Human Resource Development and the Management of Change

1. Human Resource Development and the Management of Change

2. Coverage - 1st half of Chapter 6 (pp. 154-170) A. Exemplary case: Human Resource Development (HRD) at Xerox Document Company, UK. B. HRD as a vital but neglected lever of organisational change. C. The contribution of HRD to business strategy implementation and formulation D. The contribution of HRD to work restructuring and job design E. The contribution of HRD to changes in other human resource management functions

3. Main Points of first half of Chapter 6 • HRD is at the heart of managing change, because any change process requires people to act +/or think differently • Many companies mistakenly neglect the importance of HRD as a vehicle of strategic change . • HRD can contribute to all levels of strategic change

4. Coverage - 2nd half of Chapter 6 (pp. 170-184) Three ‘visionary means’ of achieving effective, continuous change management (F, G & H). F. ‘Manager Development’ - the development of managers as developers of others G. The ‘Learning Organisation’ - is it a realistic strategic vision? H. The Strategic Human Resource Management Learning Cycle as a means of supporting organisational learning I. Are these visions feasible?

5. Aims of part two of Chapter 6 To raise three CRITICAL QUESTIONS regarding the three ‘visionary means’ 1. ‘Manager Development’ - what would motivate managers to see themselves as developers of others? 2. The ‘Learning Organisation’ - what would make this compatible with the way people, cultures and organisations operate? 3. The Strategic HRM Learning Cycle - what would ‘relax’ senior managers’ defensiveness, and allow this to happen?

6. A1. HRD at Xerox Document Company (1) • A UK subsidiary of Xerox Corporation, employing 2300 staff. • The company business strategy is to gain competitive advantage through customer satisfaction (supported by company-wide programmes). Teamworking supports this. • Four programmes have built the company commitment to teamworking: • ‘Team Xerox’ • Self Managed Work Groups • Employee Motivation & Satisfaction survey • X Team Initiative

7. A2. HRD at Xerox Document Company (2) • Decisions have been progressively devolved to the level of the team • The ‘X teams’ programme is designed to enable the teams: • to take more responsibility for day to day running of their work area • to manage their own performance • to manage continuous improvement • Teams volunteer to try to become ‘X teams’

8. A3. HRD at Xerox Document Company (3) • Volunteering teams must find a sponsor (often their line manager). 36 teams have registered. • They must conduct a self-assessment against 4 sets of criteria: • customer assurance • process management • team motivation & satisfaction • empowerment • They must get the sponsor to approve their self-ratings, which are them validated by an assessor • 10 teams have had their ratings validated.

9. A4. HRD at Xerox Document Company (4) • Only if a team has received a validated rating does it qualify as an ‘X team’. • Ratings are on a 1-7 scale (7= ‘world class’) • So far one team has got a 5 rating, six team have got a 4 rating. • Teams must decide how to improve their performance (e.g. through re-engineering, skill development, etc) and then re-assess themselves.

10. A5. HRD at Xerox Document Company (5) • The sponsor’s role is to: • help with the self-assessment • provide clear direction, goals, performance measures • engage in coaching, facilitating & counselling • The ‘X team’ programme builds on the company's long-established values, but has had a big impact on the knowledge, skills & attitudes (KSAs) of the workforce, because of: • job redesign (job enrichment) • emphasis on the interpersonal skills of managers • empowerment

11. A6. HRD at Xerox Document Company (6) : multi-skilling approach Each X Team has a Learning Matrix for all its members

12. A7. HRD at Xerox Document Company (7) • The teambuilding programme has been supported by many HRD initiatives. • Team building days • Each team audits the skill development of members, using the Learning Matrix. • The HRD department has adopted a ‘Skills Partnership’ mission, with an office layout more like a retail shop. There is a full time ‘team facilitator’ • Training needs identified from the bottom up • Training needs met through a mixture of formal training programmes and planned self-development and planned on-job developmental experiences

