khartoum management forum
TRANSCRIPT
Peter TotterdillDirectorWorkplace Innovation Limited
Joint Chief ExecutiveUK Work Organisation Network
Visiting ProfessorKingston University London
The Participative Organisation
The UK Work Organisation Network A not-for-profit coalition committed to shared knowledge, collaborative action and policy advocacy
• The future of work and organisations• Closing the gap between leading-edge practice and common practice
A distinctive approach
• Evidence-based• Diverse backgrounds, common values• Stimulating “employee voice”• Committed to win-win outcomes• Sustainable change, not quick fixes
Innovation in work organisation:
an under-utilised resource?
• Competitiveness and innovation• Quality of working life• Employee engagement• Healthy working• Talent wars• Active ageing• Social inclusion
Survival is not compulsoryOf the Fortune 500 firms listed in any year from 1975,
over a third disappeared ten years later. Only one firm remains from the 1900 list. For smaller firms the odds are much worse.
Put simply, change is imperative.
Times of economic downturn are Times of economic downturn are times to invest in people and times to invest in people and
workplace innovation. workplace innovation. Now is the time to engage people in Now is the time to engage people in
finding creative solutions.finding creative solutions.
Organisations under pressure• There will be winners and losers at the end of the
current crisis• The business environment is less predictable• Product ranges and services change more quickly• Constant imperative to offer more differentiation and
choice• Customers expect high quality service at speed, when
and where it suits them best• Companies expected to be environment friendly and
ethical
Traditional ways of organising Traditional ways of organising work and traditional work and traditional approaches to management approaches to management are inadequate in an are inadequate in an increasingly volatile world.increasingly volatile world.
Work and CapitalThen
Work Anonymous and replaceable
Capital Personal and unique
Svenskt Näringsliv – Confederation of Swedish Enterprise
Work and CapitalThen Now
Work Anonymous and replaceable
Capital Personal and unique
Svenskt Näringsliv – Confederation of Swedish Enterprise
Work and CapitalThen Now
Work Anonymous and replaceable
Personal and unique
Capital Personal and unique
More and more anonymous and replaceable
Svenskt Näringsliv – Confederation of Swedish Enterprise
“. . . a clear concentration on those factors in the work environment which determine the extent to which employees can develop and use their competencies and creative potential to the fullest extent, thereby enhancing the company’s capacity for innovation and competitiveness while enhancing quality of working life.”
Hi-Res Study (available at www.ukwon.net)
Towards the High RoadTowards the High Road
• Beyond the Low Road of cost-driven Beyond the Low Road of cost-driven restructuringrestructuring
• Innovation: the ability to do things Innovation: the ability to do things differentlydifferently
• Convergence between enhanced Convergence between enhanced performance and quality of working lifeperformance and quality of working life
High Road:Quality
Low Road:Costs
Strategy WorkOrganisation
HRWO
Neo-Taylorism
Total QualityManagement
Team Work
Project Groups
Total QualityManagement
Team Work
Project Groups
Quality Culture
Quality Control
semi autonomousholistic taskscontinous improvement
co-operation over hie-rarchical boundaries
Multiskilling
Job RotationShort Work Cycles
taylorist product development
High Road:Quality
Low Road:Costs
Strategy WorkOrganisation
HRWO
Neo-Taylorism
Total QualityManagement
Team Work
Project Groups
Total QualityManagement
Team Work
Project Groups
Quality Culture
Quality Control
semi autonomousholistic taskscontinous improvement
co-operation over hie-rarchical boundaries
Multiskilling
Job RotationShort Work Cycles
taylorist product development
Innovation in work organisation:
an under-utilised resource?
• Competitiveness and innovation• Quality of working life• Employee engagement• Healthy working• Talent wars• Active ageing• Social inclusion
Teamworking
Effective teams:•are multi-skilled and work on a common task •have high levels of discretion for managing their day-to-day work •allocate tasks between themselves •plan and pace work according to the outlined requirements of the business •recruit and train new team members •actively seek improvements to the work process.
Dialogue,Reflection,Negotiated Action
SharedKnowledge &Intelligence
Involving
CommunicationChange
ImprovementInnovationPartnership
Management / Workforce Partnership
• Often a formal partnership agreement• A representative employee forum• A shared commitment to new ways of
working together• A joint search for ‘win-win’ outcomes• Boxing and dancing
• Setting an agenda relevant to stakeholders
• Closeness to the drivers of change
• Proactive or reactive
• Supporting transition
• Building resilience
• Maintaining commitment
Moving partnership beyond IR and HR
• Partnership representatives as knowledgeable participants in innovation and change?
