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The Future of Staff Groups

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The Future of Staff Groups

Daring to Distribute Power and Capacity

Berrett-Koehler,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Text available

What's inside?

If your job does not directly add to customer value, you should be afraid. Very afraid.

Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Eye Opening

Recommendation

Joel P. Henning’s diagnosis of the growing irrelevancy of business staff groups is right on the money. Simply put, staff members have for too long cozied up to management, ignoring the critical line units that they are supposed to serve. As a result, it’s the staff gets laid off first when times get tough. Likewise, Henning’s prescriptions for revamping staff groups into effective support units merit careful study. Although sections of this book are thin in substance, getAbstract.com recommends this insightful analysis of corporate structure to all business leaders.

Summary

Staff Groups in Crisis

Corporate staff groups, which perform internal corporate functions such as human resources, finance, legal, quality control, information technology development and maintenance, are at a critical crossroads. The reason? Staff groups often are counterproductive to the overall success of a company because members sometimes see themselves as accountable only to their immediate managers, as opposed to serving the goals of the entire organization. Partially as a result of this perception, people working in staff groups often are targeted as the first to be eliminated during cost-cutting crunches.

In short, most staff groups have not learned to identify and serve their clients within their own companies. These clients can be individuals, departments, business units or other staff groups. Staff groups all too frequently fail to communicate and work with these clients, often to the detriment of their own position and that of the company as a whole. Both sides are stuck in an antiquated and counter-production relationship born of a different time and circumstance. In many companies, the focus is on owning and controlling the staff rather than understanding...

About the Author

Joel P. Henning has a doctorate in the areas of learning theory and the philosophy of education. He is a partner in the consulting firm, Designed Learning. For more than 30 years he has been consulting on long-change efforts. He has worked with staff groups at many companies including Ford Motor Co., Levi Strauss, Met Life, Knight Ridder and Johnson & Johnson.

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