Center for Effective Organizations

"Evidence, not intuition"

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:06:39 -0800

John Boudreau's latest book, Transformative HR, is the subject of a recent article in the USC News. Writer Julie Riggott notes that "Evidence, not intuition, guides effective human resource leadership." That reliance on evidence and the move to embrace evidence-based change is the extremely timely focus of Boudreau's book (which was written with Ravin Jesuthasan of Towers Watson). Read the full article here.

McDonald's, Workers over 60, and Optimizing Human Capital

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:27:59 -0800

In John Boudreau's current blog post on CFO.com, he writes about optimizing human capital inventory and how the 80-20 rule still applies. He talks about a McDonald's study that found higher customer satisfaction in its restaurants where there were employees who were 60+ years old. Read the entire post here.

Increased Recognition of the Importance of Analytics in HR

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:05:40 -0800

A recent article by Dave Crisp in the Canadian HR Reporter noted that more and more articles and reports are talking about the criticality of measurement and analytics in HR. CEO Research Director and Professor John Boudreau is listed as one of the voices calling for analytics to be afforded a central role in the HR function. Read the entire article here.

Webinar: Maximizing the Return on Your Survey and Measurement Work, 1/11 - Audio/Slides

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:15:00 -0800

Webinar Slides PDF

Click here for audio from the January 11 webinar

CEO Senior Research Scientist Alec Levenson spoke about Maximizing the Return on Your Survey and Measurement Work on January 11, 2012.

With all the attention and resources devoted to survey and measurement work, it's important to make sure you are maximizing the return on your HR investment. In this webinar, Alec addressed the tradeoffs involved in using off-the-shelf surveys and analytics tools that are currently popular in HR. He discussed making measures of employee engagement actionable and using benchmark surveys and analyses for deeper insights.

More questions about analytics, data, and decision making? Check out our upcoming Targeted Analytics workshop, with Alec and Gary Iverson of Intel!

It will be held in Los Angeles, February 22-24, 2012.

2012 Cohen Award Application Award Available

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 08:20:00 -0800

Applications are now available for the 2012 Susan G. Cohen Doctoral Research Award in Organization Design, Effectiveness, and Change.

CEO and the Organization Development and Change (ODC) division of the Academy of Management announce the Susan G. Cohen Research Award in Organization Design, Effectiveness, and Change. This award is offered in remembrance of our dear friend and colleague, Dr. Susan Cohen, who was a research scientist at CEO, in the Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, from 1988-2006.

The purpose of this award is to provide $2,500 in research funding to a doctoral student whose research work is compatible with the work that captivated Dr. Cohen throughout her career and will make a contribution to both academic theory and management practice. The award is to be used to support the completion of dissertation research.

Click for complete information and an application form.

Application Deadline: January 31, 2012, 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time

Please email Ursula Barlow (or call her at 213-740-9814) if you have any questions regarding the application process.

Holiday Shopping at Work?

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 09:26:34 -0800

Online shopping is firmly entrenched as a very convenient way to make purchases, especially during the holiday season, since we don't have to physically fight any crowds or vie for a parking space on the web. Yet online shopping during working hours takes a toll on worker productivity.

Author Mike Prokopeak discusses online shopping at work in the Talent Management article, "Holiday Shopping at Work: Much Ado about Nothing?" The article notes that policing online shopping is an impractical tactic for companies, but that communicating expectations for performance is a much more viable strategy. CEO Research Professor Theresa Welbourne was interviewed for the article. Read the entire article here.

"Measuring HOW We Do Business" - CEO Survey Collaboration

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:40:09 -0800

Findings from the survey CEO did in conjunction with LRN and the Boston Research Group in 2011 are described in "Measuring HOW We Do Business," written by Dov Seidman, in a recent post on Forbes.com.

Seidman writes that self-governed companies, which are organizations where all or most employees hold shared values seem to perform and innovate much better than other types of companies; unfortunately, this type of company is quite rare. He also notes that often, executives in the c-suite may think they are part of a self-governing organization even if it's not true. Read the entire post here for more insights from the survey.

Digital Darwinism and "Built to Change"

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:43:24 -0800

Built to Change, the book by Ed Lawler and Chris Worley, was cited in a recent article in the Washington Post on "Digital Darwinism and Why Brands Die." The article explored the impact of technology and the online world on commercial brands and consumer behavior. Read the article here.

