Had our first OB class last night. Prof is high-energy (Lisa Barron) and should make the class fun. As I read the material (about 110 pages) in prep for last night's class, I realize how cynical I am about the actual implementation of these ideas. The theory is interesting to read and the case studies are instructive. But it's been my experience that companies apply these concepts and practices without having a specific problem that they plan to fix. This results in lack of commitment and, eventually, abandonment. HR departments, attempting to stay current and relevant, find the "next new thing", convince the CEO to go along with it, drag the employees through the exercise or the policy change, only to find the same lack of commitment and eventual abandonment. I had files full of MBO's, 360 degree assessment profiles, Myers-Briggs test results, etc. - and I don't recall having the organizations doing a thing with this information and we never really understood exactly what the company was trying to change or improve.
I get that organizations need to align the company structure with the company objectives and I acknowledge that implementing these OB ideas can be effective. But I've observed these programs applied without an overlying strategy and my hunch is that this is a common mistake and leads to the cynicism from which I currently suffer. Anyone else have a different experience, I'd love to hear about it.
Does the cynicism come from years of real life work experience and years of running your own business?
ReplyDeleteMy cynicism stems from my 15 years of corporate experience. The programs that came out of our HR departments were never connected to the company vision so we didn't have a good understanding as to why they were important. There was very little follow-up to explain the results or to help maintain any commitment to embedding the program in the culture.
ReplyDeleteThe result was that these programs had a very short shelf-life - I take that back; most of them sat on the shelf for a very long time and were never used or looked at after the initial exposure!