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?
 Themystery variable that moderates the relationship
between process/technology and ITSM performance?


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
Performance

Process
People

35
30
Performance Level

25
20
15
High People Expertise
10 Medium People Expertise
5 Low People Expertise
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Process & Technology Level


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 Edward Deci

 Increase performance using goal setting
theory (Locke & Latham, 1990)
 Develop the motivation and persistence
required to hit important targets Edwin Locke


Change, Culture & Climate
 Be aware of the difficulty of culture
change
 Understanding one‟s culture is difficult
 „Culture change‟ - fashionable but risky
Edgar Schein
 Understand factors that improve
receptivity to change
 Develop these before implementing change
 Understand the different approaches to
organisational change Kurt Lewin
 Choose correct method for your organisation


A Framework For Change
Large scale
Transformational

Level: The Organisation Level: The Organisation
Focus: Structures & Processes Focus: Structures & Processes
Approach: Emergent change Approach: Bold Stroke

Slow change Rapid change

Stable environment Turbulent environment Bernard Burnes
(Burnes, 2000)

Level: Individual/Group Level: Individual/Group
Focus: Attitudes/behaviour Focus: Tasks & procedures
Approach: Planned change Approach: Tayloristic or kaizen

Small scale
Incremental

Selection & Job Satisfaction
 Job / person analyses are  Benefits of job
important pre-requisites to satisfaction
selection  Reduce churn
 Selection method  On the  Commitment
job performance  Performance?
How to generate job

(Hackman & Oldham, 1976)
Work Sample .54 
Structured interview .51 satisfaction
Assessment centre .37  Increase autonomy
Personality tests .38  Feedback

Unstructured interview .38  Identify with work
 Work significance
(Anderson & Cunningham-Snell, 2000)


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 Donald
Kirkpatrick
 Reactions, learning, behaviour, results (Kirkpatrick,
1959)
 Transference enhanced via motivation, training
design & work environment (Baldwin & Ford,
1988)
 Don‟t just train, change behaviour! Timothy
Baldwin


Other Areas
 Social Networks
 Teamwork
 Leadership
 Shift work

 Organisational commitment
 Well-being
 Positive psychology
 Innovation

Joined-Up Thinking

Job satisfaction Job Design
Selection
Autonomy

Goal Setting
Culture

Motivation
Reputation

Retention
Commitment

Learning Performance
Training

£$€¥


“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 Limited
What Is - What Could Be.
 www.fairday.co.uk

 hello@fairday.co.uk


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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