Lean Connections

Once again the general business press, writing about UC San Francisco, really has this all wrong. This is not Lean Thinking; it is not operational excellence; it is not “transformation.” It is misguided, misleading and, pure and simple, misinformation.  And it is undoubtedly dangerous for the credibility and passion of true operational excellence and Lean leaders and companies world-wide. Why do they write this stuff?

The first three paragraphs of this article appearing in today’s San Francisco Business Times caught my attention because of how seriously inappropriate it is to “dub” any initiative which will result in the elimination of 538 people as an operational excellence plan.   Who did the “dubbing?”

UC San Francisco, which faces a daunting budget deficit in this and coming years, is envisioning a restructuring that could slash up to 538 jobs over the next three years.

The game plan, dubbed “Operational Excellence,” could eliminate up to 35 central administration positions, up to 225 jobs in IT, 100 in human resources, 95 in finance and 83 in research administration, for a total of up to 538, according to a report sent to UCSF’s senior management in early April.

The proposed three-year plan aims to re-engineer internal organizations and processes, “transform” the IT department, integrate “service teams” in HR, finance and research administration, and create or save additional revenue through efficiency.  Read more: Restructuring at UC San Francisco could chop 538 jobs – San Francisco Business Times: 

(Note: I’m not an SF Business Times subscriber so I asked a Bay Area colleague to read me the rest of the story this morning; it didn’t get any better).

Why do some today still persist in equating business and operational improvement efforts with personnel cuts?  In a truly operationally excellent environment it’s all about continuous improvement and respect for people.  This way of thinking is just, as my Lean colleague Mark Graban puts it, L.A.M.E thinking!   We saw some of the same previously when the Wall Street Journal published a front page story about Lean apparently gone wrong at Starbucks. Why won’t this misguided thinking just die?

In his report of March 24, 2010, An Update on UCSF 2011: A Focus on Operational Excellence, UC San Francisco Chief Business Officer John Plotts sets a much clearer and more accurate tone regarding the true meaning of improvement efforts:

It is important to note that while the challenges in front of us demand immediate attention, it is in the University’s best interest to view these challenges as an opportunity to commit to a new way of doing business that encourages the continual examination of what we do and to ask, “Why do we do this? Is there a better way?”

By dedicating ourselves to continual improvement – this year and in the years to come – we can be sure that UCSF is well run and that our resources are supporting our top priorities:  patients and health, discovery and education.  Committing to excellence in all we do will allow UCSF to be the best university we can make it.

Bravo, Mr. Plotts, for being a Lean Thinker, And that’s the way I see it.  Adam Zak

Yes, the rumor is true, and you can consider this your official confirmation. 

The War for Talent is about to come roaring back any time now.  And the C-suite team will tune in to its effects more rapidly and deeply than before, but this time unsure of any reasonable end in sight. So, HR leaders at all levels who’ve been advocating for their own “seat at the table” are about to get lots of opportunities to demonstrate their strategic thinking skills and their ability to deliver bottom-line business impact. 

I suggest this first quarter of the new decade as an opportune time to rethink and clarify the nature of HR’s outside executive recruiting partnerships.  In what ways are we receiving value from these relationships? How much net value, compared to our investment, are we getting? Are there ways in which we might improve upon both the nature and quality of that return?  Are we asking ourselves: What, really, are our expectations from those upon whom we rely to identify and procure new generations of talent for our organizations?

The word “relationship” itself is fraught with peril (see Dr. Phil, Elizabeth Gilbert), but in limiting ourselves to the context of executive search only, we should be able to steer clear of at least the big rocks in the river.  Or maybe  - in light of massively shifting global business and economic cycles; relentless demand for continuous performance improvement; constantly increasing pressure for innovation in products and services; accelerating obsolescence of managerial talent, and more  -  there is indeed one big rock we can’t ignore: Is our current executive search model broken (doesn’t work all that well) and unsustainable (can’t keep doing what we’ve been doing if we demand different results)?

Are we shopping for candidates by roaming the aisles at Macy’s, or do we focus on finding that unique and special gem at Harry Winston’s? Do we choose firms who can simply deliver a candidate as the need arises, or do we prefer working someone with whom we can share our long-term growth strategies? Someone who might then more prospectively cultivate the kind of talent we’ll want to entice with our value proposition a year or two down the road? Are we looking at our recruiters through the lens of purchasing or procurement, as just another one of the vendors in the supply chain? Or do we seek out dedicated professional relationships with specialists who invest their time and themselves in understanding our business and our issues?  And, despite my obvious personal bias, who is to say which of the choices we make about these relationships are the most appropriate for your organization, at your current point in your corporate life-cycle, and within the context of your industry and competitive situation?  More soon.

Tune in for part two of this post –  Recalibrate Your Executive Search Expectations

And that’s the way I see it.  Adam Zak

(Author note: this blog post was originally published this morning on the new Human Capital Institute’s (HCI) Talent Acquisition Community blog.  I’ve been invited to write a guest posting which will appear on the HCI site every couple of weeks or so.  Please be sure to visit the HCI Web site for lots of other great articles related to talent acquisition and many other topics on the cutting-edge of HR thought leadership).