hr alumni webinar 2009
TRANSCRIPT
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HOW EVIDENCE-BASEDMANAGEMENT CAN STOP HR BEINGDAMAGED BY FADS AND FASHIONS
Rob B [email protected]
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OUTLINE
Preamble the quick fix Do managers and organizations do evidence-
based management?
Management fads, consultants and gurus What is EBM and where did it come from?
Whats been happening around EBM?
The key role of systematic reviews Implications for HRM
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What kind of consumer are you?
Buy product on impulse Dont really know what
product can do Not clear about problem Everyone else has one Nice colour! Because its cool Value not important Even more expensive =
better product Being fashionable isimportant
Think carefully aboutproblem or you want tofix
Consider range ofdifferent products and
what they can do Compare usingconsumer tests andreliable websites
Not distracted by
current trends Try to make explicit andsystematic decision
Value important
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PREAMBLE THE QUICK FIX
The rapid implementation of a practiceor technique which is likely to: not be based on initial assessment
be strongly influenced by fad and fashion provide an answer to a political problem
be driven by the need to be seen to be
doing something be championed by an issue-seller or
individual who stands to gain or avoidharm by its implementation
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PREAMBLE THE QUICK FIX
focus on style and presentation not contentor process
not be evaluated
not be as quick as had been hoped be followed by another quick fix
become subject to organizational amnesia
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WHY DO A QUICK FIX?
Quick Politically expedient
Good for promotion and advancement
Pragmatic and do-able Supported or encouraged by
consultants and quick fix product
vendors Client may not want anything else
Lucrative
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WHY DO A SLOWER FIX?
More likely to work More cost-effective fits with the idea
of value
Potentially more sustainable More opportunity for learning
More honest and ethical fits with
corporate social responsibility Draws on and develops available
evidence-base
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SO WHAT DO HR MANAGERS DO?
Little systematic evidence about whatmanagers do but
Often under pressure to do quick fixes
Often few perceived advantages to slowerfixes
Can say with some certainty that EBP doesnot characterize most HR manager activity
Though of course all HR managers do usesome evidence in some ways
But HR generally still a fad junkie waiting for
the Next Big Thing
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WHAT DO ORGANIZATIONS DO?
Do organizations use external evidencefrom research in decision-making?
Do organizations use internal evidence
in their decision-making? The main purpose of evidence-based
practice in any field is to improve both
the process and outcome of decisionmaking through the use of evidence
Assumption that decisions will be more
effective if they incorporate evidence
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THE FADS THAT TIME FORGOT
Scientific Management/Taylorism Business Process Reengineering
Excellence
Total Quality Management
Learning Organizations
Knowledge Management
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THE FADS THAT TIME HASNTFORGOTTEN (YET)
Talent management Management development
Emotional intelligence
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ARE FADS BAD FOR BUSINESS ANDBAD FOR PEOPLE?
A growing and general concern from bothpractitioners and researchers that fads
have adest r uc ti ve impa c t inorganizations and undermine the ability
or managers to manage
Evidence-based management approachcan help prevent damage
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BAIN & COMPANY REPORT
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BAIN & COMPANY REPORT
Get the facts Champion enduring strategies, not
fleeting fads
Choose the best tool for the jobAdapt tools to your business system
(not vice versa)
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EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE
EBP is integrating individualexpertise withthe best available externalevidence fromsystematic research in making decisionsabout practice.
Need for relevant information requires Converting info. needs to answerable questions
Track down best evidence to answer questions
Critically appraise evidence Apply appraisal to making decision
Evaluate performance
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EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE
EBP is not about acting only on thebasis of good evidence but rather aboutcombining:
What the practitioner already knows fromtheir previous training, experience andcurrent understanding of the particularcontext/problem WITH
The best available external evidence aboutthe issues they are dealing with
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WHAT FIELD IS THIS?
