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July 12, 2005

Social Network Analysis

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Posted by Regina Miller

SmartMobs pointed me to CIO's article about what Mars is doing with Social Network Analysis (SNA). I am learning more and more about this and just starting to understand the practice and the benefits for organizations. There seem to be several applications for this technology in many aspects of org design, capability building and talent management.

I see direct implications for HR professionals in the Talent Review process. The information and data provided by SNA is important input to help determine who holds the knowledge - and who are deemed as the "important go to people." (It's funny that at Mars it seemed that there was interest in lessening the time interruptions so that these key people could keep working on on their projects.) Yes, that is important for the business and at the same time it is equally as important to put these "go to people" in a special category - that of "coach - meaning one who works with others to extend their skills and capabilities." This becomes part of their role in the org. (It should be revered as a very important and strategic role and therefore treated as such with appropriate comp, etc. - something like what GE did in the past with their battalion of six sigma black belts.)

It seems like these analyses can help us pinpoint who the coaches should be and therefore during the Talent Review Process they can be identified as "Critical Talent." The organization needs to assist the "coaches" in learning how to transfer knowledge and by developing "talent salons" - places where those who are quick learners can go to receive the needed knowledge and skills. (I believe this can be a combo of online tools, processes and meetings.) I still have a bias for some F2F for the all time critical component of transfering knowledge which is the debriefing discussion. Many times companies move so fast that the "so what" and "now what" of the learning is left off and people just move on to the next assignment, project, etc. without adequately capturing and/or ingraining the learning. The coaches would ensure that this occurs.

Another extremely good resource article to shed more light on this topic is called "New Tools to Link the Changing Workforce" written by William Ives, Robin Athey and Adriaan Jooste.

Comments (2) + TrackBacks (0) | Category: Collaborative Technologies


COMMENTS

1. dilys on July 12, 2005 1:45 PM writes...

It's also desirable to peg the coaches' incentives to effective transmission of learning, followup, execution by coachees. Too often they're supposed to be flattered, and are not rewarded for this particular skill.

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2. Lynda on July 14, 2005 9:24 AM writes...

Another good HR application for social network analysis technology is recruiting and referencing. This April 2005 HR Magazine article highlights some uses. http://www.shrm.org/hrmagazine/articles/0405/0405berkshire.asp

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