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If you are one of the millions of Americans who celebrated Thanksgiving this month, you know that this was the beginning of an epic season for food. Halloween with its trick-or-treat candy haul was just a warm up for the tantalizing onslaught we’ll encounter between now and the end of the year.
Big celebratory meals are typically where we throw all nutritional know-how out the window. The primary focus is the main course, whether it’s turkey, ham, prime rib, salmon, tofu, or whatever your traditions and taste dictate. Where we really start to lose control is the side dishes, where we embrace ALL the things – mashed potatoes, corn casseroles, ambrosia salad, candied carrots, crescent rolls, cranberry sauce and sometimes even things that are green (GASP!). There are infinite possibilities…and some of us struggle to draw the line. As a result, we overload the table and outshine the main course to the point where people take a little bit of everything, but savor none of it. The best meals are ones where the cook envisions that all the dishes work together towards a congruent and tasteful dining experience. Think The Menu without the murder.
This happens all the time in our workplaces, particularly when it comes to technology. We have the HCM as our main course, and then find ourselves adding a litany of sides. Some of them are traditional carve outs due to a flavor of need outside of core capabilities, yet others are much more niche – the ambrosia salad of the technology world, if you will, where you question which guest brought that incredibly specialized provider when you had a different menu in mind. When we add too many niche solutions to our technology infrastructure, we run the risk of overwhelming our EX palate, with employees being so paralyzed by choices that they completely lose their appetite.
Because we’ve been known to fall into this trap at IA, too, I know what it’s like to reshape the menu. It’s not about the number of solutions. It’s about the way they work together to achieve your overall goals and ultimately delight your employees. So, as we look forward to the next year, I challenge you to take a hard look at your technology table and decide which solutions aren’t worth the calories, and then let them go. Now I’m starving because of this newsletter.
With warm regards,
— Mark Stelzner
Founder/Managing Principal/Sous Chef, IA
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Where you can find us
It’s November, so we’ve started to fill our dance card for 2024. We are excited to participate in the following upcoming events:
- April 24-26, 2024: Get ready to ignite positive change in your organization with innovative and transformative ways to positively influence your people strategies that go beyond best practices at the new Human Resource Executive® Conference: Elevate People, Ignite Change 2024 or EPIC 2024! Visit the web site to learn more about this new conference and to register today!
- May 14-16, 2024: ERE.net is gearing up for their next Recruiting Conference, and Mary Faulkner will be moderating a panel of experts! Be sure to sign up to learn more about the event.
On Our Radar
Sometimes it’s hard to find just a couple of articles to share each month – especially in today’s rapidly changing business environment. Here are a couple that stood out:
The possibilities of AI continue to grow, yet hand in hand comes the threat of bias. This is playing out in a recent lawsuit accusing UnitedHealthcare of using AI to deny 90% of claims. AI is the tool, yet it’s wielded by human beings.
As much as people claim to be introspective, there is little evidence to suggest it’s making a difference, as demonstrated by this article from Harvard Business Review. Our favorite quote from this: “A Harvard Business Review study found that 95% of people think they’re self-aware, when in fact only about 15% actually are.”
About IA
As trusted advisors to senior leaders, IA supports strategic initiatives that transform the way organizations work.
Our seasoned team of professionals apply a revolutionary eye, deep domain experience, and flexible tools to accelerate the achievement of even the most ambitious goals. With a cross-functional, strategic perspective, we thrive on big, messy problems. Whether large or small, public or private, domestic or international, it’s our job to support leaders and their teams in achieving outcomes that are truly unique to their culture and objectives.
Every organization has a catalyst for change – learn more at ia-hr.com.
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