Professional responsibilities of human resource development and organization development practitioners and researchers

This study was designed to develop a maximum understanding of the human resource development (HRD) and organization development (OD) professions and the professional responsibilities within them. Therefore, HRD and OD professionals were asked to go beyond the identification process and rate the importance of each professional responsibility from "not important" to "critical". The essential professional responsibilities are those needed by HRD and OD professionals to perform their current and future work.

The method used in this study was a post hoc survey designed to identify and rate the professional responsibilities within the human resource development and organizational development professions. It also investigated the self-perception of the HRD and OD professionals as either researchers or practitioners. This study used both quantitative and qualitative techniques. Related demographic information including information concerning membership in professional associations was included in the data collection.

The purpose of this study was threefold: (a) to develop a practitioner/researcher validated list of professional responsibilities as perceived by the HRD and OD professionals, (b) to investigate the possible relationship between the professional responsibilities and the HRD and OD professionals, and (c) to rate the importance of professional responsibilities as perceived by HRD and OD professionals.

A survey instrument, the Human Resource Development and Organization Development Professional Responsibilities Inventory, was developed to gather the data. Exploratory factor analysis was used to group 54 professional responsibilities into three factors: change management strategies, workforce development, and facilitative /communication skills.

Study participants were current HRD and OD professionals. They were randomly selected from the membership lists of seven prominent professional associations and were currently involved in organizational change. This study was unique in the aspect that electronic mail (email) was the primary data collection procedure. All survey instruments were emailed to the participants, including the pilot group. However, although email was encouraged as the primary method to return the surveys, other traditional methods such as U.S. mail and facsimile (fax) were offered as alternative methods.

A total of 253 HRD and OD professionals agreed to participate in the study. However, only two hundred and nine respondents completed and returned the surveys. The respondents placed themselves into one of four categories: HRD practitioners (HRDP) 39%; HRD researchers (HRDR) 17%; OD practitioners (ODP) 35%; and OD researchers (ODR) 10%.

This study provided profile information on HRD and OD practitioners and researchers and developed a prioritized listing of professional responsibilities as perceived by the professionals. It showed that there is an overlapping interdependence between HRD and OD professionals and revealed that 70% of the identifiable professional responsibilities are similar in both professions.