What's in Your Process?
Processes are like wallets: small spaces that should hold only what you need. Most talent processes are stuffed with old assumptions.
"What's in your wallet?" is a great tagline. In an instant you can picture the strange stack of cards, bills, receipts, photos, and other scraps packed in there. A wallet is a small space, so most people are thoughtful about what goes in it. That's the whole point of the ad campaign, right?
Let's take a leap: what's in your process? Not as catchy, but hopefully you see where I'm going.
Do you really know? Processes are constrained like a wallet and should contain exactly what you need. Are your core processes built with the right steps, on the right assumptions and insights, to deliver the best outcomes?
I think most of us don't know what assumptions are built into our work processes. I'm particularly interested in talent processes. Most were designed for companies of the Industrial Age: twentieth-century thinking that keeps us stuck in the past. Times have changed, and companies using outdated thinking are falling behind.
Underneath the hot topics (return to office, work from home, quiet quitting, the great resignation, burnout, DEI) are manufactured processes and tools carrying unhealthy assumptions that make our organizations sick.
It's time to start from scratch and use human-centered design to build tools and processes for today. And yes, today is already the future of work.
First published on LinkedIn.