HR Alumni Webinar 2009

8/14/2019 HR Alumni Webinar 2009

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HOW EVIDENCE-BASEDMANAGEMENT CAN STOP HR BEINGDAMAGED BY FADS AND FASHIONS

Rob B [email protected]


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OUTLINE

Preamble the quick fix Do managers and organizations do evidence-

based management?

Management fads, consultants and gurus What is EBM and where did it come from?

Whats been happening around EBM?

The key role of systematic reviews Implications for HRM


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What kind of consumer are you?

Buy product on impulse Dont really know what

product can do Not clear about problem Everyone else has one Nice colour! Because its cool Value not important Even more expensive =

better product Being fashionable isimportant

Think carefully aboutproblem or you want tofix

Consider range ofdifferent products and

what they can do Compare usingconsumer tests andreliable websites

Not distracted by

current trends Try to make explicit andsystematic decision

Value important


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PREAMBLE THE QUICK FIX

The rapid implementation of a practiceor technique which is likely to: not be based on initial assessment

be strongly influenced by fad and fashion provide an answer to a political problem

be driven by the need to be seen to be

doing something be championed by an issue-seller or

individual who stands to gain or avoidharm by its implementation


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PREAMBLE THE QUICK FIX

focus on style and presentation not contentor process

not be evaluated

not be as quick as had been hoped be followed by another quick fix

become subject to organizational amnesia


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WHY DO A QUICK FIX?

Quick Politically expedient

Good for promotion and advancement

Pragmatic and do-able Supported or encouraged by

consultants and quick fix product

vendors Client may not want anything else

Lucrative


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WHY DO A SLOWER FIX?

More likely to work More cost-effective fits with the idea

of value

Potentially more sustainable More opportunity for learning

More honest and ethical fits with

corporate social responsibility Draws on and develops available

evidence-base


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SO WHAT DO HR MANAGERS DO?

Little systematic evidence about whatmanagers do but

Often under pressure to do quick fixes

Often few perceived advantages to slowerfixes

Can say with some certainty that EBP doesnot characterize most HR manager activity

Though of course all HR managers do usesome evidence in some ways

But HR generally still a fad junkie waiting for

the Next Big Thing


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WHAT DO ORGANIZATIONS DO?

Do organizations use external evidencefrom research in decision-making?

Do organizations use internal evidence

in their decision-making? The main purpose of evidence-based

practice in any field is to improve both

the process and outcome of decisionmaking through the use of evidence

Assumption that decisions will be more

effective if they incorporate evidence


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THE FADS THAT TIME FORGOT

Scientific Management/Taylorism Business Process Reengineering

Excellence

Total Quality Management

Learning Organizations

Knowledge Management


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THE FADS THAT TIME HASNTFORGOTTEN (YET)

Talent management Management development

Emotional intelligence


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ARE FADS BAD FOR BUSINESS ANDBAD FOR PEOPLE?

A growing and general concern from bothpractitioners and researchers that fads

have adest r uc ti ve impa c t inorganizations and undermine the ability

or managers to manage

Evidence-based management approachcan help prevent damage


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BAIN & COMPANY REPORT


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BAIN & COMPANY REPORT

Get the facts Champion enduring strategies, not

fleeting fads

Choose the best tool for the jobAdapt tools to your business system

(not vice versa)


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EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE

EBP is integrating individualexpertise withthe best available externalevidence fromsystematic research in making decisionsabout practice.

