Continuing the series on human development’s role in systems change, this week I’ll share one real-world initiative from my consulting practice. This example from the field demonstrates beautifully how human resource processes and functions can be integrated into the large-scale culture change of a nonprofit organization, making HR a powerful partner in systems transformation.
Systems transformation needs both individual and organizational strategies. Let’s take a deeper dive into how organizational strategies and intentions played a role for this particular organization.
Making the shift through HR processes
Context and history: The organization was a multi-service nonprofit with a tightly held hierarchical structure and leadership. A new executive director wanted to shift the top-down culture to one in which leadership was more widely distributed across the organization.
Scope of work: To help the organization create a distributive leadership—or “leader-full”—culture.
Rationale for distributive leadership: The shift to distributive leadership rested on three beliefs. First that the new approach would increase the organization’s resilience and sustainable growth. Next, that the leadership team needed more “bench strength” in the form of next-generation leadership and management talent. And finally, that that distributive leadership was required to increase the organization’s adaptive capacity, flexibility, and agility.
The design:
We invested in two points of the HR processes, namely selection and performance reviews.
The selection of new staff members required a small working group to reflect on the core abilities we sought, as well as subject-matter expertise, experience, and education. The working team and the consultant identified four desirable qualities to hire for and eventually incorporate into the performance review process. These qualities were seen as necessary to develop a culture of distributed leadership:
- Employees are self-directed. In other words, they initiate and organize their own work and individual development and learning.
- Their actions are informed by and aligned with the organization’s mission and purpose.
- They have—or can develop—accurate self-assessments that include a realistic understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. This, in turn, would inform their self-directed learning.
- Employees are aware of and able to manage their emotions, which helps to reduce the overall drama throughout the organization.
Selection criteria:
The first step was to generate interview questions that help assess these qualities when selecting new staff members. Some sample questions included:
- How have you taken initiative or demonstrated leadership in your position, team(s), or a past organization in the last year?
- How do you build and maintain working relationships that support a healthy organizational culture?
- Whom have you sought feedback from to help with your self-assessment?
A new framework for performance reviews
The team and outside consultants made several assumptions about the purpose and importance of performance reviews during the organizational transformation. In fact, performance reviews were considered a critical element in helping the organization transform its culture from a top-down to a distributive leadership culture. Feedback is required for professional development and personal growth, for example. Qualified, talented, and creative employees are essential for this organization to remain resilient and strong.
A performance review that provides rich feedback to the staff and the enterprise will dramatically enhance both individual and organizational development.
Facilitated by the HR director, the working team redesigned the performance review to align with the transformational goal of creating a distributed leadership culture. In addition to feedback on general performance, their individual/departmental goals, and their learning and development, a new category was developed called “living our values and strengthening our organizational culture.” That section focused on the capacities needed for distributive leadership and self-organizing employees.
The process: The performance review process was modified to increase and broaden the feedback the employee received via the following process:
- The staff member receives a performance reflection and planning form.
- Then, they seek feedback from peers and colleagues to assess their strengths and weaknesses.
- The individual completes the performance reflection and planning form, including the feedback they received from their colleagues.
- The completed performance review form is forwarded to their manager or director.
- The director/manager reviews and adds feedback based on their experience and perceptions.
- The staff member and director/manager meet to reflect on what the Staff Member has generated and share reactions. Issues are identified and applause given where appropriate.
It’s important to note that the supervisors’ perceptions are integrated with other feedback. This helps form a broader perspective about the staff member, shifting the dependency relationship typically found in performance reviews, which traditionally rely solely on what the manager thinks. This also aligns with a more distributive leadership structure, by integrating multiple perspectives to form a more wholistic view.
Results in record time
Redesigning HR processes to align with the organization’s transformational goal amplified the systems transformation tremendously. These important new processes deeply supported and reinforced the transformation to a more distributive leadership structure. Within just six months, behaviors started to shift. After one year, the team achieved the desired shift towards a distributive leadership culture.
Over time, HR also supported new supervisory approaches that aligned with staff members’ self-directed behavior. Job descriptions were redesigned to articulate the purpose of each position, which helped self-organization happen around purpose rather than individual duties. And the leadership team modeled behavior that reflected distributive leadership.
Organizations seeking to transform in some way may not all experience such a rapid timeline. What this example does show, however, is that understanding the power of HR processes and integrating critical elements into the change process can dramatically improve the quality and resilience of the transformation as well as accelerate the timeline.
