Strategic Human Capital Management (HCM) Blog

Ho! What a great news for Montreal! I've been ...

2020-03-02T15:59:49.694+00:00

Ho! What a great news for Montreal! I've been following you for years and I will definitely be in the room to hear your speach.
Au plaisir de vous entendre!

Andree

Jon, nicely put. It’s absolutely true that the “ru...

2013-04-12T12:32:18.272+01:00

Jon, nicely put. It’s absolutely true that the “rules” of engagement are evolving – especially as the new generation workforce, the Millennials, come on stream. I particularly agree with points 3 and 4. My own experience as leader of an international technology company is that people thrive when they are happily engaged at work. And this comes from setting a challenge, giving the support to achieve it, and the knowledge that success will bring recognition and that failure will not bring blame. I look forward to hearing more.

Well said. Rules are problematic around engagement...

2013-04-10T22:23:36.563+01:00

Well said. Rules are problematic around engagement and I would go with guidelines or even invitations.

>>> But I agree with most - particularly ...

2013-03-25T16:06:08.712+00:00

>>>
But I agree with most - particularly the need to change the language - a point I often make to HR (our desire to talk the language of business i.e. finance is at odds with the shift in the language of business to become more people shaped - there's a big risk of these two ships missing each other in the night).
<<<

Hi Jon, surely it's possible, or at least desirable for people-shaped language to also be the language of business and finance i.e. outcome/ROI aware?

Surely this is a case of both ships aiming to see each other, rather than missing each other in the night?

Hi Jon, thank you for the review. If you had one b...

2013-02-27T14:23:16.342+00:00

Hi Jon, thank you for the review. If you had one book on HR metrics (or workforce analytics) to recommend to an HR professionnal what would it be?

Not "peoples'" but "people'...

2013-02-27T04:14:20.147+00:00

Not "peoples'" but "people's".

Jon, I agree that we need cultural change for lear...

2013-02-04T12:49:50.703+00:00

Jon, I agree that we need cultural change for learning to succeed at work but I’m not sure that embedding learning into work prevents the bigger picture learning and reflection that you mention?. Perhaps we need both? To learn as part of work but also to reflect on what might be in the future. The real issue, to my mind, is being able to provide the time and space for that to happen.

Jon, it’s interesting that you are positive about ...

2013-01-23T15:52:45.644+00:00

Jon, it’s interesting that you are positive about Google Plus communities especially when you’re choosy about your social media tools. I think this demonstrates several things. First, different tools suit different things. Second, social networking works best when the tool is easy to use, is already populated with at least some of your network, and provides value. Too often at work we ask people to use the wrong tool, set up in ways that aren’t user friendly and don’t make them valuable enough - and then we wonder why they fail. I’ll be spending more time on Google Plus communities this year and look forward to seeing you there.

Thanks Michael, yes, I agree, and I think the basi...

2012-12-18T21:41:05.962+00:00

Thanks Michael, yes, I agree, and I think the basis for purpose will differ from person to person, and organisation to organisation - but we absolutely need to help our employees find it.

Thanks Ara - I think fun is a key one for many, possibly most, people and organisations. I was a HRD at Ernst & Young when we developed some new values (actually our execs developed them for us) and one of these was fun - which just wasn't what E&Y was about, and reduced resonance with not just this, but the other values too.

So I do think it depends.

And yes, Ara, I'd noticed your new job title - an interesting one indeed!

Thanks very much for your comments.

Thanks John, I'm always looking to improve...

2012-12-18T21:39:29.914+00:00

Thanks John, I'm always looking to improve...

Jon this is a good list but there seems to be one ...

2012-12-18T17:45:05.941+00:00

Jon this is a good list but there seems to be one action missing.... a sense of fun. I’m not being trite when I say lists are fine and management techniques essential but what fires up people to get out of the bed in the morning and stay with an organization is that they actually enjoy what they are doing. As the CEO of a large international technology company I took the decision to focus on this some time ago and have found increased productivity and a better working atmosphere in the office. And also I’ve given myself a new job title to match: Chief Happiness Officer and CEO.

a sense of purpose is absolutely key. whether that...

2012-12-17T17:42:17.035+00:00

a sense of purpose is absolutely key. whether that's about what you do (job) vs the organisation is perhaps a secondary issue. Without helping people find purpose we miss the reason for getting up in the morning!

Jon, it’s great to see recognition of the fact tha...

2012-12-12T10:21:48.376+00:00

Jon, it’s great to see recognition of the fact that social learning is not just about people sharing and learning faster initially but is also about picking up and revisiting what they have learnt after their initial learning. This is the natural way in which we accomplish “the spaced learning” that good training aims to emulate.

It is good when people spend time on improving wha...

2012-12-04T09:31:22.964+00:00

It is good when people spend time on improving what they do instead of figuring out how other people should be fixed. The amount of advice on how others should improve dwarfs that on how I/we should improve. Trying to actual improve yourself you have to deal with all the challenges while if you just tell others you let them cope with it.

"even better to see them focusing more deeply on innovation within HR"

Thanks Sandrine. It is interesting, isn't it....

