Latest HR Trends: Coachable, Individual Contributor, Innovative companies, Effectiveness, HR operating Model, Healthy culture, L&D Priorities

???Hello Everyone and Happy Sunday !

Welcome back to the 5th edition of?Weekly People Research.???

Last week's HR trends for researchers were:?

Coachable, Coachability, Great People Manager, Individual Contributor, Innovative companies, Effectiveness, HR operating Model, Healthy Culture, Employee Engagement, Well-being, Priorities of L&D leaders

In this new edition,?you will learn more about:

?? Why highly coachable leaders are recognized as more effective leaders?

?? Why managers are more in Individual Contributor roles than they inspire People?

?? Why the best of innovators deliver superior short-term and long-term financial results and companies that are innovation leaders outperform others by consistently delivering new products?

?? Why the effectiveness of an HR Operating model depends on 10 dimensions, after analyzing the 9 models of HR function from 9 leading consulting firms

?? Why a lack of capacity, priority and support from the business are top challenges for L&D Leaders?

?? Finally you will see that a healthy culture is critical for Employee Engagement, Satisfaction, and Well-being

???Now, let's do a recap of the week on published research:

Great Leaders coach and are coachable therefore their Coachability increases Employee Engagement

???Findings of researchers:

Organizations invest in coaching?before?training leaders to be coachable. Regardless of the coach’s skill, effectiveness will decline if leaders are not ready to receive or implement feedback. While leaders are generally coachable early in their careers, receptiveness steadily declines with time and promotions to higher levels. There are?3 times higher levels?of Employee Engagement, motivation and discretionary effort for leaders with high coaching ability than for leaders with low coaching ability. Highly coachable leaders are recognized as more effective leaders, according to a new interesting?research?published by?Zenger Folkman ?using data from 100,031 leaders on a group of executives at a Fortune 500 company in the food industry.

???Recommendation of researchers:

In conclusion, researchers advised that your most coachable days may be behind you, and your coachability tomorrow will be lower than today unless you start behaving differently.

?? Researchers found that Coachability is a crucial skillset for all leaders. If organizations desire their training and development efforts to impact behavior change, bet on coachability.

So coachability is the vital capability where ALL development begins!

???? What were the expert opinions:

?This work on being coachable offers outstanding insights into attributes of coachable leaders (seek, respond, reflect, act). These attributes can be part of sourcing and/or developing leaders and they lead to positive organization outcomes. Kevin Wilde has a legacy of developing leaders through formal training and personal coaching. Michael Bungay Stanier offers creative insights into the development of leadership through coaching. Being a coach and being coachable are part of leadership effectiveness. We have focused coaching on two outcomes (behavior change and delivering results) and on helping leaders who coach others deliver both. We have also identified four self-coaching questions that help leaders coach themselves: What do I want? Who do I serve? How do I build? Where am I? Again, this reported research helps leaders coach and be coached, according to Dave Ulrich

Once promoted to any management position in Military, and working in your new post, you would continue to receive mentoring (rather than coaching) which prepared you for the 'next step up the ladder'. It was a really good system. I am aware that not all organizations are in a position to provide this type of support. However, general management/leadership training and coaching/mentoring should be possible (and necessary), according to George Kemish LLM MCMI MIC MIoL

Everyone is coachable but not by anyone, according to Pavel Charny

You have to understand the perspectives of others and implement feedback accordingly in order to lead. Giving feedback is one thing, learning how to receive feedback is another. So, I think in order to coach must first demonstrate that you are coachable, according to Drew Fortin

Managers are more in Individual Contributor roles than they inspire People

?? Findings of researchers:

?? The glue binding people and businesses together is squashed in the middle - the People Managers.

There is a fundamental?misunderstanding of the skills?required for people management and this impacts hiring and promotion approaches, when looking at the specific skills required for success, the people manager population only demonstrated a moderate level of readiness for the role, according to a new interesting?research?published by?SHL ?using data from 9,288 people managers across 2020 to 2023, from various industries and backgrounds across the globe measured by SHL personality assessment, the Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ).

People managers today demonstrate likely strengths in applying expertise, analyzing, learning, working with people, and planning and organizing - skills often associated with professional, individual contributor roles.

?? Recommendation of researchers:

?? Researchers conclude that organizations can target investment in developing and refining these people skills.?Emotional intelligence, showing empathy, and relating and connecting with others are all key ingredients that will ripple across your organization. If prioritized and targeted, these skills can be cultivated.

?? With the right people and the right skills, equipped with tools and support to grow, people managers can help us to bring a new, more fulfilling, and durable world of work into reality.

