P OST-C ONF ER ENCE SUMMARY A N D RE FL ECTION
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Vienna C O R P O R AT E R E S E A R C H F O R U M
I am very pleased to be asked to write the foreword to the post conference summary. As we learned during the conference, business never stands still, but today the pace of change is accelerating as never before. We are reimagining how business is being done across every sector, leading to the transformation of enterprises in Europe and globally. This reshapes the meaning of work. All employees will increasingly find themselves in a more digitised world. This will impact every aspect of our lives. How will we, in this rapidly changing environment, provide purpose and meaning at work? The norms of today will not be relevant. We will have to give new meaning as we move from the post-industrial world into the digitalised work. This will provide a completely new dimension to the meaning of work. HR and organisation development professionals will need to rise to the task. Are we ready? This is certainly the question. This conference was an eye opener and prompted us to reflect on demand at both individual and organisational levels. We must provide the training and development needed to succeed against this ever-changing context of the meaning of work where people need clear purpose and a continuous learning environment to achieve and develop. I enjoyed this conference and got excellent insights into ‘the meaning of work’. I hope you walked away as excited and energised as I did. I look forward to seeing you at another CRF event and to discussing your progress.
Rudi Plettinx Managing Director EMEA, MCE – Inspiring to Outperform
Over the past three days, we have explored the meaning and purpose of work. For organisations to remain relevant and competitive in the global market place, they need to be high performing, flexible and agile. Whilst achievement and being part of a winning team is important, individuals place an increased importance on learning, flexible and remote working, career portfolios and the maintenance of a work-life balance. These current realities have guided our thinking and questioning around how to balance organisational and individual needs to achieve optimum performance. In the conference the orchestra provided a metaphor for exploration of the meaning and purpose of work by allowing the audience to watch, observe, listen and reflect on similarities and contrasts between orchestral and organisational life. It prompted us to reflect on and discuss how the meaning and purpose of work operates on two levels – organisational and individual. The following questions helped guide our investigation: 1. How do organisations determine purpose, create and execute meaningful strategy? 2. How do we create meaningful workplaces where people are excited and enthused? 3. How do we create great jobs for people where they can learn, achieve and develop?
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How do organisations determine purpose, create and execute meaningful strategy?
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Organisational purpose is a concept which tends to be widely discussed yet is often poorly understood, and articulated. Organisations that create and communicate purpose, achieve gains and success while building lasting sustainable competitive advantage.
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As leaders we need to move beyond talking about the tensions between purpose and profit and instead focus on leveraging the tensions inherent in purpose. Purpose should not be merely financial, nor a set of vague and abstract terms. Instead, organisations create meaning and purpose by meeting an unmet market need, by knowing why they exist as an organisation and what they want to achieve. Organisations with purpose know how they create and sustain economic value over time, which involves making tough choices of where to compete and how to win. Purpose also necessitates building shared context, or a shared understanding across key leaders and managers of what matters and why it matters. Organisations with purpose and strategy can also answer key questions their leaders demand of them by providing a clear direction and intent. An organisation with purpose, that is defined and needed, can answer a resounding yes to the most critical question: “ If you disappeared tomorrow, would anyone care?”
We have organisational purpose, however we aren’t all singing the happy birthday song. This provides something for our organisation to consider. Paul Lomas
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Group HR Director, Oxford University Press
Organisational purpose seems like a soft, fuzzy, feel good notion, but organisations with a purpose that is clear, understood, and executed open deliver the hard results to shareholders, customers, and employees. This only comes from knowing what business you are in, and why; how you create and sustain economic value; and how this builds into your strategy, which is a midterm expression of this. Organisations that have purpose have found a unique and powerful intersection of strategic insight, an innovative approach to meeting an unmet market need, and a unifying commitment to achieving this, which helps achieve a unique reason for being. This is hard to get to and, unfortunately, too many companies never have these critical conversations, or make the tough choices they involve. It takes work, tenacity, and dedication to create and sustain purpose, but why work in an organisation that does not have one? Rebecca Homkes Faculty member, London Business School and Fellow, London School of Economics
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How does your organisation formulate strategy and direction?
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Who is involved?
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How is it updated?
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How is it communicated?
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How do you know it is understood?
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What unmet market need is your organisation meeting? How well do you adapt as market circumstances change?
