More Related Content Similar to The Joy of SX (Sustainable Talent Management Experiences) (20) 1. How to Align Individual AND Organizational Needs
To Achieve Sustainable Successes For Each
Innovative Talent Management Principles Built Upon the the EON™ Platform
June 12, 2017
Calvin Klein
The Nature of Business
thenatureofbusiness.com
calvin@thenatureofbusiness.com
Vance Morosi
Human Experience Talent Management
HXTMconsulting.com
vance@hxtmconsulting.com
2. ©2017 Nature of Business, LLC and HX Talent Management, LLC
Ecology of Needs and EON are trademarks of Nature of Business, LLC
Page 2
Table of Contents
Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................. 3
SUSTAINABLE TALENT MANAGEMENT OVERVIEW ................................................................................. 3
Preface ...................................................................................................................................................... 4
INTRODUCTION TO “THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE” ...................................................................................... 4
X Marks the Spot of Maximum Importance ......................................................................................... 4
HX Marks the Spot of Core Importance ................................................................................................. 4
Introduction: Call for Change ............................................................................................................ 6
NATURE OF THE PROBLEM .................................................................................................................................. 6
Frame for Change .................................................................................................................................. 7
NATURE OF THE SOLUTION ................................................................................................................................. 7
Structure | How the EON Framework Is Built .................................................................................... 8
Information Exchange Between Essence and Edge ...................................................................................... 8
Loops of Learning ........................................................................................................................................................ 9
Principles, Processes & Performance | How It Works ................................................................. 10
Core Principals of the Ecology of Needs Framework ................................................................................ 10
Principle 1 | Needs are Nested ...................................................................................................................... 10
Principle 2 | Tensions are Intended ............................................................................................................ 10
Principle 3 | Patterns Repeat ......................................................................................................................... 15
Performance Indications | Validations & Violations ............................................................................ 17
Relevance of SX to the Employment Brand ...................................................................................... 19
Conclusion: Catalyst for Change ..................................................................................................... 20
SUSTAINABLE TALENT MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS .............................................................................. 20
3. ©2017 Nature of Business, LLC and HX Talent Management, LLC
Ecology of Needs and EON are trademarks of Nature of Business, LLC
Page 3
Executive Summary
SUSTAINABLE TALENT MANAGEMENT OVERVIEW
Conventional needs hierarchies, such as the model made famous by Abraham Maslow, have
been the basis for significant insights into social sciences for almost 60 years. The fundamental
human needs identified in Maslow’s model provided excellent insights that have allowed us to
evolve an understanding into the principles of sustainability.
We know that sustainable systems, including organizations, require healthy ecosystems and
environments to remain healthy, diverse and productive over time. The Ecology of Needs
framework (“EON”) is an innovative means to help us understand and promote sustainability.
Unlike Maslow’s hierarchy, which is an arrangement that serves only one end point (the top),
EON leverages a holarchical platform that has been utilized in other sciences to recognize things
that are simultaneously whole (made of parts) and an essential part of an even larger whole.
EON’s application within talent management suggests that humans and organizations have
core needs that are interdependent on each other. That is, needs are linked to each other; and each
need affects another in a way that causes natural tensions between them. (Note, the term “tension”
in this sustainability context represents a desired effect; a good thing.)
These tensions are the result of opposing needs vying for fulfillment, almost like of tug-of-
war. Following are the three tension sets of needs that form sustainable practices:
1. Purpose and Place | essential and well-placed
2. Participation and Provision |engaged and well-supplied, and
3. Potential and Protection | optimized and well-protected
Humans and organizations approach sustainable (“actualized”) states when these tensions
are in balance. The following represents practical examples of sustainable talent management:
• EON helps us to help others find a place in our organizations for which they are fit, and a
purpose that fits them.
• EON helps us understand the requirements that individuals have for the elements that
give them vigor. With this understanding, individuals can do what they do best and
enjoy the self-perpetuating intrinsic rewards that result from those efforts.
• Finally, EON helps us understand and value the risk management requirements of
individuals so that each is afforded an ongoing environment that will allow him to
expand his boundaries of potential.
EON is designed around the following three core principles:
1. Needs are nested | the sensation of natural forces that steer sustainability
2. Tensions are intended | nature’s paradox: how seemingly opposite forces act as
complements, and
3. Patterns repeat | the natural occurrence of forces at any scale
Collectively, and when applied to talent management, these principles suggest that
individuals are as essential to the organizations they support as the organizations are to them.
