Dialogue of HR and OD

Replies are closed for this discussion.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ross Wirth on June 5, 2008 at 3:12pm

In my experience, there are multiple roles and levels of involvement in change initiatives, which doesn't bother me since I have worked both sides of the fence in multiple roles. In fact, some of the most successful change initiatives are those where the lines blur and everyone is aligned toward a common purpose. The earlier post addresses OD process and content, but overlooks context. OD specialists within HR can serve as an organizational resource, but acting alone lack the local context required to fully understand the subtle issues involved in change. To the extent others have co-opted OD within their daily activities can run the risk of making OD specialists redundant, but unlikely due to evolving knowledge in the field and the need for change champions and objectively within an organization rife with subjectivity.

Permalink Reply by Mino Akhtar on June 6, 2008 at 9:53am

Absolutely could not agree more with the comments above. The most successful change initiatives involve HR, OD, Learning and Development and many other groups across an enterprise. I was just part of a big merger team at J&J where we created a global design team made up of HR/OD/L&D members that created a change management plan which was rolled out by HR in their local regions, and in fact HR customized and contextualized the global material a lot!

At the same time, HR transformations are going on in many companies, and the HR/OD convergence or integration is just a subset of that trend.
Perhaps we should retitle this discussion group as HR Transformation or HR strategic direction, unless one of those already exists?

Permalink Reply by Mino Akhtar on June 17, 2008 at 9:06am

Edgar Shein's comments about OD as process consultants begs the question of what are the competencies that OD brings to the table and how do those competencies develop human resources in organizations; and therefore, which competencies will become part and parcel of the larger HR competency set as HR/OD converge.

I would like to start the list by suggesting a few competency areas, under which we can collectively develop specific competencies:

1) Strategic business approach

This is to contrast to "business knowledge" which is often used as a required competency, but does not include the strategic thinking aspect of thinking "for" the business proactively and recommending HR strategies to support the business, rather than reacting to transactional requests only.

2) Systems thinking

Treating organizations as systems and focusing on the connections and interdependencies of organizational elements, such as business processes, organizational design, culture, etc.

3) Portfolio of organizational processes and social technologies

Creating a standard set of processes and social technologies that are applied consistently yet customized and contextualized for each unique situation to improve business and human performance.

4) Client Intimacy

Understanding the client group's business strategy and business context at a deep level and creating a climate of trust and respect for HR, i.e. a true business partner role.

Permalink Reply by Dale Spartz on June 21, 2008 at 4:16pm

Having over 20 years of experience in HR and OD and a Ph.D. in OD, I have some thoughts. Too often those in HR believe themselves to be prepared and ready to be called OD experts. I don't believe that is always true. Hr ceratinly covers a lot of territory in its training, including OD, but OD takes a different perspective in looking at systems, change management, and organizational views.

I often times think of HR as more "micro" from an organizational perspective concerning change and "macro" when looking at the workforce as a whole. OD on the other hand is more "macro" in looking at organizational chnage and excellence and integrates many principles of social science, technology, and management.

I view my role in my organization as an executive and strategist. I use HR to guide talent management processes and plan for labor needs in the future. I use OD for leadership development, organizational culture change, operational excellence, and team development.

OD and HR are natural partners (or should be), but that doesn't make an HR professional and OD expert or an OD professional an HR expert. But I am an example of someone who has been trained in both areas and use that knowledge and skill to make both HR and OD valuable assets to my organization.

Permalink Reply by Jon Ingham on June 22, 2008 at 3:53am

Well it obviously depends on how we define HR (operations or strategic) and OD (design or development) but I think in general terms, the two are already coming together.

But I think they need to be more closely joined than they currently are in many organisations. I think one of the most interesting things Dave Ulrich has said recently is that, when introducing Michigan's new HR competencies last year, there was probably too much focus on talent management at the expenses of organisation development.

I've noticed this lack of focus in many of my clients too.

The reason I think the two need to work together is the growing focus on outputs rather than activites. The activities may be different, but both functions and others, including L&D, internal communication etc, are focused on the same outputs: generating human capital, organisation capital, and as I've suggested in another group, social capital.

Doing this requires a blend of HR, OD and other disciplines / approaches / functions.

Permalink Reply by Mino Akhtar on June 24, 2008 at 9:25am

I think you have highlighted an important fact - too much focus on talent management at the expense of organization development- and from my observations, that trend is only increasing. What I try to tell my clients is that one can have the most amazing talent, but to thrive and be effective the organizational context, i.e. culture, processes, strategy linkage, etc. must be conducive to the talent's release!

At the same time, there is growing awareness of the importance of OD, and there are organizational design changes that are taking place in many leading organizations. It might be fun to list some of the changes and trends that we are observing...