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Demands of the new economy place premiums on high-involvement and participatory work settings that rally the knowledge, experience and commitment of all members.

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You've probably heard someone in a leadership position say, "Our employees are our greatest asset," at one time or another. While most of us would agree (I mean, who wouldn't??), what does it actually mean when we refer to people as "assets"? Does this mean they have economic value like buildings, inventory, or equipment? Renovations to a building will generally increase the building's value, and inventory that sits on a shelf for months will generally decrease in value. But how do you impact the value of an intangible asset like an employee?

The practice of human capital management, or "HCM" for short, has become increasingly prevalent in the last few decades, for a couple of reasons.

One is that people recognize that an organization's workforce is its greatest asset.

The second, however, is that for many companies the cost of their workforce is often their greatest expense. As a result, HCM has become the driving force behind many new business practices, a growing abundance of human capital management software solutions, and an emphasis on the concept of human capital as a competitive advantage.

The goal of this article is to educate you on the essentials of what HCM is and why it's important, using simple terminology and straightforward business concepts.

Maybe you're an HR professional and want to educate yourself or your colleagues, or perhaps you're the leader, owner, or founder of a startup or small business. Either way, this will equip you with the basic fundamentals of HCM and enable you to get started on practicing it in your own organization.

What is Human Capital Management (HCM)?

To understand HCM, let's first take a step back and look at what "human capital" actually means.

Human capital is the economic value that comes from things like the worker's experience, skills, knowledge, and abilities.

Human capital is an intangible asset, unlike tangible assets like buildings and equipment. However, both tangible and intangible assets, like human capital, have economic value.

Examples of other human capital assets that bring economic value include:

the employee's physical and mental health;

personal values and beliefs;

work ethic;

education

Human capital, like other forms of capital, can be measured and developed and delivers a return on investment (ROI).

While referring to human beings and employees as "capital" might seem harsh-and some joke about the similarity between the words "capital" and "cattle"-it can actually help an organization shift it's perspective and view employees as an asset that can increase in value. Organizations that do this focus on activities such as learning and development initiatives, health and well-being programs, and specialized skills development, which brings rewards to both the individual employee and the organization.

So what is human capital management?

Human capital management, or "HCM" for short, is the collection of organizational practices related to the acquisition, management, and development of the human workforce-or human capital-within an organization.

The goal of HCM is to optimize and maximize the economic, or business, value of an organization's human capital in order to gain a competitive advantage. Effective human capital management enables the organization to successfully pursue human capital initiatives.

What are human capital initiatives?

In his book, " Human Capital Management: Leveraging Your Workforce for a Competitive Advantage", author Mark Salsbury writes, "human capital initiatives (HCIs) are large-scale goals or objectives an organization chooses to pursue that are heavily dependent and reliant on the people of the organization."

Salsbury also points out that HCI's are strategic, not tactical, and goes on to provide several examples, as follows:

Improve performance culture

Lean management / Six Sigma

Integration of an acquisition or merger

Build a global mindset

Global talent acquisition/management

New business model (often including reorganizations)

Re-engineer a functional discipline (Sales, Marketing, etc.)

While this is a very useful list, many of these are large initiatives that require significant time and resources, and that are applicable only to larger, well-established organizations.

Certainly, most startups and early-stage companies aren't concerning themselves with global or international human capital initiatives. For founders, CEOs, and leaders within these organizations, it's important to note that HCI's are relative to the size of the business.

Looking back at Salsbury's definition, he talks about "large-scale goals or objectives". Depending on what your business looks like, "large-scale" might be an initiative that affects all five employees in your organization.

Following are some examples of HCIs that you might find in a smaller organization:

Create and deploy organizational vision and values

Create a new employee orientation and onboarding process

Raise investment funds to hire new software developers

Create new business functions (e.g. HR) and hire the first-team employee

Develop or purchase employee data management system

Establish regular communication practices with employees

As you can see, all of these HCIs require the people in the organization to make them happen, and will ultimately contribute in some way to the acquisition, management, and/or development of the organization's human capital.

How is HCM different from Human Resources Management?

Human capital management and human resources management, or "HRM" for short, are closely tied to each other but are not the same thing.

HCM goals

The goal of effective HCM is to optimize and maximize the value and ROI of the human capital (employees) in an organization.

HRM goals

The goal of HRM, on the other hand, is to create and manage the systems, processes, and policies required to hire, train, retain, and enable employees to do their jobs.

HCM vs HRM

The Charter Institute for Personnel and Development in London offers a distinction between the two:

"Human capital management is comprehensive because it includes not only human resource (HR) practices, but also other work practices and people management strategies that increase organizational performance. The important distinction between human resource management and human capital management is that human capital extends well beyond the HR function to encompass the total people strategy of the organization. Human capital is owned by all of the business leaders and resides with everyone in the organization."

Effective human capital management usually requires effective human resource management practices-talent management, workforce management, proper benefits administration, succession planning, etc.

As a result, HCM systems and activities are often managed by the organization's Human Resources (HR) department. In organizations without a professional, dedicated HR team or individual, HCM often falls to a senior leader who is responsible for HR activities.

Here's a graphic that sums up how HCM and HRM are different:

Human capital extends well beyond the HR function to encompass the total people strategy of the organization.

What is a human capital management system?

A human capital management system is the collective business practices, HR processes, and technologies that enable an organization's human capital to be acquired, managed, and developed in an organized manner, and on a large scale.

An HCM system takes a broad, organization-wide view of human capital. While individual managers, teams, and departments may have certain human capital management practices specific to them, in organizations with an established HCM system these practices are often guided by broader, organization-wide practices.

For example, new employees in an engineering team may receive training on certain team-specific software tools when they start, but that training would just be one element of a broader on-boarding program that every new employee in the organization would go through.

Core Elements of A Human Capital Management System

These are the core elements required for a human capital management system. I've explained them in more detail below the graphic:

1. Organizational vision and values: as with many organizational growth and development practices, developing an HCM system starts with defining and understanding your company's purpose (vision) and core beliefs (values). These directly impact the workplace culture, how people behave, and the overall importance of the human capital in your organization.

2. Strategic Goals and objectives: whether they're quarterly or annual goals, or five-year BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals), your human capital initiatives will often be driven by your organization's specific, measurable, and time-bound objectives. For example, a goal to "increase your annual employee engagement scores by X%" will drive specific HCIs that are managed within your human capital management system. This will, in turn, drive a specific set of practices to achieve those goals.

3. HCM leadership team: like any system, HCM needs to be managed by people. Because of the far-reaching impact of human capital initiatives, the HCM team will typically be cross-functional, with leaders from across the organization. In organizations with a dedicated human resources function, the most senior leader in the HR department (e.g. Chief Human Resource Officer, VP of HR) will often drive HCM initiatives. In smaller organizations, this responsibility would fall to a senior executive (e.g. CEO, COO).

