Reframing VUCA

Human Resource Management (HRM) may be defined as "the strategies, policies, plans, processes and practices which an organisation uses to attract and engage, manage, develop, and reward its workers, and to encourage, maintain, and improve their performance and contributions" (Rudman, 2017, p. 13). HRM may also be termed the management of people and work in organisations (Bryson & Ryan, 2012). 

HRM comprises a set of organisational activities, designed to improve organisational performance within a highly dynamic organisational, social, economic and environmental context... or within a 'VUCA' world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (Bennett & Lemoine, 2014b). Dealing with our VUCA world's impact on today's workplaces requires the use of strategic HRM and HRD.

Reframing - or cognitive reframing as it is now more commonly known - was the work of Aaron Beck in the 1960s. Working with clients with clinical depression, Beck found that if clients could recognise negative thoughts, they could then shift or challenge themselves into a more positive mindset which lessened or halted their depression (Beck, 1997).

How does this relate to VUCA? If we reframe VUCA from the negative into a more positive HRD perspective, we can consider the counters to volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity: vision, understanding, clarity and caring, and agility. We can use these concepts as proactive strategies as we plan our counter-approaches, instead of passively having the world avalanche on us (CANNEXUS, 2023).

• Vision: seeing further. What is coming towards us in this wild world. Regularly using tools such as SWOT, Porters and audience analyses, as well as wide reading, will help us to stay alert
• Understanding: gathering knowledge so we understand the impact. Collecting both internal and external LMI
• Clarity and caring. Being clear about responsibility and tasks. First getting our organisational 'house' in order through good quality processes, instructions, onboarding, job analysis and performance. Then being compassionate about caring for all the people in the organisation so that they care for the organisation in return
• Agility. Being as flexible as we can so that when everything goes pear-shaped, everyone can move quickly. Planning for crises. Practicing the plan. Sharing technology and ideas. Assuming - particularly in a post-Covid world, that a crisis like Covid will happen again and being prepared for it

Let's stay awake out there.

Sam

References:

Beck, A. T. (1997). The past and the future of cognitive therapy. Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research, 6(4), 276-284. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3330473/pdf/jp64276.pdf

Bennett, N. & Lemoine, G. J. (2014b). What VUCA Really Means for You. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2014/01/what-vuca-really-means-for-you

Bryson, J., & Ryan, R. (2012). Human resource management in the workplace. Pearson Education.

CANNEXUS. (2023). Old VUCA to New VUCA [image]. https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNQk16EAHKZYvsaGX35kBYX05ZzCrM6s_yyczL8fiPxKGg7Uax-5Pe6wqYUjWcfyA/photo/AF1QipM3ggRHEXg8-3H4TCKKwiln7MdguW2unb2tlPWd?key=NElTVWhRQy1BZXdkS3VZX1BHVlFGQlotR0FJeWZR

Rudman, R. S. (2017). Chapter 2: Human Resources Management today. In HR Manager: A New Zealand handbook (2nd ed. pp. 37-56). Wolters Kluwer/CHH New Zealand.