The Law of Unintended Consequences and Your HR Policies
Posted November 7th, 2011
If you work in human resources you probably have experienced at one time or another one of the ironclad laws of human activity, one that economists have written about for ages – the law of unintended consequences.
Simply put, it states that “actions of people always have effects that are unanticipated or unintended.” Economists and other social scientists have heeded its power for centuries; for just as long, politicians and popular opinion have largely ignored it, according to economist Rob Norton.
It shows up in business decisions as well. New human resource policies or procedures may end up having unintended consequences – causing a chain reaction of events that end up where no one anticipated.
The law can be seen at work in the airline business, says business consultant Ron Ashkenas. In order to bring in more money, airlines are charging fees for services that used to be free, such as checking baggage and food service. While these fees have brought in a lot of revenue for the airlines, they have also had unintended consequences. One is that passengers are now jamming more things in their luggage, and people are bringing more food on board. This all has the effect of hurting customer satisfaction because it leads to more congestion and odors on the plane. It also may be affecting airline schedules, as people take more time to find overhead space for their stuffed luggage, delaying takeoffs, Ashkenas says.
So, unintended consequences are always there to be reckoned with. What can you as a human resource professional do to lessen their impact? Ashkenas has a few suggestions.
First, he says you need to plan ahead as much as possible. Realizing that unintended consequences are lurking out there, you want to run through all of the possible results your change will have, to run through all of the scenarios with the people who will be affected.
Test things out on a smaller scale first, Ashkenas says, to see what the reaction to a change will be. He cites the example of a company that wanted to use a new sales forecasting method. Instead of instituting it companywide all at once, the company tested it out on one product in one region to see what the reactions of the sales staff would be, and how the other process changes would work. This gave the firm the chance to modify the program before rolling it out throughout the entire company.
You can’t foresee all the unintended consequences, but planning for them as much as you can will be a big help.
If you foresee the need to ramp up your staffing for your San Francisco-area company, contact Bayside Solutions. We can help you find terrific workers for your temporary, temp-to-hire and direct-hire positions. We look forward to hearing from you.