Need for relevant information requires Converting info. needs to answerable questions

Track down best evidence to answer questions

Critically appraise evidence Apply appraisal to making decision

Evaluate performance


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EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE

EBP is not about acting only on thebasis of good evidence but rather aboutcombining:

What the practitioner already knows fromtheir previous training, experience andcurrent understanding of the particularcontext/problem WITH

The best available external evidence aboutthe issues they are dealing with


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WHAT FIELD IS THIS?

a research-user gap practitioners do not read academic journals the findings of research into what is an effective

intervention are not being translated into actualpractice

academics not practitioners are driving theresearch agenda

the relevance, quality and applicability of researchis questionable

practice is being driven more by fads and fashionsthan research

many practices are doing more harm than good the collective wisdom from research is being lost

EVIDENCE BASED PRACTICE


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EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICEin medicine

1960s Emergence of Evidence-based PracticeFairly inconspicuous for 30 years

1991 British Medical Journal: Where is the Wisdom?Only 1520% of medical interventions were supported bysolid medical evidence

1992 British Medical Journal: Scandal of Medical Research

Many practices do more harm than good1993 Cochrane Collaboration formed1995 Smith and Sackett launch Journal of Evidence-based

Medicine1995 BBC TV program

Medicine was driven more by fads and fashion thanresearch1996 By the end of the year most British Doctors had heard of

EBPBritish Minister of Health new mission to pursue EBP


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WHAT IS EVIDENCE BASED


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WHAT IS EVIDENCE-BASEDMANAGEMENT?

The exa mp le of man agi ng ab se nce Do I know exactly what the absence level is? Has the absence level changed? Do I know what type of absence is it? How does the absence level compare to norms for

my sector? Do I know who is absent and their positions and

locations? What exactly it the problem with the level of

absence? Does it matter and in what ways? What internal, organizational evidence do I have for

the causes of absence? How good do I think this evidence is?

WHAT IS EVIDENCE BASED


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WHAT IS EVIDENCE-BASEDMANAGEMENT?

What is does external evidence from researchsuggest are the causes of absence?

How good is this evidence and can I apply it here? What other causes of absence might there be here?

If the absence level is high, what is the externalevidence from research about the effectiveness ofinterventions to reduce or manage absence?

Is the absence level so high it requires anintervention?

Will the benefits of interventions outweigh the costs? How well do I think these interventions might work in

my situation? Might they have any unintended negative

consequences?

WHAT EVIDENCE BASED


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WHAT EVIDENCE-BASEDMANAGEMENT IS NOT

Something weve been doing for ages The same as evidence-based medicine Providing answers or cookbook management Researchers telling organizations what to do About a researcher-practitioner divide (a red herring)

About locating evidence narrowly within traditionalscience

Administer 20ccs of strategy and stand back...

Ev ide nc e doe sn t m ak e de c ision s: P eople do


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MANAGEMENT INTEREST IN EBM

Of course HR managers and organizationsuse evidence all the time in decision making

But term evidence-based not widely knownin HRM

Very few systematic reviews even if HRmanagers wanted to do EBM

Perhaps in HRM in the UKs National Health

Service to some extent? All sorts of reasons why its difficult to

practice EBM (later)


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ACADEMIC INTEREST IN EBM

Pre 2003 very little (presentation toBPS in 1998)

Post 2003

Denyer and Tranfield at CranfieldAdvanced Institute of Management

Denise Rousseau Academy ofManagement (AoM) presidential address

EBM collaborative in US (2006-2008)

First book published (2006)

Academic articles (2008 Annals of AoM)

Conferences (SIOP 2009, AoM 2009)


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PFEFFER & SUTTON BOOK


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WHY DO COMPANIES NEED EBM?

Mai nly be caus e of 3 poor dec is io npra cti ces 1 Casual benchmarking

Copying of the most visible, most obviousand least important practices What different companies need to do to be

successful may be very different

Need to ask: Is observed success becauseof practice?

Why is practice linked to outcome? Logic?Theory?

What are downsides or negatives ofimplementing practice?


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2 Doing what seems to have worked inthe past Similar to over-applied successful

techniques in medicine Need to ask questions:

Is practice to be repeated a cause of pastsuccess?

Is current situation so similar that repeatedapplication of practice likely to be successful?

Why is past practice likely to work again?Logic? Theory?


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3 Following deeply held yet unexaminedideologies (e.g., that pay motivates)


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WHAT IS EBM?

Based explicitly on evidence-basedmedicine

Substituting facts for conventional

wisdom Being committed to fact-based decision

making


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WHAT IS EBM?