13. A8. HRD at Xerox Document Company (8) • A concerted effort to identify performance discrepancies and Training needs through • the ‘X team’ itself • the sponsor • annual performance review, which has a set of competency dimensions • leadership attributes (e.g.) • decision making • ‘quick study’ • Cultural dimensions (e.g.) • open & honest communication • organisation reflection & learning

14. A9. HRD at Xerox Document Company (9) Training for Sponsors of an ‘X Team’: • a detailed support pack gives guidance of responsibilities and self-assessment • Own needs are identified by consultation with the team facilitators and with the X Team • Needs met through mentors, shadowing, formal courses, etc., as appropriate.

15. B1. HRD Defined • HRD is the set of processes that are directed towards equipping employees with the KSAs that are necessary to achieve corporate objectives. • Needs can be met by a mixture of top-down initiatives and self-development • HRD and recruitment & selection are not competing alternatives • They go hand in hand • ‘Choose and train the best’

16. B2. HRD is the Linchpin of HRM • If training and development is not a high priority, if it is not seen as vital to the implementation of business strategy, then the company is unlikely to have any commitment at all to human resource management. (see diagram on p. 161)

17. B3. HRD is often Neglected ! • Consider whether Hong Kong has similar problems to the UK: • historical under-investment in HRD both by government and by companies themselves • government-led vocational training is present-oriented rather than future-oriented • business strategists at Board of Director level • think only of short-term finance and accounting logic • lack understanding of or concern for HRD

18. B4. The Relevance of HRD to the Management of Change • HRD is a key component of wider HRM strategies designed to: • create new working practices • build motivation and commitment • build a flexible, empowered workforce • Neglect of HRD leads to: • decline in a company’s ability to innovate • decline in a company’s ability to respond to change

19. C1. Contributions of HRD to Business Strategy Implementation & Formulation (1) • This is called ‘first-order strategic integration’ • Strategic HRD (SHRD) involves alligning HRD activities with the company's vision, mission, and strategic goals, so that enhancing the KSAs of employees at all levels grows both the individual and the organisation. • SHRD can ensure that employees possess the necessary KSAs to manage new demands arising from changes in the competitive environment

20. C2. Contributions of HRD to Business Strategy Implementation & Formulation (2) How SHRD can help implement business strategy: 1. Identifying ‘what do our people need to be good at?’ (and then helping to provide these KSAs) 2. Fostering a learning climate that prepares people to cope with uncertainty and mindset-shift (PTO)

21. C2. Contributions of HRD to Business Strategy Implementation & Formulation (3) How SHRD can help implement business strategy: 3. Through running training programmes (e.g. ‘superior quality service’) to support a wider change programme 4. Supporting the development of change agents and transformational leaders (PTO)

22. C3. Contributions of HRD to Business Strategy Implementation & Formulation (4) How SHRD can help implement business strategy: 5. By adjusting training to the company’s business life-cycle • induction & career development when co. is growing • outplacement & job enlargement training when the company is downsizing 6. By remedying top managers’ KSA discrepancies: leadership, vision, communication, team building, etc (PTO)

23. C3. Contributions of HRD to Business Strategy Implementation & Formulation (5) How SHRD can help implement business strategy: 7. By forewarning top management of likely KSA discrepancies that would block an envisaged business strategy (e.g. shift to emphasise quality) and by meeting these needs in advance 8. Enabling employees to become more innovative and drive business strategy from the bottom-up

24. D1. Contributions of HRD to Work Restructuring and Job Design (1) How SHRD can help with ‘second-order strategic integration’ • Enables the implementation of cost reduction strategies by helping remaining employees learn to ‘do more with less’ • Enables rapid adjustment to changes in market conditions, and the implementation of customer responsiveness strategies, requiring multi-skilling, lean production, autonomous working groups, empowerment, delayering, matrix structures, project based teams, etc etc. • employees will need to be prepared for and helped to adjust to job enrichment and teamworking