This is the compelling future of Sustainable Talent Management experiences, or “SX.”
4. ©2017 Nature of Business, LLC and HX Talent Management, LLC
Ecology of Needs and EON are trademarks of Nature of Business, LLC
Page 4
Preface
INTRODUCTION TO “THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE”
X Marks the Spot of Maximum Importance
Individuals today expect to receive excellent experiences during every interaction with an
organization. As a result, organizations will only prosper if they can meet or exceed these
expectations. The principles of natural selection can doom any organization that is not hyper-vigilant
about delivering excellent experiences. All experiences matter.
We are aware of the importance of user experiences (UX) and customer experiences (CX),
and we hope that the term “human experience” (HX) will soon enter into our vernacular. HX is the
most vital element of any organization’s success. HX requires that every team member is in a role
that allows her to apply her talent, passion and commitment towards the attainment of her
organization’s goals.
While the content in this preface is specific to the human experiences required for
sustainable experiences within talent management (SX), let us be clear: this guide is about SX. Our
emphasis on “X” cannot be overstated. Experiences not only matter, they are fundamental
precursors to sustainable successes in UX, CX and XX (whatever additional experience that you can
think of).
This manifesto will offer a comprehensive orientation to SX. However, a fundamental
understanding of HX is a pre-requisite for our foray into the world of SX. Below is some high-level
context that will help to better understand the concept of HX.
HX Marks the Spot of Core Importance
HX represents a collective set of values, behaviors and common courtesies that we expect
most organizational cultures to embrace. On the surface they appear to be table stakes. Givens. Yet
poor human experiences are far more often the norm than the exception. The table below offers a
few common examples of opportunities to emphasize human experiences.
Opportunity Implication Result
Human
Experience Recipe for Success
Employee
Referral
88% of employers rate
employee referrals above all
other sources for quality
hires (iCIMS, Hiring
Insights).
10% better
performers; longest
tenures; shortest
time to fill; lowest
cost per hire (Dr.
John Sullivan, 2017).
Respect for
referrer; enhance
employer brand.
Deliver a more
personalized experience to
referrals.
Job board
applicants
99 out of 100 applicants do
not get selected, nor
notified in most cases,
about their disposition.
99% of the talent in
our hard-earned
talent pools,
including those who
could be ideally
suited for other
roles, are left to
atrophy.
Courtesy. All
applicants have
the potential to
become your
brand
ambassadors and
sources of indirect
referrals.
Follow up with every
applicant. System-
generated workflows and
communication options
make this easy and earn
highly-valued appreciation.
5. ©2017 Nature of Business, LLC and HX Talent Management, LLC
Ecology of Needs and EON are trademarks of Nature of Business, LLC
Page 5
Opportunity Implication Result
Human
Experience Recipe for Success
When “life
happens”
Personal situations can
impact professional
obligations.
Expressions of
humanity are
remembered,
appreciated and
celebrated long after
the memory of the
event itself has
faded.
Empathy and
compassion can
be tangible
evidence of
culture attributes
that demonstrate
that people are the
most important
asset in a
company.
Offer paid time off and re-
prioritize or re-assign
workloads to temporarily
offer relief.
Performance
Management
Performance results do not
meet expectations.
Business objectives
are not achieved.
Caring through
coaching.
Before “managing out,” be
accountable for your
management responsibility:
provide feedback,
guidance, suggestions,
mentors, or training.
Explore other roles that
could be a better fit.
Nothing about HX is particularly novel or original. Yet in the haste of getting business done,
and because there are so many uncomfortable situations throughout the course of doing that
business, it’s all-too-easy to bury one’s head in the ground and sacrifice HX for the wrong reasons.
An exclusively organization-centric status quo is not sustainable. It tarnishes recruiting,
employment and corporate brands to a point that encourages top talent to pursue other interests. A
hallmark of unsustainable organizations is that they sacrifice top talent to their competitors for the
wrong reasons (often, simply a lack of HX).
Human Experience matters (a lot!). As you read the content that follows please remember that
there are two sides of the talent lens, and that both sides are equally important.
• Organization side: This is the most common side that often comes to mind first; the
side that views talent as fulfilling an organizational need.