4. Data management and support: successful HCM requires human capital data for decision-making-in order to manage, take action on, and measure the results of human capital initiatives. There are many types of employee-related data that can be captured, stored, and made available in workforce analytics, such as employee demographics; compensation and benefits; payroll; time and attendance; performance management; and skills training and development. This data can be managed using anything from an Excel spreadsheet to an enterprise-level HCM software solution or HRIS.

These elements may sound huge, intimidating, and complex, but they don't have to be. Any size of the company, from early-stage startup businesses to large, well-established ones, can create an HCM system.

For example, maybe your HCM system consists of an Excel spreadsheet for managing employee data and quarterly HCM team meetings where you review ongoing human capital initiatives. The key is to start somewhere, even if it's small, to build the rhythms and habits necessary for long-term human capital management success.

Why is human capital management important?

At this point you should hopefully have a better understanding of what human capital management is, but why does it matter? What is human capital management important?

Smart leaders are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of human capital management as a competitive advantage. The data shows that companies that focus on engagement, well-being, company culture, and employee development in their organization tend to outperform their competitors.

In an article by App Economy, they analyzed Glassdoor's 2019 rankings of the " best places to work ", which Glassdoor has been doing every year since 2009:

"Looking into the 20 best-ranked public companies over 10 years, 60% have beaten the S&P 500, and 91% had positive returns up to June 2019." App Economy also noted that "the best places to work that trade publicly have more than doubled the returns of the S&P 500 over the last 10 years."

The effective utilization and engagement of an organization's human capital have also been proven to have a direct impact on a wide range of organizational KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), including productivity, employee turnover, product quality, work safety, and customer satisfaction.

The Gallup organization's 2017 State of the Global Workplace report ties employee engagement-a feeling of being highly involved and enthusiastic about their work and workplace-to a wide variety of business outcomes and the overall performance of the workplace culture. They reported that most employees are not engaged; worldwide, the percentage of adults who work full time for an employer and are engaged at work is just 15%.

The report also offers a number of compelling statistics that show how business units in the top quartile of global employee engagement perform versus those in the bottom quartile.

Higher productivity: 41% lower absenteeism and 17% higher productivity

Lower turnover: in organizations with high employee turnover, highly engaged business units achieve 24% lower turnover

Better product quality: highly engaged business units experience 40% fewer quality incidents (defects).

Better customer experience: highly engaged business units achieve 10% higher customer metrics and 20% higher sales.

Effective human capital management is not only critical for ensuring the health and success of your business but to enable you to compete in an increasingly competitive world.

By making HCM a priority you will be able to attract, retain, and engage the talented, high-performing people you need to be successful, from finding the right talent, to onboarding and supporting the employee experience throughout the employee life cycle.

What do you think?

How are you focusing on and prioritizing the development of the people in your organization?

What people, management processes, and practices do you already have in place that will help get you on your way to building a human capital management system? Which ones are you missing and working on next?

Does your organization have a vision (purpose) and set of objectives that guide your approach to your people-your "human capital"?Weigh in on these questions in the comments below and subscribe to the People Managing People newsletter to stay up to date with the latest thinking in HR from leadership and management experts from around the world.

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What Is Human Capital Management & Why Is It Important? - People Managing People

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You've probably heard someone in a leadership position say, "Our employees are our greatest asset," at one time or another. While most of us would agree (I mean, who wouldn't??), what does it actually mean when we refer to people as "assets"? Does this mean they have economic value like buildings, inventory, or equipment?

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Traditional hierarchical structures with "do as I say" bosses are proving too slow, conservative, and costly to do well in today's competitive environments.

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Most of us grew up with a management style that is so firmly embedded in our culture, we're not even aware of it. We just think of it as "management," not as a particular management style -- but it is! It is the command-and-control style of management, and it hurts us every day.

Command-and-control management relies on rules like these, the same ones we have heard and seen in action since we were children:

* I'm the manager, so I make the rules.

* Your job is to do what I say.

* If you mess up, I'll let you know about it.

* If you don't hear from me, that means you're doing fine.

* You'd better be careful not to make a mistake, or cross me!

* Respect for the boss is the most important attribute you can demonstrate.

* I make the policies, and you follow them.

This style of management may have worked well during the days of the Roman Empire and maybe even during the Industrial Revolution, but we are in the Knowledge Economy now! Companies don't win just by executing perfectly. They have to have new ideas. They have to innovate to stay in business, much less to prosper. You don't get innovation by bringing the hammer down on your employees.

Old-school command-and-control managers keep track of employees' missteps and infractions. They make people afraid to breathe wrong when they should be saying "Try stuff! If it fails, we'll know not to try it again, or to try it differently the next time." My old boss always told us "I don't have time to tell you what to do. You know better than I do what to do, anyway!"

That's how people grow -- not by being hemmed in with rules and policies designed to keep people coloring inside the lines, but by coloring outside the lines and collaborating to generate better solutions together than they could do individually.

Command-and-control management is still popular with dinosaur companies whose market share dwindles every day. Autocratic managers believe that nobody they could ever hire will be as smart as they are. They hurt their organizations, its customers and their shareholders, but their mantra is "It's my way or the highway!"

If you work in a dinosaur organization that policies its employees to death, it can hurt your health. You owe it yourself to look around and see who else is hiring. You can launch a stealth job search and get a new job before you quit the old one. It takes time and energy but you will be amazed to see how your mojo grows during your stealth job search process.

People tell us "The minute I had my first job interview in my stealth job search, my confidence grew. I told the recruiter that I had to interview after hours because I couldn't leave my current job to go to the interview, and she understood. On the interview, I was able to talk about why I want to leave without bashing my current workplace. I talked about needing more challenges and wanting to stretch my muscles. It felt great to have that conversation!"

The old working world is going away, and the organizations that are fastest to get the memo and shift their cultures are the ones who will keep growing and innovating over the next thirty years. The organizations who pretend it's still 1955 will lose talent and lose customers. We have to wake up and realize that our ability to snag talented people and hang onto them is our only sustainable competitive advantage -- but it's an incredible benefit to have!

I worked for a company called U.S. Robotics as we grew from 100 employees to close to ten thousand folks all over the world. We hired tons of people through trust, not fear. We did not poke and prod and measure our employees on silly metrics that don't matter. In a decade we fired two or three people for attendance problems -- no more than that. People rise up when they are treated like adults. That is what command-and-control managers don't understand.

If you are new to Leading with a Human Voice, here are steps to try:

* Look at your Employee Handbook and your policy manual, and start conversations about them. Do you really need all the policies and rules you've got? Any rule that springs from fear ("Here is a terrible thing that happened once and we want it never to happen again!") is a waste of your limited time and energy and a very bad message to send to your employees about the mutual trust in your organization. Certain policies are required by law, but most of our Employee Handbooks and policy manuals could disappear tomorrow.

* At every staff meeting and training session, talk about your company culture. Talk about issues that need to be aired instead of pushing them under the rug. Let people express their feelings. Get everything out in the open.

* If your CEO or President is stuck in the past, show him or her this column to introduce him or her to the notion that command-and-control management is the leadership equivalent of a fax machine. Its days are done!

