Workforce of One: Revolutionizing Talent Management Through Customization

Workforce of One: Revolutionizing Talent Management Through Customization

by David Smith, Susan Cantrell
Released May 2010
Publisher(s): Harvard Business Review Press
ISBN: 9781422147580

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Book description

Companies have excelled by treating customers as "markets of one"-offering them personalized buying experiences. But in managing talent, most firms still use one-size-fits-all HR practices. With today's diverse workforces, this approach is preventing organizations from attracting, retaining, and leveraging top talent.

In Workforce of One, Susan Cantrell and David Smith show how exceptional companies are tailoring work experiences to employees' talents and interests-customizing job duties, training, recognition, and even compensation, work schedules, and performance appraisals. Their reward? Lower turnover, greater productivity, improved profit margins.

The authors present four customization strategies:

-Segmenting your workforce; for example, by life stage and learning style

-Offering modular choices; e.g., choices regarding rewards, learning needs, or job duties

-Defining broad and simple rules, such as evaluating work by outcomes, not time invested, or hiring for potential in addition to specific skills

-Fostering employee-defined personalization, whereby employees define their own people practices (e.g., using peer-to-peer technologies to learn from one another)

Drawing on extensive proprietary research, the authors explain how to combine aspects of all four strategies to address your organization's unique needs.

Improving workforce performance through customized work experiences is the holy grail of the HR function. This book shows you how the workforce-of-one approach positions your company to win-while transforming your HR team into a strategic powerhouse.

Table of contents

  1. Epigraph
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Dedication
  5. Table of Contents
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. Introduction
  8. Part One - Toward a Workforce of One
    1. 1 - The New Management Imperative
      1. Meet Your New Customers:Your Employees
      2. Old Model—New Needs
      3. The Good News About Standardization
      4. Six Trends Driving the Workplace to Become MyPlace
      5. Why Workforce of One Works
      6. The Four Workforce of One Approaches to Customization
  9. Part Two - Four Paths to a Workforce of One
    1. 2 - Segment Your Workforce
      1. Types of Segmentation Schemes
      2. Using Multiple Segmentation Schemes at Once
      3. When Should You Use a Segmentation Approach?
      4. Recommendations for Customizing Through Segmentation
    2. 3 - Offer Modular Choices
      1. Modular Choices in Practice
      2. Offering Multiple Interrelated Modular Choices at Once
      3. When Should You Use Modular Choice?
      4. Recommendations for Customizing Through Modular Choice
    3. 4 - Define Broad and Simple Rules
      1. Broad and Simple Rules in Practice
      2. When Should You Use Broad and Simple Rules?
      3. Recommendations for Customizing Through Broad and Simple Rules
    4. 5 - Foster Employee-Defined Personalization
      1. Employee-Defined Personalization in Practice
      2. When Should You Use Employee-Defined Personalization?
      3. Recommendations for Customizing Through Employee-Defined Personalization
  10. Part Three - Cultivating a Workforce of One Organization
    1. 6 - Designing Your Own Workforce of One
      1. Which Customization Approaches Should Your Company Favor?
      2. Some Questions to Consider
      3. Case Studies: Four Companies’ Choices in Customization Approaches
      4. Which Customization Approaches May Best Fit My Organization?
    2. 7 - Workforce of One Challenges and Solutions
      1. How Do We Promote Fairness and Differentiation, Not Discrimination?
      2. How Do We Manage Employee Needs for Privacy?
      3. How Do We Maintain Control?
      4. How Do We EnsureThat Employee Needs Align with Strategy?
      5. How Many Variations Can Our Organization Reasonably Handle?
      6. Can We Outsource HR and Still Manage a Workforce of One?
      7. How Do We Build a Business Case for Customization?
      8. How Do We Support the Cultural Change Needed?
      9. How Do We Maintain Company Unity While Focusing on Individuals?
    3. 8 - A Call to Action for HR
      1. A New Mandate for HR
      2. New Skills and Capabilities to Manage the Workforce of One
      3. Toward a New HR Organization
      4. Embarking on Your Journey to a Workforce of One
      5. Do You Have the Capability to Manage a Workforce of One?
  11. Conclusion - The Future of Workforce of One
  12. APPENDIX - How Many Employees Have Customized Work Experiences?
  13. Notes
  14. Index
  15. About the Authors

Product information

  • Title: Workforce of One: Revolutionizing Talent Management Through Customization
  • Author(s): David Smith, Susan Cantrell
  • Release date: May 2010
  • Publisher(s): Harvard Business Review Press
  • ISBN: 9781422147580