a research-user gap practitioners do not read academic journals the findings of research into what is an effective
intervention are not being translated into actualpractice
academics not practitioners are driving theresearch agenda
the relevance, quality and applicability of researchis questionable
practice is being driven more by fads and fashionsthan research
many practices are doing more harm than good the collective wisdom from research is being lost
EVIDENCE BASED PRACTICE
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EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICEin medicine
1960s Emergence of Evidence-based PracticeFairly inconspicuous for 30 years
1991 British Medical Journal: Where is the Wisdom?Only 1520% of medical interventions were supported bysolid medical evidence
1992 British Medical Journal: Scandal of Medical Research
Many practices do more harm than good1993 Cochrane Collaboration formed1995 Smith and Sackett launch Journal of Evidence-based
Medicine1995 BBC TV program
Medicine was driven more by fads and fashion thanresearch1996 By the end of the year most British Doctors had heard of
EBPBritish Minister of Health new mission to pursue EBP
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WHAT IS EVIDENCE BASED
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WHAT IS EVIDENCE-BASEDMANAGEMENT?
The exa mp le of man agi ng ab se nce Do I know exactly what the absence level is? Has the absence level changed? Do I know what type of absence is it? How does the absence level compare to norms for
my sector? Do I know who is absent and their positions and
locations? What exactly it the problem with the level of
absence? Does it matter and in what ways? What internal, organizational evidence do I have for
the causes of absence? How good do I think this evidence is?
WHAT IS EVIDENCE BASED
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WHAT IS EVIDENCE-BASEDMANAGEMENT?
What is does external evidence from researchsuggest are the causes of absence?
How good is this evidence and can I apply it here? What other causes of absence might there be here?
If the absence level is high, what is the externalevidence from research about the effectiveness ofinterventions to reduce or manage absence?
Is the absence level so high it requires anintervention?
Will the benefits of interventions outweigh the costs? How well do I think these interventions might work in
my situation? Might they have any unintended negative
consequences?
WHAT EVIDENCE BASED
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WHAT EVIDENCE-BASEDMANAGEMENT IS NOT
Something weve been doing for ages The same as evidence-based medicine Providing answers or cookbook management Researchers telling organizations what to do About a researcher-practitioner divide (a red herring)
About locating evidence narrowly within traditionalscience
Administer 20ccs of strategy and stand back...
Ev ide nc e doe sn t m ak e de c ision s: P eople do
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MANAGEMENT INTEREST IN EBM
Of course HR managers and organizationsuse evidence all the time in decision making
But term evidence-based not widely knownin HRM
Very few systematic reviews even if HRmanagers wanted to do EBM
Perhaps in HRM in the UKs National Health
Service to some extent? All sorts of reasons why its difficult to
practice EBM (later)
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ACADEMIC INTEREST IN EBM
Pre 2003 very little (presentation toBPS in 1998)
Post 2003
Denyer and Tranfield at CranfieldAdvanced Institute of Management
Denise Rousseau Academy ofManagement (AoM) presidential address
EBM collaborative in US (2006-2008)
First book published (2006)
Academic articles (2008 Annals of AoM)
Conferences (SIOP 2009, AoM 2009)
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PFEFFER & SUTTON BOOK
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WHY DO COMPANIES NEED EBM?
Mai nly be caus e of 3 poor dec is io npra cti ces 1 Casual benchmarking
Copying of the most visible, most obviousand least important practices What different companies need to do to be
successful may be very different
Need to ask: Is observed success becauseof practice?
Why is practice linked to outcome? Logic?Theory?
What are downsides or negatives ofimplementing practice?
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WHY DO COMPANIES NEED EBM?
2 Doing what seems to have worked inthe past Similar to over-applied successful
techniques in medicine Need to ask questions:
Is practice to be repeated a cause of pastsuccess?
Is current situation so similar that repeatedapplication of practice likely to be successful?
Why is past practice likely to work again?Logic? Theory?
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WHY DO COMPANIES NEED EBM?
3 Following deeply held yet unexaminedideologies (e.g., that pay motivates)
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WHAT IS EBM?
Based explicitly on evidence-basedmedicine
Substituting facts for conventional
wisdom Being committed to fact-based decision
making
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WHAT IS EBM?
