HRviews

Every year, the abundance of presentations, the trade show and networking opportunities make it interesting and insightful. This year, my focus was to attend sessions that would tackle innovation, new trends, employee engagement, as in my view, they are all interconnected. I will share some learning bites from David S. Weiss’s presentation on “HR as a Driver of Innovative Intelligence” and Amanda Lang’s keynote on the “Canadian Economy, Business and HR”.

“HR as a Driver of Innovative Intelligence”

• innovation: applied creativity that achieves business value
• we need time to think to be innovative
• there is a shift from the industrial economy to the knowledge economy
• multiple intelligences: analytical (acquired in school), emotional (social), innovative
• the stronger the analytical intelligence, the less likely you are innovative
• ensure organizational levers (budgeting, HR practices, structure, rewards, etc.) do not make innovation more difficult
• it is not about innovative leaders, but rather about leaders of innovation

“Canadian Economy, Business and HR”

• create an environment where people ask “why” and “why not”
• we teach kids early that asking “why” is irritating…we shouldn’t
• Canadians are behind in innovation
• engagement = innovation = productivity
• the way people are going to be managed will change (social media effect) / the “why bother” generation
• the social network will be the greatest innovation of the century
• how do you get employees as passionate about their job as they are about their lives?

Sometimes you decide to let the year end and only worry about the new one when it comes. This was my choice this time…I have been exploring HR trends and things to be mindful of throughout 2011. However, at the dawn of the New Year I realized that most of the predicted trends are probably going to take second place in priority and only a handful will most likely prevail throughout 2012, a year that is expected to be rather difficult.

The shift comes from the fact that more than 80% of organizations have undergone a major restructuring effort, and it’s not over. (as per the Corporate Leadership Council).  Businesses are faced with a dilemmatic situation in which they have to pay attention to both the economic crisis and also their employees. This becomes the number one challenge in 2012 and the question is: will business leaders and HR manage to find solutions to address this? On the one hand, the economic crisis will impose its own risks and limitations and with that in mind, on the other hand, organizations need to find creative ways to maximize employee performance and to focus on retaining and supporting talent.

It might so be that in the next year organizations will hire less, the training and education budgets will be somewhat downsized or temporarily frozen, organizations will focus more on transformation, on how to manage effectively and basically how to do more with less. Although in any crisis situation, the sense of emergency and panic might persist at first, most likely, strategic organizations will find the right model to pull them through this transformation. And as we have seen in the last few years, most success comes from knowing how to blend human change and organization change in the same bowl, rather than one following the other.

Opening The Harvard Business Review (Nov Edition) and seeing pages filled with Sarah Morris’ paintings was refreshing….wait, no, confusing. What does art have to do with business? Well, HBR tackled a great topic in this edition: “How great companies think differently”.  The overall thought is that great companies, instead of being mere money generating machines, combine financial and social logic to build enduring success. These enterprises intend to accomplish societal purposes and also provide meaningful livelihoods  for those who work in them.
Connecting art with business could be ultimately a way of trying to be different. Art teaches us to find more meaning in what’s around us, to be more innovative. Sarah Morris’ busy imagery is  metaphor for the challenges that institutions and individuals face trying to find their spot in society.

Some tips and advice from Gina Cajucom from Insight Coaching and Consulting…and a real life example. :)

Personal Leadership – Taking Charge of Your Career