, video, engagement, wellness and other features/business processes that aid/drive the people side of businesses/organizations.
Design thinking fit with other methodologies
Reviewing an online course on Design thinking found in the SAP Learning Hub….consists of 7 phases – a little different from the Hasso Plattner d school @ Stanford….but that’s certainly ok….
Interesting to see also fit with other methodologies.
Words (and their meaning) matter. Etymology and semantics in action.
Improving hr customer service
I was reviewing an SAP early knowledge transfer piece for SAP SF Employee Central Service Center (new for me, but published in 2015) that described a typical scenario how a leave of absence is handled. The illustration below shows quite a number of disparate/disconnected systems and activities….and takes up to 10 mins (at best!).
Imagine a simplified approach as depicted in the illustration where hand-offs are reduced, time to execute and ability to view/access “my status” is immediately available as shown below……and cuts down 60% of the effort and time…..
Certainly an opportunity for improvement!