What's Next for ISO HR Pioneers McKinley and Webster?

After spending over a decade helping to create the first worldwide standards on human resources management, Dr. Ron B. McKinley and Lee S. Webster, founders of the ISO HR 260 standards eight years ago, will turn their attention to promoting the use of the standards they helped create in their new roles as co-founders of the International Center for Enterprise Engagement at TheICEE.org. 

 

By Bruce Bolger 

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What happened? The University of Texas Medical Branch senior leadership changed its thinking about supporting standards development in the area of human resources, resulting in UTMB’s withdrawal from the standards development work. The ISO HR Technical Committee is now administered by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Rather than continuing with creating new standards, McKinley and Webster have decided to focus on promoting the standards that already exist through the efforts of the International Center for Enterprise Engagement (ICEE) at TheICEE.org. 

 

“After a lot of reflection, it became clear that our work with creating standards was done and that the focus now has to be on promoting the use of these standards in organizational practice,” says Dr. McKinley. “I have held senior-level human resources management, learning and development positions at major companies, and it’s now clear that the only true change needs to come from the top. We have been talking about most effective practices in human resources for decades; the only thing that has changed is the terminology and technology. My focus now is to put our cumulative expertise to work to help organizations profit by engaging and developing effective relationships with all stakeholders, not just employees, but customers, distribution partners, suppliers and communities. What’s required is an enterprise approach to engagement led by the CEO and supported by a Chief Engagement Officer.”

 

Explains Lee Webster: “The process of assembling experts across the world and going through the laborious process of consensus-building across every time zone and culture is incredibly rewarding, and I am proud of our legacy. With several decades at the front lines of management, I want to concentrate my efforts on putting these standards into practice.” 

 

In his role as Director of the ICEE, Webster will focus on expanding the reach and value of HR and ISO 10018 Quality People Management standardization.  Besides directing ICEE’s certification services, he will audit companies against ISO 10018 and Human Resource Management standards, whether they seek certification or not, in order to ensure they employ the most effective practices. Webster also will help professions or practices establish their own standardization programs under both the ANSI and ISO. 

 

In their capacity of co-founders of ICEE, McKinley and Webster will oversee multiple training and consulting activities related to establishing Enterprise Engagement practices and training a new generation of Chief Engagement Officers and the many people in HR, marketing, finance, operations, etc. who need to understand the principles. “We believe that we offer a set of services on one of the most important new management principles that are available nowhere else.” These services include:

 

Education—McKinley and Webster direct the education on Enterprise Engagement at the one-day “Enterprise Engagement in Action” Conference, designed to prepare future Chief Engagement Officers, management and solution-providers to support them. The next program is scheduled for June 20 at the Brand Engagement Conference, June 18-20 in Chicago (Click here for details).   

 

ISO 10018 Certification—ICEE, Dr. McKinley points out, is the only organization offering certification for ISO 10018 Quality People Management, which addresses the people issues in the 60 ISO standards with new Annex SL requirements.

Human Capital Audits—Webster explains that ICEE is probably the only human capital auditing firm that uses the ISO standards, including the new ISO 30414 guides for Human Capital Reporting, as well as the ISO 10018 Quality People Management standards, to help organizations benchmark their human capital practices and effectiveness.

Human Capital Reporting—ICEE, they believe, is uniquely qualified to help CEOs and boards establish human capital disclosures that align with organizational requirements and the interests of investors, employees, customers and other key stakeholders. 

CEO Training—Says Dr. McKinley: “There’s an enormous industry of executive coaches and motivational speakers, and yet sadly we haven’t seen any real uptick in employee or customer engagement in years. These programs can only work when the CEO is firmly committed to a strategic and systematic approach to engaging all stakeholders with someone accountable reporting to the top in the position of Chief Engagement Officer to ensure alignment among all interested parties.” 

 

Concludes Webster, “Until we get the CEO on board, the HR and ISO 10018 standards will sit on a shelf. I have worked too long at this to let that happen.” 

 

For Information on ICEE:

Bruce Bolger

914-591-7600, ext. 230

Bolger@TheEEA.org