Example: “I need to get this Product Development position filled
immediately or we won’t make our commitment to the market. I need to find
a Developer now!”
• Human side: This is the side where individuals directly impact organizational success
while fulfilling personal requirements.
Example: “People have always told me that I am gifted with an ability to
produce beautifully designed and thoughtfully engineered solutions. Is there
any other way? This has always come natural to me and I love doing it. I
need to find an organization that will allow me to apply my talents and
challenge my potential.”
Want your organization to sustain long into the future? Embrace HX to achieve SX!
6. ©2017 Nature of Business, LLC and HX Talent Management, LLC
Ecology of Needs and EON are trademarks of Nature of Business, LLC
Page 6
Introduction: Call for Change
NATURE OF THE PROBLEM
Successful people get to do what they do best every day.
Envision an organization that embraces this notion. Can you see a high performing team
that attracts and retains top talent? Can you imagine an environment where individual needs align so
well with organizational ambitions that one’s success feeds the other’s?
The Ecology of Needs (EON) framework is built upon a belief that this is a realistic and
achievable vision. Realizing this vision requires us to change the way we recruit, develop and retain
our talent.
Employee engagement1
and employee trust in many organizations are often compromised
for a wide variety of reasons. A common example is when an organization’s focus to increase profits
belies its emphasis on employee engagement. Over the years, Gallup has consistently documented
the correlation between employee engagement and profitability. Their findings suggest that
organizations with high engaged-to-disengaged ratios outperform the earnings per share of their
competition by 147%. Get employee engagement right and the rest takes care of itself.
One reason for the challenges that afflict employee engagement and trust is that
conventional processes and practices have become increasingly disconnected from each other over
time as various HR related disciplines developed independent of each other. The more specialized
they became, the more independent they became. And the more independent they became, the
further they moved us from our charter as human management professionals that enable individual
and organizational success.
The goal of Sustainable Talent Management is to align individual AND organizational needs
around a common framework.
In many respects, the field of Human Resources has become akin to a social science, and as
scientists naturally do, we pursued our objective by breaking our field into pieces—by
deconstructing it in our quest to better understand and optimize its componentry. The specialty
interests and goals of recruiting, onboarding, performance management, compensation, learning and
development, retention and succession planning all began to distance themselves from one another.
Yet our shared charter remains the same: to enable success for individuals AND organizations.
Solving the challenge before us requires us to reconnect our knowledge, spirit, intentions
and actions, and piece things back together around our common goal. Sustainable Talent
Management is about fostering ecosystems where individual and organizational objectives are
naturally aligned and supported in ways that allow for mutual benefit.
EON provides insight into the needs required to sustain both individuals and organizations,
and invites us to affect our future through the application of its principles.
1
The extent to which employees are willing to expend discretionary effort to achieve an
organization’s objectives.
7. ©2017 Nature of Business, LLC and HX Talent Management, LLC
Ecology of Needs and EON are trademarks of Nature of Business, LLC
Page 7
Frame for Change
NATURE OF THE SOLUTION
The principle components of the EON framework outlined below reintroduce us to the
nature of sustainability. They help us to reconnect the knowledge and intentions of talent
management that we have been deconstructing for so long. The application of this model is called
Sustainable Talent Management Experiences, or SX, and its central innovation is a structure that
links the principles of sustainability with specific processes and performance indications.
If you recognize that there are malignant patterns in your business (such as organizational
distrust, job dissatisfaction, etc.), then you will likely resonate with the value of this model. SX offers
practitioners a new and innovative means to introduce fundamental changes that can amplify your
talent management behaviors.
While the principles of SX (the application of EON) appear to be intuitive, the opportunities
to apply them may not come naturally. These principles are unique because they invite us to see
talent management from a fresh perspective that is dramatically different from the traditional
doctrines that we have been using for years.
As we mentioned earlier, both parties look through the same lens to chart their courses for
success. The difference is that organizations look through one side of the lens that is designed to
focus on organizational results; while individuals look through the other side which is focused on
opportunities to develop and apply themselves.
The goal of this guide is to introduce a new framework and a way of thinking that will enable
high performing individuals and organizations to coexist in symbiotic relationships; relationships
whereby each party depends on and benefits from the other. Sustainable success can be achieved
when each party can clearly view, understand and embrace the perspective of the other. The result is
an opportunity to align individual and organizational goals.
