Canadian HR Reporter

STRATEGIC CAPABILITY NETWORK'S PANEL of thought leaders brings decades of experience from the senior ranks of Canada's business community. eir commentary puts HR management issues into context and looks at the practical implications of proposals and policies. CANADIAN HR REPORTER June 13, 2016 EXECUTIVE SERIES 31 www.scnetwork.ca Join our professional community of Canadian HR & Organizational Leaders: • Connecting @ monthly events • Collaborating with peers • Challenging conventional thinking The Power of Human Capital CULTIVATING LEADERSHIP FOR 35 YEARS Great Leaders GROW www.scnetwork.ca Neuromanagement: e missing link HR has a vital new resource to build a better workplace anks to advancements in science and tech- nology, Carlos Davidovich tells us talent managers and leaders have a new sci- ence and practice they can be inspired by. It seems the essential missing link into understanding what really drives our motivation, satisfaction and performance has indeed been found — to be exact, neuroman- agement or neuroscience for some people. Neuromanagement originated in the clinical environment and is a new resource to help talent managers and leaders accelerate their ability to tap into and cul- tivate people's talents far more purposefully. is new science has the poten- tial to bring a very different mean- ing to talent development. According to Davidovich, neu- romanagement enables leaders to gain new understandings about how people approach and respond to work and life environments. Imagine the advantages in knowing more about how our brains handle complexity, ambi- guity, creativity and innovation; how we can manage stress more effectively, understand more clearly how we can enhance the way we connect and communi- cate with each other. e very prospect of applying this knowl- edge can only result in more ef- fective workplaces. Apparently, through the neuro- management research, traditional theories have not only been con- tradicted but actually turned up- side down. e research has proved that people's brains in fact don't de- cline once they hit their early 20s. Would you be surprised to learn our brains can actually change and continue to grow throughout the rest of our lives? Note the em- phasis is on the word "can." So the question for any orga- nization is no longer whether or not people can change or grow. It's really about the need to build working conditions that are in ev- ery respect favourable for people to choose to change and continue to grow. This sounds like real empowerment. What an amazing opportunity these new findings propose for all talent managers and leaders. is knowledge provides every reason for organizations to learn how to encourage, not discourage, people to connect, engage, grow and choose to be the best they can be. The unexpected opportunity this new science presents for leaders is in establishing how their talent management strategies can become even more extensive and drive the creation of highly pro- ductive work environments where people are motivated to maximize their potential. Unlike the traditional behav- ioural approaches used in talent management strategies, neuro- management places even greater emphasis on the importance of cognitive science. Instead of focusing only on what and how people do things, neuromanagement helps deter- mine why people do what they are doing and, as a result, helps to figure out how this can be ac- complished even more effectively. Being able to understand why people respond favourably or not to work situations, problems and, more importantly, change can only help in the creation, design and implementation of even more relevant and effective HR learning initiatives and programs. ere are examples of progres- sive organizations that have for some time been investing in de- signing highly participative work spaces that are more spacious with natural light and fresh inte- rior decorating touches that en- courage people to connect, share and collaborate. With the advantage of neu- romanagement, the reason for building an even better workplace for tomorrow's talented work- force seems to be inevitable. Once and for all, HR has a vital new resource and the opportunity to play a key role in building bet- ter workplaces, better managers, better leaders and better working conditions — which can only lead to even better workplaces. at's an exciting four-fold win-win. Trish Maguire is a commentator for SCNetwork on leadership in action and founding principal of Synergyx Solutions in Nobleton, Ont., focused on high-potential leadership develop- ment coaching. She has held senior leadership roles in human resources and organizational development in education, manufacturing and entre- preneurial firms. She can be reached at synergyx@sympatico.ca. Trish Maguire Leadership In Action Michael Clark Organizational Effectiveness Neuromanagement helps determine why people do what they do and to figure out how to accomplish it more effectively. e accountable lizard Accountability comes in fits, starts As with previous SCN neuroscience pre- sentations, Carlos Davidovich's energetic session did not bring anything new to re- solving an issue — in this case "bad" bias. While knowing that my quick-moving lizard brain is overriding my slow- moving executive brain is gee-whiz interesting, it does not help me overcome "bad" bias. Until neuroscience produces "Unbiazon," a magic pause-and- reconsider pill, it remains a shiny ball that only justifies the work of organizational effectiveness, but doesn't help it. e various means to overcome bias Davidovich brought out at the Strategic Capability Network session — accepting you can be wrong, recognizing there are two sides to everything, challenging first impressions, justifying your decisions, thinking twice — are not news to anyone in HR, anyone in a yoga class or anyone on their granddad's knee. e real challenge is how to ensure these common-sense means become common expec- tations at organizations. Like everything else, the means to drive a behaviour is to reward that behaviour. Until such time as "thinking twice" is part of an employee's pay cheque — an accountability — do- ing so will come in fits and starts, done by some and not others ac- cording to whim or their sense of responsibility. Once that foundation account- ability is in place, its corollary is for managers to create environ- ments of openness and honesty in which all teams members un- derstand and "feel" their advice and opinion are welcome — even when they contradict prevailing "wisdom," even when the emperor has no clothes. e solicitation of that advice by the manager, and the giving of that advice by the team member, also become accountabilities. This ensures that at least the diversity of thinking within the team is part of those decisions important enough to warrant "thinking twice." Determining which decisions are "important" decisions is ul- timately up to the judgment and discretion of the individual with the authority to make the decision. Helpful step Despite efforts toward instance specificity (hiring, firing, business development, strategic change) there is no master checklist. A helpful step, though, would be to use a decision-making framework that is a) replicable and scalable and b) explicitly includes time and effort made exploring risk and its likelihood and severity. Am I the only one who wishes someone would gather up all the work that is being done in neuro- science — including positive psy- chology, behavioural economics, hedonic psychology, ego deple- tion, decision fatigue, thinking intentionality and, yes, bias — and bring it all together into a hand- book for overcoming how our own physicality — including our lizard brains — gets in our own way? Michael Clark is director of business development at Forrest & Company. Forrest is an organizational trans- formation firm with over 25 years experience in developing the organi- zational and leadership capacity in organizations. e real challenge is how to ensure these common-sense means become common expectatiosn at organizations.

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