OD + HR = Business Partnership Workshop

NJOD Learning Community members attended a session presented at this year’s OD Conference without leaving the state….

Integrating OD with Strategic HR: The Ultimate Strategic Business Partner

NJOD members can now download the slide deck and a chapter of an exciting new book presented on Thursday, November 3, 2011 by Dr. David Jamieson and Sue Eklund.  Attendees described the event has one of the best workshops they have attended this year!

Dr. Jamieson and Ms. Eklund  shared examples and involved NJOD members in a fast-paced discussion on how the future of OD and HR are inextricably woven together, for better or worse. However, there is a positive approach to helping organizations in this dynamic age by intentionally integrating OD with strategic HR through well-designed strategic business partner roles. As HR becomes more strategic and is challenged to solve significant human capital issues, OD perspectives, mindset & skills become critical. We can get in front of the trends & position OD as it needs to be related with HR. Learn about the strategic business partner role, core skills, essential organization design issues & common problems in the transition, based on recent research & experience.

The duo visited New Jersey without one member of their team as Bob Meekin was unable to attend.  The robust presentation addressed how HR & OD have historically been adversaries and philosophically incompatible. Organizations keep structuring the functions together and often don’t understand OD well enough to optimize its use. The challenges facing organizations increasingly demand both high quality HR & OD work. These two fields need to learn how to integrate and collaborate in order to help organizations succeed. It’s time to move past the history, explore new options, co-educate each other and deliver seamless “help” to clients. The strategic business partner role, when well designed, positioned and staffed, has the potential to create a new form of OD role and spread OD thinking widely throughout organizations.

Workshop learning points included:

• Learn about the drivers changing both fields
• Understand what belongs in the strategic business partner role and how it should function
• Bring their experience into the conversation around role design and implementation issues
• Explore how their current role aligns and how they could move into more strategic business partnerships
• Help further the work and direction begun by the presenters

To download the workshop slide deck, visit the Library or click here.

In addition, NJOD members are invited to download a chapter from a new book by David W. Jamieson, Sue Eklund and Bob Meekin.   Click the title to download your free copy:

Strategic Business Partner Role: Definition, Knowledge, Skills & Operating Tensions

To be published in: Rothwell,W. & Benscoter, B. (Ed.), 2012. The Encyclopedia of Human Resource Management, Volume III: Critical and Emerging Issues in Human Resource Management. San Francisco: Pfieffer/Jossey-Bass.

Workshop Faculty

David W. Jamieson

David Jamieson

Dr. Jamieson is Associate Professor & Department Chair, Organization Learning & Development, College of Applied Professional Studies at the University of St. Thomas. He is also President of the Jamieson Consulting Group, Inc., Practicum Director in the M.S. in Organization Development Program at American University/NTL and a Distinguished Visiting Scholar in Benedictine’s Ph. D. in OD Program. He has 40 years of experience consulting to organizations on leadership, change, strategy, design and human resource issues. He is a Past National President of the American Society for Training and Development (1984), Past Chair of the Management Consultation Division and Practice Theme Committee of the Academy of Management and currently serves as Education Liaison for the OD Network.

 Sue Eklund

Sue Eklund

Sue Eklund is Principal Advisor, Change Integration Agency and Adjunct Professor, University of St. Thomas. Her background includes 25 years in Leadership positions in corporate learning, global leadership and organization development with Dayton Hudson, Seagate and Ecolab. She has a B.S. in education, M.A. in Education Leadership from Minnesota State University, and a Doctorate in Organization Development from the University of St. Thomas. Eklund is president-elect of the Junior League of Minneapolis Sustainer Board and an advisor for Free Arts Minnesota.

Bob Meekin

Bob Meekin’s career has taken him all over the world, working for organizations such as Chrysler Corporation, Exxon Chemical, Mesaba Airlines, Becton Dickinson and GN Hearing Instruments, where he has held senior leadership roles including director of organization development (OD) and vice president of human resources. Bob received a B.A. from St. John’s University, an M.A.I.R from the University of Minnesota, and an M.S. in organization development from American University/NTL in Washington D.C., where he graduated with distinction. He is currently a doctoral candidate in organization development at the University of St. Thomas working on his dissertation studying the strategic business partner role in organizations. Meekin is the owner and consultant at The OD Center.