• Example of an organizational goal: “… increase client satisfaction by 15%.”
• Example of an individual goal: “…apply my talents in ways that will increase
customer satisfaction rates by improving the quality of communication.”
Both parties understand that their future is dependent upon their clients’ satisfaction, and by
extension, their brand loyalty which can be indicated as a Net Promoter Score. Organizational goals
can be driven from the top down through initiatives to hire, train and manage skilled employees to
fulfill the responsibilities of any job. Or—as SX advocates—organizations can recruit, develop and
challenge individuals who are pre-wired to make a significant impact in specific role. These
individuals do not have to be cum laude graduates with MBA’s, they just need to be aligned with the
right role and afforded the right support and opportunities to shine.
8. ©2017 Nature of Business, LLC and HX Talent Management, LLC
Ecology of Needs and EON are trademarks of Nature of Business, LLC
Page 8
Structure | How the EON Framework Is Built
The EON platform was developed from an integration of concepts from life and social
sciences. EON provides the core elements that form the sustainable talent management principles.
Below are the key concepts that constitute the frame, superimposed onto the full frame’s skeleton,
and explained briefly.
Information Exchange Between Essence and Edge
Sustainability is determined by information exchanges that exist at two levels: at the Edge
and the Essence.
1. Edge
One way that sustainability is determined is on the edge where the essence of an individual
meets the conditions, influences and expectations of an organization.
An edge, by definition, has two sides, represented in the diagram below as Edge1
and Edge2
.
Edge1
is the inner edge where an individual’s potential is at play, influencing the
environment. Individual à Organization.
Edge2
is the outer edge where the organization’s expectations and influences play on the
individual. Organization à Individual.
2. Essence
The core of the SX model represents the essential nature of an individual, or his essence. The
human essence contains the sum of an individual’s potential as well as the sum of his limitations. It
determines what each individual has the potential to become given his natural abilities, and what he
cannot. That is, what he is able to do naturally and un-naturally.
The Human Essence is what makes an individual unique and relevant to the world. The
relationship between Edge and Human Essence is the second critical factor in determining the
sustainability of an individual. The tensions that exist in this space determine how far the Edge can
be extended (the extent of an individual’s potential and natural ability) and how far it cannot (the
limits of an individual’s potential and natural ability).
Individuals must understand and be comfortable with their essence and reconcile the
tensions that exist between their Essence and Edges. Without this reconciliation, individuals may be
LOOPS OF LEARNING
Nature’s feedback loops.
The information that
balances tension
and steers sustainability:
amping | positive
damping| negative
TENSIONS
Balancing forces of nature
change resistant forces
SEEK CENTER (EBB)
STABILIZE SYSTEMS
MAINTAIN BOUNDARIES
change insistent forces
FLEE CENTER (FLOW)
ACTUALIZE SYSTEMS
DISTURB BOUNDARIES
ESSENCE and EDGE
ESSENCEis the nature
of each thing:
individual or entity
The outer EDGE is nature,
essentially all things
not man-made
DOMAINS
The categories of NEEDS,
each of which, balances
The tension of another
Provision BALANCES Participation
Protection BALANCES Potential
Placement BALANCES Purpose
… and the reverse
DIMENSIONS
The nested arrangement
of complex systems:
simultaneously whole & part
Individuals or Entities
Organizations
Economies
Societies
Ecologies
9. ©2017 Nature of Business, LLC and HX Talent Management, LLC
Ecology of Needs and EON are trademarks of Nature of Business, LLC
Page 9
easily overwhelmed by demands and expectations of an organization, or worse, become disoriented
or disconnected from their fundamental nature.
Helpful hint to understand sustainable principles: Wherever there is an edge, there is an essence.
The implication is that an individual must know his limitations to avoid a situation that
demands more than he is capable of delivering. A top performing Account Executive, for example,
may be perfectly placed in her current role, yet would be woefully out of place in a management
role—even if managing a similar team at the same company. The leadership, operational, and
management components of a “promotion” may be contrary to her essence, which is what made her
a great Account Executive.
Loops of Learning
Loops of learning represent the exchange of information between an individual and her
essence (often referred to as intuition) and between the individual and the organization. Because life
constantly changes, so does information. Conventional studies of complex sustainable systems call
this information exchange “feedback.” Feedback provides the information that determines
relationships between systems and across edges.
