First Best Destiny… I Mean Job
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
Attracting, retaining, developing and getting the most out of today’s knowledge workers is the number one priority for most employers. This is the central challenge for cognitive designers focused on organizational issues.
The idea is simple. If I can understand how minds (individual, group and even machine) really work then I should be able to design a workplace to maximize a return on/for talent.
So I am always on the look out for new scientific insights into the cognition of workplace and service productivity. One such insight can be found in the article Three Lessons for Creating Flourishing, that summarizes several keynotes from the 2nd Applied Positive Psychology Conference.
Pay special attention to the second lesson that discusses a case study by Aviva, a large insurance company. They use a strength-based approach rather than a competency-based approach to human resource management and have produce some impressive results.
The insight is to hire people “made for the job” (uncompromising match to their core strengthens) rather than hiring someone that can do the job and emphasizing skill and competency development.
