Systems thinking has shaped HR practice by promoting an holistic view of the organization as an interconnected system. This helps eliminate silos between departments and functions. It also facilitates collaborative interactions between organizational members and functional flexibility. Applying systems thinking principles, HR practices focus on knowledge transfer between employees, succession planning, change management by addressing underlying strategies, and continuous environmental scanning to understand root causes of issues. Outsourcing expertise and promoting leadership and innovative thinking further help apply a systems lens to HR.

1. Question:
Evaluate how the laws of systems thinking have shaped the practice of HR.

2. “Business and human endeavors are systems….we tend to focus on snapshots of isolated parts of
the system and wonder why our deepest problems never get solved.”
Peter Senge.

3. Systems thinking: Definition
Senge, (1990) defines systems thinking as a shift of mind to:
◦ Seeing interrelationships rather than linear cause effect chains
◦ Seeing processes of changes rather than snapshots
Systems thinking integrates the other four disciplines to form a whole system, without it the rest
will be isolated. The first four disciplines are:
◦ Personal mastery
◦ Mental models
◦ Shared vision
◦ Team learning

4. Law:
. Dividing an elephant in half does not produce two small elephants.
. There is no blame
This has enhanced organisational development. Configuration of departmental functions, Team
contributions and individual contribution.
◦ The organisation’s performance is determined by the ways in which the system is configured and the
elements interact with and affect each other. (Walley, 2016).
Holistically the units are configured linking each function to others and the overall organisational
objectives. Taking cognizance that there is one strategic intent that creates business strategies which each
unit execute.
Eradication of silos as interrelations become dominant. Silos emanate from adversity amongst individuals
especially management team
It facilitates collaborative interaction amongst organisational members..
Functional flexibility is formulated as a way of promoting coexistence of the departments recognising their
relatedness.
Job rotation for line agency promotes organisation flexibility. The introduction of Balance Score Card for
performance review assessing how each individual and or department is adhering to the overall company
objective supported by systems thinking.

5. Law: Faster is slower
Training and development: As propagated by Jean Piaget learners understand concepts through
processing the information that is imparted. HR practitioners through Automated Office
Softwares improves knowledge management.
The formulation of Policies and Standard Operating Procedures that keep the organisation in track
mitigating impositions and inconsistences.
Without guidelines, shortcuts are taken as the best way to success but it is flawed with compliance
issues and input wastage.
Contemporary Organisations have data repository drives that allows deposit and extraction of
information. HR practitioners uses these drive to constantly update employees on developments
that affect them. The drive contains all departmental SOPs, Policies and Procedure manuals
◦ This includes Online lessons that allows personal learning certified by institutes such as Harvard Business Publishing,
Udemy and Vado

6. Law: Small changes can produce big results…but the areas of highest leverage
are often the least obvious
Change management: Transformational change is not hurriedly done it requires following
certain steps to avoid failure.
It is important for companies to constantly examine the organization’s underlying strategies. A
company must be in touch with the environment around it. This includes knowing cultural
trends, understanding the social climate and generally be clued up on technological advances.
HR Practitioner have become proactive through putting in place precursors for change before
initiation for change with the understanding that change may only be successful with the
organisational climate is conducive.
The creation of resident change champions who are constantly gathering intelligence on what
requires modification or change and how that can be done. This includes system programmers,
Social care department that gathers feedback from clients and Customer experience department
that manages both internal and external clients experience.

7. Law:
. Today’s problems come from yesterday’s “solutions.”
. Behavior grows better before it grows worse
Knowledge transfer: transfer of tacit knowledge and articulation of the same to avoid knowledge gap
in employee generations. This buttress shared vision.
Development of HRIS that integrate HRM and technology, articulation and storage of data for future
reference.
Evidence based HRM: decisions are made based on data not mere opinion.
Succession plans are considered as the panacea of preserving intellectual property upon loss of key
personnel. Company values are upheld by the personnel not only through articulation of the same.
Recruitment has shifted from filling a position but matching a candidate and the position ensuring a fit
to the entire organisation and competent enough bring change in execution of tasks not values.
External recruitment blend and subsequently erodes the ethics and values if not championed.
The use of understudies who are attached to each key positions. These are chosen through talent
management selecting those with leadership qualities.

8. Law: The harder you push, the harder the system pushes back
Outsourcing and consultancy: The hiring of expertise in areas of concern, and acceptance that the
practice has limits. To avoid biases and short comings in areas such as
◦ Legal issues
◦ Job evaluation
◦ Customer experience
◦ Team building
The HR Department outsource experts in these areas only upon need. This serves to accept
introspection and admittance of current skills shortcomings in the department and need for expert
advice.
HR practitioners are armed with systems thinking and able to link their decision making
consequences, identify delays in a system and move away from blaming others by considering the
ways in which their own actions contributed to an issue or problem.

9. Law:
.The easy way out usually leads back in
.The cure can be worse than the disease
In observance of the two laws above; contemporary HR Practice promotes leadership thinking.
This has fostered adhocracy culture and collaborative culture that creates room for experimentation,
innovation and involvement in strategic human resources management. In doing so it promotes
personal mastery.
This embraces the mental models discipline that allows employees to challenge the status quo with
managers accepting ideas in spite of their inferior source.
Creation of Quality Cycles and Total Quality management; these are formed by members from various
departments who meet to discuss on the progress of work an deal with system issues.
The totality eradicates power distance culture while improving team learning suspending assumptions
and engaging in combined decision making. Fostering idea leadership
Promotion and development of ideas from the shop level to the executive level through innovative idea
programs like a company Think Tank hub. Employees are asked to improve the system through
suggesting better ways of executing their tasks and those in other departments.

10. Law: Cause and effect are not closely related in time and space.
The realisation that surface features have a root cause hence need for HR intelligence. Scanning internal and
external environment assessing changes that have positive and negative impact on the organisation.
This has improved Industrial Relations with HR practitioners conducting engagement surveys and attitude surveys
as a way to eradicate:
◦ Emotional stress
◦ Ergonomics issues
◦ Cognitive dissonance
◦ Conflict
It helps HR practitioners to understand capacity constraints. Human resources planning is easily done when there is
constant flow of information amongst departments. Identification of the resources needed to increase efficiency
avoiding misplacement of resources.
In cognizance that human capital is one of the three key company resources (Financial capacity and intellectual
property) that determine the company’s competitive strength
HR practitioners today continuously gather intelligence through embracing open door policy, and quarterly
surveys.