Heather Beairsto, Program Manager, The Regional Municipality of York
When I was tasked with leading the development of York Region's 2011 to 2015 Strategic Plan, I sought out the Queen's Industrial Relations Centre's (IRC) Essentials of Organizational Strategy program. While I had completed components of organizational strategy process in the past - namely, organizational assessment and environmental scanning - I had no experience in the entire process and was interested to have some sense of theory and practice to rely on, as I undertook this project on behalf of the organization, Regional Council, and the residents of York Region. York Region is a confederation of nine municipalities, each having their own strategic plan. It was extremely important that the Region's strategic plan aligned with our local municipalities; therefore, confidence in a thorough planning process was essential.(More)
About seven years ago, while working in our human resources branch, my manager recommended that I take a couple of the Queen's Industrial Relations Centre (IRC) Organization Development (OD) certificate courses. Thus began a journey, which this year, culminated in me being awarded a Queen's IRC Master Practitioner in Applied Organizational Development certificate and standing as a Master OD Practitioner. The Queen's IRC's programming has been invaluable to my work, and I want to take this opportunity to share my perspective on the value of the IRC's programming and the ease with which the tools, resources, and learning can be applied to the workplace.(More)
Last year, OPSEU brought together business, labour, government, and community agencies for an in-depth exploration of the possible futures for Ontario with Ontario 2020. The Ontario 2020 Delphi forecast has now been released, which shows that experts are concerned and pessimistic about the future of the province.
IRC Director Paul Juniper was a member of the steering committee for the Ontario 2020 project, which included a two-day conference in Toronto. Experts in four areas - community services, the economy, education and health care - were invited to evaluate how the province will develop in the next decade. Four possible scenarios of the future were assessed for each of the key areas.(More)
By Dr. Carol A. Beatty, Senior Research Fellow, Queen's IRC
“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” — Albert Einstein
People management professionals are often exhorted to become more knowledgeable about business strategy but many are discouraged by the jargon and the apparent complexity of the field. While it is true that a radical rethink of your organization’s strategy involves creativity and specialized skills, most regular strategic planning exercises do not require that level of sophistication. In this article, I will follow Einstein’s advice and aim to demystify the organizational strategy process by removing the jargon and boiling it down to five simple questions. Answer these questions and you will be able to meet the challenges of most strategic planning situations.
(More)
Every organization is DOING change management and many even have a dedicated change team. In the past 20 years, the practitioners and researchers in the field have seen a shift from hiring change management consultants to developing change management teams within an organization. Based on my experience, I provide my insights on the change process and suggest a practical approach to managing change in an organization.(More)
With
organizations and their environments in a state of constant flux,
organizational development scholars have been challenged to create and practice
methodologies that enable fast, yet comprehensive change. In answer to the
call, a wide range of large-group change techniques has emerged to promote
whole-systems adaptability. While the technologies differ in their focus and
approach, all share a common assumption base, stemming from a deep intellectual
root system.(More)
While change theorists explore the process of planned change from various perspectives, most would acknowledge the intellectual roots of their work stem from Kurt Lewin’s laboratory. Scratch the surface of planned change theories and Lewin’s spirit and conceptual framework will not be far below. A German-born psychologist, Lewin was considered the "founder of social psychology." What follows is an exploration of how Lewin’s work provided the deep root structure from which planned change theory has evolved. (More)
Requisite Organization is a science-based management theory that traces organizational dysfunction to poor structure and systems rather than underperforming employees. According to RO adherents, the way to fix dysfunction is to fix the system. That means having crystal clear management accountability, setting compensation and employee capability to job complexity, and ensuring the proper number of organizational layers. The result: souped up organizational effectiveness, says Ken Shepard, founding president of the Toronto-based Global Organization Design Society. In the following Q & A, Ken discusses RO’s relevance to people management practitioners.(More)
"One of the paradoxes of improvisation is that it’s a mixture oftwo opposites—tremendous discipline and regimen balanced byspontaneity, listening, and playing in the moment."Gary Burton, vibraphone player(More)
By Brenda Barker Scott, Queen’s Industrial Relations Centre
At its core, facilitating organizational change is about energizing the right people to design and execute smart strategies. As sociologist Philip Selznik says: "Strategies take on value only as committed people infuse them with energy."(More)
