How to evolve from a process-focused to a people-focused organisation?

The problem we are facing is not new. Many books have already been written about the same question: how can we evolve faster as an organisation? How can we evolve from a traditional process-focused organisation to a people-focused organisation?

If we want to make the shift from a traditional to a future-proof culture, there is only one way to do this according to Bruce Fecheyr-Lippens. We can only make our organisations ready for tomorrow by focusing on our employees’ skills. Focusing on skills actually provides great added value for both the organisation and the employee. For employees, because they use their full potential. For organisations, because employees who are able to use all their talent achieve more. 

Ingredients 

But where do we start? How can we make sure every employee can make full use of his competencies? From his experience at Solvay and as a founder of the employee experience platform Huapii, Bruce Fecheyr-Lippens advises us to create a central platform on which every employee has a profile with his skills. 

• Create visibility: first ask your employees what they are good at, which skills they have. It is important to have a clear overview of everyone’s strengths.
• Increase findability: make sure your employees can easily find out which employee has which skill. You can achieve this by creating a central platform on which every employee has a profile. 
• Find a match: at the start of a new project, match those employees who each have the necessary skills to bring the project to a good end. 
• Give feedback: motivate your employees to develop their own skills through feedback, mentoring and learning. Put them in the driving seat of their own career. 

Result 

If HR really chooses to make the shift to a skill-based culture and selects the right platform to create openness about everyone’s skills, you will achieve great results. Before launching Huapii, Bruce tested it himself. At Solvay, he created one platform on which every Solvay employee had a profile with competences. As a result, there was more collaboration between silos, more commitment among employees because they were responsible for their own development and more internal mobility. 

In short: the results are clear and so are the steps. Both employees and companies can benefit from focusing on skills. The first step that needs to be taken is to take the plunge.