• Building skills and competencies in partnership and engagement
• Time and commitment
The roles and competencies of partnership representatives
Dialogue,Reflection,Negotiated Action
SharedKnowledge &Intelligence
Learning
CompetenceKnowledge
sharingDialogue
ORGANISING
INVOLVING LEARNING
Developing & using competencies High involvement innovation
Shared learning and knowledge
Taking Stock
•Representative participation alone has little direct impact on performance.•Direct participation is strongly correlated with improved performance against several indicators.•BUT these improvements are both enhanced and more sustainable when direct and representative participation co-exist in a series of mutually reinforcing practices.
Towards the High RoadTowards the High Road
• Beyond the Low Road of cost-driven Beyond the Low Road of cost-driven restructuringrestructuring
• Innovation: the ability to do things Innovation: the ability to do things differentlydifferently
• Convergence between enhanced Convergence between enhanced performance and quality of working lifeperformance and quality of working life
BOARDSenior Management Team
Strategic Knowledge
StakeholdersOpportunitiesThreats
Leadership, Strategy, Values
Workforce
Management, Work Organisation, Productive Reflection
Practical Knowledge, Experience, Ideas
Workforce
Management, Work Organisation, Productive Reflection
BOARDSenior Management Team
Leadership, Strategy, Values
Workforce
Management, Work Organisation, Productive Reflection
BOARDSenior Management Team
Leadership, Strategy, Values
Workforce
Management, Work Organisation, Productive Reflection
BOARDSenior Management Team
Leadership, Strategy, Values
GAP?
Workforce
Management, Work Organisation, Productive Reflection
BOARDSenior Management Team
Leadership, Strategy, Values
LineManagement
Workforce
Management, Work Organisation, Productive Reflection
BOARDSenior Management Team
Leadership, Strategy, Values
LineManagement
CompetenceRole definitionClarity
Workforce
Management, Work Organisation, Productive Reflection
BOARDSenior Management Team
Leadership, Strategy, Values
Systems and Procedures
Workforce
Management, Work Organisation, Productive Reflection
BOARDSenior Management Team
Leadership, Strategy, Values
BehavioursTrustAdaptability
Systems and Procedures
Workforce
Management, Work Organisation, Productive Reflection
BOARDSenior Management Team
Leadership, Strategy, Values
Innovation & Improvement
Workforce
Management, Work Organisation, Productive Reflection
BOARDSenior Management Team
Leadership, Strategy, Values
Knowledge, experience, creativityTwo dimensions to every jobCommon purpose
Innovation & Improvement
FORMAL, RIGHTS-BASED
REFLECTIVE AND KNOWLEDGE-BASED
TEAM-BASED PROBLEM SOLVING
INFORMAL
Self-organised teamworking
Empowering job design and individuals engaged in dialogue
Employees participating as experts in improvement and innovation
Partnership involving Trade Union or Workplace Representatives
FORMAL, RIGHTS-BASED
REFLECTIVE AND KNOWLEDGE-BASED
TEAM-BASED PROBLEM SOLVING
INFORMAL
Self-organised teamworking
Empowering job design and individuals engaged in dialogue
Knowledge Sharing
Partnership involving Trade Union or Workplace Representatives
Employees participating as experts in improvement and innovation
FORMAL, RIGHTS-BASED
REFLECTIVE AND KNOWLEDGE-BASED
TEAM-BASED PROBLEM SOLVING
INFORMAL
Self-organised teamworking
Empowering job design and individuals engaged in dialogue
Knowledge SharingTACIT KNOWLEDGE INTO STRATEGY
STRATEGY INTO PRACTICE
Partnership involving Trade Union or Workplace Representatives
Employees participating as experts in improvement and innovation
FORMAL, RIGHTS-BASED
REFLECTIVE AND KNOWLEDGE-BASED
TEAM-BASED PROBLEM SOLVING
INFORMAL
Self-organised teamworking
Empowering job design and individuals engaged in dialogue
Knowledge SharingTACIT KNOWLEDGE INTO STRATEGY
STRATEGY INTO PRACTICE
Ensuring quality of dialogue Partnership involving Trade Union or Workplace Representatives
Employees participating as experts in improvement and innovation
FORMAL, RIGHTS-BASED
REFLECTIVE AND KNOWLEDGE-BASED
TEAM-BASED PROBLEM SOLVING
INFORMAL
Self-organised teamworking
Empowering job design and individuals engaged in dialogue
Knowledge SharingTACIT KNOWLEDGE INTO STRATEGY
STRATEGY INTO PRACTICE
Ensuring quality of dialogueMANAGEMENT
SYSTEMS & PROCEDURES
PRODUCTIVE REFLECTION
Partnership involving Trade Union or Workplace Representatives
Employees participating as experts in improvement and innovation
Productive Reflection and Transformation
Individual creativity
Team effectiveness
Organisational innovation and transformation
Productive Reflection
Developing Innovation Capability
Impact
Time
Level 1 – Pre (‘natural improvement’)
Level 2 – Structured
Level 3 – Goal-Directed
Level 4 – Proactive
Level 5 – Capability
•
Employee engagement in the UK
• Engaged employees generate 43% more revenue.• Engaged employees: 2.7 sick days per year,Disengaged employees: 6.2.• Engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave.• 67% of engaged advocate their organisations; only
3% of the disengaged do so.• 59% of engaged employees say “work brings out
their most creative ideas” – only 3% of disengaged agree.
