More than 50 pages of trendy human capital goodness! That is what we get every year from Deloitte in one of the most anticipated publications in the HR world. For this year’s version, there’s been more business executive responses than HR executive responses for the first time since the inception of the survey 11 years ago. This piece and subsequent ones intend to share a personally interpreted summary for anyone who can’t get to all the content however for those who can, the full report is available here if you have not read it yet. Please allow me to add that the expressed personal views are my own and by no means a reflection of any other party.
To begin with, the opening of the report refers to today’s world of continuous disruption. We’ve lived in a disrupted state for as long as can be recalled. Change has always been the only constant and we have always been at a stage where its rate has been faster than at any other time before it (Ironically, that is one fact that will not change). If we needed a symbol for it then 2020 and the global pandemic that came with it was exactly that if not more. The passage goes onto highlight that organisations need to proceed from a survive to a thrive mindset by becoming and remaining more human to make the shift. The 2021 issue of the report promises to be another fascinating one considering the context and climate.
It highlights that to survive is not enough because it is limited to making it through one crisis at a time. A thrive mindset on the other hand recognizes that a crisis can come at any time, things change from moment to moment, and within this, there are opportunities to reimagine things. A new canvas can be established, to create new realities. It’s about aiming for domination rather than settling for just making it. Only human teams with human qualities led through a human approach can achieve this. A predictable world can be led by equations and algorithms, our world cannot. We are encouraged to approach everything from a human angle first which is pretty much what the best leaders have been saying (and the greatest ones have been doing) for years. This style needs to become mainstream. The report says that to thrive the following principles are needed:
– Purpose and meaning
– Ethics and fairness
– Growth and passion
– Collaboration and relationships
– Transparency and openness
When there is continuous disruption there must be continuous reinvention. The above human qualities allow for that.
The purpose of the report centers on how organisations can achieve the above. How can they position themselves to thrive WHILE there are threats to survival? The increase in survey respondents is among the demonstrations of the ongoing relevance of human capital matters and the rest of the report will most likely deepen that realization.
Your thoughts and experiences on this are welcome in the comments or directly, especially if you have perused the contents of the report more extensively. I’ll be doing that over the short to medium term having passed the midpoint of quarter one of our hopeful year and I’ll share my opinions here as that process unfolds. In the meantime, all the best to everyone in executing the call out for more humanity! One important reminder – to be human, also means to not be perfect, least of all in the climate that we are currently navigating.
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