Citation
Brooks, S. (2011), "Ochre House Network think-tank – Winning in a New World: Building Future Business Capability Through Our People, Slough, UK, 6 December, 2010", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 10 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/shr.2011.37210daa.010
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Ochre House Network think-tank – Winning in a New World: Building Future Business Capability Through Our People, Slough, UK, 6 December, 2010
Article Type: Resources From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 10, Issue 4
The rapid pace of change in the business world means that HR departments can no longer realistically predict the nature of the workforce more than 18 months ahead. As a result, hiring needs to shift from its current focus on skills and abilities to behaviors and attitudes. That’s the message from the Ochre House Network think-tank, which includes over 650 major employers such as Aviva, GE Capital, Nokia, O2 and RWE npower.
At its latest meeting the think-tank concluded that, to effectively align people and business strategies, organizations will need to attract and retain individuals who have “future proof” skills and behaviors. Think-tank participant, O2, for example has developed a “People for the Future” program, which asked business heads what their own area and the company as a whole would look like in three years and what capabilities would be key to the new structure. Skills identified included foresight, insight and analysis, innovation and agility and capacity for change, while behaviors included adaptability, enthusiasm and energy, and focus on delivery.
Attracting “new” types of people to an organization will need to be based on selling a vision of the future and how they can help to shape it. However, it is essential that the picture of the corporate environment painted in the hiring process is an accurate one or there could be a significant risk of attrition or as one delegate put it “organ rejection.” People must be allowed to be the people they were recruited to be. At the same time the case for recruiting “new” people must be made at all levels. Failure to do so could lead to resentment on the part of the current workforce.
Sue Brooks