What advanced problem solving techniques can you use to address systemic workforce issues?

Systemic workforce issues are complex, recurring, and often interrelated problems that affect the performance, engagement, and well-being of your employees. They can stem from various factors, such as organizational culture, leadership, policies, processes, or external forces. To address them effectively, you need to use advanced problem solving techniques that go beyond the surface symptoms and identify the root causes, the stakeholders, the possible solutions, and the evaluation methods. In this article, we will discuss four advanced problem solving techniques that you can use to tackle systemic workforce issues: systems thinking, design thinking, agile methodology, and data-driven decision making.

1 Systems thinking

Systems thinking is a way of understanding how the different elements of a system interact with each other and influence the outcomes. It helps you to see the big picture, the patterns, the feedback loops, and the leverage points that can create positive or negative change. To apply systems thinking to systemic workforce issues, you need to map out the system, identify the problem statement, analyze the causes and effects, and design interventions that address the root causes and not just the symptoms. For example, if you have a high turnover rate, you need to examine how the organizational culture, the employee experience, the compensation and benefits, the career development, and the external market affect the retention and satisfaction of your staff.

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Pradip Tiwary

Vice President Business Operations | Operations Improvement | B2B Lead Generations | ABM | Operational excellence | Top Lead Generation Voice | Market Research | Data Guru.
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Understanding the workforce necessitates the application of systems thinking, which allows for a holistic examination of the interconnections between different influencing factors. By considering the interplay between organizational structures, policies, culture, and external influences, one can gain insights into how these elements interact and potentially exacerbate challenges.

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2 Design thinking

Design thinking is a human-centered approach to problem solving that focuses on empathy, creativity, and experimentation. It helps you to understand the needs, emotions, and perspectives of your employees and other stakeholders, and to generate innovative solutions that meet those needs. To apply design thinking to systemic workforce issues, you need to follow five steps: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. For example, if you have a low engagement rate, you need to empathize with your employees and find out what motivates them, what challenges them, and what frustrates them. Then, you need to define the problem statement, ideate possible solutions, prototype and test them with your employees, and iterate based on feedback.

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Pradip Tiwary

Vice President Business Operations | Operations Improvement | B2B Lead Generations | ABM | Operational excellence | Top Lead Generation Voice | Market Research | Data Guru.
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Employ design thinking principles to overcome workforce challenges by developing solutions that prioritize the well-being of employees. Begin by empathizing with individuals to gain a comprehensive understanding of their needs and concerns. Utilize this understanding to generate innovative ideas for potential solutions. Create prototypes of interventions and gather feedback to refine and enhance the solutions. Continuously iterate and improve the solutions based on the valuable feedback received.

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3 Agile methodology

Agile methodology is a flexible and collaborative way of managing projects that emphasizes incremental delivery, feedback, and adaptation. It helps you to respond quickly and effectively to changing needs, expectations, and circumstances. To apply agile methodology to systemic workforce issues, you need to break down your problem into smaller and manageable tasks, prioritize them based on value and urgency, assign them to cross-functional teams, and deliver them in short cycles or sprints. You also need to communicate frequently and transparently with your stakeholders, review and evaluate your results, and learn from your failures and successes. For example, if you have a skill gap issue, you need to assess the current and future skills of your workforce, identify the learning objectives and outcomes, design and deliver bite-sized and relevant learning modules, and measure and improve the learning impact.

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Irem Kurdik

#HRStrategy #HRTransformation
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Agile is a philosophy of efficiently breaking down projects into manageable short cycles called "sprints,". To implement Agile methodology in addressing workforce issues, we first break down the problem into smaller, manageable tasks known as "user stories." The primary objective is to keep the workflow dynamic by promptly informing responsible individuals about fostering swift action through daily scrum. Unlike the sequential nature of the Waterfall, Agile encourages concurrent execution of multiple tasks by different individuals or teams, provided they do not hinder each other's progress. If you're implementing Agile, evaluate whether your sprint plans allow for the simultaneous completion of diverse tasks without creating bottlenecks.

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Pradip Tiwary

Vice President Business Operations | Operations Improvement | B2B Lead Generations | ABM | Operational excellence | Top Lead Generation Voice | Market Research | Data Guru.
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Employ agile principles to proactively respond to shifting workforce dynamics. Segment complex problems into smaller, more manageable tasks, prioritize interventions based on their value and feasibility, and iterate rapidly based on feedback to foster continuous improvement.

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4 Data-driven decision making

Data-driven decision making is a process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data to inform and support your problem solving. It helps you to reduce bias, uncertainty, and guesswork, and to make evidence-based and rational choices. To apply data-driven decision making to systemic workforce issues, you need to define your problem and your goals, identify and collect the relevant data sources, perform data analysis and visualization, and draw conclusions and recommendations. You also need to ensure the data quality, validity, and reliability, and to communicate your findings and actions clearly and persuasively. For example, if you have a diversity and inclusion issue, you need to measure the representation, participation, and satisfaction of different groups of employees, analyze the gaps and barriers, and recommend and implement strategies to foster a more diverse and inclusive culture.

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5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Mariya Breyter, Ph.D.

SVP Product Management | Transforming Enterprises through Agile, Cloud, AI, and Scaled Delivery Leadership
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Use Five Whys lean technique to identify root causes for any people issues to dive deep into the actual problem. To do so, ask why in response to each subsequent question until you arrive at the root cause.

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What advanced problem solving techniques can you use to address systemic workforce issues?

1

2

3

4

5

1 Systems thinking

2 Design thinking

3 Agile methodology

4 Data-driven decision making

5 Here’s what else to consider

Workforce Management

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What advanced problem solving techniques can you use to address systemic workforce issues?

1

2

3

4

5

1 Systems thinking

2 Design thinking

3 Agile methodology

4 Data-driven decision making

5 Here’s what else to consider

Workforce Management

Rate this article

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