Design Thinking – Old idea in a new guise?
Design Thinking is a term for a special type of problem solving in corporate management. The aim is to produce innovations that are strongly oriented towards the respective user. It is important to better understand one’s needs and satisfy them in the best possible way. This user orientation through process optimization is to be comprehensive, based on working methods from the design sector. That is why an essential element of Design Thinking is teamwork, the use of the “human factor”. In order to break down linear thought structures for process optimization, a crucial element of Design Thinking teamwork is the integration of different disciplines into the thought process. This leads to the keyword interdisciplinary cooperation in corporate management and to the answer to the initial question. Design Thinking is not really something new, the well-known topic of interdisciplinary collaboration is only readjusted and labeled. The question arises, is this new approach also an issue in HR management?
HR Management – Design Thinking for New Perspectives
Although the “human factor” is an important part of the Design Thinking method, this form of process optimization bypasses HR management in many companies. The HR structures are too rigid, their orientation in the company is too inflexible. Innovative process optimization HR management is usually not on the agenda, and integration into the company’s innovation process usually does not take place. This is not an intention of conscious corporate management, but an insistence on functionality that is mastered. The question is therefore what does Design Thinking bring in terms of improvements in HR, what are the starting points for helping to shape innovations in the company and leading them to better results. The answer is that new perspectives for corporate management are needed because they show the challenges, but also the new goals.
Design Thinking in HR – Starting Points That Are Worthwhile
In HR, interdisciplinary work means detaching oneself from the focus of the employment contract. Not only the contractually bound employees are the topic, but also the social environment in which employees and companies operate. This system character must be integrated into HR work. In addition to customers, suppliers and service providers, these are also the family members of the employees. The balancing act between professional requirements and private interests, for example, must be led into an innovative unit via HR management process optimization. Integrating private needs into professional matters binds the important specialists, but it also releases creative reserves of the employees. At the same time, the HR department must not only react passively to personnel issues. It must actively penetrate the corporate organization and search for weak points itself. In addition, personnel instruments in corporate management are often far too rigid compulsory exercises. They cost time and momentum, and their practical relevance is not questioned. Here, the innovative approach of process optimization means downgrading to what is in demand and is really applied. Organize and evaluate feedback. HR work also needs creativity. Models, model thinking and experimental arrangements for innovative working conditions are to be included as target functions in HR management. Last but not least, HR work in the sense of the Design Thinking method must see itself as an important link in the company and distinguish itself as such. This means that job retention, health, corporate identity, satisfaction but also participation are benchmarks in the corporate philosophy in which HR management must contribute with concrete content. Content that is formative and determining, because the “human factor” still comes from the committed employee. Design Thinking is a way to find new approaches that motivate this commitment.
Conclusion: Process Optimization HR Management through Design Thinking
Design Thinking is not a silver bullet of corporate management, not even in the HR sector. However, it is a method to develop new perspectives through interdisciplinary cooperation that uncover reserves in the company.
Have you already used the Design Thinking method? What experiences have you had? We look forward to your comments.
Image source: Fotolia.com, Photographer: GiDesign