Webinar: Stepping onto the Stage: Preparing Executives as Faculty for Your Executive Education Initiatives, 12/6 Audio/Slides

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 07:00:00 -0800

Webinar Slides PDF

Click here for audio from the December 6 webinar

Jay Conger (CEO) and Rosie Mackenzie (ConocoPhillips) discussed "Stepping onto the Stage: Preparing Executives as Faculty for Your Executive Education Initiatives." They talked about how they prepare executives to deliver a 'teachable point of view' as executive education faculty. While executives are today playing a greater role in executive education programs, they are often poorly leveraged as faculty. The webinar discussed the techniques necessary to prepare your own executives to transform themselves into teachers rather than preachers.

Employees Polled on What They Want in Their Next Position

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 16:04:44 -0800

Human Resource Executive Online reported on a recent survey done by Right Management, which asked workers what they were looking for in their next job. Mentoring, opportunity for advancement, and a good management team were some of the responses cited. In discussing the desire for a better management team, John Boudreau was quoted in the article. He noted that the quality of one's immediate supervisor is an important factor in an employee's engagement with the company. Read the entire article here.

Talent Forward Features Boudreau

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:25:06 -0800

John Boudreau contributed a thought piece to CIPD's website focusing on "Talent Forward" - considering future talent strategies and challenges to the field.

He writes on "Developing talent measurement insight" and the "virtual flood of numbers" that HR professionals increasingly have at their fingers, as well as four themes that are coming into play to impact the profession.

CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) is the largest HR professional body in Europe. (Note: The page is behind a paywall.)

Webinar: Current Issues and Emerging Practices in Performance Management,11/30 Audio/Slides

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:14:39 -0800

Webinar Slides PDF

Click here for audio from the November 30 webinar.

George Benson and Ed Lawler discussed the current state of performance management and some of the common issues that large organizations continue to struggle with on November 30. They reviewed findings from a series of conversations with leading practitioners and presented some new approaches they are using to tie goals to business strategy, balance evaluation and development, and give managers the tools they need to coach and improve performance.

2012 CEO Webinar Schedule

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 12:23:00 -0800

Join us for one or more of our upcoming 2012 webinars!

Please note that all webinars are scheduled to take place from 9-10 am Pacific Time (Los Angeles) unless otherwise noted. Audio files and PDFs of the slide decks will be posted after the webinar has occurred.

Many of these webinars are open to the public. All are at no cost to the participant.

January 11
Maximizing the Return on Your Survey and Measurement Work
Alec Levenson
Open to the public

February 7
Emerging Issues and Developments in Strategic HR
John Boudreau and Terry Gray
Open to members of our sponsor companies and HCEO participants

March 15
Performance Management
Affiliated CEO Research Scientist and Associate Professor George Benson
Open to HCEO members

April 23
The Future of HR
John Boudreau and Ian Ziskin
Open to the public

May 14
Integrating Business and Human Capital Strategy
Ian Ziskin
Open to members of our sponsor companies and HCEO members

May 22
Effective Human Resource Management: A Global Analysis
Ed Lawler and John Boudreau
Open to the public

June 11
A Talk with Alec Levenson
Open to HCEO members

July 9
New Topics in Organization Design
Sue Mohrman and Chris Worley
Open to members of our sponsor companies, HCEO members, and people in CEO's organization design community

August 15
Data Coaching
Theresa Welbourne and Lacey Leone McLaughlin
Open to the public

August 21
Lawler and Boudreau Talk About Their New Book and Survey Results
Ed Lawler and John Boudreau
Open to HCEO members

September 10
Strategic Partnership with Impact
John Boudreau
Open to the public

November 5
Agility and Change
Chris Worley and Sue Mohrman
Open to members of our sponsor companies, HCEO members, and people in CEO's organization design community

November 15
Talent/Leadership
Jay Conger
Open to the public

December 4
The HR Leader's Role in Talent Development
Ian Ziskin
Open to HCEO members

Boudreau in the Blogosphere

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 10:34:45 -0800

Catch up on John Boudreau's column in CFO.com.

Boudreau Speech at HR Technology Conference

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 10:03:27 -0800

ZDNet writer Brian Sommer heard CEO's John Boudreau give a talk about HR supply chains at the recent Las Vegas HR Technology Conference that was organized by Human Resource Executive in October, 2011. In his article, Sommer focused on Boudreau's comments comparing talent management to a supply chain in any other area of an organization, and how current HR practices may not be using "supply chain thinking" to how they deal with talent. Read the entire post here.