HR professionals are too process-driven to reap the benefits of using organisational development (OD) when managing change, delegates at a CIPD conference have warned. 

Speaking at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development HRD conference in London this morning, OD and engagement adviser Angela Baron said OD was a relatively new concept in the UK, which encouraged organisations to collect and use data about their people – from staff engagement, skills gaps and recruitment needs – to adapt to shifting customer demands.

Baron said “OD is much more about people rather than the process of ‘ironing out efficiencies’ – encouraging innovation, knowledge sharing and empowering customers.”

But delegates at the event warned HR was too process-driven to involve people more during change.

Paul Rouhan, learning and development manager at Tower Hamlets Homes, a not-for-profit housing association, said: “HR can be seen as too process-led. When you involve HR, organisational development can turn from something that is great and innovative to something that is a box-ticking exercise.”

Claire Marsh, a learning consultant employed by RBS bank, agreed HR could be too process-driven. “HR feels on a day-to-day basis like payroll, processing, advice – it’s not necessarily a driver for change. It’s not about the coalface of the business.”

She added that as learning consultants, “we are HR’s ugly sister”, working with HR business partners to deliver new ways of working, but rarely with the core HR function.

However, Baron insisted HR and OD could work well together, citing retailer Marks & Spencer which used both teams to help the business improve performance.

She admitted HR professionals new to the concept of OD may need to refresh their skill set to better understand how to get the best out of people during change.

But OD had become more popular among UK businesses during the recession, she claimed.

“In the good times, organisations hadn’t thought so much about how to spend their money. Once they have been through a recession, organisations look more at what the value of a role is and how to bring money to the business – there’s been a lot more refocusing. OD is very well placed to help manage that process.”

The latest labour market statistics highlight the need for the incoming government to address the “yawning gap” in performance between the public and private sectors, according to business groups.
The figures for the three months to February, released yesterday, show public sector employment rose by 46,000 year on year, while private sector employment was down by 527,000.
On a quarterly basis, public employment was up 7,000 and private employment down 61,000, while earnings growth in the public sector stood at 3.7% – compared to 1.8% in the private sector.
Graeme Leach, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, said: “These latest figures reveal more worrying evidence that the government is still not taking appropriate steps to bring public spending under control. There remains a yawning gap between the performance of the public and private sectors.”
Adam Marshall, director of policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, added: “Despite the UK’s huge deficit, the figures show that public sector earnings are still increasing at more than double the rate of private sector earnings. This is unsustainable – and must be addressed whatever the result of the election.”
Long-term unemployment remains an issue, with today’s figures revealing an 89,000 increase in the number of people who had been out of a job more than 12 months to 726,000 – the highest figure since July 1997.
Nigel Meager, director of the Institute for Employment Studies, said: “Previous recessions left a devastating legacy of long-term worklessness in many communities and the real test for government policy is now to ensure that these people do not become locked-in to longer-term unemployment and inactivity.”
Kevin Green, chief executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), struck a more positive note, predicting that unemployment has now peaked.
“Despite positive figures in the last three months, it is clear that the jobs market is fragile. However, it is important to note that these figures are a lagging indicator of our dynamic labour market,” he said.
“The latest feedback from employers and recruiters confirms an increase in confidence and more hiring activity. The latest REC JobsOutlook survey shows that 96% of employers expect to maintain or grow their workforces over the next three months.”