2. The Age of “Technology will Save Us” (cont.)
KnowledgeSource, Inc. | 2015 | All Rights Reserved 1
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear
an HR professional use the term “The Future of Work?”
(Yeah, me too) From a pure business perspective, the
concept focuses on company culture, environment, and
how we treat our employees & clients. Ultimately, this
changes how organizations operate and is supposed to
help attract (marketing), engage, and retain top talent.
Note: I have a range of thoughts and ideas that cover
everything from leadership expectations to performance
management in this presentation but the 2 central
messages we should take away are:
1. Transformation is change: Change has typically
been hard for HR to handle, much less drive.
However, the expectations within the enterprise
have changed and ages-old and layered
complexity should no longer be considered the
norm or acceptable.
2. Technology is not the magic bullet: It’s there and
rapidly advancing so for those who can embrace
it and allow it to enhance the user experience, it
can provide a robust and clean user experience.
The old saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” doesn’t play
in HR anymore. Now, it should be “if it ain’t broke…YES
it is!”
Varied Approaches to HR
Service Delivery
There are varied approaches to HR Service Delivery but
let’s narrow it down to the 2 most prevalent:
People First: Widely successful organizations/leaders
(i.e., Virgin, Google, Amazon,
etc.) focus on their belief in the
power & value of their people;
human beings. If the employee
is engaged, empowered, and
happy, then innovation and
excellence coms naturally.
Profit & Efficiency First: We
should all want to be as wildly
successful as those noted above. However, some leaders
adopt a “the more profitable we are, the better we can treat
our people” angle. Flashy vendor ROI/Cost Savings
pitches trump the client experience (thus “technology will
save us”).
Regardless of the approach, HR still finds itself asking
what business leaders want and struggling to lead or even
facilitate the conversation. In his “From the CEO”
editorial in the May 2015 HR Magazine, Hank Jackson
contends that “there is a gap between what business
leaders want and what HR can deliver,” with no
improvement in recent years. Attempts to repackage &
refocus the “HR silos” and terms like HR 2020 are not
helping and merely mis-interpret industry/enterprise
strategy and direction.
It is possible that this is the reason HR Technology
vendors are selling so well to the C-Suite – in many cases,
bypassing HR altogether - who then hands it down to HR
to deliver (again receiving - not driving).
3. The Age of “Technology will Save Us” (cont.)
KnowledgeSource, Inc. | 2015 | All Rights Reserved 2
Planning Ahead
How far does HR look into the future? According to the
PWC Future of Work Report, only about 20% of HR
professionals believe they are prepared to “meet the needs
of a workforce that demands more freedom, autonomy,
and flexibility.”
So, what’s “Transformation” got
to do with it?
In many ways, Transformation is another term that many
business functions have taken on in recent years to
describe change – or at least a perception of change.
According to good ole’ Webster’s Dictionary,
Transformation “is a complete or major change in
someone's or something's appearance, form, etc.”
Unfortunately, Transformation has been equated to a mere
Tech Swap in most cases and it is hard to fathom that any
organization, department, or leader can create or manage
true transformational change utilizing the current-state
resources at their disposal.
The real focus should be on the overall transformation of
the HR Service Delivery Model.
Talent-Centric HR Service
Delivery
From an HR Service Delivery perspective, we must define
the specific services to be delivered through the HR
organization vs. directly through management/leadership
or technology. Like it or not, managers will determine
whether or not HR services succeed or fail - period.
Employee engagement studies repeatedly show that
managers have a direct impact on performance &
retention. “When Managers understand and actively
support their key role in guiding employees through the
sometimes complex policies and procedures, Managers
are acting as “HR-by-proxy” and have a direct impact on
engagement and productivity. Successful HR departments
understand the importance of the Manager role and are
assertive in educating those responsible for managing
people within the organization. Setting up consistent yet
flexible metrics for managing people is an essential
element for motivating management behaviors to support
the HR Service Delivery model.
While the various HR processes are “owned” by the HR
group, those same services are reliant on all the players
involved in providing Human Resources support
throughout the organization. The Manager plays a critical
role in interpreting and delivering HR services and are
ultimately responsible for engaging, motivating and
shepherding employees through the tasks of everyday
activities but they are also responsible for providing the
employees with a view of future roles and responsibilities
within the organization.
