I find it interesting that during this recession there has been little discussion of WHO is loosing their job…male, professional, middle age. In the US they are calling it a Shession because women are retaining their jobs. One reason might be that the male workers have higher salaries so this is a chance to cut costs without reprecussions. It is also an opportunity to change an organization’s culture.

My other theory is that people ARE growing, but there are no accurate assessments (except for the bottom line) to measure where they are growing and matching it with company goals. My own research is showing that the group work and coordination requires new processes and tools that are time consuming and hard to measure. There are also interdepartmental turf wars which means departments don’t want the system to change. In the end, old systems and assessment tools are used because it is “more efficient” (read: not as threatening).

As I remember the discussion, either I did not ask “why” or if I did it was a rhetorical “why”. I believe I know why the various organizational methods / practices for dealing with (or managing) human processes are in silos … I just think that they don’t need to be fully silo’d.

I’m prepared to admit that there are some arcane specialties that demand specific expertise at key points, but I also think the emerging conditions for working networked organizations beg the issue of all of HR, much of IT and line management addressing the issues in common to seek synergies and leverage that make sense and are practical.