Number 148 – Human Development is Part of Culture

Set expectations that human development is an integral part of all employee-related practices and programs.

Practitioners: strategic

When I read this statement, I am immediately reminded of the three prime agreements between board and executive – value creation, resource allocation, and cultural aspiration.  My own translation into my client organizations contrasts functional processes and relational processes.  Human development is part of culture.

One view that I have adopted in my work comes from David Mann’s book Creating a Lean Culture.  Culture is a construct which attempts to define how we experience work.  It is fluid, based on the way we encounter all leadership, not just a single leader.  Put another way, it is what leadership tolerates and corrects on a consistent basis.  The reason culture shows up when I read this idea is the presence of the human in the statement. 

Human Development is Part of Culture

Dignity and respect are two experiences I expect my team members to encounter.  What better way to express the respect of every individual than my committing to their development.  When this idea becomes a core value in one’s organization, dignity and respect are grown organically.  This is precisely why the cultural aspirations element is found in the agreement between the board and the executive, and why the strategic practitioner is alone in this item.  As I have said before, the integrative and the tactical are absolutely part of this, but they are not responsible for creating it.

The challenge in this idea in in defining ‘employee-related’ practices and programs.  I am known to say, everything is the result of a process and there are processes everywhere.  That is true of the human team members organizations employee.  Nothing gets done without the presence of a human.  Translating from this point we find the capability idea from the management system.  Developing skills and abilities is an integral part of managing every process in our organization and must be intentional in everyone all the time. 

Questions For Your Consideration

Where would a focus on training the necessary skills and abilities change performance in the processes you own?

How do we define the necessary skills and abilities a team member needs to be successful in their work?

Do you consider skills and abilities outside the technical requirements of the tasks people perform?

What other challenges should we train people to face in their day-to-day activities?

Who should be responsible for the training and improvement of team member capability?

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