Key Considerations
The HR Service Delivery Model is designed to incorporate
both generalized and specialized HR services and
strategically leverage integrated automation (i.e., case
management, knowledgebase, portal, HR Technology
applications, etc.) to support intervention, information
management, and the tracking/reporting of actions and
events to provide a robust user experience.
It is ok to ask consultants what other clients have done in
certain scenarios (i.e., Best Practice). However, a true
non-biased advisory services firm can either choose to
either help or hurt:
Help: A solid advisory services firm will always guide
the client based on business strategy and requirements and
4. The Age of “Technology will Save Us” (cont.)
KnowledgeSource, Inc. | 2015 | All Rights Reserved 3
should truly focus on a People-Process-Technology
approach. Forget “best practice.” It is great to share what
other clients have done in certain scenarios BUT
consultants should truly focus on replacing the client’s
current state (whatever that is) with a People-Process-
Technology approach. Challenge the client when the
terms “that won’t work here” or “that’s not the [ENTER
COMPANY NAME] way” are used as barriers. When the
client says “you don’t understand our culture,” take it as a
compliment!
Hurt: Assume that the “soft stuff” (Talent Management,
Engagement, L&D, etc.) is still just fluff, continuing to
merely focus the client “streamlining” the components
below, and implementing a great core (HR, payroll,
Benefits) technology and support model.
What seems to be missing in many cases is the how. If
our business is people, there is an investment and HR has
to be able to build the business case proving why an
investment in the “soft stuff” adds value. Data drives
discipline in how we operate, perform, deliver, etc. Better
understand who I have, what I don’t have, what I need,
why I need it and when. HR must start with the foundation
(i.e., core, payroll, etc.) but they tend to stop here too.
They get tired of the ongoing project lifecycle and feel
defeated, lose interest.
In approaching HR Service Delivery logically, we have
found that it is best to follow these key considerations:
Culture & Behaviors
What will differentiates our delivery model and
value proposition?
How do we want to be perceived by internal and
external stakeholders?
What are cultural barriers to changes in HR
Service Delivery that will need to be addressed?
What behaviors do we need to effectively change
(employee, manager, HR, leaders, etc.)
People & Organization
How will we organize?
How will we staff the model?
What competencies will be required?
How will we manage the change?
How will we communicate the changes?
How will we train/transition resources?
What governance structure will we use?
How do we create an award winning HR Service
Delivery Model (not just structure/value)?
Process & Services
What services do we offer?
How will we improve our delivery?
What management updates will we need? How
will we provide this?
How will we measure efficiency vs.
effectiveness?
How will we bill for services?
What service level agreements will we have and
with whom?
How do I provide services (by industry, by
organization, etc.).
Technology & Sourcing
How will we manage “employee facing” access?
What tools will we use?
Data capture
Knowledge management
Case management
Transaction processing
How will we handle employee data and “back-
end” processing? (The opportunity for data &
analytics is too important to miss)
Governance (HR Demand Management)
How will we manage the new delivery model and
service offerings
5. The Age of “Technology will Save Us” (cont.)
KnowledgeSource, Inc. | 2015 | All Rights Reserved 4
How will we measure performance
How will we engage the business, operations,
leadership, and HR on a common direction
How will we support the demands of the business,
our employees, and HR
Breaking Bad
When challenged to deliver truly transformative HR
services, technology is often looked at as the
transformation; largely because technology is the tangible
that HR can build a case around to sell to the C-Suite. A
prime example of HR’s reliance on “Technology will Save
Us” is the now-antiquated performance review. Once
looked at as the only way to tangibly and systematically
measure the performance of the workforce (and
subsequently the enterprise) was through performance
review technologies that allows managers to not only rate
employees against set competencies and goals but to also
rank employees against their peers.
In a statement in the Wall Street Journal recently that said
“Can a year’s worth of work be boiled down to a stock
phrase like “meets expectations?” They also refer to the
70% of Intel’s workforce who receive a “successful”
rating (the second-lowest label) as the “Walking
Wounded” and how it seriously deflated morale. How sad
is that? As companies reinvent management by slashing
layers of hierarchy or freeing workers to set their own
schedules, performance ratings—which grade workers on
a 1-5 scale or with labels like “on target”—stubbornly
hang on. Companies like Gap Inc., Adobe Systems Inc.
and Microsoft Corp. abolished such ratings after leaders
decided they deterred collaboration and stoked staffers’
anxieties. Yet other companies are having a harder time
letting go.