* Soften your recruiting process to make it less of a sifting-and-sorting, clerical ordeal and more of a human process. Get your interviewers off the script and into organic conversations about what your company is trying to do and why it needs help.

* Teach your managers not to write people up and put them on probation when something goes wrong, but to explore to find out where the energetic disturbance is that is slowing your company down or causing conflict. Ditch your Progressive Discipline policy and begin to problem-solve with your employees all the time. See how your culture gets nimbler, friendlier and more responsive to your customers' needs!

It's a new day, and the Human Workplace is already here. You can help your organization step into the new-millennium world of work, no matter what your position is. You can start conversations about culture, fear and trust. Your muscles will grow when you do!

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Command-And-Control Management Is For Dinosaurs

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Most of us grew up with a management style that is so firmly embedded in our culture, we're not even aware of it. We just think of it as "management," not as a particular management style -- but it is! It is the command-and-control style of management, and it hurts us every day.

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Todays organizations are less vertical and more horizontal in focus; they are increasignly drven by teamwork that pools talents for creative problem solving.

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You might dread building teamwork, and you might be thinking, is teamwork important for my business? While trust falls, and escape rooms might seem like a waste of time, the truth is building teamwork is essential for businesses focused on success.

When your team works together, they can achieve way more than they ever could on their own.

Think about your biggest wins over the last year.

Chances are, it wasn't just the work of one employee. A teammate probably helped brainstorm with the person working on the idea, gave them feedback that made it even better, or worked with them side by side to execute it.

Teamwork allows employees with diverse skills, experiences, and ways of thinking to combine their skills and efforts and create new concepts and fresh ideas for the same goal.

So, the next time you wonder if the whole team needs to do another team building exercise, embrace the thought.

Those diverse skills and shared experiences are what turn lone team members into a high-functioning team that can do remarkable things together.

Now, let's get into the importance of teamwork...

Why is teamwork important in the workplace?

Teamwork in the workplace is essential for many reasons. The importance of teamwork links to many benefits for your business.

Here are some key reasons for the importance of teamwork in the workplace:

Working together can improve efficiency and productivity

If you split difficult tasks and share responsibilities, teams can do more in less time and make fewer mistakes.

It's hard to find one employee who is a jack of all trades, but when a team works together, they can benefit from each other's skills.

Teamwork leads to better outcomes and effectiveness

Multiple minds working on difficult tasks or projects will achieve better results and offer different solutions than individuals working alone. Team members are also able to avoid future errors and gain insight from differing perspectives.

Teamwork enhances personal growth and job satisfaction

Working in a team can bring about new skill sets, reduce stress, lead to happier employees, and create a supportive work environment. Which in turn can reduce employee turnover.

Teamwork in the workplace fosters creativity

Collaboration fuels creativity by combining differing perspectives and experiences to generate innovative solutions.

Teams innovate faster

When tackling a task or problem, a team approach can lead to faster and deeper reactive innovation due to the benefit of multiple perspectives, skill sets, and experiences.

Teamwork creates innovative ideas

Teamwork among a diverse group of employees will almost always reveal new ideas. The differing ages, backgrounds, skills, and experience levels of a team means that there's always a unique perspective just waiting to be heard.

Teamwork can create healthy competition

Healthy competition between team members inspires your employees to work their best. Provided the right rewards are in place to promote competition, team performance can keep improving.

Teamwork promotes strong working relationships

When employees work together and succeed as a team, they form bonds that turn into trust and friendship. It's human nature. And it's great for your business since employees who like and trust each other are more likely to communicate well with each other.

Teamwork promotes workplace synergy

Synergy occurs when multiple groups work towards a common goal. It's crucial for business growth and directly reflects the cooperation between workers. Building a strong team that communicates clearly, innovates, and perseveres fosters high-quality workplace synergy.

Teams self monitor

Performing tasks alone may give one control, but it could also lead to overlooking inefficiencies. Being part of a team allows for shared responsibility, observation of each other's work, and the ability to aid in improving performance when needed. A team that works efficiently can self monitor without the need for management intervention.

The importance of teamwork cannot be stressed enough. In today's world, most jobs involve interacting with other employees, so, being able to perform well with all employees is key to attaining growth and success.

Fostering a collaborative team environment for effective teamwork

To foster a collaborative team environment, start by clearly communicating your business's mission and goals. Explain to the individual members of your team how their roles contribute to the overall vision. This helps motivate them to work together by showing how collaboration benefits everyone.

Encourage creativity and innovation. Ask open-ended questions to get the discussion flowing. Provide opportunities for brainstorming without judgment. New and innovative ideas are more likely to emerge when team members feel empowered to think outside the box.

Build trust through honesty and transparency. Share information that impacts the team and invite your employees to share their input. When employees feel involved and valued, they are more willing to cooperate. Also, admit your own mistakes and limitations. Model the kind of openness you want to see.

Promote psychological safety. Foster an environment where employees feel comfortable voicing opinions, asking questions, and proposing solutions without fear of embarrassment. Make it clear that all contributions are welcome. Criticise ideas, not individual employees.

Provide emotional support. When working in a team the workload can be distributed more evenly and employees support each other to avoid burnout and a stressful working environment. Establishing a culture where each employee feels a strong sense of belonging and empowerment is key.

Break down barriers between teams and departments. Encourage your employees to look for common goals and ways to support each other. Cross-functional collaboration leads to greater creativity, productivity, and innovation.

Celebrate wins together. Nothing brings a team together quite like shared success and accomplishment. Take time to recognise and reward each team member for their efforts. Even small wins deserve recognition.

A collaborative team environment depends on open communication, psychological safety, shared purpose, and mutual support.

Sometimes though, it doesn't matter how hard you try to build teamwork in your business, some personalities just won't mesh.

That doesn't mean you have to forget about the importance of teamwork, nor does it mean that you have to start letting employees go. It could be as simple as switching up which employees work with who day in and day out.

The challenges of teamwork in your business

While teamwork is essential in the workplace, it can come with some problems. When collaboration goes wrong, the results can be frustrating and counterproductive. Here are some of the common teamwork issues and how to overcome them:

Imbalance in work allocation

It's all too easy for some team members to end up with an unfair share of the work. This can happen if responsibilities aren't clearly defined, strong personalities dominate, or some members are more proactive.

The solution is to openly discuss workloads, set clear expectations for each role, and check-in regularly to ensure balance. If one team member is struggling, offer help right away.

Lack of communication

Poor communication is one of the biggest obstacles to teamwork. When information isn't shared effectively, people feel out of the loop, duplicate work, or go in different directions.

To combat this, schedule regular meetings or calls to touch base. Be transparent by sharing important updates, questions or concerns with the whole team, not just certain individuals.

Make time for both social interaction and collaborative work - making sure your employees' bond will open the lines of communication.

Too many team members

Large teams can be difficult to manage and coordinate. Employees may feel less personally responsible or that their contributions don't matter as much.