Case studies show evidence of:
· long term competitive advantage/service improvement;· harnessing employee knowledge and creative potential;· responsiveness to market demands;· continuous improvement and innovation;· increased productivity;· greater customer care, quality and reliability;· new technologies creating a need for change;· cost reduction;· improved industrial relations;· enhanced quality of working life;· improved recruitment and retention.
DISCUSSION
What are the principal obstacles and dilemmas which organisations face in securing sustainable and effective change?
And what can leaders do to overcome them?
Obstacles
Limited awareness
Poor access to actionable knowledge
Partial change
The organisation as a black box
The problem of HR
Entrepreneurial Organisations and Entrepreneurial Individuals
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Entrepreneurial Organisations and Entrepreneurial Individuals
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Entrepreneurial Organisations and Entrepreneurial Individuals
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CONFORMITY
Entrepreneurial Organisations and Entrepreneurial Individuals
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SYMBOLIC ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Entrepreneurial Organisations and Entrepreneurial Individuals
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Entrepreneurial Organisations and Entrepreneurial Individuals
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RESISTED
Entrepreneurial Organisations and Entrepreneurial Individuals
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Sonya
Entrepreneurial Organisations and Entrepreneurial Individuals
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ENTREPRENEURIAL ORGANISATION
Line managers: barrier reef or resource for change?
• overwhelmed by emails and paperwork with little differentiation between ‘priority’ and ‘routine’ communications;
• accepted the need to manage within rigid financial constraints but given little indication of how to prioritise between competing demands on limited resources;
• received too little information on the rationale for new policy initiatives making it difficult to appreciate their importance;
• rarely offered the opportunity to bring their knowledge and experience to the policy design process;
• often poorly briefed by senior management on effective approaches to policy implementation;
• risk-averse through fear of blame and poor performance ratings;• lacked opportunities for peer support in discussing common
problems, sharing successful practices and raising issues of shared concern with senior management;
• sometimes lack training and competence required to manage change successfully.
The Decision Grid
Decision area:
Somebody up there decides I decide Department Managers decide
Somebody up there decides in consultation with me
I decide in consultation with . . .
Department Managers decide in consultation
with me
Forum theatre is a powerful way of engaging staff mentally and emotionally in change and innovation.
The characters in the play can’t resolve the challenges they face without the help of your employees. In addressing these fictional problems your employees are also reflecting on their own working practices and workplace relationships.
A case study . . .
The client wanted to:• narrow the gap between staff• unleash ideas for improvement• enhance quality of working life• prepare for an uncertain future
We helped achieve these aims by: • capturing stories of working life• analysing problems and causes• working with leaders• facilitating a Change Conference• establishing staff action groups
RESULTS:• 40 actionable ideas for
improvement• Increased engagement• Enhanced leadership
“Peter’s experience in effectively facilitating diverse groups in a Change Conference setting was evident. All aspects of the facilitation focused on fostering the active participation of attendees. Most important was the emphasis on working groups to take the change agenda forward. The team were professional, flexible, supportive and reliable.” Gwen Moore, VEC NPF, Ireland
• Listening to stories of working lifeListening to stories of working life
• Reporting backReporting back
• Making a playMaking a play
• Change ConferenceChange Conference
Dramatic Partnership
Learning Networks• Managers feel ownership of the learning process,
increasing motivation and engagement• Practical learning related to everyday reality• No jargon, time efficient & time sensitive• Tailored to the needs of participants• Not reinventing the wheel• Benchmarking against competition• Psychological support• Development of business with other companies
Action Learning
In Action Learning, participants work together to support the future actions of each individual set member. The emphasis is on sharing knowledge and experience to help address problems and strengthen future actions.Mutual support, empathy and co-operation are the conditions for success.
Sustainable innovation requires:
• Open dialogue and partnership within the organisation
• Widespread learning from outside the organisation
REGULATORY& POLICYFRAMEWORKS• National• European
GLOBALINNOVATION
GLOBALSTRATEGIC ALLIANCES
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR MARKETS
THE REGION
Intermediate Institutions
Regional Strategy
Regional Labour Markets
Supply Chains
Advanced Business Services Knowledge Networks Technology Transfer Innovation
ICTsSkills
Innovation Entrepreneurship Technology TransferKnowledge Networks
THE ENTERPRISE Global MarketsGlobal Mobility
THE ENTERPRISE Competitive StrategyOrganisational Competence Networks People
People at the centre of change
• Change is unpredictable
• It often fails
• There is no blueprint
• Experimentation and learning are unavoidable
• You need everyone’s help
• Space for reflection and dialogue is essential