2012-12-02T10:16:08.543+00:00

Thanks Sandrine. It is interesting, isn't it... comments are shares are important, and I would love to get more too. Having said that, I don't think there's much relationship between the insight provided by some blogs and the extent to which others are shared (though TLNT, Blogging for Jobs and FOT are great examples of both). I'd rather have a blog that influences HR strategies in leading organisations than one which is widely tweeted. And I'd put Compensation Insider in that insight based category too - so I'd be very proud of what you're already achieving.

Congratulations Jon ! I saw the Bamboo HR article ...

2012-11-30T16:35:20.250+00:00

Congratulations Jon !
I saw the Bamboo HR article too and was surprised by the low levels of interaction from readers except maybe for the top 2 blogs of the list - and that's for a list, as you mention, mostly made of US blogs and readers, who are supposed to be more engaged in social media activities.
It made me feel better about the limited comments and shares I get on my blog too ;-)

Hi Fezi, top of my head... Gary Hamel Future of M...

2012-11-21T15:02:31.838+00:00

Hi Fezi, top of my head...

Gary Hamel Future of Management
Colin Price Beyond Performance
Lynda Gratton Living Strategy (bit of an old one)

Also see: http://strategic-hcm.blogspot.com/search/label/Book%20review

I don't agree with all of the ones on this list, but they've all provoked me into blogging - which says something!

Cheers Doug, cheers Phil - yep, don't disagree...

2012-11-21T14:57:19.717+00:00

Cheers Doug, cheers Phil - yep, don't disagree (but still think it was written in a very 1.0 sort of way)

Hi John, Love your blog!!! critical and straight ...

2012-11-21T01:43:28.601+00:00

Hi John,

Love your blog!!! critical and straight forward. Just had your kindle ebook version.

Would you please share your top 3 HR favorite books?

Regards,

Fezi

Hi jon, as someone said above it was never meant t...

2012-11-20T14:16:18.358+00:00

Hi jon, as someone said above it was never meant to be the one thing, it was meant to be something that you can stand up and show to the doubters, the people who really don't believe this works. At the first meeting of the group it was clear this was what was needed..... I gave an anecdote about presenting this promotion of engagement stuff to the NHS, and someone on the graduate programme said, 'time is money and this isn't going to generate any money, but use plenty of time' This is designed to show them that it does generate money, and that HR1.0 which they had learnt alot of at uni, simply doesnt do it anymore.

Thanks John, I'm really glad to know this work...

2012-11-19T23:06:55.093+00:00

Thanks John, I'm really glad to know this worked for you. An earlier draft of this post had actually added something to my comment about banks that went something like "at least those slightly more functional parts of them". I took it out as the early draft definitely was a rant! And I do need some organisations that will still have me as a consultant, after all!

Jon This is a fabulous post. Maybe it's my ag...

2012-11-19T21:10:18.097+00:00

Jon
This is a fabulous post. Maybe it's my age, but it didn't seem like a rant to me - the concept that Patten et al live in a world so divorced from reality that getting a guaranteed payoff if you're fired is written into your contract seems normal is astounding. In fact, (whisper this) I'd take a year's cash (considerably less than Entwistle) tomorrow - in fact I might be tempted to mess something up on purpose (just kidding).
I suspect engagement at the banks might be higher than you imagine though - at least amongst the wrongdoers - that's part of the issue, not a lack of engagement, but being engaged in things that were (and are) damaging.

Nick - you are right that is how I sometimes descr...

2012-11-18T09:04:36.748+00:00

Nick - you are right that is how I sometimes describe myself in relation to #E4S, in that capacity I think it is important to challenge ourselves often.

Jon, I don't think being a critical friend and a member are mutually exclusive.

Cheers - DOug

Thanks Jo, Graham - I think you're spot on wit...

2012-11-16T15:03:34.389+00:00

Thanks Jo, Graham - I think you're spot on with this Graham. Cheers, Jon

That's a great point Paul, and I do understand...

2012-11-16T10:36:55.367+00:00

That's a great point Paul, and I do understand the BBC must be a particularly complex environment to work in because of this dual commercial and editorial focus. And I'm not really trying to criticise the BBC particularly - I just feel a bit hot under the collar about Entwistle's payout and I realise that's come out quite strongly - so the post is a bit of a rant. But the real point is supposed to be simply that we need to recognise that it is what we do as leaders, in most organisations, that creates disengagement - this isn't something which is innate within our workforces.

Just on the BBC however, I do think it's a shame that the freedom to challenge was slightly moderated by trying to reduce the freedom to tweet. Personally, I think it'd be great if the BBC had allowed or was even encouraging employees to contribute to the public debate about what's been going on in their organisation. The debate's out there anyway, so their employees might as well join in.

That's why I made the other point about Engage for Success. The movement doesn't employ me, but I'm still part of it. Their (meaning the people on the main task force) tolerance of my internal criticism has been a breath of fresh air, and has made me feel even more committed to the movement.

So yes, I totally agree with your final sentence too.

Thanks for the comment! Cheers, Jon