For complex projects, break a big team into smaller subgroups that each focus on a specific part before coming together again. Try to connect with each employee directly to keep everyone engaged.

With work, communication and a willingness to understand different perspectives and fresh ideas, your employees can overcome new challenges and achieve amazing outcomes together. But it starts with recognising the issues you face and planning to resolve them.

Essential skills for effective teams

Effective teamwork is all about great team communication within a diverse team. An effective team that communicates openly and honestly builds trust, which is essential for productivity and success.

Four key communication skills for an effective team

1. Active listening:

Pay attention to your employees and be open to their ideas. Make eye contact, don't interrupt, and ask questions to make sure you understand their perspectives.

2. Collaboration:

Work together cooperatively and be willing to compromise when needed. Share information and resources with your employees freely. Discuss challenges and opportunities openly to find the best solutions.

3. Giving constructive feedback:

Supply helpful feedback to build your staff members up, not tear them down. Focus on specific behaviours and actions, not personal attacks.

Offer alternative solutions and ways to improve. When you create a safe space where individuals can work together as a team without the fear of criticism, new ideas and perspectives will start to flow.

4. Expressing appreciation:

Regularly express appreciation and recognition for all your employees' contributions. Say "thank you" and give compliments to build good rapport and motivation.

As mentioned above when employees work together, they achieve a high-level job satisfaction because of improved efficiency and success.

So, implementing these key communication skills into your business can help build effective teamwork in your workplace.

That in turn builds good relationships that make work more enjoyable and creates a positive and supportive work environment where everyone can thrive.

Effective teamwork with happy employees is well worth the effort.

Go the extra mile with BrightHR

Now you know the importance of teamwork and sure teamwork may have its challenges, but with the right mindset and strategies, you can build an effective, motivated team poised for success.

There should be no reason for you to question the importance of teamwork, but if you're still not convinced...

For your own benefit and your business just remember that good teamwork provides many benefits for productivity, innovation, problem-solving, and employee wellbeing.

Fostering a culture of collaboration leads to improved efficiency, a motivated, skilled workforce and improved business outcomes.

Want to go that extra mile? BrightHR has the resources to help you manage your team in and out of the office. Plus, loads of other benefits from modernised rota planning to recruitment support to help you find the best talent for your team.

See for yourself how teamwork really does make the dream work.

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The Importance of Teamwork in the Workplace | BrightHR

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Teamwork improves workplace culture. BrightBase has 6 reasons why teamwork is critical to a business's success. Read them and enhance your office ethos.

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Organizations are networked for intense real-time communication and coordination, internally among parts and externally with partners, contractors, suppliers, and customers.

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Anyone who hopes to hit the ground running in a new organization must first cultivate allies - a network of people who can provide the information, resources and support needed to succeed. But few onboarding programs offer concrete advice on how to build those all-important connections.

Our research over the past decade shows that replicating the network of an established employee in a strong culture typically takes three to five years. But recently we began to wonder if there was a way to accelerate that process. Could we develop a better blueprint for newcomer networking?

We started by tracking people joining companies with employee bases ranging from a few hundred to more than 40,000 people and pairing their progress in making social connections with monthly attrition data. The goal was to find newcomers who got connected (and productive) much more quickly than peers starting at the same time and who stayed in the organization through milestones, such as the first nine months and the two- to four-year tenure band, at which flight risk is greatest.

We found a few surprises. First, contrary to popular opinion, "brand-building" across a very broad network was not necessarily better; in fact, it was correlated with departures in years two to four.

Successful newcomers were instead more selective and less superficial in their outreach. They still set up a lot of exploratory meetings, but they used them to ask plenty of questions, offer expertise and assistance where they were able, create mutual wins, and generate energy. Greg Pryor, head of talent at Workday, which partnered with us on this research, describes the difference as working to pull people into your network rather than pushing your way into theirs. "We teach our people how to draw people to their ideas and create energy in interactions from day one," he explains. "When you embrace the approach, you're much more likely to connect well."

We also found - again contrary to conventional wisdom - that newcomers do not need a strong tie to a formal mentor or leader in their first nine months. More important for their long-term success was early contact with key opinion leaders - those well connected in the organization's networks, who were able to confer know-how and legitimacy - as well as to fellow newcomers, with whom they could form affinity groups.

You and Your Team Series

Networking

Crucially, effective networkers also shift their strategy as they approach the two- to four-year timeframe. They begin to streamline their interactions with close colleagues, resulting in collaborative demands that are 18-24% lower than their peers, while at the same time reaching across boundaries to connect with new people in different functions or divisions and to those with similar values and passions, even when there is no clear short-term incentive to do so. The result is more opportunities for enterprise-wide innovation and feeling purposeful in their work, which boosts their performance and engagement.

Booz Allen, which brings on more than 100 highly skilled people a week, is another research partner that has used network analysis to re-vamp its onboarding activities to help recent hires build the right connections at the right time. Aside from offering training in pull (versus push) techniques, they are encouraging cohort networks and initiating meetings between new employees and network influencers, rather than the usual-suspect mentors and managers. "You are not asking people to connect with a lot of other people," says David Sylvester, head of learning and development at the firm. "Very targeted investments make a big, big difference on people becoming productive more quickly and enjoying their time in the firm."

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What's the best way for a new hire to start making connections in an organization? Research on 40,000 people shows that the most effective strategy is not broad outreach or relying on a mentor to make introductions but instead a more selective, less superficial initial approach, followed by diversification beyond the two-year mark.

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A new generation of workers brings to the workplace less tolerance for hierarchy, more informality, and more attention to performance merit than to status and seniority.

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In October 2020, JLL analyzed an online survey of 2,033 office workers across 10 countries spanning all major industries. The goal was to understand employee sentiments about how workforce preferences are shifting workplace priorities. The results uncovered a renewed focus on quality of life, human scale and engaging values.

Key insights include: the impact of remote work, an imminent opportunity for employers to sustain and reinvigorate employee engagement, and a growing importance of human connection despite the increase in digitally connected work.