Companies that have moved away from ratings say their
employees feel better about their jobs, and actually listen
to managers’ feedback instead of obsessing over a
number. (Microsoft)
The Gap’s new approach dumps ratings in favor of
monthly coaching sessions and frequent employee-
manager conversations. But HR executives had to
convince leaders that the move wasn’t “sacrilegious,”
according to Eric Severson, the company’s co-head of
human resources. A 17-year veteran of the company, said
it was strange at first (she was used to scanning her review
for her rating and bonus number). She now talks more
frequently with her manager, so she has a better idea of
where she stands, a process that she’s found less stressful
than worrying about her rating.
ADOBE: As noted in the April 2015 HR Magazine,
Donna Morris writes about her transformation of the old
and outdated performance management philosophy at
Adobe Systems, Inc. “We hired the very best, and then
we brought them into an organization and on an annual
basis said, ‘you were exceptional when you came in, but
now, relative to your peers, you’re only average.”
Adobe had long ago adopted the stack ranking
performance management process — a forced distribution
system requiring managers to rank employees on a curve,
cutting the bottom 10 percent from the organization. The
system was popularized in the 1980s, when General
Electric Co.’s then-CEO Jack Welch touted it as a central
component to the conglomerate’s high performance.
By the beginning of 2012 - buoyed by a broader strategy
shift at Adobe, Morris, with the support of her team and
the company’s senior leadership, made the call to ditch the
stack-ranking system. Its replacement: “Check In,” an
approach of more frequent, informal performance
conversations, centered on deconstructing the prim rating
and reporting structure of the annual review in favor of
quarterly, monthly and even daily performance
conversations. Now, a little more than two years in,
company executives say Check In has sparked a change in
Adobe’s culture. Voluntary attrition — employees
deciding to leave the company on their own terms — is
down 25 percent in the past two years, Morris said.
Adobe’s stock price has also experienced a steady climb,
which the company attributes to its revamped business
model.
6. The Age of “Technology will Save Us” (cont.)
KnowledgeSource, Inc. | 2015 | All Rights Reserved 5
Technology has allowed – and in many ways fostered – a
more collaborative, team-oriented environment that is
harder to measure and nearly impossible to rank. In this
broken model, most leaders are forced to conduct annual
or bi-annual performance reviews that are at best costly,
time consuming and often a one-way monologue with
staff, knowing that the overall system is not working.
According to Dan Vander Hey, Principal Consultant at
KnowledgeSource Consulting, “Organizations need an
entirely new approach to managing performance because
appraisals are often a monologue rather than a dialogue
[and] stifles discussion.” Dan goes on to note that
appraisals are too infrequent and stressful, but
opportunities like Climate Review conversations (whereas
managers & employees review things like Job satisfaction,
Morale, and Communication) are becoming more
mainstays. “We also see Performance Reviews turning
into more of a Strengths & Talents conversation where
there are opportunities to discuss growth and expectations
with the following type of questions.
• What are my expectations as manager?
• How are you performing to those expectations?
• What can we do to help you meet my
expectations?
• Are you committed to meeting those standards in
the future?
When focusing on transformation and the client
experience, it is wise to consider all generations and not
spend too much of your time & resources courting any 1
demographic. As the Millennial generation moves into the
workforce, incorporating their expectations (yes, the hip
work atmosphere of the leading technology companies,
great onboarding experience, etc.) can be a positive and
transformative move. However, not considering the needs
and expectations of the Gen X’ers and others who are here
now and getting the job done today does the organization
a disservice.
So, what’s important to the
employee?
Keep in mind that employee goals & objectives may not
even slightly resemble those of the organization - some
cases, not even close. Consider multiple engagement
approaches; different demographics have different
expectations (one size does not fit all). Also keep in mind
that technology is never a magic bullet. Assuming that
millennials are “tech savvy” and expect a more robust
(often complex) technical environment to keep them
challenged and engaged would be a big mistake.
