THIS IS HOW WE DO IT Evidence Based Management AOM 2014 – session 308 Evidence-Based Management in Action

Government of Flanders 2

Who am I?

The Dream 4 All decisions concerning HR & OD in the government of Flanders are grounded on the best available evidence.

5 It's a matter of professional integrity! No girl wants to marry a doctor who can't tell if a man's dead or not! Scherlock Holmes, 2009

Becoming an evidence based organisation 6 1.It starts with your mind 2.Everyday practice and learning 3.Integrating evidence based practice in the organisation Rousseau, D.M. and Barends, E.G.R. (2011) ‘Becoming an evidence-based HR practitioner’. Human Resource Management Journal 21: 3, 221–235.

Becoming an evidence based organisation 7 Our plan: Develop competencies Applying the methodology How do we implement it? Is it feasible? Communication/ Marketing Convincing the organisation Blog, presentations, factcheck,… -> Support from CEBMA

8

Developing competencies 9 Trained 12 colleagues during 5 halve days Content: Developing awareness formulating explicit questions looking for evidence appraising evidence HR-analytics (I-nostix) … -> the 1+6 A’s (awareness + ask, acquire, appraise, aggregate, apply, assess) Goal: providing basic competencies Providing a common language -> It starts with your mind - Awareness

Developing competencies 10 What we've learned Involve corporate HR & OD + the ones who implement it We created basic knowledge of EBM We created awarenes understanding of the added value and even necessity of EBM Inspired colleagues with new possibilities and ideas

Developing competencies 11 What we've learned But how to implement, how wil we do it? Searching for scientific evidence= challengeing for some colleagues What about external partners What will we expect from partners? What about expectations of our clients? …. 5 sessions, too much? Depends on background Some expressed a preference for a shorter but more intensive training

Applying the methodology 12 Try-out in already planned projects: Burn-out, high potential program, new ways of working, autonomous teams and organisational values Goal Building a portfolio of cases Learn about how difficult/ easy it is in reality Practicing the competenties -> Everyday practice and learning

Applying the methodology 13 What we've learned Difficult to implement in ongoing projects Threatning to internal consultant and client Difficult to question already made choices  integrate the methodology in new projects from the beginning  Implement it step by step

Applying the methodology 14 What we've learned Evidence based working challenges external partners Evidence based working asks difficult questions towards proposed tools & methodologies  Communicate with external providers  When writing a commision demand for EB proposals  External partners are able and willing to follow the EB logic  A cquired knowledge can not be neglected

Applying the methodology 15 Evidence based working challenges our beliefs External comments are sometimes right  Question our own position  Criticaly exploring our own choices makes our policies better

Applying the methodology 16 Evidence based working is possible Exploring the 4 sources of evidence might seem time- consuming  Does every HR-professional need the skill to consult scientific evidence?  In the beginning focus on projects with big and/or long-term impact  There is a learning curve

Communication 17 Infographic Communicating in an attractive and positive fashion Blog Sharing our experiences Factchecker Showing the potential of Evidence Based working Involve decision-makers If they expect ‘evidence based’ propositions, we will take a huge leap forward -> It starts with your mind

18

The future 19 Realising the dream step by step First focus: Important projects with potential big impact and/or long term consequences Toolboxes New corporate policies Next challenge: integrating Evidence Based working in our processes Involving our external partners Building a solid knowledge base= long term project

The future 20 Providing a competence pool Making a pool of experts in evidence based working available for the organisation Marketing evidence based working in the organisation A what works centre for management in Flanders?

Questions? 21

22 Maxime Loose Internal consultant – government of Flanders Twitter: Slideshare: based-management-how-we-do-it