???? What were the expert opinions:

We were particularly passionate about this area and wanted to use SHL’s vast database to pull together guidance for supporting and empowering people managers to shape a better future of work - we believe they could hold the key! We were also happy to be able to include insights from our own people managers who are helping navigate this everyday. For those interested to learn more we have a series of webinars across time zones coming up over the next few months. Follow SHL for more info, according to one of the author Sarah McLellan

I am struck by the three outcomes of better managing people: building culture, meaningful work, and agility/insight. These are three valuable outcomes of good people management (dependent variables) I am trying to sort out the drivers (independent variables) of these outcomes and how they both differ and meld: *personality: 14 dimensions *strengths: 20 behaviors both available and required. These three dimensions (3 outcomes * 14 personality dimensions * 20 behavior strengths) create a complex "rubik's cube" that a good people manager needs to manage. I like the 7 takeaways that imply more attention to people management. Our work on talent focuses more on the talent initiatives that deliver stakeholder value. See 10 initiatives (rows) and 5 stakeholders (columns) to determine which initiatives deliver which value. This SHL work helps identify the skills of a people leader to enact these initiatives, according to Dave Ulrich

Definitely both, however their main role is to guide a team, so in my personal opinion inspiring will definitely be crucial for their and their team’s success!!, according to Simona Panaite, EMBA, PMP

?I was only thinking about this the other day. This statement did not surprise me: '...when looking at the specific skills required for success, the people manager population only demonstrated a moderate level of readiness for the role'. As I have pointed out so many times, many people find themselves being promoted into management positions with little, if any, training/mentoring in the management of people. There is, however, one more problem coming to the fore: Managers often find themselves being distracted by having to undertake some of the work that would normally be undertaken by their subordinates and this has been particularly prevalent due to skills shortages. There is a danger that this will negatively impact on people development across their team as the development will become fragmented. As well as having a negative impact on the skills shortages already being experienced, it is important that the development of people is continuous. If they think that it is going dormant, then they will look for development elsewhere, according to George Kemish LLM MCMI MIC MIoL

This should be one of the go-to documents for every First Time Manager, according to Subhasish Sengupta

For sure it’s impacting organizations on a wider scale, i.e. when it comes to changes and transformation initiatives, the people Manager roles are assumed to be very critical contributor to the success. Also, People Managers are at the forefront and thus they represent and should be promoting the organization culture. As you mentioned, hiring and promotion approaches should be redefined and formulated again according to the competency framework, according to Raied A.

The moment you are given the responsibility of managing others, you have an obligation to understand them on a deep level and inspire them to be their best. It’s good for your business, it’s great for their career, and regardless of whether you look at it as increasing your return on human capital investment or helping people find purpose, it is your top priority from there on out. Also, I’m some aspects we’re talking about leadership in general here. Leadership doesn’t discriminate between ICs or people manager roles - you can be a leader in any role at any level, according to Drew Fortin

It's wonderful to see that i there is increasing awareness in what skills and behaviors are needed to lead a thriving workplace. Although I believe that people managers should be able to inspire people, there are also other people, colleagues, peers who do not have the title but are great inspirators, according to Alize Hofmeester????

Innovative companies need People to steer growth and create value

??Over the next five years, technology-enabled companies are expected to grow close to ten times faster than those in traditional markets.

Reflecting the way competition is evolving,?innovation?is now a top priority for?close to 80%?of the companies and a small group is succeeding through innovation, focusing on key areas of future readiness. Innovation leaders use a number of specific enablers to inspire a level of growth that separates them from innovation laggards and among them many of them are related to employees. The best of innovators deliver?superior?short-term and long-term?financial results?and companies that are innovation leaders?outperform?others by consistently delivering new products, entering new markets, and establishing new revenue streams, while innovation laggards struggle to make headway beyond incremental improvements, according to a new interesting?research?published by?Boston Consulting Group (BCG) ?using data from among 725 executives at companies that have undertaken digital transformations and supported more than 100 BCG-supported digital transformations. The combined data set covers all geographic regions, industry sectors, and types of digital transformation.

?? Recommendation of researchers:

Researchers found that to overcome barriers that could stand in the way of successful innovation, companies must focus on 3 critical actions:

1???Strategize.?Develop a clear ambition of what successful innovation looks like by linking goals to strategy; prioritize efforts in areas relevant to commercial and customer success; and take a portfolio approach to investments.

2???Create and scale.?Develop a portfolio of ideas that deliver business value; build and test minimum viable products to test the concepts and refine functions and market fit; and use top talent to launch, operate, and quickly scale the most successful ones into full businesses.

