If you believe what Delloite is saying in their ‘The 2009 Shift Index’ then harnessing the flow of knowledge and information is the primary determinant of achieving and sustaining long-term success.  A large factor in that equation is the ability to attract and retain the smartest and most passionate employees (though employee is not really a good word here, team member or owner are better).

These kinds of people want to participate in the success of an organization at a fundamental and visceral level. They need to be empowered to take and manage risks which in most organizations are the sole purview of senior management. Therefore, these people avoid large traditional organizations because the entrenched culture, management style and red-tape are too oppressive and controlling.

For many companies’ seeking new markets and opportunities, these employees and traits are hard to find and retain. Have you ever asked yourself what a new employee’s reaction is to these common experiences?

· Getting their PC installed and configured correctly (4 weeks after arrival)

· Receiving policies and procedures manuals (fragrance policies, dealing with intruders…)

· New hire orientation (HR monologues on policies and procedures, company history…)

· The look of a drab grey high-rise 10×8 cube (many prison cells are more inspiring)

· The 8-6pm M-F corporate routine (innovation and passion is not scheduled into a daily routine)

· The sense of disappearing into a giant corporate machine (where’s leadership?)

Much or today’s management culture and best practices had its origins in the industrial revolution of the 1900s, based on command and control management, standardized production and reactive management of localized risks. Today, many working environments and corresponding lifestyles are sadly reminiscent of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four (1949) and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (1932). So it’s no wonder that so many Generation ‘x’ and Generation ‘y’ employees struggle to integrate effectively and deliver the promise of their potential in organizations lead by Baby Boomers in industrial era companies.

In these industrial era organizations, when it comes to policies and procedures, you start by creating and implementing the standard business practices of the day. In many cases at the behest of trained HR professionals and corporate attorney’s who have no desire to be held responsible for a crisis at some point in the future. Then over many years you add to the list of policies and procedures as new issues, regulations and events shape the organization.

After a few years, you end up where most large companies are today - where the accumulation of years of good intentions and best practices have dulled the passion and vibrancy of the employees who are supposed to be creating the future. The death by a thousand cuts.

If you want to start hiring and retaining the people who will drive your new strategies and innovations, you should start with a hard-hitting plan to throw out all but the most essential policies and procedures and put in place an oversight group charged with balancing not just the daily operational risk, but also the long-term cost of adding to the pile of dull policy documents that adorn most companies.

Expect to be the recipient of more HR issues and law suits and factor in not just the costs and risks involved in defending these charges, but also the long-term effects of mitigating each risk and crisis with a new set of policies and procedures. For the future, when it comes to corporate policies and procedures less really is more.

If you want to know what it’s like for a Generation ‘x’ or Generation ‘y’ new hire, try getting some volunteers from a local university or college and have them go through the on-boarding process as if they were joining the company and get their feedback along the way.

If you want to achieve Strategic Customer Alignment (SCA) while having passionate and engaged employees, then demand your best and brightest IT staff spend time with real customers on a regular basis and then hold them accountable for using that experience to increase customer satisfaction and delight them in the work they do. Too often, the IT organization depends on sales and marketing to pass along the ‘dumbed down’ and often confused wants and desires of customers and the result is frequently lackluster products and services that miss the point, and the potential for non-commodity profits.

Lastly, find ways of treating employees like responsible adult professionals instead of children in a patriarchal group, for example by giving them ‘standard working hours’ and rules and policies that are largely common sense. After all, if you can’t trust an employee to behave reasonably most of the time, and work well with peers then they should not be working for you in the first place. Put another way; don’t expect your hiring and retention mistakes to be mitigated by policies and procedures after the fact. Hire only quality talented employees (and give them a road to an ownership stake) and most other things will take care of themselves. Conversely, expect that some employees will not flourish in the new environment and they will need to leave the organization either of their own volition or otherwise. Accountability is crucial in this environment, especially with the new empowerment and expected delegation of risk-taking.

We believe commodity success belongs to commodity companies, and that the promise of the future belongs to companies who can hire, retain and motivate the most talented and passionate work force. So go ahead and start building the future now…