If HR was ever accused of being fluffy or incapable of driving business results home then perhaps professionals in the function should look away now.
For I would not want to encourage those who are constantly striving to prove to their chief executive what value they add to the business – offering tangible links between turnover and retention, sickness absence and profit – to have it all taken away by signing up to two not-so-tangible ideas for improving leadership.
The first comes from our trusted friends the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Ahead of its annual learning and development conference (HRD 2008) next week, it is inviting HR people to learn “how to think like artists” when going through organisational change.
Delegates will be shown “how the skills of artists such as orchestra conductors and actors can create strategic energy within organisations to help support learning and communications in times of change.”
While “strategic energy” might well be important for organisations going through major-scale change, does anyone actually know what it is?
Well, expert on the subject and author Daniel Pink, speaking at the CIPD conference said: “To manage change in the 21st century we need to think like artists. In order to thrive, we need to satisfy needs around design, play, story, symphony, empathy and meaning. Successful change deals with more than parts and processes - it deals with the intangible.”
Well, that’s cleared that up then.
I’m afraid I fail to see why business needs to satisfy needs around design, play, story, symphony (what?), empathy and meaning. Perhaps I’ll go along to this session next week and find out more.
Or perhaps I’ll take up another offer of an idea. From the sublime to the ridiculous, I present you… Horse Whispering.
Unrelated to the famous Grand National which took place last weekend, this does exactly what it says on the tin as far as I can work out.
For “learning to communicate with horses can develop great leadership skills” according to Spring Partnership, the company running the horse whispering training.
According to leadership experts, Stephen Archer and Gareth Chick (directors of Spring Partnership) and Lisa Brice, director of Horses for Courses, if you can lead horses and communicate with them non-verbally, you will be able to master the most challenging business situation.
