New Evaluation Process Aims to Score Any Organization’s "HR Maturity"
A Systematic, Diagnostic Approach
A new evaluation process developed by the Maturity Institute in Great Britain enables any organization to score its level of human capital maturity and identify the steps needed to maximize human capital return-on-investment. The goal is to provide organizations and their consultants a formal process for evaluating the effectiveness of human capital management practices and to identify corrective actions and/or institute a more strategic approach to the management of all people and stakeholders related to the organization.
In a separate development, the Maturity Institute (MI) has announced the creation of a Human Governance Steering Group comprised of representatives throughout business seeking to lobby for a greater focus on human capital management.
As recently reported in ESM, the Maturity Institute has created the OMNIDEX scorecard using a simple, colored-coded ranking system to depict an organization’s level of human capital management that it aims to apply to public companies in a project starting soon. According to MI founders, the process is available to any company or consultant seeking to create a baseline for improving human capital management. MI provides a two-day training program at its office in London, and can provide on-location training as well in the U.S. or anywhere. The outcome of the training is the ability for attendees to apply the scoring methodology to not only rank the company, but to identify prescriptive measures as well.
According to Paul Kearns, Senior Partner at OMS LLP and Chair of the Maturity Institute, the scorecard can be applied to any type of organization. The evaluation “starts with the purpose; what are its values to society, to shareholders, customers, employees, every stakeholder? We work through a standard strategic planning framework. We frame every question to get people to see their organization as a whole system and work through their plans with a whole system view. The key overlooked issue at most businesses is human capital and human governance.”
The two-day training program takes participants through a step-by-step process utilizing the 30 questions to create a formal score. “It takes a lot of skill to do, but there is no downside,” says Kearns. “The 30 questions get to the heart of what organizations are about and what they need to get better.” As part of the two-day programming, which is held at the MI’s offices in London or can be held off-site for an additional fee based on the location, the participants can score their own organization.
After completing the training program, participants can become affiliates of the Maturity Institute and use the process to help their own organizations or to create and/or enhance their professional practices. The idea, Kearns explains, is to enable professionals and consultants in all areas of business – from human resources and management consulting to others related to human capital – to benefit from a formal, strategic approach to diagnosing a company’s level of human capital management development and prescribe strategies to elevate it to a higher level of maturity.
“It’s a gap analysis,” Kearns explains. “The 30 questions we believe concisely capture where an organization is on its way to human capital maturity. The initial rating is the base line.” A key finding from the process so far, he says, is that companies often have multiple gaps to address but can only focus on one in a particular time period. While an organization might only be able to focus on one issue at a time, it has to keep the whole picture in perspective. “Organizations are far away from this way of thinking,” Kearns notes.
“We are the equivalent to the medical profession,” Kearns continues. “Organizations need neurosurgeons who can diagnose the organization and apply prescriptions. It’s a highly skilled job. We want as many out there as possible. We don’t think it will be a matter of these affiliates competing with each other. There’s so much work to be done for so many organizations. We’re hoping people and companies will develop their own products around the scores to go out and help cure companies.”
The Human Governance Steering Group, recently created by MI, is a multi-disciplinary group designed to spread the word about human capital management and why it matters to organizations and society. “It’s a simple way for people to engage and work with us without having to go through the two-day program,” Kearns explains. The group, which so far meets by conference call, has a broad agenda. “We want to get as many people as possible to work with us from a wide variety of disciplines on the basis that collaboration is essential. The group includes people in asset management, pension funds and the C-suite who want to get the message out. We’re inviting people who have influence in government or who are regulators who have as a goal to help create healthier organizations.”
For more information, contact:
Paul Kearns
Senior Partner, OMS LLP
Chair, Maturity Institute
Tel. 44 (0) 7974794647