What to do when no sound data areavailable? Question and theoretically and logically test
assumptions on which practice is based Could practice still work if assumptions
wrong?
Is it possible to easily collect some data
which might test assumptions? What other practices might address
problem?
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OBSTACLES TO EBM
Using data changes power dynamics
replacing formal authority, reputation,and intuition with data.
People often dont want to hear thetruth
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OBSTACLES TO EBM
Business ideas marketplace inefficient &messy Too much information
Recommendations incoherent, inconsistentand contradictory for example, businessbook titles
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OBSTACLES TO EBM
In Search of Excellence:Lessons from Americas BestRun Companies
Charisma: Seven Keys to
Developing the MagnetismThat Leads to Success
Love Is the Killer App: Howto Win Business and
Influence Friends
The Quest for AuthenticPower: Getting PastManipulation, Control and
Self-limiting Beliefs
The Myth of Excellence: WhyGreat Companies Never Tryto be the Best at Everything
Leading Quietly: An
Unorthodox Guide to Doingthe Right Thing
Business Is Combat: AFighter Pilots Guide to
Winning in Modern BusinessWarfare
What Would Machiavelli Do?:The Ends Justify theMeanness
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OBSTACLES TO EBM
Business ideas marketplace inefficient &messy consultants and others who sell ideas and
techniques are alwaysrewarded for gettingwork, only sometimesrewarded for doinggood work, and hardly everrewarded forwhether their advice actually enhancesperformance.
The incentives are often even more perversethan that, because if a client companysproblems are only partly solved that leads tomore work for the consulting firm.
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DANGEROUS HALF-TRUTHS
Do the best organizations have the bestpeople? Obsession with talent can be hazardous
Not easy to identify Isnt fixed unless you believe it is
Great systems more important than greatpeople
Wisdom and its promotion more important Understanding limits of knowledge
Asking for and taking help
Being curious
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HOW TO PRACTICE EBM
Cur rent pr actice Treat old ideas as if
they are brand-new
Glorify, celebrate, andapply breakthroughideas and studies
Celebrate brilliantindividuals, like
management gurus,thought leaders andstar performers
EBM Treat old ideas like old
ideas
Be suspicious ofbreakthrough ideas andstudies they almostnever happen
Celebrate communitiesof smart people and
collective brilliance notlone geniuses or gurus
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HOW TO PRACTICE EBM
Emphasize only virtuesof research methodsand practice dontmention drawbacks
Use success and failurestories about companiesto uncover best andworst practices
Use popular ideologiesand theories to justifymanagement practices.Ignore clashing
evidence
Emphasize the virtuesanddrawbacks (anduncertainties) of yourresearch and practices
Use success and failurestories to illustratepractices supported byother evidence, not asvalid evidence
Take a neutral approachto ideologies theories.Base practices on bestevidence not what is in
vogue
THE KEY ROLE OF SYSTEMATIC
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THE KEY ROLE OF SYSTEMATICREVIEWS
Systematic reviews of evidence one ofthe cornerstones of evidence-basedpractice
Cannot do evidence-based practicewithout access to summaries orsyntheses of best available evidence
Where are the systematic reviews inmanagement?
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WHAT IS A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW?
Its research on existingresearch
With a clear, explicit and replicablemethodology
Clear review question Search strategy
Quality criteria
Allows us to draw reliable conclusionsabout what we know and do notknowabout a given question or problem
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COCHRANE LIBRARY
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews available on the Internet and on CD-ROM as part of
The Cochrane Library
Subscription based - published by Wiley
1995 - 36 reviews 1999 - 500 reviews
2001 1000 reviews
2004 2000 reviews + 1400 published protocols
WHAT SORT OF QUESTIONS CAN BE
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WHAT SORT OF QUESTIONS CAN BEADDRESSED?
How can job re-design be most effectively beachieved?
Is team-based working effective and compared towhat?
What does management development do?
Does Management by Objectives improveperformance?
Which absence management techniques are mosteffective in what situations?
Are assessment centres cost effective?