Constant change produces constant information.
The crux to sustainability is to balance tensions at both the edge and the essence;
not try to resolve them. Whether by design or divine intervention, this is what systems do
naturally.
The human variable in these systems allows for the introduction of sociological influences,
like cultural expectations and norms, that can short-circuit one’s natural proclivity. That is, we have
the ability to affect natural systems to produce unnatural results. For example, our Account
Executive may desire a promotion to manager because that’s a typical professional aspiration.
However, a field sales position may offer her a place where she can enjoy the challenge, competition
and client-facing engagement that better suits her.
Understanding what comes naturally (with ease) and what comes unnaturally (with dis-ease)
is the key to unlocking sustainable successes.
Edge tensions
Essence tensions
10. ©2017 Nature of Business, LLC and HX Talent Management, LLC
Ecology of Needs and EON are trademarks of Nature of Business, LLC
Page 10
Principles, Processes & Performance | How It Works
Part of the problem that has caused unsustainable talent management practices is how we
originally approached our goal. We logically believed that if we created separate teams to focus on
pieces of the talent management whole (i.e., performance management, learning and development,
etc.), then we would better understand how to piece things together.
The break-it-apart approach gave us the notion that we could engineer performance results.
We came to believe that if we could establish best-in-class functional areas then we could plug them
together and produce a best-in-class organization. The output that we
anticipated was improved organizational performance and a more desirable
employment brand.
What we learned, instead, was that the knowledge that we gained
when we broke our disciplines apart was not as useful for connecting and
holding everything together. Unsustainable business practices and
insufficient perspectives were the result. The EON framework allows us to
connect concepts across branches of knowledge by creating a stem of
understanding that we can all share.
Core Principals of the Ecology of Needs Framework
EON is designed around three core principles.
1. Needs are nested | the sensation of natural forces that steer sustainability
2. Tensions are intended | nature’s paradox: how seemingly opposite forces act as
complements, and
3. Patterns repeat | the natural occurrence of forces at any scale.
Principle 1 | Needs are Nested
The arrangement of needs in EON’S ecology is the universal operating system that steers
individuals toward their potential and away from danger and disease. Such steering occurs naturally,
meaning “with ease.” Doing something un-naturally means the opposite, doing it with difficulty or
“dis-ease.” EON allows for the easeful reconnection to natural states.
The needs in EON’S ecology, are a translation and rearrangement of the needs in Maslow’s
Hierarchy. EON adds an additional need, the need for meaning or purpose. Maslow’s research
showed that, “…without exception, self-actualized people are dedicated to some task “outside”
themselves.”
Principle 2 | Tensions are Intended
Maslow’s hierarchical arrangement ranks needs as higher or lower than another. EON
rearranges those needs to fit into a tension-balancing structure that reinforces life and science-based
concepts. The result is a model of complementary forces that seek balance.
One set of forces resists change—maintaining the
system:
sufficiently supplied with resources,
well-protected from risk, and
well suited to its surround
Complementary forces insist on change, expanding
the system:
proficient in its endeavors,
optimized in its capacity to adapt to challenge, and
essential to its surround
EON
Disconnected branches of knowledge
reconnected by an intuitive stem of
understanding that we all share.
11. ©2017 Nature of Business, LLC and HX Talent Management, LLC
Ecology of Needs and EON are trademarks of Nature of Business, LLC
Page 11
Change Instance vs. Change Resistance
Entities that resist change do not significantly develop or evolve; they are not sustainable.
The amount of resistance must be commensurate to the amount of change insistence.
Change insistence expands boundaries or limits. When a system
insists on change it activates potential and allows systems to make an
impact in their environment.
In the context of an organizational system, this could be an
individual who feels fulfilled because he is rewarded for his
performance contributions. This person is fully content when his day
ends and he goes to bed exhausted. Yet when he wakes up the next
morning, he looks forward to doing it all over again. He is the right
people in the place, and his fulfillment results in further performance
contributions.
For many years now organizations have recognized the need to
protect individual requirements in the workplace by offering protections such as insurance benefits
and behavior policies (“resistance” requirements). AND they have offered opportunities for team
members to evolve by participating in learning and development programs and stretch assignments
(“insistence” requirements). Yet the focus of each has generally been isolated from the other.
