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With Design Thinking
Boost Your HR Practices

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Presenters
Dr. Shreya Sarkar-Barney
HCG President & Founder
Izabela Widlak, M.S.
Research Consultant

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Talent
Management
Excellence
Leadership
Excellence
US India
We help organizations achieve talent management excellence and leadership
excellence using science, analytics, and empathy.

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What we do
AUDIT
Pinpointing opportunities
STRATEGY
Leading with intelligence
ANALYTICS
Fine tuning intelligence
EDUCATION
Shaping minds
Talent Management Excellence
Leadership Excellence
ASSESSMENT
Accurate insight on candidates
DEVELOPMENT
Inspiring growth & excellence
TEAM ALIGNMENT
Help leadership teams win

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Agenda
1. Why use design thinking in HR?
2. How design thinking contributes to HR
innovation?
3. The combined benefits of design thinking and
evidence-based talent management
4. Example
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HR Traps
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Who is HR?
• Generalists
• HR Business partners
• Recruiter/talent acquisition
• Learning and development
• Talent management
• Leadership development
• HRIS administration
• Compensation and Benefit
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We need a new
mechanical
aptitude test
We want
employees who
show-up on time
and follow
procedures
What clients ask for is rarely
what they need
We need a team
building activity
Employees need
clear and
unambiguous
directions on their
work activities
We need a new
leadership
competency model
Our organization
needs to align on
our new company
strategy

9.
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Goal
A phone that could work
anywhere in the world
…except your home, car, office, the mall
Phone worked as long as it had a direct line-
of-sight connection to the satellite. It could
only be used outdoors.

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People don’t want a phoneA phone that could work
anywhere in the world
What customers want What customers need
They want to connect with others
Check the weather
Check messages

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Confidence that our
teams can get the job
done and delight the
customer
Simpler performance management
More training
Leadership development
Retention
Culture of coaching
When the business says they want What customers need
Are we building the next Iridium in
HR?
Reach our financial targets

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“If I had asked people what they
wanted, they would have said
faster horses.”
Henry Ford
Listening is important, but giving your stakeholders
what they say they want is an HR trap

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72%
“Not prepared” to address the
workforce capability requirements
of the business
Source: Deloitte University Press, 2014
92%
HR lacks skills to drive business
impact
HR’s Scorecard

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To avoid getting into the HR trap,
one must solve the wicked
problems of the business
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Problem solving requires
doing things in new and
different ways
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How do we help HR innovate?

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Why HR struggles to innovate?
• HR activities rarely involve getting to the root of the
problem
• HR activities are engrained in servicing orders and
enforcing policies
• HR has failed to develop an expectation for solving
people problems of the business
• HR lacks the confidence to help the business, reluctant
to take charge, as a result stay away from the board
room
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How can we help HR
lead with
confidence?

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To lead with confidence, HR must
be able to predict the future.
This requires expertise and
judgement.
Design Thinking
+
Evidence-Based
Talent Management
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What is Evidence-Based Talent
Management?
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It is a conscious effort to use the best available
scientific evidence to make decisions about
employees and to select practices for managing the
workforce.

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Evidence-Based Blue Prints in 17
Talent Management Practices
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MODELS METHODOLOGY METRICS
MODEL OF INTEGRATED TALENT MANAGEMENT
MANAGE
THE
EMPLOYEE
LIFE CYCLE
Tm Foundations of Talent Management
WORKFORCE
STAFFING
Ja Job Analysis & Comp. Modeling
WORKFORCE
DEVELOPMENT
WORKFORCE
MANAGEMENT
ORGANIZATIONAL
EFFECTIVENESS
Ta Talent Acquisition
Es Employee Selection
Ob Onboarding
Td Training & Development
Ld Leadership Development
Cd Career Planning
Pe Prog. Evaluation & HR Metrics
PmPerformance Management
CsCompensation & Total Rewards
WpWorkforce Analytics & Planning
SpSuccession Planning
CmOrg. Culture & Change Mgt.
TeTeam Effectiveness
EeEmployee Engagement
WdWork Design

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Science Enables Decision Making
9%
29%
14%2%
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JOB SUCCESS
PREDICTION
LEADERSHIP
EFFECTIVENESS
Unstructured Interviews Work Sample
Transformational leadershipSituational leadership

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What is Design Thinking?
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Each business is unique and their needs are dictated
by their strategy.
Design thinking involves matching a human need
with a solution that is informed by science and
evidence.