What to do when no sound data areavailable? Question and theoretically and logically test

assumptions on which practice is based Could practice still work if assumptions

wrong?

Is it possible to easily collect some data

which might test assumptions? What other practices might address

problem?


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OBSTACLES TO EBM

Using data changes power dynamics

replacing formal authority, reputation,and intuition with data.

People often dont want to hear thetruth


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OBSTACLES TO EBM

Business ideas marketplace inefficient &messy Too much information

Recommendations incoherent, inconsistentand contradictory for example, businessbook titles


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OBSTACLES TO EBM

In Search of Excellence:Lessons from Americas BestRun Companies

Charisma: Seven Keys to

Developing the MagnetismThat Leads to Success

Love Is the Killer App: Howto Win Business and

Influence Friends

The Quest for AuthenticPower: Getting PastManipulation, Control and

Self-limiting Beliefs

The Myth of Excellence: WhyGreat Companies Never Tryto be the Best at Everything

Leading Quietly: An

Unorthodox Guide to Doingthe Right Thing

Business Is Combat: AFighter Pilots Guide to

Winning in Modern BusinessWarfare

What Would Machiavelli Do?:The Ends Justify theMeanness


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OBSTACLES TO EBM

Business ideas marketplace inefficient &messy consultants and others who sell ideas and

techniques are alwaysrewarded for gettingwork, only sometimesrewarded for doinggood work, and hardly everrewarded forwhether their advice actually enhancesperformance.

The incentives are often even more perversethan that, because if a client companysproblems are only partly solved that leads tomore work for the consulting firm.


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DANGEROUS HALF-TRUTHS

Do the best organizations have the bestpeople? Obsession with talent can be hazardous

Not easy to identify Isnt fixed unless you believe it is

Great systems more important than greatpeople

Wisdom and its promotion more important Understanding limits of knowledge

Asking for and taking help

Being curious


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HOW TO PRACTICE EBM

Cur rent pr actice Treat old ideas as if

they are brand-new

Glorify, celebrate, andapply breakthroughideas and studies

Celebrate brilliantindividuals, like

management gurus,thought leaders andstar performers

EBM Treat old ideas like old

ideas

Be suspicious ofbreakthrough ideas andstudies they almostnever happen

Celebrate communitiesof smart people and

collective brilliance notlone geniuses or gurus


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HOW TO PRACTICE EBM

Emphasize only virtuesof research methodsand practice dontmention drawbacks

Use success and failurestories about companiesto uncover best andworst practices

Use popular ideologiesand theories to justifymanagement practices.Ignore clashing

evidence

Emphasize the virtuesanddrawbacks (anduncertainties) of yourresearch and practices

Use success and failurestories to illustratepractices supported byother evidence, not asvalid evidence

Take a neutral approachto ideologies theories.Base practices on bestevidence not what is in

vogue

THE KEY ROLE OF SYSTEMATIC


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THE KEY ROLE OF SYSTEMATICREVIEWS

Systematic reviews of evidence one ofthe cornerstones of evidence-basedpractice

Cannot do evidence-based practicewithout access to summaries orsyntheses of best available evidence

Where are the systematic reviews inmanagement?


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WHAT IS A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW?

Its research on existingresearch

With a clear, explicit and replicablemethodology

Clear review question Search strategy

Quality criteria

Allows us to draw reliable conclusionsabout what we know and do notknowabout a given question or problem


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COCHRANE LIBRARY

Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews available on the Internet and on CD-ROM as part of

The Cochrane Library

Subscription based - published by Wiley

1995 - 36 reviews 1999 - 500 reviews

2001 1000 reviews

2004 2000 reviews + 1400 published protocols

WHAT SORT OF QUESTIONS CAN BE


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WHAT SORT OF QUESTIONS CAN BEADDRESSED?

How can job re-design be most effectively beachieved?

Is team-based working effective and compared towhat?

What does management development do?

