HRD PRACTITIONERS AND CONSULTANTS

Professional Responsibilities of Human Resource Development Practitioners and consultants  

Abstract

Human resource (HR) presents a new challenge that few HR departments universally accept today, the challenge of managing workforce productivity. For some the reluctance to accept accountability for managing productivity is an issue of control, while for others it is the lack of a clearly defined customer the muddles their existing efforts. Regardless, becoming strategic requires that all HR efforts become coordinated and united under a uniform set of goals and objectives. Reports the results of a recent survey that investigated the contemporary practice of organizational development among the USA's fastest growing firms (as identified by Fortune magazine). States that although the project received a 31 per cent response rate overall, only 18 organizations provided usable results for analysis purposes. After an initial overview of the study, compares and contrasts the data collected from these organizations with results from related survey projects using similar sets of items. Also addresses the implications of these results for the practice of OD/HRD.

Table of Content

CHAPTER-I: INTRODUCTION4

Introduction4

Purpose of the Study5

Significance of the Study6

CHAPTER-II: LITERATURE REVIEW9

Literature Review9

Globalization14

Three Levels of Globalizations14

Technology16

Diversity17

E-Business18

Strategic Role of Human Resources21

Predictors of Learning Organizations: a Human Resource Development Practitioner's Perspective24

Practitioner's Approach to Learning Organizations26

Training and Education28

Rewards and Recognition28

Information Flow30

Vision and Strategy31

Individual and Team Development32

CHAPTER-III: METHODOLOGY41

Procedure41

Sample42

Findings and Discussion45

Organizational Context46

Understanding of Change Management Concepts60

Values and Perceptions about OD/HRD Work67

CHAPTER-V: CONCLUSION71

Conclusion71

Limitations of This Research73

REFERENCES76

APPENDICES92

CHAPTER-I: INTRODUCTION

Introduction

Most organizational development (OD) and human resource development (HRD) practitioners today would agree that change has become a constant phenomenon that must be attended to and managed appropriately in order to ensure organizational survival. Changes in technology, the marketplace, information systems, social values, workforce demographics, and the political environment all have a significant effect on both the processes and the products and services produced. The culmination of these forces reflect an external environment (Chandler, 2007; Katz and Kahn, 2005) that is dynamic, unpredictable and often devastating to those organizations that are unprepared or unable to respond. Many of the corporate giants of the past such as IBM, Xerox and Texaco, for example, have fallen victim to such pressures (Hays, 2007; Kanter, et al. 2004; Kotter and Heskett, 2004). Those companies that have survived have been relegated to the role of playing “catch-up” to their competitors, while others have been either absorbed into larger entities via mergers or acquisitions or simply dissolved into a series of corporate assets and liabilities (Drucker, 2004).

Interestingly enough, although the adverse impact of change is most often associated with organizations in a state of decline or stagnation, those companies that experience rapid growth, expansion and/or financial success - termed “hypergrowth” by Kanter et al. (2004, p. 39) - are particularly susceptible to these pressures as well. Thus, not only is the environment competitive and highly volatile for these types of organization, but the internal dynamics and processes of the social system are also in constant motion. Furthermore, the false sense of security and “hard work well done” that comes with success can serve as blinders both to emerging ...