HR Tool: Grow Your Strategic Consulting Skills

Part 2: The Sessions

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Susan M. Heathfield

Keep several goals in mind as you review these resources. The HR professionals participating ranged from benefits staff to training staff to generalists. We sought “approachable” resources and books so that the reading was interesting as well as informative. We were interested in a wide range of authors and viewpoints.

General: The Changing HR Role

• Human Resource Champions. Ulrich, Dave
• The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization. Senge, Peter M.
• Stewardship. Block, Peter
• Flawless Consulting. Block, Peter
• The Consultant’s Calling: Bringing Who You Are to What You Do. Bellman, Geoffrey M.
• Performance Consulting: Moving Beyond Training. Robinson, Dana Gaines and James C. Robinson

Understanding Organizations

The purpose of this session is to understand organizations. What goes into the design and creation of a particular organization? What are the characteristics of a productive, highly effective organization? What broad aspects of organizations are most prone to problems? What do you want to examine if an organization is not working effectively in identified areas? How do you measure and assess how an organization is currently performing? What is culture? What about organizations impedes communication and individual growth and development? What challenges, problems, and opportunities do staff in the organization most often encounter? What kind of interventions are frequent and possible?

• The Balancing Act. Patterson, Kerry et al
• Building Productive Workplaces: Organizing and Managing for Dignity, Meaning, and Community. Weisbord, Marvin
• Flight of the Buffalo: Learning to Let Employees Lead. Belasco, James and Ralph Stayer
• Designing Organizations for High Performance. Hanna, David P.

Organization and Personal Development

The purpose of these readings is to understand organization development and overview the steps in an organizational development intervention. The focus is on the role of a staff member in accomplishing his personal mission at work and influencing and leading when not in charge. Groups might discuss the “Entry” stage (from Practicing Organization Development) of a consultation, during which your expertise and ability to assist must be recognized by the client. Groups might also discuss the “Start-Up” step in which the early relationship with the client is developed.

• The Empowered Manager. Block, Peter
• Getting Things Done When You are Not in Charge. Bellman, Geoffrey
• Practicing Organization Development: A Guide for Consultants. Rothwell, William J., Roland Sullivan, and Gary N. McLean (This book was the basic text for the sessions.)
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey, Stephen R. (I recommend the abbreviated book on tape.)

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