20120327 managing an expert workforce
TRANSCRIPT
Managing an expert workforce
Knowledge-intensive Organization
Knowledge Management Course
class of 28/03/2012
Newell et al. 2002 “managing Knowledge Work”
Case study of chapter 2
knowledge workers
in the knowledge-intensive firms
the ScenceCo case study
Pag. 36
Knowledge workers
...are people who use their heads more than their hands to produce value.
Frances Horibe
...one who works primarily with information or one who develops and uses knowledge in the workplace.
Peter Drucker 1959
Knowledge workers
...have particular skills and expertise not generally available in the labour force and in post-industrial and global economy these skills are much in demand.
Newell
Pag. 24
Ed Michaels, Helen Handfield-Jones, Beth Axelrod
The war for talent Harvard Business school 2001
Importance for firms of high skilled workers
The Old Reality The New Reality
People need companies Companies need people
Machines, capital and geography are the competitive advantage
Talented people are the competitive advantage
Better talent makes some difference Better talent makes a huge difference
Job are scarce Talented people are scarce
Employees are loyal and jobs are surePeople are mobile and their commitment is short term
People accept they are offered People demand much more
"We help scientific brains to find each other!"
Pag. 36
Critical organizational factors
● Organizational structure
● Organizational culture
● Pattens of IT usage
● Human Resource practices
Organizational structure
ScienceCo are organized in 7 scientific ‘divisions’, even if operates primarily for financial reporting purposes only.
In reality they work in self-forming and self-managing project teams.
values of
autonomy and egalitarianismPag. 37
Organizational structure
One level of management
Flat organization
Pag.37
Culture
● Absence of hierarchy, rules and formal procedures
● Egalitarian environment where everyone is free to contribute to decision making and individuals freedom to be creative
Absence of tough culture that encompassed particular norms of behaviour
Pag. 42
Culture
Heterogeneity and diversity workforce exemplify the importance placed on individuality within the firm
Pag. 42
Potential problems● In range of diverse individuals conflict inevitably
arise....
consultants are trusted to resolve them without the recourse to management
● Consultants do have different perceptions on what constitutes organizational reality
however exist an informal hierarchy based on expertise; but positions are transient!
Pag. 42
IT usage
● Groupware technologies
● E-mail system
Pag. 42
● email, calendaring, contacts management, instant messaging, voice and video conferencing, online meetings, discussions, forums, blogs, file sharing, micro-blogs, and office productivity suite (IBM Lotus Symphony)
● additional integrated applications and databases (IBM Lotus Domino).
Groupware technologies
IT usage
Groupware technologies:
collaborative software are occasionally used by consultants; they prefer work face to face
:( documentation projects are not always classifying and recording in a consistent manner in the firm
Pag. 42
E-mail system
E-mail system
E-mail system
E-mail system
E-mail system
E-mail system
E-mail system
IT usage
E-mail system:
the principal instrument consultants use to communicate each other and with clients
:) informal and horizontal
:( perceived as a burden
(100 mail per day)
Pag 41.
Recruitment
...process of searching the candidates for employment and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organisation.
Edwin B. Flippo
…process to discover sources of manpower to meet the requirement of staffing schedule and to employ effective measures for attracting that manpower to facilitate effective selection of an efficient working force.
Dale Yoder
How choose the talent
Recruitment strategies:
● Advertisements
● Employment agencies
● College recruiting
● Professional organizations
● Internal job postings
How choose the talent
Selection strategies:
● General
● Testing and assessment
● Interviews
How choose the talent
Recruitment and selection process by HR manager:
international recruitment agencies
I interview with the HR manager and the
relevant divisional manager
II interview with the HR manager and
consultants from several divisionPag. 38 - 39
How choose the talent
Candidate characteristic:● Higher score on HA intelligent and 16PF
personality test● PhD in scientific discipline or equivalent
● “openness” and “willingness” to experiment● Naturally innovative and collaborative (team)
capacity to share knowledge● Commercial awareness
Pag. 38 - 39
How choose the talent
The most important ability of the candidate is
to “fit in” to the SienceCo way of working
Pag. 39
Retention
...is a systematic effort by employers to create and foster an environment that encourages current employees to remain employed by having policies and practices in place that address their divers needs.
Get Les Mckeown's
How retain talent in the firm
Retention strategy:
● Assess the organization
● Hold people accountable
● Measure what is important
● Increase employee ownership and involvement
● Build relationships and internal network
How retain talentin the firm
● Performance management● Training and development
Through the organizational structure and sharing the culture
Pag. all
Performance management
Salary = fixed pay + variable pay
Variable pay depends on the achievement of certain objectives
Objectives referring to personal or group goal, they are decided by the management (MbO)
Performance management
Salary depends on:● PRTs → Personal Revenue Targets
if they reach all the PRTs they can achieve a percentage increase based on their fixed pay
● DRTs → Divisional Revenue Targets
in the firm the have no salary scale (no formal carrier structure)
Pag.39
worst MbO effect
99 people under investigation for selling millions fake sim cards of Telecom Italia Mobile company.
The incentive system for Telecom retailers, up to 2008, was based on the activation of sim cards.
21/03/2012
www.lastampa.it
Performance management
Pag.39
Consultant are free to choose their hours of work and length of vacations
Performance management
Pag.40
Internal work market:
consultant negotiating with lead consultant the percentage of the project revenue they will be allocated
generate:
:) new ideas
:( put pressure on people
Training and development
Pag.41
For the professional development ScienceCo allocate a considerable financial resources, even the consultants have to do autonomous
The only training offering by the firm is the usage of software application for project work
Conclusion
The adhocracy organizational model bring the ScienceCo to success.
Anyway, using the adhocracy framework might arise problems in the organizational environment.
Federica Cacciavillani
Claudia Matricciani