Engagement Matters
Employee engagement impacts nearly every efficiency
measurement used in business today; healthcare costs,
productivity & performance, customer satisfaction,
retention, and the list goes on and on. According to a 2013
Gallup report, only 30% of the workforce is engaged in
their work; leaving 70% disengaged and not reaching their
full potential. (Gallup, 2013) This is not to say that 70%
of the workforce are “low performers” and it would be
nearly impossible to get the same results from the “sliding
scale” performance ranking system of yesterday that
seems to be the vein of HR’s existence and the kryptonite
of morale & motivation. The report goes on to estimate
that disengagement costs the US Economy $450-550
billion per year and finds that “managers who focus on
their employees’ strengths can practically eliminate active
disengagement” within the enterprise.
Managers are ultimately responsible for engaging,
motivating and shepherding employees through the tasks
of everyday activities but they are also responsible for
providing the employees with a view of future roles and
responsibilities within the organization. Like it or not,
managers will determine whether or not HR services
succeed or fail - period.
7. The Age of “Technology will Save Us” (cont.)
KnowledgeSource, Inc. | 2015 | All Rights Reserved 6
Interestingly enough, Gallup also finds that the
generations near the end of their careers are more engaged
than those at the beginning of their careers.
Engagement in the workplace starts with leadership!
What should leaders know? To truly manage engagement,
you again have to focus on the experience (user
experience, client/stakeholder experience, etc.) as well as
approaching the learning & development (L&D) of your
workforce from a more streamlined and “on-demand”
angle. The Learning Management System (LMS) market
started in the late 1990's by companies like Skillsoft, CBT
Systems, NetG, DigitalThink, and Ninth House Networks.
These companies started building online courses more
than 15 years ago with the intent of transforming the way
people incorporated enterprise knowledge into their jobs.
However, as we are continually expected to do more –
with less – L&D has taken on a whole new dimension and
is focusing on delivery of knowledge in 3 key areas;
• peer-to-peer collaboration
• video on demand
• education in smaller bites.
Business Leaders…Take Note
A major hurdle in getting to a state of much-needed
transformation is the inability for some leaders to take
ownership and make decisions. Highly successful
leaders are transparent (what you see is what you get).
52% of Gen Z’s and Gen Y’s state that honesty is the most
important quality for being a good leader. (Schawbel,
2014) This transparency establishes confidence, creates
buy-in, and builds trust. Transparent leaders are respectful
and trusting of their staff and they are open & honest about
motivations and decisions. Unfortunately, the fear of
making a decision and failing at execution has hobbled the
department and fostered an environment in which other
executives make the decisions and then require HR to
execute.
Some decisions made outside the focus of HR are more
technical in nature and lead to what we like to call a “Tech
Swap” vs. true transformation. Again, this is where the
“Technology will Save Us” mentality comes into plan. In
the widely popular The Second Machine Age, Authors
Brynjolfsson and McAfee contend that the "Internet of
Things" (the comprehensive digital networking, learning,
mapping , etc.) is creating the next industrial revolution
that is replacing (vs. complimenting) human cognition, in
that computers ultimately do work that used to involve
people for manual, routine, and information-based tasks.
We are now seeing the automation of middle-management
jobs that are highly cognitive and non-routine as well.
(The second machine age: Work, progress, and prosperity
in a time of brilliant technologies (First Edition.), 2014).
Simply put, you cannot automate humanity. Creating a
rock-solid HR Service Delivery Model takes HR out of the
“stupid stuff?” and allows them to be much more of what
the business needs today; strategic, proactive, client-
focused, and yes…transparent!
8. The Age of “Technology will Save Us” (cont.)
KnowledgeSource, Inc. | 2015 | All Rights Reserved 7
About KSI
KnowledgeSource (KSI) is a market leading global
HR Transformation consulting firm specializing in
HR Service Delivery, Strategy, HR Technology, and
Transformation. KSI provides consulting services to
many of the largest known global companies and
brands, in helping them assess, align, define, manage
and execute against a successful transformation plan.
Established in 2010 by industry veterans with
extensive backgrounds from both the consulting and
practitioner side, KSI leverages experience-based
consultants in order to
drive project results, not
project fees.
About Damon
Damon Lovett is a Senior Consultant with
KnowledgeSource, Inc. His unique mix of practitioner,
vendor, and consulting experience has helped companies
simplify complex processes and leverage sustainable
technologies to improve service delivery and overall
business effectiveness.
Damon is a HCM industry
recognized leader in HR
Transformation,
Technology, and information
management based on his
extensive experience helping
companies from various
business sectors apply
people, process, and
technology strategies and
best practices that deliver
results.