3???Accelerate.?Use technology, people, and governance to expand innovation-related capabilities and ways of working in a way that maximizes ROI.

Researchers also noticed that companies need to implement capabilities and ways of working that maximize ROI so they need to empower expert teams to work collaboratively like the 2 below actions:

? Adopt cross-functional perspectives to set strategy and make portfolio decisions

? Encourage teams to adopt a shared ethos and growth mindset

???? What were the expert opinions:

I like the focus on innovation as a key capability for organization reinvention. I also like the list of innovation enablers. I have posted and shared research on the importance of "human capability" (talent + leadership + organization + HR) as a typology for shaping HR's future. This research offers insights into each of these dimensions: Talent:?meeting employee needs, growth over tenure, people advantage, resilience Organization: focused teams, entrepreneurial culture, collaboration, culture, ecosystem integration, next generation technology, innovation metrics, agility, AI/technology, Leadership: empowered management HR: ?not much listed on the role of the HR function to deliver innovation This human capability framework helps organize these good ideas into the four domains and then offers 38 initiatives that might be identified to drive the innovation outcome. One thing I like about this current research is that the "organization" pathway gets more attention which is consistent with our findings, according to Dave Ulrich

I'm am going to pick up on the two actions that you have outlined. Wherever there is a change in one area of an organization, it will almost always create change in other areas (departments) and so the adoption of cross-functional collaboration is essential if change is to be successful. Totally agree with the need to adopt a shared ethos. However, a growth mindset requires the development of people coupled with the freedom to experiment and to learn from their successes and failures. As I have stated before, the value received by all stakeholders will depend the quality of staff development (in addition to the actions highlighted by Dave). Staff Development (through communication and collaboration) = Organizational Development (through innovation and creativity) = Growth (for employee and the organization) = Value (to all stakeholders) = Brand. However, staff development needs to be cross-functional if innovation and creativity is to come to the fore, according to George Kemish LLM MCMI MIC MIoL

Inspiring data, Nicolas. The word that comes to mind for me here is VISION. So many companies confuse mission and vision together. Your mission is evergreen and unwavering. It's your company's reason for being. It's quite broad and sweeping. It's inspiring, but if you were to make decisions solely on the mission, it would be hard to keep teams pointed in one direction. A company vision on the other hand, sets the scope for what the company hopes to become in the next 10-20 years. Companies' vision statements often fall short... The best vision statements provide clarity for the future, they cover what the company will be remembered for, how it will differentiate itself, and what technological accomplishments it will make. This is an umbrella opened just right, empowering employees to make decisions and move around a bit (this is where innovation happens!), according to Drew Fortin

The Effectiveness of an HR Operating Model depends on 10 dimensions

?? Findings of researchers:

HR is not about HR, but about?creating value?so?the classic?Ulrich model?remains?relevant?and?dominant?today.

After analyzing the 9 models of HR function from 9 leading consulting firms (Accenture ,?Academy to Innovate HR | Enterprise ?Deloitte ,?Gartner ,?Josh Bersin ,?KPMG ,?McKinsey & Company ?Mercer ?PwC ), any effective HR function?has 10 dimensions?that make up the HR value logic and?Human capability?defined as?Talent, Leadership, Organization and HR?- delivers value to all stakeholders in today’s changing business context, thus building the case for HR functional excellence from a value logic - according to a new interesting?research?published by?The RBL Group ?researchers - using data from 3 comprehensive recent research studies with tens of thousands of individuals in and out of HR and thousands of organizations that define the HR value-added approach to functional excellence.?

?? Recommendation of researchers:

Researchers offer a 6-step logic to improve HR value creation for any organization:

??Adopt Integrated Framework of 10 dimensions

???Measure and Identify gaps

???Prioritize Goals and investments

???Take Action and Track performance

???Share, Engage and Reinforce

???Define Business Case and opportunity

RBL researchers conclude that HR as a department operates like any professional service firm that?turns its knowledge and expertise into its client’s success. By improving on these ten dimensions explained in this study, HR leaders will help create human capability (talent, leadership, organization, and HR department) that will then be used to deliver stakeholder value.?

?? An interesting research called?"HR Operating Model Report 2023" ?published last month by?The Talent Strategy Group ?found that nearly 2/3rds of HR organizations made changes to their design or operating model within the past two years. This indicates a widespread dissatisfaction with the current functioning of HR operating models and a search for more effective solutions.

Researchers believed that it’s?not new HR operating?models that are needed?but more?clarity and discipline?in operationalizing the current model.

