Special Division: Conejo Valley

Do OD and Training Belong in HR or not? If not, where?

Presented by Steve Keleman, Ed. D.

Picture this HR Staff Meeting. Comp & Benefits explains new benefits packages under review. Staffing reports 10 new hires in June. Employee Relations speaks to how they were addressing ADA changes. HRIS lists the computer upgrades and scheduled installment dates. Yawn, it only gets better. Training unveils its new leadership development purchase. OD announces a new employee satisfaction survey and wants HR to talk it up. Wake up! to hear the VP present the HR budget. They could have emailed all this to us. You would think that my topic was about meetings but it's not. Do I have your attention? This is only a symptom of many HR departments.

Think of these as pieces to a puzzle that should fit together. Employee Relations, tight with senior management, has the power over Comp & Benefits and Staffing. HRIS pretty much plays by itself and no one is ever exactly sure what they are working on.   OD and Training rarely are invited in.   The OD and Training pieces? Try snipping the corners and bending some of the edges but by their nature they do not fit. Sometimes OD and Training have jealous rages. How will they fit when no one wants to help them fit? 

Steve Keleman has worked in Training and OD both in- and outside HR. He teaches HR classes at UCLA Extension and offers solutions for what seems like getting birds and cats to play well together. Increase your success, find more value for your clients, and help you score big time competency and political points for organization savvy.

(If you are interested in sharing your expertise and leading a session of the Conejo Valley Special Division meetings please contact Valorie Avedisian and Ray Sullivan at conejo@astdla.org)