EON is based on the belief that each need is interdependent on the other. The needs of one
affect the other. The goal of sustainable talent management is to balance and respect these tensions, not
attempt to resolve them via independent efforts.
Sustainable Talent Management Experiences are manifested when an individual makes an
impact in her organization because it offers her a safe environment that encourages her to challenge
herself. She is part of an ecosystem where her organization’s needs and requirements are constantly
changing, yet correspond with her abilities and interests.
SX Tensions
Sustainable Talent Management Experiences align the talent and intention of a person with
the talent and intention of an organization. As we have discussed, sustainability requires a balancing
of tensions and a nesting of needs. In order for tension to balance, one force resists change while
the reciprocal force insists on it. The needs that are nested in the following graphic are
simultaneously whole (comprised of parts) and parts (essential to the larger whole) and are nested in
the following three tension sets:
1. Purpose and Place | essential and well-placed
2. Participation and Provision |engaged and well-supplied, and
3. Potential and Protection | optimized and well-protected
13. ©2017 Nature of Business, LLC and HX Talent Management, LLC
Ecology of Needs and EON are trademarks of Nature of Business, LLC
Page 13
Purpose and Place
Sustainable processes for Purpose meet an
individual’s need to be a relevant and integral part of
her organization. These processes expand her
boundaries of performance and commitment to her
purpose.
Sustainable processes for Place meet an
individual’s need to apply her purpose in a suitable
environment (i.e., a business culture). When
individuals are aligned with a culture, the processes
of Place ensure that a culture’s conditions and
behaviors are maintained and respected.
Unsustainable processes are indicated when the organization does not suit the essence of an
individual or when the individual imposes herself on the organization, ignoring or disrespecting its
limitations. When Purpose and Place are not balanced an individual’s purpose becomes irrelevant,
detrimental or redundant in an organization.
The processes in this tension band allow individuals to do what they do best every day when
the organizational culture aligns with individual culture, and the organization can offer a purpose for
them within that culture. The inverse is equally important, as properly placed individuals will
perpetuate the culture and contribute to organizational output.
Individuals cannot be relevant to their organization (nor their organization to them) if they
are in the wrong place. In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins encourages business leaders to make
opportunistic hires that will bring great talent into an organization even if a specific role does not
exist.
…if you begin with “who,” you can more easily adapt to a fast-changing world. If
people get on your bus because of where they think it’s going, you'll be in trouble when
you get 10 miles down the road and discover that you need to change direction because
the world has changed.
But if people board the bus principally because of all the other great people on
the bus, you’ll be much faster and smarter in responding to changing conditions.
Second, if you have the right people on your bus, you don’t need to worry about
motivating them. The right people are self-motivated: Nothing beats being part of a
team that is expected to produce great results. And third, if you have the wrong people
on the bus, nothing else matters. You may be headed in the right direction, but you still
won’t achieve greatness.
Great vision with mediocre people still produces mediocre results.
14. ©2017 Nature of Business, LLC and HX Talent Management, LLC
Ecology of Needs and EON are trademarks of Nature of Business, LLC
Page 14
Participation and Provision
Sustainable processes for Participation meet an
individual’s needs for engagement by expanding
boundaries of functionality (i.e., doing productive
things). Acknowledgement from her organization
validates that she is properly placed; that she is valued
and appreciated.
Sustainable processes for Provision meet an
individual’s most metabolic needs. Provisional needs
include sustenance requirements such as essential
health, rest and compensation requirements. These are
the processes that maintain boundaries of vitality and
preserve an individual’s essence of “being.”
Unsustainable processes are indicated when an individual exceeds her Provisional capacity
through too much Participation and does not recuperate needed rest or through an overindulgence
in Provisional elements (i.e., too much rest, or maybe even getting over-paid in relation to the
productivity delivered).
In this tension band the Human Essence reconciles the question, “Am I in the right role?”
The inherent prerequisites to answer this question include evaluating whether the individual is
naturally inclined towards her role and whether she has sufficient provisions to enable her success.
SX is a forward-thinking model that proactively invites individuals and organizations to
recognize and respect the requirements for sustainability. It is not intended to help broken or
unsustainable processes.
From a recruiting perspective, this means that an organization must be clear about its values,
rules, roles and culture before it can evaluate prospective new hires. Conversely, an individual must
reconcile these same criteria for herself to ensure alignment with the organization before she
commits to it.
