Clearly, careful analysis and communication are needed to keep program designers motivated but also synergistic.Ī useful way for an HR leader to examine integration and synergy in the HR function is to array the functional elements of the talent lifecycle (attract, select, orient, develop, deploy, assess, reward, and so on) and ask, “Do these separate elements of our deliverables work well together?” The individual excellence of a program is not as important as what it adds to or subtracts from the total equation. If the mentorship program did not sync well with the organization’s management development process, the program would get a thumbs-down. If an enthusiastic but narrowly focused program designer created an award-winning mentorship program, how would an organization that values synergy receive it? The more savvy HR leader will encourage programs that synergize with everything else HR is doing. One is to avoid encouraging the out-of-context creation of world-class training programs, sourcing projects, or diversity initiatives.

HR leaders can do a number of things to promote synergy and integration. Encouraging programs that synergize with HR Here, again, there is nothing wrong with annual appraisals, and there is nothing wrong with designing work around client engagements, but if the work design and the appraisal system are not integrated, they end up creating negative synergy. In the absence of some sort of review after each engagement, the performance appraisal feels disconnected from the consultant’s work. This may seem completely uncontroversial if you look at the job design, however, you will see that consulting work is based on client engagements, not on an annual cycle.įurthermore, the design of the organization calls for the consultant to report to the project leader for the duration of a particular client engagement, and so the boss responsible for the annual appraisal does not direct or observe the consultant’s day-to-day work. In most consulting firms, consultants’ performance appraisals are based on an annual review by their boss. The issue is not that it was a dumb idea but that it was at odds with an important part of Starbucks’ HR strategy.Īnother example of lack of synergy can be seen in professional services firms. It is important to recognize that the same theft-reduction program might make sense in a different company with a different employment brand. Starbucks, realizing that its employment brand mattered more than any potential loss due to theft, reinstated the pockets.

The theft-reduction program was fine, and the employment brand was fine, but together they were in conflict, and the net result was negative synergy. Unfortunately, however, this effort was completely at odds with the Starbucks employment brand, which emphasized treating baristas as valued talent. We can readily imagine the argument that was made for this program, and how reasonable it sounded. The coffee-house chain decided to remove the pockets from baristas’ aprons, which could make it all too easy for a barista to pocket a few dollars that should have gone into the till.

A misstep that Starbucks quickly correctedĪ famous case of negative synergy occurred when Starbucks introduced a program to reduce theft by employees. If the reward system pays well above the market average to attract top performers, that money will be wasted if recruiting minimizes cost-of-hire and time-to-fill by cutting corners on selection and onboarding in such a way that average performers are brought in. If recruiting goes to great lengths to source and select individual high achievers while the performance-management system is rewarding teamwork, then there will be higher turnover and poor performance. The first level of the principle of integration and synergy exists within the HR function, and the focus is on how the elements of HR can work together. The easiest way to recognize integration is to look for where it is missing.įor example, if an organization provides outstanding training in customer service to 100 people just before laying off 50 of them, then clearly that was not a good investment.

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