Internal OD/Training people are dealt a poor deck of cards at the start of their career.
Their boss, the HR manager, holds little power when compared to peers, be it Marketing, Finance or Sales.
These new internals are generally younger, female and have never managed anything of any complexity.
And let’s face it, most of the time, people do NOT trust HR people.
I have trained generations of people in this position; here is the essence of the focus that I suggest.
- Avoid over (any) involvement in the “Performance Appraisal” ritual process. Of course, it’s not possible to totally circumvent some role, like skill training. But make sure not to be High Priest of this religion.
- Pay close attention to problematic interfaces, and not under performing people. Interfaces (sales and presales) (Finance and Purchasing) that suddenly start to creak less provide you with lots of exposure.
- Do not serve company cool aid. Stay away from the sacraments of the company’s values, mission statements and other verbiage. Focus on what does not work-not on peddling sublime verbiage.
- Make your HR manager part of YOUR client system. (Example, streamline the recruiting process) If the HR manager is not your client, buy a shovel and dig a hole.
- Hire very skilled consultants to do important work, not the cronies you studied with at community college. A very skilled consultant will not only do good work, but also help you get better jobs as your career develops. Your HR manager will not generally do that.
- Talk to people; do not interview them. Stand next to people as they do their job and have them explain it to you. Do not sit and hide behind your laptop.
Interesting. Have you come across rare instances of the first OD job being with the line? Aligned with the business head straight away?
If not, what can the new OD person do to find a direct line to business without having to go with HR every time?
From my experience, it pays for taking up your first job with a supportive boss. Whether from HR or the business line. Don’t therefore join an organisation. Qualify your manager, and de-risk your career even before taking up your first job.
starting on the line is a good plan.
to circumvent HR internecine warfare, perhaps the person could be on loan for 6 months to the relevant managers involved
Very interesting post, Allon. Good one for recent graduates to ponder. Perhaps a less travelled path to consider is to take a job in Operations or Finance (or another line area) first and then segue into OD work. With a clear and intentional career strategy and a supportive boss, this could work, assuming the organization recognizes the value of OD.
Thank you for sharing this piece. There are parts that resonate, especially your emphasis on looking at interfaces and grounding OD work in actual organisational dynamics rather than rituals.
At the same time, the reference to “younger, female” HR professionals as having “never managed anything of any complexity” stood out to me. Women, across ages and roles, often manage significant complexity, not only in the formal structure of work but also in the emotional, relational, and cultural dimensions of organisations.
Much of this labour is invisible, and because it doesn’t resemble traditional, masculine-coded notions of “complexity,” it is easy to overlook. But it is real, demanding, and central to organisational functioning.
I believe conversations about HR capability become much richer when we acknowledge multiple forms of complexity, not just the operational or structural kind and when we avoid framing competence through gendered assumptions.
Thanks for reading.
I’m post woke so I stand by what I wrote.
Female vrs make is biologically determined and is often the case…hr is mainly female. It’s real.
Age is measured. It counts to senior managers.
And complexity you are referring to is real… But doesn’t count in the eyes of many client systems.
So the young HR lady better accept it because peddling such ideas will put her in a weaker place.
I’m not observing cause,btw, just observing.
Thank you for sharing your perspective.
For me, OD becomes richer when we can name both the patterns we see and the systems that create them.
I appreciate the dialogue!