An all-too-common mistake in high-growth organizations is to focus disproportionately on
functional selection criteria (i.e., can she do the job?). While she may have the experience and
motivation to suggest that she can, the costs associated with hiring a person despite adhering to SX
principles can be staggering, and include
• Cultural implications that may cause disgruntlement and a lack of team cohesion
• The cost to repeat the recruiting/onboarding lifecycle when the wrong person is hired
the first time, and
• Indirect costs that may be required to bring an underperforming individual up to par,
such as lost time due to re-work, and the potentially negative implications of their work
further down the supply chain.
15. ©2017 Nature of Business, LLC and HX Talent Management, LLC
Ecology of Needs and EON are trademarks of Nature of Business, LLC
Page 15
Potential and Protection
Sustainable processes for actualizing Potential
meet an individual’s need for self-satisfaction and
expand the boundaries of possibilities. As a result
individuals are able to adapt easily. Concurrently, this
is another reason why Jim Collins asserts that an
organization must begin with “who,” in order to adapt
to its fast-changing world.
Sustainable processes for Protection meet an
individual’s need for safety, security and free will.
These processes maintain boundaries of risk.
Unsustainable processes are indicated when processes over-expose an individual to
instability, inequality, uncertainty, harm or danger. They can also happen by under-exposing an
individual to organizational challenges or when inner potential fails to elevate to organizational
challenges.
Principle 3 | Patterns Repeat
In nature, patterns follow a geometric curve—whether in growth or in decline—that remains
in a particular proportion. Patterns in small things are the same as those in large ones; and things
look the same up close as they do far away. These “fractal” patterns range from the sub-atomic to
the inter-galactic reflect the balancing of forces of nature.
Forces that appear opposing, such as protons and electrons, act instead as complements. As
one force ebbs (drawing energy and resisting change, another force flows (releasing energy and
insisting on change.
This is the nature of sustainability, the balancing of tensions that allow systems to endure, at
any scale, across the entire universe. And the forces that steer the universe are the same forces that
steer effective talent management practices.
When thinking about how patterns manifest themselves in the context of SX, it’s easy to
spot the obvious in retrospect, yet difficult to see them as they unfold. Dealing with performance
issues, for example, often follows a canned pattern that usually looks like this: verbal warning,
written warning, performance plan, termination. This plan for dealing with an individual also applies
to a team, which extends to an organization, which might even extend to an industry, profession, or
society.
The same is also true for an individual who voluntarily separate from his employer. The
most common pattern of behavior suggests that he will apply for similar position at another
I N S T I T U T E O F P H Y S I C S
16. ©2017 Nature of Business, LLC and HX Talent Management, LLC
Ecology of Needs and EON are trademarks of Nature of Business, LLC
Page 16
company—often any other company. As an organizational leader, one must be willing to modify her
pattern for retaining and/or addressing sub-par performance to include an honest review of the
tension sets identified above.
As an individual, one must be willing to be proactive and explore intentional opportunities
for sustainable success at specific employers of choice instead of following the traditional pattern of
seeking, applying for, and joining just any company?
In education, for example, an application of SX can be seen when a student intentionally
pursues a master’s degree. A university will evaluate his application and undergraduate performance
and make an admission decision. The student’s chosen course of study may extend to a Ph.D.
program, which bases performance criteria upon both grades and letters of recommendation. Should
that student opt to pursue a teaching career, a tenure track will follow, and performance will be
measured by research and the acceptance of that research within the chosen discipline.
Many elite institutions are known for offering exceptionally respected educators; Average
institutions are simply happy to have someone available to teach a class. At first glance both adhere
to essentially the same patterns. However, the patterns adopted by elite institutions ensure that they
continuously challenge themselves to evaluate, accept, develop and promote the right individuals for
the right reasons. Their patterns are intentional and unique.
This concept of patterns is important because organizations must recognize and constantly
challenge the patterns that govern their behaviors. When patterns are effective, they are like well-
oiled machines that ensure future productivity and success.
Those patterns that are in need of repair often require major re-tooling, overhauling, or in
some cases, replacement. It’s all too easy for organizations to disproportionately focus on revenue
growth, product development, expansion strategies and the like, and allow dysfunctional patterns to
continue to repeat.