Can engagement levels be increased and sustained?
Does increasing engagement increase performance?
WHY DONT PRACTITIONERS SEEM
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WHY DON T PRACTITIONERS SEEMTO LIKE EBM?
Undermines formal authority Cant do what they want
Are not rewarded for doing what works
Feel they cannot use their own experienceand judgment (not true why some preferevidence-informedpractice also aboutmoving evidence up the agenda a bit)
Have too high expectations of evidence(e.g., that it should give the answerotherwise its not worth knowing)
WHY DONT ACADEMICS SEEM TO
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WHY DON T ACADEMICS SEEM TOLIKE EBM?
Systematic reviewing not valued as researchactivity no incentives
Training is all about doing new empiricalresearch
Embarrassed that it will expose the limitednature of management evidence andundermine rather than enhance discipline
Worried that systematic review might revealtheir own individual research to be limited
WHO DOES LIKE EVIDENCE-BASED
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WHO DOES LIKE EVIDENCE BASEDMANAGEMENT?
"The question we ask today is not whether ourgovernment is too big or too small, but whether itworks - whether it helps families find jobs at a decentwage, care they can afford, a retirement that isdignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to
move forward. Where the answer is no, programs willend. And those of us who manage the public's dollarswill be held to account - to spend wisely, reform badhabits, and do our business in the light of day -
because only then can we restore the vital trustbetween a people and their government.
MIGHT WE LEARN TO LOVE
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MIGHT WE LEARN TO LOVEEVIDENCE-BASED HRM?
The post-fad management era More interest in doing what works -
effectiveness
More interest in not doing harm -corporate social responsibility
More interest in accountability -corporate governance
Sustainability of management actionsand organizations
SIX CHARACTERISTICS OF
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SIX CHARACTERISTICS OFEVIDENCE-BASED PRACTITIONERS
Probl em-focused What exactly is theproblem or issue that needs fixing? If thereisnt a problem now, whats the anticipatedproblem?
Analytic What is really going on here? Isit the presenting problem or somethingelse?
Qu est ionin g and crit ica l How do Iknow whats going on here? Are myperceptions valid and reliable? Could I bemaking a mistake?
SIX CHARACTERISTICS OF
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SIX CHARACTERISTICS OFEVIDENCE-BASED PRACTITIONERS
Soluti on-ge ner ati ng What are the possibleresponses to this problem? Which might workand why? Is it better to do nothing?
Evidence-oriented How good is theevidence for the apparent problem? What datado I have? How good is the external evidence?What is the evidence for the proposedsolutions?
Inte gr ati ng How does the evidence fromresearch fit with my previous experience of thiskind of problem and what I know about thisorganization?
IMPLICATIONS FOR HRM[1]
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IMPLICATIONS FOR HRM[1]
There is often plenty of internal data whichcould and should be used to inform decisionsbut: Hard to get at
Lack of data analytic skills Not put together to analyze and diagnose
HR needs to show its value-added: Evidence-based approach is one way
You are buyer or provider of HR products andservices what kind of a consumer or vendorare you?
IMPLICATIONS FOR HRM[2]
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IMPLICATIONS FOR HRM[2]
There is often plenty external evidencefrom research but Difficult to find
Not written for practitioners Most importantly there are few systematic
reviews in HRM (yet)
Role of CIPD in UK? Seems to be quiteinto fads and gurus
SHRM in US is quite interested
IMPLICATIONS FOR HRM[3]
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IMPLICATIONS FOR HRM[3]
A simple choice: Do you want toimprove the quality of decision-makingand effectiveness of HR or not?
If your answer is yes then need toincorporate into decision-making: Evidence of your experience
Internal evidence from the organization External evidence from the best available
research
THE FUTURE OF EBM?
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THE FUTURE OF EBM?
If EBM is such a good idea, why arentwe doing it already?
In spite of barriers and problems to its
adoption:
EB M s eems l ike t he mos t e f fec t iv ewa y for evi dence fr om r ese a rch tog e t to an d he lp inform decis ion-
ma ke r s in org aniza ti ons