A rapid transition toward hybrid work: The crisis is accelerating the transformation of work at an incredible pace

Hybrid work is the new normal and now a preferred way of working

2X: The amount of days worked remotely is expected to double post-crisis, going from 1.2 days pre-pandemic to 2.4 days a week post-pandemic

72% of employees want to continue working from home post-crisis, and a majority want to do so an average of 2 days a week

75% are expecting their employer to support their work at home, and 1 in 3 is asking for a dedicated allowance

Work-from-home won't be the panacea for satisfying all working needs and workstyles - hybrid work will be the answer to providing greater employee workplace choice

Some employees do not want to work remotely: 24% of employees want to work exclusively in the office and 50% prefer a hybrid approach - which means that nearly three-quarters want the ability to come into an office

JLL's earlier Human Performance report found that 64% of millennials miss the office, and 80% of high performers have missed their office greatly during lockdown

Work-from-home frequency
We asked our respondents how often they worked from home before COVID-19 and how many days a week they would like to work from home in the future. They showed a strong affinity for the office - use the chart below to explore detailed survey results.
With COVID-19 compounding workplace stressors, the workforce is emotionally pressured and is asking for more in return

Emotional engagement is at risk: employers must be more engaged and care for their workforces

About half of employees (53%) have a positive outlook on their current employer

51% expressed concerns about the future and are worried about losing their job

The crisis has driven employees to rethink their priorities and given them a renewed focus on quality of life, human interaction and personal values requiring employers to adapt to these evolving needs and demands to attract and retain future talent

Work-life balance (72%) has overtaken securing a comfortable salary (69%) in terms of importance post pandemic

A conscious, local and healthy lifestyle has become as important as finding a sense of purpose in their work to employees; this is a priority for more than 60% of the workers today

Companies that have a clear purpose will be well-positioned to retain talent

Work-from-home is enabling fulfillment and empowerment, but employees want more
They are requesting more flexible time arrangements and alternative places of work
71% are expecting more flexible schedules, 57% want to have a wider choice in terms of workspaces in the office and 43% would like to be able to work from a co-working facility from time to time

The pandemic has driven people to focus on what matters most in their work life: a desire for spaces that create a sense of community

Almost half of respondents want both a direct connection to the outdoors (or "green space") and areas that foster collaboration and engagement with co-workers

Interestingly, they also desire new spaces in offices dedicated to focused solo work, so while tomorrow's offices will need to become great places for collaboration they will also have to accommodate solo working and remote collaboration through isolation spaces and technologies to support meetings with remote colleagues

Shifting priorities
We asked our respondents how their priorities changed in light of the current crisis.
The hybrid workplace of the future will have to be more human than ever to support employees' diverse, changing needs and workstyles

There is potential for growing connectivity between physical and digital environments

Employers must reimagine the dynamic between the physical and virtual workplace to meet employees' demands

A new purpose for the office has emerged: the office is evolving into a destination for collaboration, problem solving and career development

In all these areas, the physical workplace can make a huge difference: 70% of respondents are finding that the office environment is more conducive to connecting with teammates to solve complex issues as well as managing direct reports and connecting with leadership

Employees indicate that work-from-home has proved to be more efficient for concentration and taking mental breaks

The office is the preferred location for some crucial activities
We asked our respondents about their preferred location for specific tasks.

Download the full report by completing the form below.

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Global workforce expectations are shifting due to COVID-19

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In October 2020, JLL analyzed an online survey of 2,033 office workers across 10 countries spanning all major industries. The goal was to understand employee sentiments about how workforce preferences are shifting workplace priorities. The results uncovered a renewed focus on quality of life, human scale and engaging values.

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New opportunities appear with each new development in computer and information technology; they continually change the way organizations operate and how people work.

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While we still are yet to invent the flying cars that Back to the Future Part II predicted we would have by now - we've at least successfully unveiled a true self-lacing sneaker, the Nike Mag Air that doesn't require visual effects. - But that's just the beginning in this modern technological era. What science fiction films failed to account for is how advanced technology - particularly automated and "smart" technology - could potentially impact businesses, their operations, and their insurance.
The human brain now has some competition
states that technology automation is one of the pre-eminent trends in technology for 2017 - from self-driving cars to Siri to machine learning, technology is rapidly taking over tasks previously reserved for humans.We're in the ultra-marathon era of innovation; last year alone Google, IBM, and Amazon made new forays into using AI to bolster language translation, healthcare, and more. At the tail end of 2016, joined the fray when it announced that it would begin publishing its own artificial intelligence papers and published its first one on December 22.

Elon Musk, who is no stranger to technology automation, recently announced that he would be backing the brain-computer interface Neuralink. This company is working to create devices that, rather than working alongside humans, can be implemented directly into the human brain to, as Musk stated in Dubai, enable "a closer merger of biological intelligence and digital intelligence." He's far from the only one looking to see how technology and humans can work together (rather than replacing humans with automation); Braintree's Bryan Johnson is also in the process of developing a brain chip to improve brain functions and even alleviate the effects of neurodegenerative diseases.
Here's the problem
The most glaring issue is the question of what technology automation will do to the existing job market. While innovative technology almost certainly means an increase in productivity, skill, and safety, it also has its downsides. A survey from Manpower Group has shown that approximately 45 percent of today's job responsibilities could be automated in the next two years, and those working in sales, administration, and business operations could find themselves out of work. Don't believe us, just look at San Francisco; just this year they launched the first U.S. location of , a coffee shop staffed by robots, and it will likely expand throughout the United States in coming years.

Another issue that the inclusion of technology automation in the work force introduces is training; working with automation will require a new skillset from employees, and 60% of companies surveyed reported that they are currently investing in internal training to ensure that their employees' knowledge remains up-to-date. When certain daily processes can be passed down to automation, supervisors will be able to communicate and interact with their employees more frequently and effectively.

With the increase in technology comes an increase in security risks. The VDC Research states that, cyber criminals have demonstrated adeptness at exploiting technological vulnerabilities, and with businesses increasing their technology, this creates greater cyber risks. In addition, to ease the transition from human-driven to technology-driven, employers should put a higher emphasis on cyber security measures.

Though technology automation comes with many benefits, many are still reluctant to trust robots over humans. In an experiment in 2015, researchers from The Wharton School asked MBA students to choose to trust either a human's predictive ability (usually their own) or a statistical model with their earnings in an experiment. When they witnessed the model perform, the majority of students still chose to trust the human with their earnings, even though the model consistently outperformed humans by margins between 13 and 97 percent. Interestingly enough it was only after witnessing the model in action that many students chose to trust the human, in spite of the model's strong performance. Many people today are still reluctant to place their trust in machines, and that could prove to be an issue as we move towards trusting machines with potentially dangerous functions such as driving, surgery, or rewiring our brains.
How humans can coexist with technology
Much of the response to technology automation is pure speculation, but it is important to have a keen eye on how technology is impacting business. If nearly half of the current workforce becomes outsourced to machines, companies will likely need to put a greater emphasis on cyber liability insurance. While many cyber liability policies cover losses resulting from businesses working with technology, there is no coverage for losses incurred by losses incurred by technology acting of its own (artificial) accord. If a robot acting of its own accord caused bodily injury or property damage, this would be another potential gap in coverage, as existing cyber liability policies do not cover property damage or bodily injury under any circumstances. Technical failure is another major issue to keep in mind: if work depends on robots and the robots malfunction, the resulting costs from business interruption could be devastating for the company, so we could see a huge jump in the importance of business interruption insurance.

It is also worth examining how an increase in technology automation would affect areas that deal with human error and human behavior. For instance, if automation does indeed lead to a surge of unemployment, there is a distinct possibility that current employees could sue for being replaced, which would impact employment practices liability (EPL) insurance. If employee lawsuits are challenging decision-making, directors and officers (D&O) insurance may counteract that. While an increase in technology automation would likely decrease workplace accidents and human negligence, the implementation of technology in the workplace does introduce unique risks, so workers' compensation policies would need to take that into account.

