Combined Soft System Methodology in Two Levels to Improve Employees’ Promotion System

Abstract

Soft operations research (OR) from a pluralist paradigm offers effective approaches to structure and improve problem situations with different stakeholders' worldviews and conflicts of interest. These approaches aim to structure and improve messy situations. In this study, we utilized Soft System Methodology (SSM) as a popular soft approach at two levels. Firstly, we applied Soft System Methodology process (SSMp) to plan the systemic intervention process in the employee promotion system of an oil and gas company. Then, Soft System Methodology content (SSMc) was employed to investigate the content of the company's employee promotion system, which was causing dissatisfaction among employees. By taking into account the worldviews of managers and employees, three root definitions were formulated. During this phase, a fair environment was created to facilitate the expression of different perspectives, allowing employees with varying levels of organizational power to openly voice their opinions. Finally, through stakeholder participation and discussion, an agreed model, root definition, and proposed actions to address the flaws in the employee promotion system were developed.IntroductionDue to the disorder of problematic situations and the environments that contain them, the traditional thinking of operations research, which has been devoted to solving problems for years, faces serious criticism. Today, complex and diverse management problems require different solutions. A significant group of issues is not single, single-purpose, clear, and indisputable. In order to mitigate the inadequacies of the aforementioned paradigm in solving real-world problems, the interpretive (learning) paradigm from 1970 to 1980, using situation improvement methodologies, has been developed under the title of research in non-classical operations. In this study, the issue of the inefficiency of the career promotion system of a company active in the field of oil and gas has led to the lack of promotion and job stagnation for a significant part of the specialists in this field. This has resulted in a decrease in the level of productivity of the organization's human resources. The purpose of this research is to use the soft systems methodology specifically on two levels (process and content) in the problem context to make a systematic intervention in improving the mentioned situation. By understanding the relationships governing the investigated system and with the participation of actors and stakeholders within the boundaries of the system, an effective step can be taken in the direction of employee satisfaction.Materials and MethodsThe underlying theory in the soft systems methodology is action research. It is a cycle where action leads to critical thinking and possibly further action. Therefore, in the soft systems methodology, every part of implementation is part of research, and every use of this method requires learning and new research. In this study, according to the explanations presented, the soft systems methodology is used on two levels to improve the conditions. In level one, process-oriented soft systems methodology (SSMp) is used to plan intervention in the system. After planning and structuring the way to intervene in the system at the second level, the seven-step model is used to intervene in the employee promotion system. At this level, the methodology of content-oriented soft systems (SSMc) is used to enter the system and intervene in the content of the conditions. The mentioned process has intervened in the employee promotion system in the form of an action research cycle.Discussion and ResultsSoft systems methodology, as a practical approach, tries to create improvement by intervening in problematic social situations. In this article, two aspects of this methodology have been used to manage the project and carry out the project to improve employee dissatisfaction with the career promotion system. Firstly, soft systems methodology using the classical model has been used. This approach has been used in the initial application not as a method or technique but as a set of principles to guide the planning of the process of involvement in the employee career promotion system, and in this way, it has been implemented in project management. In the next step, the content-oriented soft systems methodology has been used to investigate employee dissatisfaction with the career promotion system. The researchers investigated the cultural and political characteristics of the problematic situation. This section has been used in response to the critics of soft systems methodology based on the inability in systems where there are serious conflicts between stakeholders. Therefore, by studying the cultural situation and power structure, it is possible to manage conflicts better, and in this way, the implementation of the project in a liberating manner prevented discussions from being drawn to the priorities of powerful people in the system, which is exactly in accordance with Checkland's opinion regarding the significant dependence of the project on the method of its implementation to fix the mentioned weaknesses.ConclusionIn this research, firstly, the process of intervention in the career promotion system of the employees has been structured, and with the initial planning, the possibility of systemic and systematic involvement has been provided. In this way, the researchers and the project team, consisting of managers and employees, structured the study process by using the process-oriented soft systems methodology in coordination and consensus with each other. In the next step, the content of the career promotion system was examined with a content-oriented soft methodology approach. Since both stages have been carried out with the participation and cooperation of a number of senior managers, middle managers, and employees, and with the researchers' facilitation, the research output has a strong possibility of acceptance and implementation. The steps of doing the work are mentioned along with the necessary details to increase the recoverability and, as a result, improve the validity of the research implementation process. In this way, researchers have been provided with the possibility of deeper investigation and similar implementation in other fields.

Keywords

• soft system methodology
• process
• content
• promotion system