Category: Organization Design

Organization Design deals with the complex issue of business models, operating models, jobs, roles, and structure – keys to making companies agile, efficient, innovative, and engaging for people.

Redesigning HR: An Operating System, Not An Operating Model.

It’s time for a new operating model for Human Resources, one we name “Systemic HR.” Bear with me as I explain this important change.

Business Challenge #1: Slower Growth, Labor Shortage

2023 represents a pivotal year. As we exit the pandemic and 15 years of low interest rates, companies are looking for new pathways to ... Read more»

Were All These Layoffs Inevitable? Perhaps, But Here’s How It Happened.

As most of you know, the technology industry has laid off more than 200,000 people in the last six weeks and each week we see more (this week it was Intel, Paypal, Splunk, and Pinterest). So let me ask an important question: were all these layoffs inevitable?

Well in order to answer this question we ... Read more»

Banking Under Siege: The Secrets To Digital Success In Financial Services

The banking industry is hot again: interest rates are rising, people are spending money, and consumers want a more integrated, digital-first relationship with their provider. For consumer and commercial banks, however, the last decade has been traumatic. Everyone from Apple to Walmart to Google to Mastercard wants to take their business away. And new Buy ... Read more»

The Healthcare Industry Has A Talent Crisis: We Found The Cure.

We just completed a massive study of the talent and HR challenges in healthcare, and the findings are astounding. And there is a lot to learn from this industry.

To start, you should understand that healthcare is now the largest industry in the United States. Almost 14% of the American workforce serves in this ... Read more»

Haphazard Organization Design Is Holding Companies Back From Growth

Just released. New Research on Designing Jobs for the Future of Work.

Every day there’s another roadblock to growth. Inflation at nearly 8%, a war in Eastern Europe, more jobs than we have people, and employees leaving companies in droves.

As part of our Global Workforce Intelligence Project we’ve been interviewing CHROs in healthcare, ... Read more»

Introducing The Global Workforce Intelligence Project

Today we’re introducing one of the most exciting projects I’ve worked on in my career: the Global Workforce Intelligence (GWI) Project. This is a massive initiative we started over the last year to understand the new jobs roles, skills, and career pathways in every major industry around the world.

It’s a big project, and ... Read more»

Let’s Stop Calling It Labor: We’re All In The Services Business Now.

The job market is more dynamic than ever, and I think we can stop using the word “labor” to talk about what’s going on. Let me explain.

Government organizations like the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and even labor unions are named around the concept of people as workers. In the industrial age ... Read more»

Elevating Equity and Diversity: The Challenge Of The Decade

This week we launch a year-long study of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in business and the results are disappointing. After billions of dollars invested in DEI training, tools, tech, and HR strategies, we haven’t moved the needle very far. In some respects, we’ve come a long way, but as our research discovered, only ... Read more»

zoom is exhausting

Has Remote Work (WAH) Already Become A Fad?

It’s kind of funny. In the last 120 days companies have gone from “remote work is not encouraged” or “you can work remotely on Friday” to “You can work remotely forever (Twitter)” or “We are a remote-first company(Coinbase)” or “We don’t need you back for a year or so (Facebook, Microsoft, ... Read more»

HR Transformation In The Experience Age

HR TransformationHR Transformation is a big topic.

The human resources function starts small, and as the organization grows, the HR team becomes complex. We need recruiters, business partners, specialists, designers, technologists, and a variety of other specialists in diversity, culture, learning, and more.

It’s a perfect market for consultants. Most HR departments grow organically (and through ... Read more»

The Pixelated Workforce: A Job For Almost Everyone

We just finished a significant research study on the Alternative Workforce, and it was a real eye-opener. Not only do almost 40% of Americans now have part-time or contingent jobs, but almost 2/3 of young people also have side-hustles, doing work on the side. This means the “alternative workforce” isn’t really ... Read more»

Becoming Irresistible Part 3: A Positive Work Environment

(This is part 3 in our series, creating the Simply Irresistible Organization, click here for part 1 or part 2)

As our Simply Irresistible Organization™ model shows (see below), there are five essential elements of employee engagement success: meaningful work, supportive management, positive work environment, growth opportunity, and trust in leadership. In this article ... Read more»