Epilogue: ‘Just when we thought things were running smoothly …’
‘It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one most adaptable to change.’ – Charles Darwin
The initial discussions about the writing of this book began in March 2007. As the initial outline and the draft manuscript began to take shape, amidst all the other pressures of trying to run an academic library and operating an active consulting practice, the time available for completing this assignment was under constant attack from other commitments. Consequently, the project took much longer to complete than was originally anticipated or intended.
As we were able to re-juggle priorities periodically and carve out enough time to get back into the proper frame of mind for some concentrated writing and editing, some unusual signals started to indicate that things were not all right in the world. The winds of change were beginning to swirl and howl – and this was having a significant impact on the world of work, the theories and practices of human resource management and consequently on the content of this book.
In the second half of 2008, the world began to turn upside down.
The price of oil started a precipitous climb on a global scale topping out at more than US$100 a barrel – a price that pundits thought would never be breached.
Economic markets started to react in response and the stock markets around the globe started to rumble.
The real estate markets in most developed countries started to tumble and homeowners watched helplessly as their equity was being eroded.
People who had been contemplating entering the housing market became nervous and cautious and started to pull back on their plans.
Retirees and those who were close to retirement watched in horror as the value of their pension plans and their retirement portfolios fell at a dizzying rate.
Small and large businesses alike found it almost impossible to borrow new money to fuel their plans for growth and future development.
The financial industry was bombarded with an excessive load of highly leveraged loans that had little solid backing or equity as thousands of borrowers were forced to default on their loans, creating enormous write-offs on the balance sheets of virtually every commercial lender.
Large, well-established financial institutions were being forced into bankruptcy – or chose to live on the brink of it by pursuing bankruptcy protection options.
News media began to report on a series of unbelievable unethical events that clearly demonstrated that greed and corruption in the corporate world were occurring at a level that shocked the average citizen.
Many conscientious investors in the very same companies where these ethical scandals were occurring were shocked to see that their life savings and investments had evaporated, leaving them destitute.
Major global car companies that had been considered bastions of the manufacturing world were brought to their knees, pleading for financial aid and support loans from governments to remain solvent in order to avoid thousands of job losses.
Governments around the globe reacted in a surprisingly responsive and aggressive way to put a variety of stimulus packages in place to try and stem the tide of the financial calamity that was unfolding in almost every industrialized country.
In order to offset these huge, unplanned expenditures of public funds, governments were forced to institute a series of stringent budget trimming and budget cutting exercises to try and limit huge increases in their own debt load.
This in turn set off a wave of cuts in the operating budgets of many government departments and public servants saw the grim spectre of layoffs and job losses start to surface.
Unemployment levels started to rise to levels that we have not seen for many years.
The ‘Big Pullback’ was on and every organisation, every employee and every family began a frantic search for ways to reduce debt, lower day-to-day operating costs and protect their financial assets in any way that they could.
And in the midst of this chaos, the citizens of the USA elected the first African-American to the position of President – on a platform of tough changes for tough times – ‘Oh yes we can!’
Other than that, things were running pretty smoothly across the globe!
This relentless sequence of events provided one of the most vivid real-life examples of how intimately our world, our countries, our industries, our organisations, our communities and our families are all connected – as one very large system made up of a series of inter-related sub-systems. No one is immune from the events of anyone else’s life it seems. This reflects one of the fundamental principles of Systems Thinking:
‘You cannot change anything in a system without it having an effect or an impact on every other part of the system.’
Throughout all of these changes in the world, our book was slowly taking shape. And at the same time, this project was being dramatically impacted by these global, national and local changes.
The human impact of all of these changes was creating confusion, consternation, uncertainty and fear in the workplace. Employees and employers alike did not know how and when this rollercoaster ride would ever end. HR professionals were facing issues, questions and problems that they had not been expecting. Workplace demographics, workplace economics, and workplace practices and procedures were experiencing dramatic shifts and changes.
For us, it appeared that many of the concepts and theories of good people management were being twisted and turned in unbelievable ways. As a result, we began to re-visit, re-think and re-write several sections of this book, given that some of our original ideas and thoughts didn’t seem to fit the new norms and circumstances of Workplace 2010 or 2015.
However, during these periods of introspection, we discovered that the process of good strategic human resource management remained solid, and intact. By continuing to use the concepts of Systems Thinking and the People Planning Process, we were able to identify these rapidly changing environmental factors and make some quick adaptations to our game plan. Much like the sailor facing a sudden, unexpected storm, we needed to adapt quickly to changes in the weather by adjusting our sails, modifying our course and heading for a safe harbour.
We also discovered that many of the principles of good people management, as outlined by many authors in the past, still seemed intact. What did change was the way in which these basic principles needed to be addressed, in a modern-day world. The techniques related to employee retention, employee recruitment, career planning and corporate leadership, for example, need to be adapted to fit the current set of circumstances and the current expectations of a new generation of workers. However, many of the primary principles stood the test of time.
During dramatic change, it is always important to identify what is not changing. This provides us with something to hang onto – an anchor – as everything around us is swirling and shifting in such a way that we are not sure what is happening. The musings and the writings of many of the great thinkers in the fields of General Systems Dynamics, Strategic and Systems Thinking, and Human Resource Management have been tried and tested – and much of their work has withstood the onslaught. The skilled practitioner learns how to use the current set of circumstances to support their long-term goals and outcomes. They do not use them as an excuse for inactivity. They make whatever adjustment is needed to ensure that those working with you to create your new future remain committed and fully engaged, in spite of the winds of change and the dust and confusion that is swirling around them.
We hope that the thoughts and suggestions outlined in this book provide some help and support to you and enable you to remain focused on protecting, nurturing and growing your most vital asset – your people. Without them, the challenge cannot be met. With them, you will be able to create the type of workplace and workforce that continues to meet and exceed your clients’ needs and expectations, continue to create great places for people to work and continue to help organisations achieve success.
One of the greatest characteristics of the human race is our resiliency. We have the ability to pick ourselves up from the most disastrous of situations – natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes and typhoons and man-made disasters such as economic chaos, acts of terrorism and in some cases acts of stupidity and poor decisions – and to turn things around. This is our eternal hope – that we can indeed make things happen, in spite of what is occurring around us. That’s the way it has been for centuries and that is the way it will be for many centuries to come. As leaders and human resource professionals, it is our duty to ensure that this spark of human hope and optimism is never extinguished. That is the challenge that each of us must accept.