Not Here, But There: Human-centric Process Redesign Patterns

The paper introduces 15 human resource allocation patterns grouped into five categories—resource capability, utilisation, reorganisation, productivity, and collaboration. These patterns offer structured guidance for assigning people to tasks, taking into account performance considerations like time, cost, quality, and flexibility. The patterns are derived from a two-phase approach involving literature review and expert interviews.

1) Development Phase

Literature review to identify pattern sources in 15 years of BPM conference proceedings, and the databases ABI INFORM, EBSCOhost, ScienceDirect, JSTOR, and Google Scholar. Out of 848 search results, we identified 39 relevant papers

63 patterns were filtered via inclusion criteria:

• Relation to human resources
• Pattern impact can be evaluated during BPR
• Pattern implementation should focus a process, not the whole organization

24 patterns were merged and documented as a set of 15 HRAPs for refinement

2) Refinement Phase

1. Semi-structured interviews with 10 process improvement experts recruited within our network
2. The 15 patterns were discussed and evaluated for usefulness and pervasiveness
3. Patterns were refined in accordance with the feedback

The patterns are categorized into five groups

• Capability: Allocating human resources based on task proficiency.
• Utilization: Assigning human resources for optimal effectiveness.
• Re-organization: Allocating human resources to tasks or processes guided by organizational strategies.
• Productivity: Distributing human resources based on historical efficiency data.
• Collaboration: Allocating human resources considering their interactions within the organization.