HR Salon

This is the title that caught my attention as I looked through the brochure of an upcoming HR conference. It went on to describe the "Thiagi Four-Door Model", or 4D.  I have been involved in training and development many years now, and have prided myself of keeping my finger on the pulse of the industry.  And, although i have integrated learning activities (AKA games) into my materials many years ago, somehow Sivasailam Thiagarajan slipped by me without even noticing.  Now, that may be my fault entirely; perhaps my finger has been placed as squarely on the industry as I had believed.  Nonetheless, Thiagi seems to have a pretty keen idea with his 4D model, and this little post is my attempt to spread the word about it's potential benefits, for all of us; trainers, learners, facilitators, managers, organizations - everyone.  So, I have a few links for you to investigate; consider these the "library" door.  Sorry, I don't have the time to create an entire 4D implementation to introduce you to Thiagi, but we could use this blog for one of the other doors in his model; the social arena - after all I have named this blog the HR Salon.  So, go have a look at the links, find other material, and come back here to share your impressions, and by all means if you have been using this model, do share some examples so we can all benefit from your experience.

Some "library" links for your viewing pleasure: Two part interview with Russ Powell; he worked with Thiagi using the 4D model; A great video of Thiagi speaking to students at UMBI - warning the video is long, but the content covered will give you a good feeling for the Thiagi's perspective, and a deeper understanding of the 4D model.  Lastly, here is a link to some great podcast content on Thiagi's own website.


Again, maybe you all knew about Thiagi all along, but at the risk of appearing at the back end of the curve, I wanted to post this information in the hopes that at least one person is introduced to something that could drastically change how they teach and learn.

I have been reading some articles in various publications lately, and it got me to thinking; remembering actually.  I recall the book by Charles Handy; The Age of Paradox.  I read this book back in grad school, and his idea of a "doughnut organization" was pretty ahead of the curve at that time.  The concept posits that organizations can become lean and facile by focusing on a critical core group of permanent employees, who then use key groups of temporary workers to either manufacture the goods and/or deliver the services of that organization.  Back in 1994, I thought that was some really forward thinking, and I still do.  The concern I now have is that Mr. Handy may finally be seeing his prognostication come true.  I feel differently now about this idea, then I did back in 1994, now that I see a lot my world through the lens of an HR person.  Some of the questions that necessarily come from this dynamic are macro; what about all of the permanent employees and our national unemployment rate?  Do we need to prepare these otherwise permanent employees for a life of temporary work, which brings up a whole host of questions about the infrastructure we would have to put in place to meet the needs of these newly "temped" employees.  Other questions I have are micro; how must we change our current understanding of HR, leadership development, motivation theory, etc. to account for an entirely different kind of workforce with a completely new set of needs and motivations?  I have obviously oversimplified Handy’s fairly complex ideas, however, I think you have enough to respond to the ideas/questions presented here.  Also, if you want to read a more deeply about Handy’s concepts before commenting, click here to read a Google excerpt of his book.  Thanks and are you thinking of having a doughnut with that coffee?

Here is a link to a great article I read in the Economist today.  I have been thinking a lot about the term "jobless recovery" lately, and this article got me wondering even more.  If we are indeed into a jobless recovery, what are the ramifications for HR?  If less people are being hired, but the work is picking up, are we expecting more work from a smaller worker population?  If so, how long do we think that can last without burnout, absenteeism, and finally exits?  Also, what about the effect of workers who stay longer than they would otherwise; not moving on to their next place?  Without "new blood" in the organization, don't they begin to loose their edge, that juice that keeps them competitive?  There are lots more HR related questions, so please ask/answer them here.  Please weigh in on what appears to be our new reality.  If you still need convincing, take a look at the graph below, which is one of the graphs the author shows in the article.  Scary, right?

Look forward to your thoughts on this BIG issue.