Employee Engagement

Handbook for Strategic HR: New Book Coming in November

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I’m delighted to announce that November 28, 2012 is the release date for Handbook for Strategic HR: Best Practices in Organization Development from the OD Network.

This volume draws on the best thinking on strategic Human Resources from the chapter on Change Management.

Here’s the blurb about the book from Amazon:

The role of human resources is no longer limited to hiring, managing compensation, and ensuring compliance. Since the 1990s, a transformation has occurred. Companies are calling upon a new breed of HR professionals to behave as organization development consultants, helping to determine priorities in running the business, design how work gets done, craft strategy, and shape culture.

Making Organizational Networks a Force for Learning & Innovation

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Social networks are hot topics these days. But the allure of Facebook and LinkedIn also holds a trap: they can lure us into thinking that building and maintaining our connections ties is simply a matter of using our smart phones to “bring people to the square” (as in the Arab Spring), communicating through Twitter, or attending the latest networking meeting.

To make informal networks a force for institutional learning and innovation, we must get beyond the idea that network creation is finding each other in the virtual hallways of social media. We need to bring focus to our networks, identify the value we wish to mine from them, align around that imperative, and then take joint action to pilot and perfect new products and services.

Change Leadership: How to Make the Change Stick

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This excellent, undervalued article should get more attention. According to Grenny, Maxfield, & Shimberg in MIT Sloan Management Review, applying 4 or more of the following helps increase the likelihood by ten times that the change will stick.

Their model says that there are three ways to influence: at the individual, social, or structural level. Then, there are two ways to engage people: through motivation (helping them gain motivation for the change) or through ability (helping them gain the skills needed to support the change). All together, this creates six ways to influence change. Using four or more increases the likelihood of success.

Talent Management for CIOs: Learning from IT Networks about Organizational Networks

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Organization Network Analysis

“It’s not the technical stuff that worries me. It’s the people.”

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this from IT leaders. They feel confident with the infrastructure, budgeting, project delivery, support, and project management aspects of their jobs. It’s the people stuff that does them in.

It’s not surprising. People are annoyingly complex, creative, and stubborn creatures who continually find ways to do new and interesting things (when you don’t want them to) or resist change (when you want them to change). However, most IT people already have a hidden asset to help them manage people: their understanding of networks.

Who’s at Risk?: Evaluating Burnout through Organizational Networks

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Burnout - iStock

It’s your turn to make the decision.

In this 1-page case study on Board Development, a nonprofit organization needs to find the rising stars among its volunteer pool and identify who’s at risk for being over-burdened. You have the volunteer structure, the volunteers’ work patterns, and organizational networks data.

Who do you think is at risk?

Free Team Communication Activity: Learning from Organizational Networks

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Networks at Play is a short experiential activity that introduces participants to the concepts of hidden social networks and of critical connectors. It’s a fun, fast way to help participants understand how information flows in teams and how networks affect effective communication. We’re proud to announce that “Networks at Play” was just published in the 2011 Pfeiffer Consulting Annual. For your free copy, click here (PDF).

Measuring the Intangible through Organizational Networks

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There are many ways to evaluate culture, collaboration, employee morale, team performance, and the impact of restructuring. But it’s difficult to measure all five at once without over-stressing the organization. The National Braille Press successfully used organizational networks and network analysis to evaluate its progress and identify simple but effective improvement actions. Read National Braille Press White Paper to find out how they did it.

Speed Coaching: A Fun Jumpstart for Collaboration at Work

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How can 40 people share expertise in meaningful ways in just 30 minutes? With speed coaching, of course! This staple from our training programs helps people gain real-time assistance with on-the-job challenges. It’s been used successfully in the financial services, pharmaceutical, insurance, technology, and education industries. This Speed Coaching article tells you exactly how to replicate speed coaching in your organization.

Check it out if you need an innovative, easy way to:

  • Break the ice during community of practice meetings.
  • Help people clear their heads and focus before beginning a meeting.
  • Solve small problems at the beginning of project team meetings.

Is your strategy stuck in the 20th century?

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