Difference between revisions of "Human Resources Best Management Practices"
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| − | Best management of human resources entail fostering a dynamic learning environment where both the staff and management leaders are motivated to improve upon different programs as well as provide a system of accountability to outsiders. Bruce Britton, an international expert on organizational learning in NGOs, has worked extensively on these issues in 28 countries on three continents since he began as an organisational consultant and trainer in 1984. (Framework.org) He emphasizes that the leader must provide the motivation, opportunity, and means for employees to participate in the learning process. Accountability towards the people they represent is also crucial. Authors such as Dr. Jem Bendell, a leading expert in dealing with corporate and NGO responses to the challenges of globalization, points to the crucial need for management policies to maintain accountability towards the people they represent and to those their organizations affect. The difficulty lies in NGOs balancing between remaining accountable to the public it hopes to serve while remaining independent from pressure from government and donors. By building a nurturing learning environment and a system of accountability constitute solid management practices. This paper will expand upon the ideas of Britton and Bendell and will also be supplemented by real world cases and examples from several organizations. | + | Best management of human resources entail fostering a dynamic learning environment where both the staff and management leaders are motivated to improve upon different programs as well as provide a system of accountability to outsiders. Bruce Britton, an international expert on organizational learning in NGOs, has worked extensively on these issues in 28 countries on three continents since he began as an organisational consultant and trainer in 1984. (Framework.org) He emphasizes that the leader must provide the motivation, opportunity, and means for employees to participate in the learning process. Accountability towards the people they represent is also crucial. Authors such as Dr. Jem Bendell, a leading expert in dealing with corporate and NGO responses to the challenges of globalization, points to the crucial need for management policies to maintain accountability towards the people they represent and to those their organizations affect. The difficulty lies in NGOs balancing between remaining accountable to the public it hopes to serve while remaining independent from pressure from government and donors. By building a nurturing learning environment and a system of accountability constitute solid management practices. This paper will expand upon the ideas of Britton and Bendell and will also be supplemented by real world cases and examples from several organizations. <membersonly> |
==Organizational Learning as a Means of Building Better Management Practices== | ==Organizational Learning as a Means of Building Better Management Practices== | ||
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By building up relationships among staff members and fostering a supportive learning environment, tangible gains will then be made in the workplace. “Everybody in an organization-is likely to be a source of useful knowledge and people will choose whether to share or withhold that knowledge.” (Britton) For this very reason, the leadership should find the motive or desire to foster a learning environment. This can be accomplished by prioritizing a rewarding system of feedback as well as recognizing employees who contribute new knowledge to the organization. The greater the opportunities for this kind of behavior, the more likely employees will choose to contribute feedback in the workplace. | By building up relationships among staff members and fostering a supportive learning environment, tangible gains will then be made in the workplace. “Everybody in an organization-is likely to be a source of useful knowledge and people will choose whether to share or withhold that knowledge.” (Britton) For this very reason, the leadership should find the motive or desire to foster a learning environment. This can be accomplished by prioritizing a rewarding system of feedback as well as recognizing employees who contribute new knowledge to the organization. The greater the opportunities for this kind of behavior, the more likely employees will choose to contribute feedback in the workplace. | ||
| − | == | + | ==Achieving the Motive, Means, and Opportunity in an Organizational Learning Environment== |
| + | From Britton: | ||
| + | ====Motive==== | ||
| − | + | *'''Develop a planned strategy''' | |
| − | + | **Create a clear vision for the organization of how organization learning can contribute to the organization's effectiveness, capacity, sustainability, and health. | |
| − | + | **Identify barriers to learning and develop ways of overcoming them. | |
| − | + | **Build learning goals into plans at all levels: individual, project, program, and strategic | |
| − | + | ** Demonstrate the value of investing in organizational learning by monitoring and evaluating the outcomes and impact of organizational learning initiatives | |
| − | + | **Develop systems for acknowledging and rewarding learning | |
| − | + | **Develop mechanisms for establishing collective responsibility for results. | |
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| − | + | * '''Create conditions for "emergent" possibilities | |
| − | + | ** Share practical examples of the benefits of organizational learning | |
| − | + | ** Share and celebrate successful initiatives | |
| − | + | ** De-mystify learning by familiarizing staff with useful conceptual models. | |
| − | + | ** Emphasize the importance of "small scale" learning. | |
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| + | ====Means==== | ||
| − | + | *'''Develop a planned strategy''' | |
| + | **Map out where expertise lies in the organization. | ||
| + | ** Develop team-working | ||
| + | ** Introduce a range of methods such as mentoring, coaching, action-learning, and communities of practice. | ||
| + | **Build an appropriate knowledge management infrastructure | ||
| + | ** If appropriate, create posts for supporting organization learning or knowledge management. | ||
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| + | * '''Create conditions for "emergent" possibilities | ||
| + | **Develop individual competencies | ||
| + | ** Recognize the importance of cultural dimensions of learning when building competencies and developing methods and tools. | ||
| + | **Strengthen inter-personal relationships and build trust. | ||
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| + | ====Opportunity==== | ||
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| + | *'''Develop a planned strategy''' | ||
| + | **Create the "space" for learning | ||
| + | **Build learning into existing systems and procedures | ||
| + | **Build learning requirements into project design, monitoring, and evaluation | ||
| + | **Build time and resources for relfection and learning into project and program proposals. | ||
| + | **Use a system of annual studies on "what have we learned from evaluations?" | ||
| + | **Use thematic learning reviews. | ||
| + | **Involve staff/partners alongside external consultants in review and evaluation teams. | ||
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| + | * '''Create conditions for "emergent" possibilities | ||
| + | **Build a rich web of interconnections within the organization and with other organizations by encouraging networking and the development of communities of practice. | ||
| + | **Introduce "no-travel" times, "homeweeks" and relection periods. | ||
==Maintaining Accountability== | ==Maintaining Accountability== | ||
Latest revision as of 07:35, 17 July 2008
This article was drawn from an article prepared for the NGO Handbook by Sandy Yu titled, "Human Resources Best Management Practices".
Best management of human resources entail fostering a dynamic learning environment where both the staff and management leaders are motivated to improve upon different programs as well as provide a system of accountability to outsiders. Bruce Britton, an international expert on organizational learning in NGOs, has worked extensively on these issues in 28 countries on three continents since he began as an organisational consultant and trainer in 1984. (Framework.org) He emphasizes that the leader must provide the motivation, opportunity, and means for employees to participate in the learning process. Accountability towards the people they represent is also crucial. Authors such as Dr. Jem Bendell, a leading expert in dealing with corporate and NGO responses to the challenges of globalization, points to the crucial need for management policies to maintain accountability towards the people they represent and to those their organizations affect. The difficulty lies in NGOs balancing between remaining accountable to the public it hopes to serve while remaining independent from pressure from government and donors. By building a nurturing learning environment and a system of accountability constitute solid management practices. This paper will expand upon the ideas of Britton and Bendell and will also be supplemented by real world cases and examples from several organizations.
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