25. D2. Contributions of HRD to Work Restructuring and Job Design (2) All this restructuring and job redesign, entailing job enlargement and job enrichment, will give rise to training & development needs: • Technically-oriented KSAs, (quality, inventory management, maintenance, etc.) • Conceptually-oriented KSA (problem-solving, risk assessment). • Behavioural KSAs for teamworking and managing others: leadership, giving & receiving feedback, appraisal etc. • See eg’s on the table on p. 168 of Thornhill et al

26. E. The Contribution of HRD to Changes in Other Human Resource Management Functions • This is called ‘third-order strategic integration’ • HRD is nearly always a necessary vehicle for enabling changes in other HRM functions. • e.g. training performance appraisers and appraises in the use of a new appraisal system • e.g. career management and HRD go hand in hand • e.g. HRD is an integral component of skill based reward management systems • e.g. HRD is one key ingredient in a corporate culture change programme, and a major training programme is often a key symbol of such change

27. Coverage of 1st half of Chapter 6 (pp. 154-170): HRD and the Management of Change • Exemplary case: Human Resource Development (HRD) at Xerox Document Company, UK. • HRD as a vital but neglected lever of organisational change. • The contribution of HRD to business strategy implementation and formulation • The contribution of HRD to work restructuring and job design • The contribution of HRD to changes in other human resource management functions

28. Task: Answer the First 3 Questions in the Dales Pickles & Preserve Case • The case is on pp. 180-184 of the Thornhill et al textbook • The questions are on p. 184

29. We Now Cover the 2nd half of Chapter 6 (pp. 170-184): HRD & the Mgt of Change (2) The THEME IS: The role of managers in change management — • The development of managers (‘manager development’ • The ‘learning organisation’: is it a realistic strategic vision? • The role of strategic Human Resource Management in supporting organisational learning

30. F1a. The role of Manager Development in Org. Change • Manager development refers to the learning and growth of managers based on an analysis of their learning needs.

31. F1b. The role of Manager Development in Org. Change • Manager development is an important factor in organisational change, because • The quality of an organisation’s managers has a big impact on organisational performance • Managers have a key role in developing their own staff (and for that, they themselves must undergo development)

32. F2. Two Key Development Needs of Managers 1. Managing ongoing organisational change 2. Competence as a developer of staff: • acceptance of the developmental manager role • ability to listen to & empathise with subordinates • counselling skills • staff appraisal skills • coaching and mentoring skills • facilitating experience sharing among staff • being a positive role model of learning and growth

33. F3. Blockages to the Developmental Manager Role • But managers may not see staff development as part of their role, possibly because of: • preoccupation instead with short-term profits • lack of collaboration with HR specialists • lack of motivation, possibly because of lack of incentives • their own lack of necessary education

34. F4a. Possible Catalysts for Developing the Developmental Manager Role -1 • Managers may have no alternative but to take on this role, as organisations must change to keep up with changing market conditions • Organisations are required, under pressure, to innovate and take risks • Managers are often required by culture change programmes to take on a developmental role.

35. F4b. Possible Catalysts for Developing the Developmental Manager Role -2 • Managers who have undergone development themselves may be inspired one to adopt a developmental role • Closer partnership between HRD specialists and line managers (less training based, more learning oriented) • It seems to be an emerging trend, at least in the West

36. G1. The ‘Learning Organisation’ • A learning organisation ‘facilitates the learning of all its members while continually transforming itself’ • It must constantly adapt to a changing environment • A very ‘seductive’ idea • Has been heralded as the only means to sustained competitive advantage

37. G2a Some features of the Learning Organisation - 1 • The LO derives behavioural implications from both successes and failures • Learning is valued as a necessary ongoing process • Learning to learn is seen as important • Learning from outside and outside, at all levels of the organisation.