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Why Design Thinking?
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HR must be more deliberate in uncovering problems and
addressing unmet needs.
This rarely comes from practices that require policy
administration and enforcement.
Necessity is the mother of invention

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How is design thinking related to
evidence-based talent management?
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Design Thinking Requires Synthesis
Design thinking is an approach to uncovering needs
and challenges.
EBTM Requires Analysis
Evidence-based talent management (EBTM) is the
use of science and scientific thinking to solve
people-related problems.

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Phases in Design Thinking
1.DISCOVERY
2.INTERPRETATION
3.IDEATION
4.DESIGN
5.IMPLEMENTATION
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Uncovering
the problem
Framing the
problem
Generating
solutions
Developing
the prototype
Deploying the
solution

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Phases in Design Thinking
DISCOVERY
Empathize
Define
INTERPRETATION
Sense
making
Framing
IDEATION
Ideate
Prototype
DESIGN
Develop
Plan
Organize
IMPLEMENTATION
Deploy
Evaluate
Improve
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How to Use Design Thinking
In Your Everyday Work

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Discovery
FOCUS: Before starting a project, invest in learning about the
problem, the constraints caused by the problem and the expected
outcomes. Uncover the impact of the challenges on the
stakeholders.
OUTPUT: User stories, journal maps, process maps
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DISCOVERY
Empathize
Define

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Interpretation
FOCUS: This phase requires compiling the information
gathered in the discovery phase and constructing a cohesive
story. This is known as the process of sense making. This
step also requires uncovering the most significant problems
and developing an appropriate framing to motivate change.
This step also requires engaging with the stakeholders to
share and validate the results from the discovery process.
OUTPUT: Reports with qualitative and quantitative results
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INTERPRETATION
Sense
making
Framing

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Ideation
FOCUS: This phase requires synthesizing observations,
generating ideas, obtaining feedback, and iterating on the
ideas. The solution generation process should include
research and analysis. Those with expertise in evidence-
based practices can recommend solutions that have known
efficacy-levels in driving the outcomes.
OUTPUT: Storyboard, wire frame, plan, prototype
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IDEATION
Ideate
Prototype

31.
Design
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DESIGN
Develop
Plan
Organize
FOCUS: In this phase, the ideas are brought to life and
eventually produced for use. It requires creating a live
prototype of the selected idea, testing, and iterating.
OUTPUT: Live prototype, development roadmap

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Implementation
FOCUS: This phase requires developing the live prototype and
deploying the plan or solution. This steps must coincide with a
data collection plan to enable ongoing improvements. The first
iteration is usually buggy or sub-optimal. The project team
must manage expectations accordingly and promote a culture
of experimentation such that the solution can evolve over
time.
OUTPUT: Metrics, user stories
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IMPLEMENTATION
Deploy
Evaluate
Improve

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HOW TO DO IT RIGHT
Talk to customers to
understand their
problems and concerns.
Listen to their proposed
solution but only as an
input and not to limit
your solutions.
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34.
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“It's really hard to
design products by
focus groups. A lot
of times, people
don't know what
they want until you
show it to them.”
Steve Jobs

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For a free one hour consultation email us at
info@humancapitalgrowth.com
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AUDIT
Pinpointing opportunities
STRATEGY
Leading with intelligence
ANALYTICS
Fine tuning intelligence
EDUCATION
Shaping minds
Talent Management Excellence
Leadership Excellence
ASSESSMENT
Accurate insight on candidates
DEVELOPMENT
Inspiring growth & excellence
TEAM ALIGNMENT
Help leadership teams win

36.
Thank you!
Shreya Sarkar-Barney, Ph.D.
Shreya@humancapitalgrowth.com
Izabela Widlak, M.S.
Izabela_Widlak@humancapitalgrowth.com