Max Blumberg and Alec Levenson
Organizations face increasing pressure to optimize their human capital management strategies in today’s competitive business environment. As the nature of work evolves, the…
Abstract
Purpose
Organizations face increasing pressure to optimize their human capital management strategies in today’s competitive business environment. As the nature of work evolves, the ability to identify, develop and leverage critical thinking skills has become paramount for organizational success. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the Critical Edge Skills Framework (CESF), a novel approach to skills management that focuses on the cognitive demands of various roles within an organization.
Design/methodology/approach
The CESF provides a structured method for categorizing skills based on the level of critical thinking required and the nature of the work involved. By adopting this framework, organizations can better align their talent acquisition, development and succession planning strategies with the cognitive demands of different roles, ultimately driving strategy execution, innovation and competitive advantage.
Findings
The CESF represents a significant advancement in how organizations approach talent acquisition, development and succession planning. By adopting this framework, organizations can better understand the cognitive demands of various roles, align talent with the appropriate level of critical thinking and ensure that employees are well-suited to the nature of their work, whether it involves designing or executing tasks.
Originality/value
This paper’s skills taxonomy: provides a clear progression of cognitive abilities, from foundational skills to leadership and transformational thinking, allowing organizations to better understand critical thinking development; helps organizations identify the cognitive abilities required for different job roles, enabling more targeted and cost-effective talent acquisition, training and development; emphasizes the importance of higher-order thinking skills, which are crucial for driving innovation and organizational success; aligns with common educational frameworks, ensuring that graduates possess the critical thinking skills required by the modern workforce; and clarifies skill requirements, making it more manageable to determine the most suitable production resource for specific tasks. This optimizes the use of organizational resources and enhances productivity.
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The purpose of this paper is to address the barriers to the rapid development of effective HR analytics capabilities in organizations.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address the barriers to the rapid development of effective HR analytics capabilities in organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
Literature and conceptual review of the current state of HR analytics.
Findings
“HR analytics” is used to refer to a too-wide array of measurement and analytical approaches, making strategic focus difficult. There is a misconception that doing more measurement of HR activities and human capital will necessarily lead to actionable insights. There is too much focus on incremental improvement of existing HR processes, detracting from diagnosing the problems with business performance. Too much time is spent on mining existing data, to the detriment of model building and testing, including collecting new more appropriate data. Too much energy is consumed with basic tasks of data management. Stakeholders avoid action by nitpicking the details of the data.
Practical implications
Practitioners who follow the guidance provided should find that their application of HR analytics leads to more relevant and actionable insights.
Social implications
More effective application of HR analytics should lead to better decision making in organizations and more effective resource allocation.
Originality/value
A new look at the field of HR analytics that synthesizes the research literature and current practice in organizations.
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Analytics enable HR to make strategic contributions, but not all analytics offer equal insights. Alec Levenson compares the usefulness of ROI, cost‐benefit, and impact analysis…
Abstract
Analytics enable HR to make strategic contributions, but not all analytics offer equal insights. Alec Levenson compares the usefulness of ROI, cost‐benefit, and impact analysis. He also explains why the time is right for HR to build an HR analytics centre of expertise and create a foundation of analytic skills across the function.
Alec Levenson, Maura Stevenson and Alexis Fink
Organization development (OD) and people analytics (PA) have developed and are typically practiced as entirely separate and nonoverlapping disciplines in organizations. We review…
Abstract
Organization development (OD) and people analytics (PA) have developed and are typically practiced as entirely separate and nonoverlapping disciplines in organizations. We review the principles underlying each of the two disciplines and show much greater overlap and similarities than commonly believed. An integrated framework is provided, along with examples of OD tools that should be part of the PA toolkit for any practitioner. Case studies of what the integrated framework looks like when applied in practice are discussed.
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Michael Gibbs, Alec Levenson and Cindy Zoghi
In this chapter we study job design. Do organizations plan precisely how the job is to be done ex ante, or ask workers to determine the process as they go? We first model this…
Abstract
In this chapter we study job design. Do organizations plan precisely how the job is to be done ex ante, or ask workers to determine the process as they go? We first model this decision and predict complementarity among these following job attributes: multitasking, discretion, skills, and interdependence of tasks. We argue that characteristics of the firm and industry (e.g., product and technology, organizational change) can explain observed patterns and trends in job design. We then use novel data on these job attributes to examine these issues. As predicted, job designs tend to be “coherent” across these attributes within the same job. Job designs also tend to follow similar patterns across jobs in the same firm, and especially in the same establishment: when one job is optimized ex ante, others are more likely to be also. There is evidence that firms segregate different types of job designs across different establishments. At the industry level, both computer usage and R&D spending are related to job design decisions.
This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
Greater focus is the key to better HR analytics. The authors summarize their six recommendations that will ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of HR analytics.
Practical implications
The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations.
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.
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If HR is to make a true impact on the performance of itsorganization, it must be a team player. Working in the HR equivalent of the ivory tower, with little or no awareness of…
Abstract
If HR is to make a true impact on the performance of itsorganization, it must be a team player. Working in the HR equivalent of the ivory tower, with little or no awareness of your industry, customers or competitors, let alone other internal business functions, is no longer good enough. What’s required is a new set of skills forthe HR practitioner and a new approach to working life.
Solomon W. Polachek and Konstantinos Tatsiramos
Early models of the functional distribution of income assume constant labor productivity among all individuals. Not until human capital theory developed did scholars take into…
Abstract
Early models of the functional distribution of income assume constant labor productivity among all individuals. Not until human capital theory developed did scholars take into account how productivity varied across workers. According to early human capital models, this variation came about because each individual invested differently in education and training. Those acquiring greater amounts of schooling and on-the-job training earned more. However, these models neglected why one person would get training while another would not. One explanation is individual heterogeneity. Some individuals are smarter, some seek risk, some have time preferences for the future over the present, some simply are lucky by being in the right place at the right time, and some are motivated by the pay incentives of the jobs they are in. This volume contains 10 chapters, each dealing with an aspect of earnings. Of these, the first three deal directly with earnings distribution, the next four with job design and remuneration, the next two with discrimination, and the final chapter with wage rigidities in the labor market.