???? What were the expert opinions:

The 10 dimensions we have identified based on these 9 consulting firms and our research impact stakeholder value in different ways. See our research (on 9 dimensions) with the Organization Guidance System (OGS) research and impact of HR function dimension on 5 stakeholders. As Marc Effron (and others) have stated so eloquently, HR operating models are generally similar with specialists working with generalists using a technology platform. Our work shows that these HR design choices are not as important as the HR reputation and HR relationships in delivering stakeholder value, according to Dave Ulrich

My interpretation of the frequent changes is that companies are tinkering with their current model, not trying new ones (the McKinsey study confirms that with 80%+ of companies using an Ulrich model). Most companies implement their operating model without modeling precisely how COEs and HRBPs should interact and without training HR in how to use it. For that reason, the model isn't operating as designed, but it's HR's fault, not the model's fault, according to Marc Effron

Having worked in different organizations and industries, I've learnt the effectiveness of an HR operating model depends on various factors, such as ....the organization's size, structure, culture, and strategic goals. What works for one may not be suitable for another, according to Shireen Buckley

The effectiveness and efficiency of an orgs culture is directly dependent on the routine behaviors of those in the C-suite, Execs., and Sr. Mgrs. Nothing can substitute for those behaviors if the goal is to have people adopt such, according to William M. Hayden Jr., PhD, Engr.Mgt, P.E. (inactive), CMQ/OE

Points 1-8 are straightforward. What’s often missed is points 9 and 10. No matter how good the previous points are, if 9 and 10 are lacking the HR operating model will only look good on paper and in theory, according to Felicia Zakaria, SPHR, CCP, ,

A Healthy Culture is critical for Employee Engagement, Satisfaction, and Well-being

?? Findings of researchers:

Organizational cultures, are human systems made up of individual people.

Culture is a complex phenomenon that both drives employee behavior - through formal systems - and emerges through mindsets and behaviors of employees -by learning and emulating others. Many organizations lack a clear understanding or agreement on what culture is, why it matters, and how it can be measured. 68% of people identified executive behavior as the top indicator of culture risk. Despite the major risk that executive conduct is seen to pose,?37% of organizations do not formally assess culture, according to a new interesting?research?published by?AuditBoard ?- using data from more than 350 internal audit leaders across industries.

Researchers found that nearly?every part?of the organization impacts culture. The illustration above shows that how different elements of culture can interact and influence one another:

One element or sub-element of culture may serve as a driver or influencer of another (e.g., employee well-being influences employee engagement and vice versa).

Culture elements have differing levels of influence, so it’s important to determine which ones might pose the greatest inherent and actual risks and opportunities to the organization. Elements of culture are like building blocks: Organizations can use them to construct strong ethical foundations or, like dominoes, one unhealthy block of culture can knock over the next, resulting in culture induced failures.

?? Recommendation of researchers:

Clearly, organization need to crawl before they can walk or run. Researchers suggest that internal audit’s ultimate goal should be to incorporate culture assessment at several key levels:

1?? A formal, standalone report that provides a holistic view of the overall culture; 2?? Engagement-level findings and observations; and

3?? Regular briefings or discussions with management, the board, and audit committee.

???? What were the expert opinions:

This research shows the importance of culture as a set of values, a collection of management practices, and a compilation of norms that drive expectations, all of which drive a "healthy" culture. So well said. In our work on culture, we agree with these ideas, but might build on them to create the "right" culture which focuses outside in so that there is value to the customer of values, management practices that increase customer and investor experience, and expectations that turn the internal norms into customer experiences. We see this as the next evolution of culture so that it has impact on all stakeholders. Again, this thoughtful research helps validate the creation of a healthy culture that becomes the right culture with an outside in lens, according to Dave Ulrich

Corporate culture plays a vital role in delivering performance within an organization. Unfortunately this assertion is not sufficiently shared within the governing bodies. Culture too often remains a taboo that is difficult to address as it refers to the "intangible" such as management style, integrity and ethical values, the organization's mission and vision. On these subjects, the least mature organizations display postures in an incantatory way without these being really embodied in the operational realities experienced by the employees on a day-to-day basis. This misalignment creates misunderstanding which then generates frustration which gradually result in resignation and then loss of commitment and eventually under-performance. Among the most harmful symptoms in the most serious situations, we can observe the development of deviant practices (e.g. Fraud) and the drain of talents. Let me share with you an insightful definition of Culture that should be widely shared : "System of values, beliefs, and behaviors that shape how real work gets done within an organization".according to Renaud de Gallé

Many organizations lack a clear definition or consensus on what culture is, even though it is the spoken and unspoken behaviors and perspectives that define how their business operates on a daily basis, i.e., their operations' genetic code. In addition, while organizational culture is a fundamental element, it is not always visible to long-term employees, in my point of view, according to AHMAD S. ALDARAZI (EMBA, PMP, RMP, CSCP, CILT, LSSGB)

Lack of capacity, priority and support from the business are top challenges for L&D Leaders

?? Findings of researchers:

Staff retention?is the top people priority, according to L&D professionals?but aligning learning activity to organizational and people priorities continues to be a challenge for learning practitioners, and the current workplace environment is not always conducive to learning and individual development.

