Hacking HR to Build an Adaptability Advantage

The illusion of separateness

By Kirstie Quinnin on May 11, 2022

 

Thanks to the prevalence of systems theory a fair number of people in organisations get that the actions and reactions of people are interdependent, that we may not be cogs in a big machine.  So why does this illusion of separateness still prevail and in some cases reinforced in the practice of HR? One major example for me is judging and rewarding individual performance which can mean not recognising and appreciating all the actors in achieving an "objective" or judging the persons actions which are in reality not fully in their control. So this can lead to demotivation and disengagement from the shared purpose of the organisation. Two outcomes that could seriously impact the ability of an organisation to adapt.  Try implementing a change programme with a disengaged workforce if you want to see whether that's the case. So what's the alternative? I don't have answers at the moment just questions. I don't know what a performance management system could look like that embraces a truly holistic view. Maybe other participants do or maybe this is something we can explore...
 

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Hi Keith, am intrigued. Tell me more!
Kirstie

keith-gulliver's picture

Social performance management perhaps Kirstie?