HR and organization development

I feel that there are two approaches among HR experts. A group of professionals is of the opinion that HR and organization development are two different fields and are to be handled separately. The other group thinks that these both fields are to be managed together (especially in the SME sector) and are hardly separable and, from scientific point of view, they must not be separated.

Both approaches are correct: company size and role of HR within the company, we can say that qualities of the position holder define which approach comes to the foreground.

I am sure that an HR manager without knowledge concerning organization development will never be able to become a strategic partner of the company management, i.e. such a HR manager will remain in the field of operative HR.

Let’s see when we speak of Strategic Human Resource Management. The presence of any element of the list below, being by far not complete, indicates strategic partnership in a company:

• when the line manager of the HR manager is the CEO of the business / organization;
• when the HR manager is the member of the management and participates in the regular manager meetings;
• when the HR manager is involved in the short-term and medium-term planning;
• when the HR manager’s actions are proactive, and she/he develops solutions for organizational changes.