If you are interested in improving your HR maturity level visit IHRM -  The Institute of HR Maturity

In Part 1 of this 3-Part assessment of organisational maturity we considered to what extent organisations are designed to learn.  This can only ever happen as part of a wider HR strategy that aims to create a competitive advantage from managing human capital as effectively as possible.

Such a lofty ambition can only ever be achieved in an organisation that is grown up enough to take a realistic view of its situation: understanding and making the most of its strengths whilst acknowledging its failings and limited capabilities.  Maturity is not a rose-tinted view of the world but an acceptance of the truth.  The HR Maturity Scale reveals the HR function to be a toddler that has not quite dispensed with its comfort blanket and needs to hang onto something for support while it stumbles around at Stage 2.

HR people at Stage 2 like to call themselves ‘professional’ even though this is only about one third of the way along this continuum.  They use lots of professional support mechanisms (CIPD, job evaluation, psychometrics, competence frameworks) but they have not yet reached a Stage where their advice is really valued (Stage 3) because their systems have not grown sufficient teeth for them to add much value (e.g. competence frameworks that do not remove the incompetent).  Much of this immaturity is down to their deep-seated, lack of confidence in their own methods and capabilities.  However, organisational maturity does not come from any specific function changing, it is about the whole organisation growing up and developing together.

From an Executive perspective it starts with a full and open acknowledgement that they have no clear understanding of what managing human capital actually means (shown on the Scale as the Human Capital Barrier). There is no common language in the boardroom to discuss the value of people and no way of auditing the organisation’s human capital management.  Unless and until these issues are addressed the organisation is incapable of getting the best value out of its people.

Similarly, any employee (Generation Y or any other generation for that matter) who thinks the world owes them a living; or the organisation exists to further their career; or that somehow they are indispensable; needs to realise that however talented or important they might be the value of the organisation, long term, will be dependent on how they work together – systemically- holistically.

Of course, this all assumes that the organisation has an ambition to be as good as it can be and realises that the only forward is a more strategic approach to managing people – all of them.  As we will see in Part 3 though (‘Off the Scale’) to make such an assumption would be very simplistic, not to say immature.

You can find out more about the HR Maturity Scale and where you are along it by watching the explanatory video here, reading a short descriptive extract from HR Strategy or visiting the Consummate Professional Series for online tuition.

If you need help in assessing your organisation’s HR Maturity contact info@paulkearns.co.uk