Addressing the skills gap is the number one priority for 29% of L&D professionals, but they are?prioritizing inputs?(for example, increasing self-directed learning)?over outputs?(for example, speeding up the transfer of learning). L&D professionals are battling with a?lack of capacity, a?lack of priority?from the business and a lack of insight about what is needed and what has worked, according to a new interesting?research?published by?CIPD ?called "Learning at work 2023 survey report" using data from 1,108 complete responses from individuals who have a responsibility for supporting learning at work and collected via a?YouGov ?panel and from a range of sectors and company sizes and included roles with different levels of responsibility and accountability.?

?? Recommendation of researchers:

Researchers provided 9 recommendations to organizations and specially to L&D Leaders:

???Don’t let go of lessons learned

??Work smarter, not harder

???Shift the focus from input to outcomes

?? Embrace digital curiosity

???Operate beyond the course

???Work with others to co-create value

???Create space to explore and experiment

???Realize your own potential

???L&D leaders – rise up :?L&D has a commitment to evolving and professionalizing practice, but they also have a role to play to ensure this happens

???? What were the expert opinions:

It’s was an honor to lead the CIPD research. I approached the analysis with a 20 year background of reviewing effective learning practices so the understanding the wider context in which l&d works has always been important to me. I was also keen to explore the positive actions that the profession can take to improve impact within that context - I’d be interested to know what jumped out for you!, according to Laura Overton

Very interesting study of what L&D leaders see as challenging. I am a little surprised that technology/digital issues were not rated higher. I am not surprised at the skills gap that continually needs addressing in a rapidly changing world. It is a little disconcerting that the relevance of learning to the business goals has dropped somewhat in the last 2 years, although still relatively high. I like the 9 suggested actions that will help L&D learners create more value from their learning efforts. This research goes beyond the trends we identified with three questions (why, what, how), but confirm the importance of starting with the business case for learning (why), according to Dave Ulrich

That's a great chart! There are many other topics in companies that apply to this as well, according to Hadas Almog (She/Her)

In order to encourage employees to train themselves, criteria for developing skills should be included in the definition of their annual performance objectives. The results obtained must influence the variable remuneration to be granted, according to Renaud de Gallé

Firstly, I will pick up on 'the workplace environment being conducive to learning and individual development'. According to Peter Drucker organizational design will be dependent upon the learning culture. As we know, this is no longer the case with the introduction of remote/hybrid working where, in many cases, there has been a decline in development - it requires a different thought process from both the employee and employer (I have written much on this subject). Now to look at the 3 top priorities of senior leaders. I will start with 'achieving growth targets'. As I have pointed out (many times), Staff development = organizational development = growth (for the employee & organization) = value (to all stakeholders) = Brand (how society views the organization). Much of this will come down to the learning culture and individualization of learning - which will come down to where the individual is in their professional development. Providing work that is both meaningful and developmental is extremely important in the generation of growth - it also tends to generate engagement leading to higher productivity (another priority shown). This means that line management will need to have an understanding of both individual (employee) and organizational needs when it comes to providing the 'right' development for their team members. How the training might be delivered may well come down to input by HR or L&D professionals who need to have a wide understanding of the business itself if they are to provide the quality of service needed to support learning. This is one area where cost-cutting will have a detriment on growth, according to George Kemish LLM MCMI MIC MIoL

If you've enjoyed this piece, don't hesitate to press like, comment on what you think, and share these articles with your network.

?? Follow me on?LinkedIn , and click the ?? at the top of my profile page to stay on top of the latest on new best?HR, People Analytics, Human Capital and Future of Work research, become more effective in your HR function and support your business, and join the conversation on my posts.

?? Join 6,500 + people and subscribe to receive?Weekly People Research

Everyday, I share a new research article about?People Analytics, Human Capital, HR analytics, Human Resources, Talent,….

Let's spread the HR knowledge together and understand the Future of Work!

That's it for last week's recap - Happy Sunday!???

Thank you,

Nicolas BEHBAHANI