people: the grit in the machine?

PEOPLE:

The grit in the machine?

Peter A. Johnson, Fairday Research Ltd.

Which one of these demonstrates people expertise?

© Fairday Research Limited What Is > What Could Be

Do we practice Technology, Process, People?

This is the industry of the technology of information

therefore technologists abound

Process frameworks such as ITIL and COBIT are well

established in this industry

ITIL > 15 years old, COBIT > 13 years old

Why aren‟t projects universally successful?

Are people the grit in the machine?

The mystery variable that moderates the relationship

between process/technology and ITSM performance?

What Is > What Could Be© Fairday Research Limited

ITIL + „What else‟ = Success?

discussion thread

In group: ITSM (ITIL) Professionals

Thread started on 4th September 2009

Responses included

“Right attitude and behaviour of staff”

“Motivation”

“Culture”

“Knowledge”

“Soft skills”

“Change”

“Commitment”

“Learning”


Thesis: ITSM needs „People Science‟

Situation: People are the uncontrolled factor in „People, Process, Technology‟

Complication: Lack of people expertise may cause ITSM projects to be less successful

Resolution: „People experts‟ should be part of Service Management projects

Me:

An IT career that spans 25 years

Development/Support/Service Management

Recent qualification as a Work Psychologist


The moderating effect of homo sapiens?

Technology

ProcessPeople

Performance

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Perf

orm

an

ce L

evel

Process & Technology Level

High People Expertise

Medium People Expertise

Low People Expertise


Human Factors

Technology based upon predictability and repeatability E.g.: V=I x R

Processes are rule-based The decision diamond is all powerful!

Humans (individuals & groups) are unpredictable Social sciences ≠ physical sciences

Probability is the measure of success

In ITSM, people decisions left to process, technology and project management experts Crucial decisions not based on science


Psychology (Ψ) = People Science

Occupational Psychology =

The study of people at work

Individuals and groups

Science is over 100 years old

Oc-Psychs used by many organisations including:

Large body of knowledge, e.g. How to organise for:

Motivation

Performance

Satisfaction, commitment & well-being


Ψ and ITSM Part I

Design for motivation and performance Generate autonomous employee motivation

Understand how goals can lead to performance

The only constant is change Make teams receptive to change

Choose the right change approach for you

Learning theories: New processes: make training effective

Transference of learning to the job

Teamwork Understand how teams „storm‟, „norm‟ and „form‟.


Ψ and ITSM Part II

Culture

What is culture? How is it measured?

Do you actually want to change it?

Selection

How to get the right the people on the team

Real Job satisfaction & well being

Reduce costs associated with churn.

Reputation – make recruitment easier.

Leadership

Understanding of the right way to lead in your organisation.


Performance and Motivation

„Internalising‟ motivation for less pleasant

tasks (Deci et al., 1994)

Increase motivation for process tasks in

service management teams

Increase performance using goal setting

theory (Locke & Latham, 1990)

Develop the motivation and persistence

required to hit important targets

Edward Deci

Edwin Locke


Change, Culture & Climate

Be aware of the difficulty of culture change

Understanding one‟s culture is difficult

„Culture change‟ - fashionable but risky

Understand factors that improve receptivity to change

Develop these before implementing change

Understand the different approaches to organisational change

Choose correct method for your organisation

Edgar Schein

Kurt Lewin


A Framework For Change

Level: The Organisation

Focus: Structures & Processes

Approach: Emergent change

Level: The Organisation

Focus: Structures & Processes

Approach: Bold Stroke

Level: Individual/Group

Focus: Attitudes/behaviour

Approach: Planned change

Level: Individual/Group

Focus: Tasks & procedures

Approach: Tayloristic or kaizen

Large scale

Transformational

Small scale

Incremental

Slow change

Stable environment

Rapid change

Turbulent environment

(Bur

nes, 2

000) Bernard Burnes


Selection & Job Satisfaction

Work Sample .54

Structured interview .51

Assessment centre .37

Personality tests .38

Unstructured interview .38

(Anderson & Cunningham-Snell, 2000)

Benefits of job satisfaction Reduce churn

Commitment

Performance?

How to generate job satisfaction Increase autonomy

Feedback

Identify with work

Work significance

(Hackm

an

& O

ldha

m, 1

976)

Job / person analyses are important pre-requisites to selection

Selection method On the job performance


Training; Transference of Training

10% of companies evaluate behaviour change post-training (Patrick, 1992)

If behaviour doesn‟t change you‟ve wasted time & money

4 steps to successful training evaluation

Reactions, learning, behaviour, results (Kirkpatrick, 1959)

Transference enhanced via motivation, training design & work environment (Baldwin & Ford, 1988)

Don‟t just train, change behaviour!

Donald

Kirkpatrick

Timothy

Baldwin


Other Areas

Social Networks

Teamwork

Leadership

Shift work

Organisational commitment

Well-being

Positive psychology

Innovation


Joined-Up Thinking

Reputation

Commitment

TrainingLearning Performance

Retention

£ $ € ¥

Autonomy

Job Design

Culture

Motivation

Goal Setting

SelectionJob satisfaction


“ITIL + People Science = SUCCESS!”

discussion thread

In group: ITSM (ITIL) Professionals

Thread started on 4th September 2009

Responses included

“Right attitude and behaviour of staff”

“Motivation”

“Culture”

“Knowledge”

“Soft skills”

“Change”

“Commitment”

“Learning”


People Expertise:

British Psychological Society

www.bps.org.uk

American Psychological Association

www.apa.org

Fairday Research LimitedWhat Is - What Could Be.

www.fairday.co.uk

[email protected]


None of these are people experts


Q&A

Thanks for listening


References

Anderson, N. & Cunningham-Snell, N. (1999). Personnel Selection. In N. Chmiel (Ed.) Introduction To Work and Organizational Psychology. Oxford: Blackwell

Baldwin, T. T. & Ford, J. K. (1988). Transfer of training: A review and directions for future research. Personnel Psychology, 41, 63-105.

Burnes, B. (2000). Managing Change. A strategic Approach To Organisational Dynamics, (4th edition). Harlow: Pearson

Deci, E. L., Eghrari, H., Patrick, B. C., and Leone, D. R. (1994). Facilitating internalization: the self-determination theory perspective. Journal of Personality, 62, 119-142

Hackman J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1976). Motivation through design of work. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16, 250-279.

Kirkpatrick, D. (1959). Techniques for evaluating training programs. Journal for the American Society of Training and Development, 13, 3-9

Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (1990). A Theory of Goal Setting & Task Performance. New Jersey: Prentice Hall

Patrick, J. (1992). Training: Research and Practice. London: Academic Press


people: the grit in the machine?

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