We spoke to an educational dream-team about best practices infacilitating learning - and harnessing new knowledge to help overcomean organization's most pressing challenges. Sharing their views areAllyson Thomson of the Ontario Ministry of Finance; her executivesponsor Assistant Deputy Minister Marion Crane; and Queen’s IRC Faculty member Brenda Barker.(More)
Françoise Morissette is an IRC faculty member, accredited coach,and Organizational Development consultant. In the following Q & Ashe discusses how executives who sponsor education for their employeescan ensure that valuable knowledge actually gets applied in theworkplace.(More)
Paul Juniper has seen a lot of change in his 25 years in human resources leadership. We asked him why he likes HR, and where he sees the field - and Queen's IRC - heading in the coming years.(More)
He is a major mover in organization development and, we are proud to say, a Queen's IRC faculty member. Marvin Weisbord is also author of the seminal books "Productive Workplaces and Future Search: An Action Guide to Finding Common Ground in Organizations and Communities" (co-authored with Sandra Janoff). A “ future search” is a planning meeting that helps people quickly transform their capabilities into actions, bringing together those with resources, expertise, formal authority, and need. Through two-and-a-half days of dialogue, they discover their common ground and make concrete action plans.(More)
Dr. Mark Huselid is an authority on return on investment (ROI) for HR practices since long before ROI became a rallying cry. He will be among the top educators leading the Queen’s Industrial Relations Centre (IRC)High–Impact People Practices program this September. Dr. Huselid is Associate Professor of HR Strategy in the School of Management and Labour Relations at Rutgers University, and has form any years been doing original research in the linkages among HR management systems, organizational strategy, and firm performance. He is co–author of the best seller "The HR Scorecard: Linking People, Strategy and Performance."(More)
An Organization Development Model for Good Form and Function
By Brenda Barker
Queen’s University Industrial Relations Centre
It is a simple truth that people have an organicconnection to the space in which they live and work. No matter how harda host may try to steer his or her guests to the formal living room,everyone eventually ends up in the kitchen, and as they do, the realparty begins. The kitchen is where the action is, and whether we are ata house party or our workplace, we all need to be within our own centreof action. Because people live and work in what is created, we at theQueen’s Industrial Relations Centre have adopted the concept oforganizational architecture to define the art and practice of“organization development.” Architecture encourages us to think abouthow form follows function, and how function follows form. (More)
This examination of the merger of two beer companies provides insights about the human impact of mergers, as well as merger principles for HR professionals. (Download)
Large group interventions are designed to help people collaborate effectively by thinking and acting from a whole-systems perspective. “Whole systems” refersto the way an organization operates internally through its processes andexternally through its relations to customers and other stakeholders. There are anumber of core values underpinning all whole-systems change methodologies. (Download)
With organizations and their environments in a state of constant flux, organizationaldevelopment researchers have been challenged to develop methodologies that enablefast yet comprehensive change. In response, a wide range of large-group changetechniques has emerged, including future search, open space, simu-real, and searchconference. (Download)
Publisher: Publishers: John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd. ISBN: 0-470-83568-0 Year: 2005 Price: $49.99 Buy Now!
HRM Project Series - The purpose of this study is to evaluate the role and significance of unions and collective bargaining in facilitating workplace change (More)
Building Smart Teams is an essential guide to creating high-performance teams fast. The approach is to help team members build skills and implement processes to increase success. (More)
HRM Project Series – This study examines the relationship between progressive human resource management practices and employee involvement programs, and organizational performance. (More)
HRM Project Series - The need to be more responsive to the changing competitive and economic environment has focused attention on business strategies based on innovation, quality, and cost-effectiveness. Improved productivity, flexibility, and customer service have become strategic imperatives for organizations in the 1990s. This has implications for the management of human resources. (More)
HRM Project Series - The research evidence in this paper examines whether or not different human resource practices have an impact on individual firm performance, or the economic health of industries. (More)
HRM Project Series - The Canadian Workplace in Transition delivers a devastating blow to business-as-usual in human resource management - based on cold, hard facts carefully analyzed and cogently presented. (More)
HRM Project Series - Using a comprehensive body of employer-level data, this paper seeks to fill the holes in our knowledge by determining the extent to which Canadian employers adopt systems of HRM practices and by measuring how the choice of HRM system is affected by business strategy and external pressures. (More)
Last year, OPSEU brought together business, labour, government, and community agencies for an in-depth exploration of the possible futures for Ontario with Ontario 2020. The Ontario 2020 Delphi forecast has now been released, which shows that experts are concerned and pessimistic about the future of the province.