Instead of the conventional three-strike performance model mentioned above, consider
invoking Jim Collins’ perspective and ask whether you have the right people on your bus but they
are just in the wrong seat? If the essence of both the individual and the organization are true to each
other, then a much more productive effort will be placing him in the right seat.
17. ©2017 Nature of Business, LLC and HX Talent Management, LLC
Ecology of Needs and EON are trademarks of Nature of Business, LLC
Page 17
Performance Indications | Validations & Violations
The SX manifesto proclaims that a sustainable system must
• endure, without damage or diminishment, and
• meet needs across individual and
organizational domains.
This assertion makes the following arithmetic of SX
relatively simple.
• Individual contribution must equal
organizational consumption, and
• Organizational value preservation must equal
employment value proposition.
Performance indications are also simple and can be
represented as either validations or violations of SX
principles.
Validations are represented when tensions are balanced.
Violations are represented when principles are being perturbed, and damage or diminishment
(to individuals or organizations) is occurring.
The following table provides examples of validations and violations of SX principles.
Validations Violations
Essence & Edge
Aligned potential and expectation
Individual rises to, and is energized by, organizational
challenges
Misaligned potential and expectation
Individual falls short, or is diminished by, organizational
challenges
Purpose and Place
Individual is relevant to, and valued by, an organization
Individual is fit for a particular purpose
Individual is suitable to organization’s culture
Individual is irrelevant to, redundant, and/or detrimental to an
organization
Individual is unfit for the organization’s purpose
Individual is unsuitable to environment and imposes on the
organization
Participation and Provision
Individual is capable of role
Individual feels valued and is engaged
Provisions are sufficient for vitality
Individual is incapable or not a fit for current role
Individual is over-engaged or under-valued
Individual is starved, over-indulged, or under-active
Protection and Potential
Individual is safe and secure
Individual is minimally exposed to risk
Individual enjoys necessary freedoms
Individual is not safe or secure or over-exposed to threat
Individual is overly safe or under-exposed to challenge
Individual is unnaturally restrained by the organization
19. ©2017 Nature of Business, LLC and HX Talent Management, LLC
Ecology of Needs and EON are trademarks of Nature of Business, LLC
Page 19
Relevance of SX to the Employment Brand
Because an organizational holarchy inherently includes the Human Essence at its core, one
of the ways that an organization’s essence manifests itself is as an employment brand. The brand
represents organizational authenticity in tangible ways, including
• when employees demonstrate cultural nuances and norms during customer and public
interactions
• through employee behaviors at work, and
• when employees share work-related experiences with their social networks.
As the Gallup studies cited earlier suggested, employment brands (influenced by employee
engagement) can directly impact the stock price of public companies. An employment brand is also
a critical component of successful talent acquisition programs—particularly, the success of referral
programs. Top performers want to work in a place where their purpose will be appreciated, their
abilities will be challenged and they can enjoy the intrinsic rewards of actualization.
Organizations want the same benefits. Healthy employment brands are the result of
sustainable talent management experiences.
20. ©2017 Nature of Business, LLC and HX Talent Management, LLC
Ecology of Needs and EON are trademarks of Nature of Business, LLC
Page 20
Conclusion: Catalyst for Change
SUSTAINABLE TALENT MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS
SX is a progressive, forward-thinking and aspirational model that helps us understand how
to manage talent in a sustainable manner. It will take time for practitioners to help organizations
assimilate its principles, and substantially more time for organizations to fully embrace them and
reap the benefits.
Yet, at its core sustainable talent management experiences are simple, realistic and
achievable. SX is required because evolutions in talent-related disciplines have separated us from a
common stem of understanding that was once natural. Over the years we have tried to simplify by
becoming more complex. While those efforts have produced valuable insights along the way, we
must now simplify by integrating what we know and applying that knowledge in a new way.
Our greatest opportunity lies in the ability to approach the tension sets described here with
respect and a constant quest for balance, not resolution.
To dismiss the value of SX is to embrace a status quo in favor of conventional operating
models that have not evolved to meet the most important needs of all: future needs. Existing
practices are neither adaptive nor appropriate change agents capable to remedy the deteriorating
business patterns and realities of yesterday.
Rabbit, the affable character in Alice In Wonderland, was right when he prophesized, “If we
keep going the direction we’re headed, we’ll most likely get there.” SX offers a means to affect the
future in the way that nature intends: naturally!