38. G2b Some features of the Learning Organisation - 2 • Learning from outside and outside, across specialist boundaries • Learning is continuous, ongoing • ‘Unlearning’, and knowledge management • Learning is a means to enable organisational transformation

39. G3a. The Learning Organisation and ‘Double-Loop Learning’ • Some theorists argue that learning organisations are able to engage in double-loop learning on a collective basis. • So let’s look at the concept of double-loop learning...

40. G3b. Single Loop and Double-Loop Learning (1) • Single-loop learning = detecting errors in organisational processes (e.g. students falling asleep in lectures) and correcting them (waking them up) • Double-loop learning = building new conceptions of what organisational processes should be (e.g. co-operative learning) by challenging existing values, procedures, knowledge and cultural values (e.g. constructive controversy).

41. GOALS Double Loop Rethink assumptions Behind the goals G3c. Single Loop and Double-Loop Learning (2) ACTIONS OUTCOMES Single Loop RETHINK ACTIONS EVALUATE OUTCOMES

42. G4. Necessary Conditions for the Learning Organisation • Employees • who are committed to managing their own continuous development • who are capable of managing this • Mechanisms • that support mutual learning • that capture and share learning • A culture that supports • experimentation & risk taking • independent thinking, constructive conflict, pluralism • authority based on expertise rather than position

43. G5. Barriers to the learning Organisation • Bureaucracy • Command & control mentality • Monolithic authority (not pluralistic) • The ‘blame culture’ • The genuine difficulty and stress of living and working gladly through transformations • single-loop learning is easier to handle • perhaps we humans can only handle a mild version of the learning organisation!

44. H1. Organisational Learning Through a Strategic HRM Learning Cycle Aim of Strategic HRM Learning Cycle: • to develop an organisation that is capable of implementing strategy and learning by institutionalising an organisational learning process 4 key groups at Unit level: • senior management team (SMT) • employee task force (best employees) (ETF) • process consultants (profilers) • teams led by general managers (GM), reporting to SMT

45. H2. The Functions of the SHRM Learning Cycle • The SHRM cycle identifies the management practices and capabilities/incapabilities from top to bottom of the org., that are helping or hindering the achievement of business strategy goals • It assesses the impact of these internal strengths and weaknesses on business stakeholders and on staff co-ordination, commitment and competences • It identifies HR-related remedies

46. H3. In Order to Work,the SHRM Learning Cycle Requires... • Deep examination of the organisation’s management philosophy, values and practice • Selecting and developing managers who possess the competencies to manage change and promote a learning culture

47. SMT sets business strategy H4. SHRM learning cycle SMT sets up ETF Profilers Brief the SMT Follow-up, monitoring by profilers Data collection by ETF and ‘profilers’ about co.’s good & bad mgt practices Review of implementation plans by GM and ETF, GMs feed back to their SMT boss Data fed back to SMT with GM teams observing Implementation planning Deeper diagnosis, e.g assessment of impact of bad mgt on business prospects Vision of org, redesign for better strategy implementation ETF = ‘employee task force’

48. H5. Typical Management & HR Problems Identified through the SHRM cycle • Poor teamwork in the top management team • Poor communication upwards & downwards • Unclear or conflicting strategic priorities • Inappropriate management style • Poor co-ordination between functions/divisions • Deficient career development • Lack of management competence

49. H6. Positive Outcomes of the SHRM Learning Cycle Process (one case study) • Managers accepted the diagnosis (even when there were implied criticisms of their own behaviour/output) • SMT were committed to SHRM • Better co-ordination between the functions • Better performance of the SMT

50. H7. Disappointments When Trying to Conduct the SHRM Learning Cycle When SHRM learning cycle was tried among various units in one case study company, researchers found: • Failure to involve the ETC (employee task force) in the process • Failure to repeat the cycle after the first time round it. • Less commitment to the cycle at lower levels • Lack of upward appraisal • Little done about promotion criteria • Little interest shown in job satisfaction • Key managerial deficiencies were not addressed