Occupational Psychology and Strategy Development

Cathy McDermott

&

Sarah Lewis

Occupational Psychology andStrategy Development

Outline for the day

Welcome

What is strategy?

How does human resource strategy fit?

The business case for my issue

Sharing knowledge

Evaluation

Occupational Psychology and Strategy Development

By the end of the day you should:• Be aware of a range of views about strategy• Understand one strategy model• Understand how psychological knowledge is relevant to

the strategic process• Understand how psychological knowledge is relevant to

specific human resource strategies• Understand how psychologists can add value to the

strategic planning and implementation process• Be able to put together a basic business case for

psychology based HR Strategy.

Occupational Psychology and Strategy Development

Modernist

Post modernist

Event Process

Planning Meeting Roll out

Future Search Conference

Co-creating how to go on

Occupational Psychology and Strategy Development

‘the direction and scope of an organisation over the long term: ideally, which matches its resources to its changing environment, and in particular its markets, customers or clients so as to meet stakeholder expectations.’ ( Johnson and Scholes 1993)

Occupational Psychology and Strategy Development

Strategy can be defined as:

a plan - some sort of consciously intended course of action

a pattern - which emerges over time

a position - which provides competitive advantage

a perspective - an abstraction which exists in the minds of people

(Mintzberg)

Occupational Psychology and Strategy Development

Lilly’s Paradox 1‘ Much of the strategy literature, once one has

acquired the ability to translate its jargon, does appear to say little that extends that form of knowledge that we normally term commonsense.’

‘ And yet, there are thousands and thousands of worth titles devoted to an understanding of this seemingly simple set of practices’

Occupational Psychology and Strategy Development

Why are we so interested in strategy?

‘Strategy presents us with a problem of truth around identity. In its invocation of competing positions for our allegiance it poses interminable questions whose answers truth demands. Questions like: who are we? Who are we for? .. Who are we against?’

It is a phemonological quest - a quest for identitu

Occupational Psychology and Strategy Development

Strategy

‘ ..strives to embody a relationship between the internal characteristics of an organisation and that which is outside.’

(Lilley)

Occupational Psychology and Strategy Development

Strategy as a point of organisational tension

Identity is a highly emotive issue

Strategy talk is located within the ‘organisation as a rational entity’ discourse.

Herein lies an unarticulated tension

Occupational Psychology and Strategy Development

Lilley’s Paradox 2

‘ All of which inscribes for us an inevitable paradox at the centre of the strategy language game, a paradox of identity…. We can either have stable organisations with shifting strategies, or shifting organisations that bend to reflect our stable strategies. But we can not have both. Which is perhaps the same as saying that we have to have both and thus no possibility of ( stable) identity.’

Occupational Psychology and Strategy Development

Boston Group Model

Growth Sector

high

lowRelative Market Sharehigh low

Stars

Assessment Centres ?

Cash Cows

psychometrics

Question marks

Software. E-environment

Dogs

Basic management training

Occupational Psychology and Strategy Development

Re-cap• Be aware of a range of views about strategy• Understand one strategy model• Understand how psychological knowledge is

relevant to the strategic process• Understand how psychological knowledge is Understand how psychological knowledge is

relevant to specific human resource strategiesrelevant to specific human resource strategies• Understand how psychologists can add value to Understand how psychologists can add value to

the strategic planning and implementation processthe strategic planning and implementation process• Be able to put together a basic business case for

psychology based HR Strategy.

Occupational Psychology and Strategy Development

Q: How do Occupational Psychologists increase their influence at a strategic level of the organisation?

A: They start by doing what many HR Professional have already had to do.

Occupational Psychology and Strategy Development

• What is HR Strategy?

a ‘broad brush’ definition:

‘getting the right people in the right place with the

right motivation doing the right things’ ( Holbech 2002)

Occupational Psychology and Strategy Development

HR strategic planning today must include issues concerning :

Global Management

Culture Issues

Intellectual Capital

Organisational Capabilities

Occupational Psychology and Strategy Development

As sweeping changes continue to reshape the

workplace the Human Resource professional

needed today must be a knowledgeable and

skilled business partner moving from the ‘back

room’ to the ‘board room’ and playing a vital role

in helping his/her organisation remain competitive

in the marketplace

Occupational Psychology and HR Strategy Development

In managing the changing role of Human Resources. HR professionals have been

challenged to:

• define the value they create for customers ie.,

their employees and managers • demonstrate added value and measurable

outcomes

Occupational Psychology and Strategy Development

Strategic partners Employee Champs

Change Agents Admin Experts

(Ulrich, 1997)

Future/strategic focus

processpeople

Operational focus

Occupational Psychology and Strategy Development

Putting the business strategy into action is the job of a

Strategic Partner

making vision a reality by aligning HR strategy with the overall business plan

Deliverable outcome = Executing strategy

Occupational Psychology and Strategy Development

Admin Experts

improve processes, translate business processes into human resource processes and measure results in

terms of efficiency (cost) and effectiveness (quality)

Deliverable outcome = Building an efficient & effective Infrastructure

Occupational Psychology and Strategy Development

Employee Champions

listen and respond to employees and creates a balance between the demands on employees and available resources and takes action to promote

employee contributions

Deliverable outcome = improved employee commitment & capability

Occupational Psychology and Strategy Development

Change agents

understand theory and apply the ‘tools’ of change, lead transformation (by doing it first in the HR

function), they are catalysts, facilitators and designers of change

Deliverable outcome = Creating a renewed organisation

Occupational Psychology and Strategy Development

.

HR Strategy

culture

organisation

people

HR Systems

Training & Development

Management development

Organisational development

Appraisal

Reward

Recruitment

Manpower planning

Communication

Occupational Psychology and Strategy Development

Business Case Exercise

Theory relevant to the issue e.g ‘the training cycle’

Theory relevant to the process e.g you as an actor in the context.

Pulling these together to make a business case to present, and a strategy to influence