Finally, it is imperative that companies provide training and education to acclimate their existing employees to the new technology to ensure that they understand how to work with it effectively.

As technology continues to advance, it is crucial that you remain adequately covered. Contact your HUB broker today to learn more about how to protect yourself and your business in this increasingly digital age.

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Technology Automation in the Workplace | HUB International

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While we still are yet to invent the flying cars that Back to the Future Part II predicted we would have by now - we've at least successfully unveiled a true self-lacing sneaker, the Nike Mag Air that doesn't require visual effects. - But that's just the beginning in this modern technological era.

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As society increases in complexity, workers are forcing organizations to pay more attention to balance in the often conflicting demands of work and personal affairs.

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Nurture an Engaged and Satisfied Workforce | Vantage Circle HR Blog

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Balance, a term that associates with almost everything that we do knowingly or unknowingly. Today's work culture revolves around the concept of balance to a great extent. Here, the balance I'll be talking about is the one between work and life. Times are hectic, humans are more engaged, and achieving a perfect work-life balance seems like a far-fetched dream.

The normal work schedule now is not only confined to usual office hours. Earlier when most of the work was manual, getting some free time away from work was not that hard. Professionals were able to relax and take care of other priorities. But with the amalgamation of tech and IT revolution, the entire scenario changed. Accessing resources is no longer a concern and work emails may come knocking anytime.

And because of this employees are now spending longer hours at work than ever before. And this is something that shouldn't be ignored by any HR leader or employer.

Work-life Balance and Its Impact on Organizations

"Balance is not better time management, but better boundary management. Balance means making choices and enjoying those choices." - Betsy Jacobson

One may view work-life balance as the approach to maintain an equal number of hours between work and play. But it's not!

Having a well balanced work-life is not only about coming to and returning from working on time. In a broader perspective, it's about prioritizing things as per their importance.

Prioritizing things helps one save both their time and energy. Thus, allowing them to set a perfect balance between their work and personal life.

Talking about its impact, work-life balance is not only imperative for employees but it affects the organization too. Employees who are able to put equal importance on their own well being are undoubtedly happier and satisfied. And this does reflect in their performance and behaviour at work.

Further, the employees who actually enjoy a great work-life balance are also the potential advocates of their respective organizations. And this sets a pretty good reason for enterprises to rephrase their company culture to one that promotes work-life balance.

The positive side of it doesn't just end there. Here are a few points that further reflects why organizations must take note of it like:

Attracting the best talents.

Higher retention rates.

Improved work-culture.

Enhance employee engagement and more.

What Can be Done for a Healthy Balance Between Work and Life?

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure".

As an employer, you have a big role to play to ensure your employees aren't trapped in the work-life balance feud.

Similarly, for encouraging a good work-life balance several measures can be taken beforehand.

Here are The 15 Best Ways to Achieve Work-life Balance

1. Taking Time Off Between Work

Taking time off in between work helps in dealing with stress. The human body is not designed to endure for long hours at a go. Physical movements like a light walk or some desk exercises can be really helpful here.

Such short breaks will help you recover from fatigue and enhance the agility at work.

2. Volunteering Time Off

Volunteering is a great way to stay social and build interpersonal connections. Encouraging the employees to volunteer for social causes helps them de-stress and commit socially.

Moreover, this also helps boosts a company's CSR i.e. Company Social Responsibility initiatives. Thus, earning goodwill for the organization and its employees.

3. Proper Planning

Planning the day to day activities at work is another way for managing a good balance between life and work. It helps individuals to prioritize their activities in accordance with the importance of a task.

Moreover, adhering to a well-laid plan also helps save a lot of time at work. Thus, allowing them to focus on things other than work or just take it to rejuvenate themselves.

4. Encouraging a Healthy Lifestyle

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle plays a big role in an employee's quest to achieve a healthy work-life balance. Healthy employees are like the jewels on the crown for every organization. An unhealthy work-life balance disrupts the employees physical and mental health. Considering this fact, it hampers their productivity to a great extent. Encouraging the employees to take up a healthy lifestyle eliminates various health risks.

Just like having good physical health helps one to stay energetic, a stress-free mind is a room full of clarity. This helps the employees to excel both in their career and life. A healthy lifestyle is also a great stress management solution and helps the employees cope with stress smoothly.

5. Encouraging No Work at Home Policy Post Work Hours

Most often the employees carry their work home to make up for the deadlines. The inability to leave work at the workplace is a major issue resulting from the excess work-load born by the employees. Committing to work during off-hours hinders the amount of rest needed by the human body.

Further, it maligns the social life of individuals that is necessary for a healthy mindset. Employers can make sure that this doesn't happen by adopting a strict "No Work at Home" policy.

6. Flexible Work Schedule

Maintaining a good balance between work and life isn't possible if there's no personal time left after leaving work. In such a case, having a flexible work schedule becomes very important. Flexibility in work timings helps the employees lay equal focus on their own personal and social side of life like that of their work.

Further, such a schedule can positively affects an individual's performance at work. As well as, it works as an alternate stress management technique.

7. Time Management

Time management is a very important aspect when it comes to having a proper work-life balance.

Most individuals tend to ignore this phase. As a result, they end up getting overwhelmed by work at the end of the day with no time for themselves. So, one must make sure they have a proper routine in place for the day.

Adopting time management hacks one like the Pomodoro technique would be helpful in this regard.

8. Encourage Hobbies

Every one of us has a hobby like reading, painting, photography, dancing, collecting old stamps and so on. A good work-life balance is not only limited to giving importance to work and family. It's also about giving importance to the things that one loves doing on a personal level.

With all hue and cry between managing work and family, we often miss feeding our own hopes and aspirations. Having a hobby encourages an employee to take up some time for themselves.

This indeed helps them fulfil the thirst for a good life according to an employee's preference. Having a hobby helps the employees to make up time for themselves even amidst their tight schedule.

9. Encourage Work From Home

Encouraging work from home at least once a week or whenever required could help detox from the daily stress at the workplace. Working from home with the loved ones nearby or pampering the pets while working leaves a positive impact on an employee's mind.

When employees have such benefits it frames a great sense of gratitude in their minds towards their employers. It also makes them the advocates for your organization. Thus, giving the boost to a great employee and employer relationship.

10. Paid Vacation Time

In today's time, vacation is no longer a luxury, rather it's more of a necessity. It's high time employers realize how vacations from work have become an important part of today's work culture. Letting the employees take long breaks without sacrificing their wages is very effective. Employees feel more rejuvenated and relaxed after returning to work yielding better productivity.

11. Time to Time Feedbacks and Work-life Balance Surveys

Time to time assessment of the employees is an essential part of creating a healthy work environment. Situations may differ with changing time and keeping track of these changes becomes very important in order to put effective solutions in place. These enable the employers to fix problems that may act as blockades towards achieving a healthy work-life balance.

Taking feedback and conducting surveys from the employees further helps organizations to know them better and work on the issues raised.

