With 40% of the global workforce considering quitting soon and replacement cost at 1/3 of a newbie’s
salary, CHRO’s need to focus on retention. With 80% of the world’s workers either disengaged or not
engaged, costing USD 7.8 trillion in lost productivity worldwide (Gallup), CHRO’s need to focus on
engagement and productivity.
OK, is there anything CHRO’s don’t need to focus on?
Better yet: what are you supposed to do?
Since increasing retention and engagement even slightly will have a big impact on company profits and
people’s work-lives, perhaps it’s time to try Design Thinking (DT). After all, HR departments rated as
“high-performing” are five times as likely to design-think as their peers, and research shows that design-
oriented companies grow better, return more to shareholders, and financially outperform their peers.
When observing and engaging with employees (yes! outside your office and in theirs!), you may discover
top reasons other researchers have – problems with supervisors, pay, respect, belonging, and flexibility
– or something new.
What you won’t get from research reports is what to do. DT offers tools and techniques for creatively
envisioning a better future, designing it, prototyping, and experimenting (for reduced cost and risk).
You may discover big opportunities, like crafting a MetaOffice, or little things like a 100-coffees program
for belonging and growth. It might be technological, like using facial-recognition to track wellbeing, or
non-tech, like how to brainstorm better.
Whether you hire a corporate anthropologist or make your own ethnography plan, personas, journey
maps, and designs, isn’t it time to …
Diagnose, Dream, and Do?
To learn more about Design Thinking, see The Design Thinking Workbook: Essential Skills for Creativity
and Business Growth, available on Amazon, and free, multimedia Design Thinking Intro, available on
Gnowbe via drcjmeadows.com/design-thinking.