I was thinking recently about how simplicity can be applied to improving the human experience at work.
The idea grew from Josh Bersin’s report on creating irresistible organizations. In this report, he describes simplicity as fundamental, involving “the removal of formal bureaucratic overhead” while favoring “trust, autonomy, and a focus on cooperation.”
Far from being easy, simplicity is something that companies have to work hard to achieve.
As I thought more about it, there is an additional aspect of simplicity to point out: Simplicity involves both paring something down, as well as putting it into everyday practice.
Simplicity can be subjective
On the latter point, because simplicity is the desired end state and not a beginning, there is a subjective quality that comes from all that hard work. Something that is practiced and second-nature to one person or organization can appear as very complex and unfamiliar to another, which ultimately impacts the effectiveness of the practice.
Competency modeling illustrates this principle well. Many companies spend considerable time developing and refining these complicated models of the knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors that lead to superior role performance and organizational success.
Done effectively, competency models can succinctly describe core people attributes in the language of the business, align to strategy, and integrate HR and talent functions.
Unfortunately, these benefits are difficult to realize with overly complex competency models that become burdensome to use in a meaningful way.
Two steps to help get past complexity issues
As it stands, competencies typically only show up during hiring decisions and performance reviews — effectively, a few times a year at most. Combine the complexity of the models with the unfamiliarity from infrequent application, and it is no wonder they are often viewed as largely ineffective, much like the performance review process upon which competencies can be based.
So, how do you overcome these challenges?
- First remove some of the formal complexity and hone in on the most impactful competencies.
- Then, and more importantly, put those streamlined models into practice so they are a familiar part of the organization’s fabric.
How can we actually accomplish this?
We often discuss the effectiveness of social recognition as a solution to align employee behavior to a company’s core values. Given a shared emphasis on superior performance, this same solution can be leveraged to call attention to competencies that employees demonstrate through those very same behaviors that lead to effective performance.
Moments of recognition can catch not only what employees contribute and why it matters, but also how the contributions are made, calling out the specific competencies that managers want to develop on their teams or that peers recognize in their co-workers.
The social aspect of this solution ensures that an organization’s competencies become part of the everyday language of the business. As employees become well-versed in that language, more sophisticated competencies take on a level of simplicity and ultimately, effectiveness.
Are competencies a part of your everyday work experience? How are you recognized for behaviors that capture those competencies?
You can find more from Derek Irvine on his Recognize This! blog.