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If you closed your doors and opened tomorrow as a new organisation, what elements would you keep, what elements would you change? What core parts of your purpose are most meaningful to always preserve?
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What lessons can you learn from others?
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Rebecca Homkes
jane storm @janestorm35 3h3 hours ago “How can you challenge your own perception.. by not surrounding yourself by people that see the world as you do” Nigel Nicholson #CRFVienna
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How do we create meaningful workplaces where people are excited and enthused?
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Organisations need to spend time improving the work environment. Employees want a stimulating environment where fairness, excellence and respect are championed. This environment is one in which the values and strategy are clearly communicated and effective processes have been established. How are processes created, shared learned and improved?
Dean of the School of Management and Chair in Management Studies, University of Bath
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What type of environment/culture do you have and what do you want?
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How do you know?
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Is it geared for optimum performance?
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Where or what are the sticking points?
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What in straightforward, practical terms can be done?
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How do you create “a winning team”?
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What should you stop doing?
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Veronica’s discussion of trust was particularly relevant for me. It made me consider, does one take the whole organisation or part to in order to rebuild trust? What is the danger of rebuilding trust when it hasn’t been broken? Jane Storm Personnel Director – Group and UK Commercial, Tesco
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CRF @C_R_Forum 2h2 hours ago Great #leaders create space, bad leaders take space. #HR #leadership #CRFVienna
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Head of Human Resources, PETRONAS Lubricants International
Continuing change and uncertainty in the external environment have "unfrozen" people's established sense of what makes for a meaningful work experience. Amongst other things, questions are being asked about the morality of large corporations, the motivation of their senior managers and the role of business in society. This means we are in an exciting time of reinterpretation and reinvention of the employment relationship in the Western world. Veronica Hope Hailey
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Craig Anderson
Building a high performing culture where excellence, for both individuals and the team, are the norm is far from straightforward. Individuals need to trust that they are valued both individually and as a member of the organisation. Leadership must create this environment by setting up structures to engage, provide regular feedback and clearly lay out behavioural expectations.
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As a first timer to CRF, I was presented with an enticing blend of academic research and real life advice from leading HR practitioners. The playful introduction of orchestra as metaphor for the search to the meaning of work was a master stroke.
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The orchestra was simply a fantastic illustration of leadership. While I can’t bring the full experience back to my organisation, I can bring back key themes from the thoughtprovoking session to my team and generate discussions about our organisation. Nicki Bennett
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HR Business Partner, Wincanton
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How do we create great jobs for people where they can learn, achieve and develop?
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Organisations need talented, motivated, committed people who believe in what they are doing. Not enough time is given to job design. Jobs are more than objectives. They provide learning, a chance to achieve, innovate and socialise.
CRF sets a high bar for their annual conference. They are always pertinent to current trends and what we are facing in our organisation. Every year I wonder, how will they top last year? But they always do. Andy Newall
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Group HR Director, Imperial Tobacco
In the age of nomadic professionalism, we feel a sense of meaning most strongly when it is not just provided by the organisation’s mission, but accomplished in our work. This does not mean that companies need to resign to being the equivalent of service stations, where people stop only as long as necessary to get what is needed in their journey. It does mean, however, that we need to reconsider how we understand and practice leadership and learning – so that instead of giving meaning, both provide spaces where meaning can be found, for oneself and with others. Gianpiero Petriglieri
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Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Director of the Management Acceleration Programme, INSEAD
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Do your people have clearly defined roles and accountabilities?
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How do you develop them?
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How do you engage them?
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How are they involved in this process? What is their voice?
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How do you encourage social interaction?
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How is innovation stimulated?
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How does achievement get recognised?
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How do you stimulate learning and innovation? Do you give time for learning and innovation? Where?