Bonus Points That Will Really Help Secure a Good Work-life Balance

12. Maternity and Paternity Leaves

The joy of being a parent can never be ignored and everyone of us is entitled to enjoy this moment. However, this joy comes with several responsibilities that no one is immune to and this could create a hindrance when it comes to work-life.

So, to mitigate this issue you can plan to introduce maternity and paternity leave schemes for all your employees. Not only this will benefit your employees directly but will also enhance your brand image to a great extent.

13. Child Care Facilities

Most parents whose childs are below at least 5 years of age face a tough time juggling between responsibilities. This becomes even more difficult when both parents are professionals and they have to choose between work or life. And this could severely affect their career sometimes not allowing them to progress ahead.

Here, as a responsible employer you may never want this to happen to your employees, for which you can plan on arranging child care facilities within the organization or somewhere that's really close.

14. Pet Friendly Workspace

Pet friendly workspaces are booming all over the world as millennials and Gen z's are joining the workforce. These generations of employees are full of life and obviously love for their pets. Allowing your employees to bring their pets along will not only give them a mental peace but also create a cheerful atmosphere around the workplace.

15. Allowing Remote Work

The ability to work from anywhere is a dream of every professional. It isn't like they will be traveling all the time but because they get to choose their own place for working properly.

This facility would be helpful for attracting the best talents onboard. Moreover, it'll allow all to fulfill their social commitments without missing out on work.

Related: Remote Workers Could Be Your Biggest Asset. Here's How!

Few Benefits That a Healthy Work-life Balance Can Bring to Professionals

The importance of a good work-life balance can also be determined by the fact that it yields:

A Decrease in Employee Health Problems

"Employees working three or more hours longer than the work schedule had a 60% higher risk of experiencing heart-related problems", as found in a study by UCL.

As humans we have a certain limit of endurance. For employees who are already under a lot of pressure, overwork can prove to be fatal both for their mental and physical health. If these issues aren't checked on time then it could give rise to various chronic illnesses too. And all of these directly affect their productivity and decision making skills at work.

So, you must go ahead and encourage your employees to take measures for ensuring a healthy work-life balance. Thereby, helping them cope up with stress and reduce the risk of various diseases.

Enhanced Employee Mindfulness

Employees working under work pressure are prone to mental ailments like workplace stress and anxiety. It is a known fact that demotivated employees tend to lose their focus at work which hampers their productivity.

As a result, organizations too suffer from the challenges of an unproductive workforce. A healthy balance between work-life eliminates this issue to a great extent. When employees feel relaxed and satisfied at their work, they develop a better focus on their work. It also helps them gain more control over their work thereby delivering the best results.

For an employer having people who are focused on their work is the perfect key to unlock better productivity and achieve the desired goals.

Increased Employee Engagement at Work

Motivated employees are the real gems of any organization. It is their contributions which drives their respective companies to success. But very often poor work-life balance creates a barrier for them to engage themselves at work completely. Absenteeism, fatigue, sick leaves are some of the problems hindering employee engagement at work.

Encouraging employees to achieve a good balance between work and life will help improve the company's overall work culture. Having better employee engagement also helps the companies to attract the top talents. Thus, emphasizing the need for a healthy work-life balance.

Decreased Employee Burnout Rate

Increasing work pressure is one of the major problems for employees these days to quit their jobs. Overworked employees are the ones who are the worst affected. Also, employees who are under the pressure of meeting deadlines get exhausted both physically and mentally.

As an employer, you may know well how extreme workload hampers the employees. Taking measures for stress management for establishing a well balanced work-life is the best way to ease the workload.

At the End

Is Managing a Healthy Work-life Balance Tough?

"Don't confuse having a career with having a life." - Hillary Clinton

Most often people think of having a good career as having a good life. But it may not always be the same way. One may face different situations that could disrupt the usual schedule. With this, the chance to spend some quality time after long hours at work might cede. Thus, hindering the desired work-life balance.

Maintaining this balance isn't that hard if you set your things based on priority. For which, I have listed the few points above which if you wish to follow can yield positive results with regards to work-life balance.

There could be others that I might have missed, so please feel to share your ways with us in the comments below.

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15 Best Ways To Celebrate Work-Life Balance and Its Benefits

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Balance, a term that associates with almost everything that we do knowingly or unknowingly. Today's work culture revolves around the concept of balance to a great extent. Here, the balance I'll be talking about is the one between work and life. Times are hectic, humans are more engaged, and achieving a perfect work-life balance seems like a far-fetched dream.

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Everything moves fast today; in business those who get products to market first have an advantage, and in any organization work is expected to be both well done and timely

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I work in the Silicon Valley, where we have a long-established mantra of "faster, cheaper and better." But now no matter where you work in the world, almost everyone can sense the fact that every aspect of global business now seems to move significantly faster than it did even 10 years ago. You could even label the 21 st century as "the century when speed dominated." This increased speed means that new products and product features come to market at an amazing rate, copying is almost immediate, everything you rely on seems to become quickly obsolete, and long-established businesses routinely lose out to faster moving startups.

In this environment, even notable fast-mover firms like Google and Apple occasionally don't move fast enough. This was the case where they both failed to effectively seize on the amazing social media and microblogging opportunities that the faster-moving startups Facebook and Twitter quickly dominated.

In the past, the business domination rule was simple ... Large and established firms will dominate the smaller ones.

However the new rule has become "It's the fast-moving and rapidly adapting firms that now dominate the slower ones, whether they are large or small."

If Your Firm Changes Slower Internally Than the External World, it Has No Future

Executives are beginning to realize that the need for speed may not just be a luxury; it is probably already a critical success factor for business survival. This point can be illustrated by the once industry-leading firms of Friendster and MySpace, which both went from domination to obscurity in a handful of years. Their demise was in part because the speed of their employees and managers simply could not match the speed of their marketplace.

You can also look to the mobile phone industry, where brand-new phones now become almost unsellable within six months of their introduction. Firms like Kodak, Xerox, Sears, Blockbuster, and RadioShack that once dominated their industry are now but a shadow of their former selves as a result of becoming bloated and slow. The probability has increased dramatically of any dominant firm rapidly falling out of the top tier in their industry.

Speed Must Now Permeate Every Aspect of the Organization, Including Employees

We already know that many business essentials including computers, Internet downloads, printers, and package delivery have successfully responded to this "need for speed" by improving their speed capability by as much as 20 percent per year. However having equipment and technology that enables speed may not be enough if a key remaining business success component, the employees, lags behind in the race for speed. For example, recent speed-related train accidents have demonstrated that fast-moving equipment simply can't function if the employees operating it are not capable of handling the speed that the equipment is capable of. The key strategic learning for executives should be that in order to dominate their market, all of the major components of a business, including equipment, capital, and people must all move in unison and at a speed that matches the firm's best competitors.

