Scenario 1: More diversity in who – and how – we acquire talent
Taking a product management approach means a product manager owns both a review of our existing products and an exploration of potential new features and/or new and additional products.
Why we need a new model for HR, an introduction
If we are a larger team, we’d have a practice lead for diversity, equity and inclusion as our product owner and can link our people scientists and data analysts to assess the current talent attraction and acquisition approaches and what the wider market offers us.
Our meaning makers and systems designers ensure this aligns with our purpose, values and culture.
Once we’ve crafted evolved/new products in this area, our people operations team will launch with our relationship brokers.
Our data analysts will track and capture performance, impact and value being created, linking with the people pperations, systems designers and product owner.
Why we need a new model for HR: part 2, outlining HR 3.0
Scenario 2: Strategic workforce planning (SWP)
Our product owner for this is likely our chief people officer who is also a meaning maker. A product manager will need a team to help, considering the need for data analyst input, systems designers, and relationship brokers alongside our practice leads and people operations.
The product manager will coordinate products within an SWP programme – digital technology, taxonomies of capabilities, prioritised need/demand, internal mobility, planning cycles, data capture, reporting and value/impact assessments.
Our systems designers will be active in how SWP links with our operating and business models.
Our people scientists and meaning makers will combine to look ahead at workforce trends over the next five, 10 or 20 years, to see if there are signals from the future that we can factor into our SWP.
Why we need a new model for HR: part 3, people as product
We may have a multi-faceted model for our workforce, with additional, contingent expertise and being susceptible to fluctuating workloads.
Our data analysts, relationship brokers and practice leaders will combine to analyse, respond, support and optimise how we balance our workload with our workforce and create sustainable, future-proofed operations.
Why we need a new model for HR: part 4, people analytics and science
In closing this serialisation of a potential new operating model, there are several crucial factors to consider.
- Context. If you are a smaller team, some HR 3.0 roles will be part of someone’s accountabilities. You may have people as multi-disciplinary versions of themselves rather than teams of distinct specialists (which you’ll have in larger organisations).
- Capability. Some domains will necessitate new capabilities for your team. So, expertise will need to be built, borrowed or bought in.
- Capacity. Moving to a new operating model is a lot of work before you become more confident, capable and clear in your evolved state. The capacity to do that is challenging for many HR teams in the current climate.
- Clarity. Why, how and what we do to shift to this needs some clear founding parameters set and understood, co-created and coalesced into a strongly supported vision.
- Creativity. Much needed freshness of thinking, doing and being. We may feel creativity is constrained in our current operating model, and this shift to a new one forces a lot more creative thinking and application.
- Craft. This could see us emerge into new areas of craft (not just capability), with agility and sciences being strong aspects of that.
Why we need a new model for HR, part five: systems designers and people operations
In serialising the possibilities, I hope this has sparked inspiration and been a provocation to try something different.
A departure from convention into a new creative dawn for people and culture. So to end as I began with a rallying call: we need people-centric, planet-pro, prosperity-delivering HR.
For more information on HR 3.0, click here.
Perry Timms is founder of PTHR
