Why organisational network analysis could drag HR out of the age of spreadsheets and questionnaires

The drive towards digital transformation, sustainability and more robust supply chains continues across businesses – and many staff are struggling to keep up, as the list of skills requirements grows ever-longer and job descriptions become increasingly bloated.

 

CISOs need enhanced soft skills to win over colleagues to help fend off cyber-criminals; accountants must be aware of the financial aspects of sustainability reporting… meanwhile, in HR, the latest responsibility is managing the human aspect of change management projects – whether these are adaptive, such as the shift to remote work, or transformational, such as the digitalisation of workflows.

 

When it comes to transformation projects, it falls on HR professionals to both confirm the need for change and then assess employee readiness for it, before developing and implementing any plan and evaluating its outcomes.

 

In terms of skills, HR professionals are expected to demonstrate credibility, build good interpersonal relationships and be able to influence the workforce to adopt new behaviours and attitudes and embrace change.

 

Who can HR professionals rely on to manage and monitor change?

 

A well-thought-out change management strategy shouldn’t leave the HR function to its own devices, however, but appoint agents of change across all levels and areas of the organisation. Large companies have been appointing these “champions” for some time.

 

Champions are tasked with managing workforce resistance to change, as well as leading by example and explaining how employees can benefit from the transformation. They are usually subject experts who understand the organisation’s culture and ensure the successful implementation of new systems and processes.

 

Then there are the creative problem-solvers, or “change agents” – usually sponsors, project managers or other leaders tasked with following through with the overhaul. Although their role overlaps with that of champions, promoting the adoption of new behaviours and attitudes is a more integral part of their role, with a wider scope of responsibility and accountability.

 

Finding your internal influencers

 

Thanks to the rise of network maps at the turn of the 21st century, enabled by advancements in data collection, storage and analysis methods, network science emerged as the first new discipline of the new millennium. In the wake of mapping how individuals are connected to friends, family and professionals, how proteins interact with each other or how the internet’s documents are linked to each other via URLs, network science emerged.

 

In a traditional workplace setting data is gained via surveys and self-reports, while a more passive, data-driven methodology builds a picture or map by recording interactions between employees. But one type of network science, organisational network analysis (ONA), is particularly relevant to the HR function, as it aims to explore how information, communications and knowledge flow inside an organisation.

 

With ONA, every exchange, whether via email, communication and collaboration platforms or on social media, becomes a data point informing the visualisations of the network. The resulting graph will identify the employees that have significantly more links to their colleagues than others – also eliminating any bias that may come, for example, with self-reporting.

 

Individuals with the highest number of links can be regarded as a business’s internal influencers. The graph will show how central their position is within the organisation and the degree of influence they can exert on their network.

Unlike “champions” or “change agents”, these influencers might not have the usual expertise relevant to the change process. But what they will have are the credibility and trust among colleagues to influence the mindset and behaviour of those they are interconnected with.

 

To start the chain reaction of changing mentality and combatting resistance to change, it is these people who HR and agents of change need to convince about the rationale and benefits of a transformation process.

 

Tackling data protection concerns prior to tapping into network science

 

As with all data-driven digital tools, however, there are pitfalls that HR professionals need to avoid when collecting and storing data captured from in-company communications.

 

The deployment of ONA software must come with strict data governance on access and storage to protect personally identifiable information. Although all the information collected will be in the corporate public space, it’s always crucial to have employee consent through any opt-in.

 

However, as soon as data protection and compliance protocols are in place, the map of the organisational network can be leveraged for much more than just finding the influencers who can enhance the success rates of change projects. Identifying employees overloaded with links and alleviating that burden, for example, can prevent burnout – and the interconnectedness of an employee about to leave can help predict the level of knowledge loss the company is to experience and suggest measures to remediate it.

 

With ONA, it’s easier for HR to identify silos and bottlenecks in the flow of knowledge and information, or measure whether the business’s D&I policies have the desired outcomes. So, perhaps it’s time business organisations start reaping the diverse benefits of network science and follow in the steps of the disciplines that have pioneered it.