HR Is Not a Player in the Speed Game

Unfortunately, a quick assessment at almost any firm reveals that it is the people component of a firm that is dead last in increasing its speed. The talent management group that manages the people component doesn't have a weak response; instead, it has no response whatsoever to this business imperative of continually enhancing "workforce speed." Because executives routinely repeat the phrase that "our employees are our most important asset," it only makes sense that HR should take a proactive role in improving the speed of that most important asset.

Article Continues Below

HR could have a proactive impact on organizational speed through the way that it hires, develops, moves, and manages employees. If you're not sure whether your HR function has a focus on speed, you can quickly find out, because having a "speed capability" would be part of job descriptions, employee performance appraisals, promotion criteria, performance metrics, and reward criteria. And there would certainly be classes for employees and managers on how to increase their speed. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to find HR organizations anywhere that even list enhancing workforce speed as one of their primary goals, no less offering services and programs that measure and increase that employee speed. Outside of firms like Google, Facebook and Yahoo; it's hard to find any organization where managing workforce speed is a major funded HR initiative.

Workforce Speed Categories Defined

There are three categories of speed, including:

Workforce speed - this means a workforce (i.e. all managers, employees, contractors, and vendors) that complete work tasks faster. However, the definition of workforce speed also includes how fast the workforce learns, generates ideas, redeploys workers, innovates, and shares best practices at a speed that could not occur unless the organization was managing speed. "Speed-capable" employees, managers, and teams also identify and respond to problems and opportunities measurably faster, they anticipate environmental changes, and they are forward-looking, so they plan and use if-then scenarios to prepare for a range of possible fast-arriving events.

Organizational speed - this means how fast the entire organization moves. Organizational speed can be measured over a variety of factors including how fast decisions are made, the time to market of new products and services, customer response speed, and process speed. Additional organizational speed factors include your response to competitor actions, organizational learning speed, project completion speed, problem-solving speed, and growth speed (i.e. the speed in which the firm moves into new regions, customer categories, and new industries). Speed principles can for example be applied to decision-making, where firms like Glaxo Smith Kline have demonstrated that redesigning their inside workplace to enhance employee interaction can cut decision-making time by as much as 45 percent.

A "culture of speed" - this represents an overall strategic goal, which indicates that you manage speed effectively in both the workforce speed and the organizational speed categories. If you take the "need for speed" seriously, you need to move beyond having isolated "pockets" of speed throughout the organization and instead adopt a comprehensive organizational wide approach.

10 Action Steps That Will Allow HR to Effectively Manage Workforce Speed

This last section contains a description of the foundation steps that HR must complete if it wants to play a major role in effectively managing workforce speed.

1. Develop the business case for managing "workforce speed" - the first critical action step within HR is to build a compelling business case for developing programs to manage and increase speed. The goal is to make it a business imperative because you have demonstrated that the lack of workforce speed is costing your organization millions each year. In order to get managers to pay attention to speed, they also need to be shown the impact that a lack of speed has on their own business results. The next step of the business case is to work with the CFO's and the COO's office to quantify the "cost of slow" on revenue and other business goals. And as a result of that quantification, executives should almost immediately begin asking themselves if they can afford to have the single biggest business impact factor (your employees), lagging in speed capability. A segment of the business case also needs to demonstrate the costs associated with "uneven organizational speed."

2. Make workforce speed a strategic HR goal - the next important step is to make "workforce speed" a strategic HR goal and success measure. Both financial and HR talent resources need to be applied to this speed initiative. HR staff with speed capabilities must be hired and trained, so that they have the capability of maintaining and increasing workforce speed.

3. Everything must move in unison - it's impossible to maximize organizational speed when any one single business component lags behind the rest. Just like with a moving train or a centipede in a foot race, the speed of the whole is limited by the single slowest-moving component. Ensuring that all components of an organization move at the same speed requires that you monitor speed metrics to identify bottlenecks. You can't have the fastest organizational speed in your industry if a single process, silo, or function moves at a lower rate of speed, creating roadblocks and "speed bumps" for the faster moving elements of the organization. You also must develop a process to rapidly share speed related best practices, opportunities, and problems. Unevenness in speed will frustrate your employees, and that frustration may cause the faster ones to slow down (it may even force fast-moving employees to leave). Don't forget to use technology, because it provides speed and consistency across the organization. And finally remember each component of "interdependent" business processes must also be integrated and coordinated, so that the process time is minimized.

4. Increase hiring speed - focus on hiring process speed, because having key positions vacant for a long period of time slows up overall organizational speed dramatically. The hiring process itself must be speeded up so that "in-demand" prospects and candidates are not lost to competitors as a result of unnecessarily slow hiring. Make speed capability a key hiring competency that becomes part of all job postings and interview assessment criteria. And finally educate both managers and recruiters so that they know how to find speed-capable candidates, and then accurately assess their speed capabilities during the assessment process.

5. Develop the capability of completing tasks faster -a major action area where the training function can help is in aiding managers to assess the speed capability of their team members. The training/learning function must play an important role in helping employees increase their speed skills, their ability to complete tasks rapidly, and to innovate faster. Obviously in order to do that, T&D must provide learning materials, experts, coaching, and online classes to help everyone learn speed techniques, so they can continually get faster without sacrificing quality. Develop a process for identifying any barriers to workforce speed.

6. Develop individual learning speed - research by Google has indicated that "learning capability" is one of the top two factors in new hire success. The learning function should seek out the fastest learners (both inside and outside of the organization) in order to capture the most effective speed learning approaches.

7. Reward speed with quality - the compensation and reward function can make a major contribution by determining accurate measures of speed. And then they can make speed a critical part of performance, reward, and promotion criteria.

8. Develop fast leaders - the leadership function needs to dramatically expedite leadership development, so that it produces leaders much faster. It must also develop the speed capability of all leaders and show them how to develop and bring out that capability in their teams.

9. Speed up internal movement - an other important talent area that needs to be upgraded is internal movement. I recommend using a process once used by Microsoft which I call "business phase matching." The approach directs employees with advanced speed capabilities into jobs and business units where speed is critical. In the same light, if slower-moving employees can't be fixed or replaced, they would be moved into business units and teams where speed is less important.

10. Develop speed metrics - the metric staff can make a major contribution by developing a set of powerful real-time metrics that can be used to monitor speed throughout the workforce. Predictive metrics must be developed so that both managers and HR are alerted prior to any major talent issue, so they are prepared to react quickly when they do occur. Metrics should also be developed that prove the impact that HR has had on improving the overall workforce speed.

Final Thoughts

Speed has long been part of most executive conversations, and it has been a major business initiative in almost all business units and functions. However, HR has been inexplicably absent when it comes to both understanding the need for speed and in providing programs that increase it. The time has passed where HR is the only major business function that does not have a formal process for increasing speed.

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Workforce Speed - the Most Impactful Talent Factor That No One Is Managing - ERE

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I work in the Silicon Valley, where we have a long-established mantra of "faster, cheaper and better." But now no matter where you work in the world, almost everyone can sense the fact that every aspect of global business now seems to move significantly faster than it did even 10 years ago.