The social sciences have been an important driver of human progress throughout history. Research findings are still an important source for decision-making for professionals around the world. However, the reputation of social sciences has started to suffer as critics argue that they are lacking in usefulness. We argue that they do have a point and that some social sciences indeed face an impact crisis while others thrive. Furthermore, we have a look at the state of social sciences and how to overcome the impact crisis.
High Reliability Organizations, also called HROs, manage to consistently deliver high performance over a long period of time in an extremely challenging environment. Learning the hard way is no option for HROs as they operate in areas where any mistake can have severe consequences. On top of this HROs manage to quickly adapt to changing circumstances and come up with innovative solutions to complex problems (Bierly et al. 2008). As managers from the private and public sector we were wondering what lessons we could learn from HROs. Starting from here, we had a look at research and theory behind HROs and derived five evidence-based practices you can implement in your organization.
As a manager, it is largely your responsibility to cultivate an environment where innovative ideas can be generated – and evaluated for their usefulness. Management decisions and policies can have a significant impact on how inhibited employees feel, and how free they are to express new ideas that are challenging and potentially valuable. A great deal of research exists today regarding how creativity and innovation can be boosted by management within an organization. In this Evidence-Based Learning Management Team (EBMLT), the latest research on the subject will be reviewed. Below is a broad introduction to some of the topics that will be covered.
Recently, there has been a trend among top-performing companies to reinvent their performance management systems. Organizations are discarding the traditional practice of evaluation through a system of training, promotion, and reward to a nimble system that works in the present moment (Buckingham & Goodall, 2015). These new systems focus on assessing future performance or potential rather than a focus on the past. This blog post will describe the latest innovations in performance management and their viability.
A while ago, I was talking to a friend who had a background in physics and told him I’d just received an MSc (Master of Science) in Psychology. He smirked slightly and I asked what he was smiling about? “Well, it’s not really a science though, is it,” he replied.
When workers are absent from work, this can cause many problems for organizations. Although organizations expect employees to take time off for doctor appointments and sickness, excessive absenteeism can lead to decreased productivity (Forbes, 2013). One of the best competitive advantages for organizations is the people that they hire. When talent is absent from work, this can have a deleterious effect on organizational effectiveness. A survey of European countries conducted by Eurofound revealed that, on average, rates of absence across Europe are between 3% and 6% of working time. Taking this into consideration makes absenteeism rate a hidden champion key performance indicator (KPI) for productivity, employee engagement and leadership effectiveness. This blog post discusses the causes and costs of absenteeism as well as how to measure and reduce it.
One of the most important aspects of organizational life is that management and staff feel secure in taking risks. The concept of psychological safety is the belief that a team is safe to take interpersonal risks without negative consequences for their career (Kahn, 1990). Team members who feel accepted within their teams experience psychological safety. Recent research on psychological safety show that it is an important factor for workplace effectiveness (Edmondson & Lei, 2014).
Increasingly, organizations are changing the ways in which they compensate and reward their employees. This is true for the relationship between the employer and management. A management incentive plan is a compensation or rewards agreement between an employer and management. The plan is designed to motivate managers and to align management performance with the strategic goals of the firm. This blog post describes the latest innovation in management incentives and discusses the linkages between incentives and individual and firm performance.
One of the current “trends” in the science of management is examining employees’ resilience. Like “emotional intelligence” and “grit” before it, “resilience” has become a desirable and much-discussed quality that hiring managers seek and leaders work to increase (Leadbeater, Dodgen, & Solarz, 2005). This is not without reason – resilience has been found to predict long-term success in a variety of fields (Klohen, 1996).
The consulting industry is currently undergoing a radical change. Traditional strategy, restructuring, and implementation consulting agencies are more and more under pressure. The causes are manifold and can be anything from not meeting client requirements to new scientific findings and easier access to current knowledge via the internet. Alternative consulting approaches are focusing on the traditional consulting model’s weaknesses and become more and more important. We summarized four reasons for a reorientation of traditional consulting agencies.
