November 2007 Newsletter
Welcome to the PageUp November Newsletter
This month the newsletter will cover:
- Leadership Based on Human Instincts
- Special PageUp Offer: In-Talent Seminar
- Results & Opinion Poll
- Website Photos
- Tell us what you think
Leadership Based on Human Instincts
Most HR professionals find that the behaviours that constrain their organisation's performance are not unique to their own organisation. Most HR people would cite all or many of the following behaviours as obstacles to high-performance within their organisations:
- organisational silos and a lack of collaboration
- one department feels they are elite which makes others feel under-valued
- challenges with managing change
- perceived lack of communication
- shortcomings with performance appraisal systems
- a shortage of leaders with people-management skills
- most managers prefer to avoid managing poor performers
If organisations are struggling with these same obstacles, then the explanation for those obstacles, and the solutions, must be found outside the organisation. The reason these obstacles to high performance exist in almost all organisation is because they all employ humans.
Homo sapiens first emerged around 200,000 years ago, yet it��,��"�s only around 250 years ago we started to work in offices and factories. Behaviour in workplaces is the same behaviour that ensured our survival on the savannah plains of Africa over the millennia.
If we understand the human condition then we gain insight into understanding why people behave as they do, and how we can use that insight constructively to build and lead effective organisations.
Human Instincts
As an intelligent species, there are a high proportion of our behaviours that are learned, but there is also a suite of behaviours that come as part of our package. There are ten human instincts which are hardwired as members of the species.
We don��,��"�t have space here to outline the instincts, but in summary the nature of humans is that we are emotional, social animals who relate to others of the species with a mix of cooperation and competition and who, through gossip and politics, work out who we connect with and who we can not rely upon. We are one of the few animals who have a sense of self, which also means we are able to put ourselves into the position of another. We constantly make assessments and form impressions of other people and other things, and a significant dimension of these assessments is how they make us feel.
Here are two examples, from the common list of organisational frustrations above, where human instincts explains why people behave as they do at work.
Change management
There is a saying that people resist change. While this might be conventional wisdom, it just isn��,��"�t true. If people were hardwired to resist change, we��,��"�d still be living in caves. People are very happy with change, provided the change meets one criterion.
Think about a major change in your life that you consider was a good change. Now think of a major change in your life that was unpleasant. What is the difference between the two? The answer has to do with the anticipated future as a consequence of the change. In short, was the change gain or loss?
What this means for workplaces is that people assess whether a proposed change is likely to be loss or gain for them. Not only are humans good at doing this, we also do it instantly and we make the assessment at a personal level.
This insight helps HR professionals leading change. Planning of change needs to clearly identify who is likely to feel they are to gain and who is likely to feel loss from the change and how they will get to hear about the proposed change, ensuring that the communication includes reaching each person as an individual, not just as part of a team.
Organisational Silos
Humans are social animals; our main survival strategy is to join with others of our species to avoid predators. What also comes with these social groups is a mix of cooperation and competition, of politics and alliances. We have developed excellent skills to assess relationships between people. We have our closest relationships with our immediate family members (of 8-12 individuals), and our village (of up to 150 people). As complex social animals, we also find that hierarchy and status emerges, where some individuals rise to the higher levels of the group, and these individuals often enjoy additional wealth, power and privilege associated with their higher positions.
For modern organisations, this means that we naturally belong to teams of around 8-12 people. As an organisation grows beyond 150, it becomes larger than the sized group that we naturally connect with. So, in large organisations we find that people have a greater connection to their department or division, rather than the overall organisation. It also means that heads of the departments might have a greater association with their role as head of department (of which they are the alpha individual) as against being a member of the executive team where they are merely a member.
This insight is useful to HR as advisers to the CEO. The CEO should be conscious that silo, or competitive behaviour, can easily emerge in human groups. With this understanding the CEO can monitor, and quickly challenge, behaviour from any individual members of their team that could compromise the group��,��"�s interests. The CEO can also consciously ensure that their behaviour does not facilitate this siloing.
Want to Know More?
Andrew O'Keeffe is co-founder of Hardwired Humans Pty Ltd (www.hardwiredhumans.com) and is contactable at andrewo@hardwiredhumans.com or on 0412 616 047.
PageUp Special Offer:
In-Talent
Integrating Talent Management:Optimising the Employee Life Cycle
PageUp is pleased to offer a complimentary 1-hour seminar to you.
Designed to be delivered internally to your HR team, this seminar explores how integrating your talent management process (Recruitment, Performance Management, Training and Development and Succession and Retention) will optimise your human capital and lengthen the employee life cycle.
To schedule your complimentary seminar please call PageUp��,��"�s consulting division on 02 8252 8252.
Organisations who schedule this seminar by 31 December 2007 will receive a complimentary whitepaper (valued at $295) on this topic.
Results��,��
��,�� of last month��,��"�s opinion poll ��,��oDo you currently use 360 degree feedback as part of your talent development strategy?��,��"� are in. 26% of respondents use 360 feedback across the entire organisation, 26% across some levels of the organisation only, 30% do not use it at all and 17% are unsure.
If you would like more information on this topic, please see our last newsletter, which is accessible from our website.
Opinion Poll - Vote now!
��,��"Do you currently have a formalised talent management strategy?��,�
Cast your vote now at www.pageuppeople.com
Website photos
If you would be interested in having your photos from around the world on the PageUp home page, please email them to enquiries@pageuppeople.com
Tell us what you think
We��,��"�d love to hear what you think of this issue!
Please send your comments, questions, and ideas for upcoming issues to us at: enquiries@pageuppeople.com
Your feedback matters to us!