In the old world order, organizations were structured so that they could leverage their capital; people were just put in roles and given responsibilities. Everyone was supposed to follow their role in the way it was designed. Organizations didn’t have to develop people or leverage talent, they expected employees to just follow orders.
I recently had the opportunity to work with a group of HR professionals in Trinidad, through Queen’s IRC’s partnership with the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business within the University of the West Indies. As part of our discussion about building trust in the workplace, we discussed behaviours that lowered trust and those that raised trust. It did not take long for the participants to generate lists of behaviours through table discussion.
How do we attract, engage, retain, and fully leverage the millennial population? How do we manage the impending talent shortage? How are we going to be challenged in the future?
What type of organizations will be successful in the future? What kinds of workplaces will work for the millennials when they take over? What can the OD professional do to leverage their own potential?
Clark MacFarlane has over twenty years of experience in the health care sector, and is currently the executive director of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) – Cochrane-Timiskaming Branch, in northern Ontario. CMHA branches provide direct service to people who are experiencing mental illness, and to their families. They are in the process of implementing a new service delivery model, which shifts from traditional treatment methods to a recovery approach.