However, history shows that organizations, at times, believe that implementing technology is the primary, or initial lever to drive results. That’s far from the truth. While modernity can boost your work, advancing your organizational approach is equally important. Enhancing both of these will drive amazing results.
Dr. Henna Karna, known for her work in the integration of modern digital-data concepts into risk management and insurance workflows, emphasizes the above point as well. She believes that a modern approach to organizational design coupled with technology can create the most impact.
“Structure dictates behavior – good or not so good. And, we know our talent is our greatest resource. Yet, our operating models often don’t reflect our strategic priorities or innovative mindset / culture,” claimed, Dr. Karna
An example of her immense emphasis on organizational management is the concept of Valocracy, which Dr. Karna coined while running a 500 FTE, global division across 18 countries.. Dr. Karna trademarked Valocracy as a pivotal modification of the Holacracy model, aimed at producing mindful, servant leaders, pushing individuals to get out of their comfort zone, think innovatively, peer critique, and build out-of-the-box thinkers from within an organization’s talent pool.
Holacracy is a horizontal management structure with decentralized authority. Contrary to the strict top-down authority model, Valocracy enables more power to be distributed to self-organizing teams, opening doors for more diverse groups with equal opportunities to voice ideas and concerns. Holacracy is not free from challenges.
A common challenge with the Holacracy method is that it impedes an individual team member’s career development. Without a standard and reliable way to measure an individual’s contribution, this flatter self-organized environment hinders determining readiness for future job roles.
Dr. Henna and her team at AXA, a renowned global insurance firm, analyzed this quandary and undertook a talent analysis and skills development project. Dr. Karna designed Valocracy, which keeps all the benefits of holacracy but also focuses on individual development. The first thing she did was to define diversity by classifying members into four groups:
- Colleagues outside the core industry.
- Individuals who are former veterans or military.
- Individuals with an economic disadvantage.
- Individuals categorized as neurodiverse
- Returning mothers or fathers who were out of work for 5+ years
Dr. Karna created a deployment model of “X-treme teams” that were created by selecting individuals from these groups, coupled with individuals with deep industry knowledge. This combined group of DEI (intellectually diverse) members were mapped by skill sets to achieve a particular goal.
Dr. Karna ensured proactive learning for each member of her division. The work of the X-treme teams were analyzed and the proficiencies of team members were scored and fed into a Capability Matrix (that Dr. Karna also designed with the support of her HR colleagues) that provided insight into individual and aggregate skill voids. The analyses showed each member’s strengths and opportunities, giving direction for training and education. Additionally, employees were rotated through different roles to provide them with practical experience and cross-functional exposure.
Valocracy optimizes working efficiency through decentralized decision-making while keeping employees in the driver seat of their individual growth, preparing them for more challenging roles ahead. It also increases personal productivity as it enables the team members to understand their skillset better and drive their careers in the direction that suits them best.
According to Dr. Henna, it is no surprise that numerous companies seek external recruitment to find exceptional leaders with innovative ideas that can drive competitive advantage. Traditional hierarchical corporate structures are known to result in conformity.
However, by implementing Valocracy, organizations can tap into internal talent that fosters fresh perspectives and out-of-the-box thinking. This is how she describes the potential of Valocracy.
Ultimately, Dr. Henna believes that a focus on building co-operative (collaborative & competitive) mindsets while promoting exemplary team culture is the way to go in today’s competitive world. By developing organizational skills alongside tech expertise, corporations can create a more robust impact on their scalability and workforce. They won’t require excessive external talent. Instead, they’ll be able to develop it from their own employee pool.