Does Management by Objectives improveperformance?

Which absence management techniques are mosteffective in what situations?

Are assessment centres cost effective?

Can engagement levels be increased and sustained?

Does increasing engagement increase performance?

WHY DONT PRACTITIONERS SEEM


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WHY DON T PRACTITIONERS SEEMTO LIKE EBM?

Undermines formal authority Cant do what they want

Are not rewarded for doing what works

Feel they cannot use their own experienceand judgment (not true why some preferevidence-informedpractice also aboutmoving evidence up the agenda a bit)

Have too high expectations of evidence(e.g., that it should give the answerotherwise its not worth knowing)

WHY DONT ACADEMICS SEEM TO


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WHY DON T ACADEMICS SEEM TOLIKE EBM?

Systematic reviewing not valued as researchactivity no incentives

Training is all about doing new empiricalresearch

Embarrassed that it will expose the limitednature of management evidence andundermine rather than enhance discipline

Worried that systematic review might revealtheir own individual research to be limited

WHO DOES LIKE EVIDENCE-BASED


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WHO DOES LIKE EVIDENCE BASEDMANAGEMENT?

"The question we ask today is not whether ourgovernment is too big or too small, but whether itworks - whether it helps families find jobs at a decentwage, care they can afford, a retirement that isdignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to

move forward. Where the answer is no, programs willend. And those of us who manage the public's dollarswill be held to account - to spend wisely, reform badhabits, and do our business in the light of day -

because only then can we restore the vital trustbetween a people and their government.

MIGHT WE LEARN TO LOVE


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MIGHT WE LEARN TO LOVEEVIDENCE-BASED HRM?

The post-fad management era More interest in doing what works -

effectiveness

More interest in not doing harm -corporate social responsibility

More interest in accountability -corporate governance

Sustainability of management actionsand organizations

SIX CHARACTERISTICS OF


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SIX CHARACTERISTICS OFEVIDENCE-BASED PRACTITIONERS

Probl em-focused What exactly is theproblem or issue that needs fixing? If thereisnt a problem now, whats the anticipatedproblem?

Analytic What is really going on here? Isit the presenting problem or somethingelse?

Qu est ionin g and crit ica l How do Iknow whats going on here? Are myperceptions valid and reliable? Could I bemaking a mistake?

SIX CHARACTERISTICS OF


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SIX CHARACTERISTICS OFEVIDENCE-BASED PRACTITIONERS

Soluti on-ge ner ati ng What are the possibleresponses to this problem? Which might workand why? Is it better to do nothing?

Evidence-oriented How good is theevidence for the apparent problem? What datado I have? How good is the external evidence?What is the evidence for the proposedsolutions?

Inte gr ati ng How does the evidence fromresearch fit with my previous experience of thiskind of problem and what I know about thisorganization?

IMPLICATIONS FOR HRM[1]


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There is often plenty of internal data whichcould and should be used to inform decisionsbut: Hard to get at

Lack of data analytic skills Not put together to analyze and diagnose

HR needs to show its value-added: Evidence-based approach is one way

You are buyer or provider of HR products andservices what kind of a consumer or vendorare you?



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There is often plenty external evidencefrom research but Difficult to find

Not written for practitioners Most importantly there are few systematic

reviews in HRM (yet)

Role of CIPD in UK? Seems to be quiteinto fads and gurus

SHRM in US is quite interested



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A simple choice: Do you want toimprove the quality of decision-makingand effectiveness of HR or not?

If your answer is yes then need toincorporate into decision-making: Evidence of your experience

Internal evidence from the organization External evidence from the best available

research

THE FUTURE OF EBM?


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THE FUTURE OF EBM?

If EBM is such a good idea, why arentwe doing it already?

In spite of barriers and problems to its

adoption:

EB M s eems l ike t he mos t e f fec t iv ewa y for evi dence fr om r ese a rch tog e t to an d he lp inform decis ion-

ma ke r s in org aniza ti ons

HR Alumni Webinar 2009

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