Gianpiero’s session was absolutely fantastic. It made me reflect on the creation of meaning in leadership in relation to the purpose of the organisation and how individuals fit in. I’m considering the relationship with my values of bringing individuals into the organisation who have common sense, optimism and treat each other with respect. Deborah Baker Group Director for People, Sky
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Gianpiero Petriglieri
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The human side of business needs to be in the conversation of business strategy. CRF does a great job moving from academic research in psychology to the practical application in our own organisation. John Whelan
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Human Resources Director, BAE Systems
Katie Jacobs @katie_jacobs 3h3 hours ago Meaning is the single most desirable feature in any job and the single most elusive feature in any job #CRFVienna @gpetriglieri
GianpieroPetriglieri @gpetriglieri Oct 6 The problem is not that meaning doesn't survive at scale. It is that scaling up control often destroys meaning. #CRFVienna
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Overall Conference Takeaways
Over the last two days we have engaged in thought-provoking presentations and discussions. Now the challenge is bringing back the learning to your organisation in support of a meaningful organisation. Consider the major takeaways and key questions for consideration within your organisation.
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Organisational Purpose
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Organisational Context
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Individuals in Organisations
– what and who are we for?
– what type of workplace do we want to be?
– are we motivating and developing them, and taking them with us?
Nicholas Creswell @ncreswell Oct 6Vienna, Austria Two hours into a typical HR conference, I'm losing the will to live. Two hours into #CRFVienna, my brain is humming. Best possible start!
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Recommended reading:
1. Briner, R. 2014. Don’t believe the hype. HR Magazine, July Issue, p. 94 -96. Available at: http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/article-details/dontbelieve-the-hype-of-employee-engagement A provocative article exploring the issues and problems with employee engagement. 2. Canals, J. 2012. Leadership Development in a Global World: The role of companies and business schools. Palgrave Macmillan What are the issues facing businesses in an integrated global economy and how must companies adapt their leadership development efforts? 3. Hope Hailey, V., Gustafsson, S., Abbey, G., Robinson, V. & McCartney, C. 2014. Experiencing trustworthy leadership, CIPD. Exploring the issue of trust in leadership and why it is important for organisations. 4. Lambert, A. 2015. Employee Engagement: essentials and challenges. Corporate research Forum (CRF) report This report examines the role of employee engagement in the workplace, how to address it, as well as the challenges and dilemmas associated with it. 5. Lebow, R. 2002. Accountability: Freedom and Responsibility without Control. Berrett-Koehler. Describes why shared values are the key to business success. 6. McGilchrist, I. 2012. The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World. 2nd ed. Yale University Press. An in-depth exploration of the differences between the brain’s left and right hemispheres, and how those differences have affected society, history, and culture. 7. Mintzberg, H. 2009. Rebuilding Companies as Communities. Harvard Business Review, July/August Issue. Available at: https://hbr.org/2009/07/rebuildingcompanies-as-communities An article on leadership, management, ‘communityship’, why it is important at work and how to develop it. 8. Moore, G. 2014. Crossing the Chasm. 3rd ed. Collins Business Essentials. A book on enduring value that shows how strategy faces predictable crises as an organisation grows.
9. Petriglieri, G. 2012. Finding Meaning at Work Even When Your Job is Dull. Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2012/12/finding-meaning-at-work-even-w An article exploring different sources of meaningful experience at work. 10. Petriglieri, G. 2014. Learning is the most celebrated neglected activity in the workplace. Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2014/11/learningto-lead-takes-courage-not-just-time A brief article examining the importance of learning at work and why it is important for leadership. 11. Petriglieri, G. & Petriglieri, J. 2015. Can Business Schools Humanize Leadership? (February 23, 2015). Academy of Management Learning & Education, Forthcoming; INSEAD Working Paper No. 2015/18/OBH. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2568625 For a fuller articulation of why and how to humanise leadership, learning, and leadership development it is not just about Business Schools. 12. Shirky, C. 2008. Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations. Allen Lane An examination of how the spread of new forms of social interaction enabled by technology is changing the way humans form groups and exist within them, with profound long-term economic and social effects. 13. Sørensen, C. & Pillans, G. 2012. The Future of Work. Corporate Research Forum (CRF) report This report looks at trends and changes in the last decade or so that are affecting the way jobs and the way we work is changing. 14. Spreitzer, G., & Porath, C. 2012. Creating Sustainable Performance. (cover story). Harvard Business Review, 90(1/2), pp. 92-99. Available at: https://hbr.org/2012/01/creating-sustainableperformance Happiness, productivity and how to help your employees to thrive. 15. Ulrich, D. & Ulrich, W. 2010. The why of Work: How great leaders build abundant organizations that win. McGrawHill Education A thoughtful and practical look at different ways people find meaning in work.
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