Keynote Address Given at OSU Workforce Development and Training Reunion event, May 20, 2011.

1. What I Learned at OSU
A Personal History of HRD
Gloria Regalbuto Bentley, Ph.D.
V.P. of Organizational Development
Loras College—Dubuque, Iowa

2. Evolution of HRD
1. Warm & Fuzzy T&D
2. The TQM/SQC/ROI Era
3. Performance Analysis , Technology,
Consulting
4. Performance Management and
Competencies
5. Talent Management Systems

3. My Evolution
Sheet Metal Fabricator
Fortune 500 Glassware Manufacturer
Non-Profit Research Consulting
Global Banking & Global Consulting
Retail & Global Consumer Beverage

4. What I Learned at OSU
1980 Ph.D. in Communication
School of Behavioral Science
Operational/Behavioral Definitions of Variables

5. Operational/Behavioral Definitions
• Defines something in terms of the process or
set of validation tests used to determine its
presence and quality.
• Concepts defined in terms of sets of indicative
behaviors
• Concept Developer: Percy Williams Bridgman
(Source—Wikipedia . You gotta love it!)

6. The Best Peanut Butter Sandwich
1. Slice of Bread
2. Spread Peanut Butter
3. Spread Jelly
4. 2nd Slice of Bread on Top

7. But Best? …
• Whole Wheat?
• Grape or Strawberry Jelly?
• Crunchy or Smooth?
• Skippy, Jiff, Smuckers or Organic?
• I Like Tuna? (Hate Peanut Butter)

8. Not a Rhetorical Question
• Training in organizations requires an
answer.
• Training for what?
• Who will judge the results?

9. Back to My Evolution
Stage 1
• Brokered or Designed Training Programs
• Off-the-Shelf and/or Generic Skills
• Served Coffee & Donuts
• Smile Index = 10
… But something was amiss…
HRD ME
WARM & FUZZY SHEET METAL FABRICATOR

10. What’s the Operational Definition
• of an effective manager?
• of an effective receptionist?
Conclusion:
Can’t just measure by number of seats in seats.

11. Back to My Evolution
Stage 2
• Identified Needs
• Custom Designed Proprietary Training Programs
• Mapped Processes
• Assigned Metrics
• Calculated ROI
… But something was amiss…
HRD ME
TQM/SQC/ROI Glass Manufacturer

12. The Beginning of Competencies
• Mainframe HRIS System with a skills database
• Only searchable by employee, not by skill
• Skills were related more to Union Training
Requirements
• But the bare bones of competencies were
there
…and

13. Performance Analysis
• Designing programs on request was
premature
• To show ROI, they had to change behavior
• Needed an operational measure of exemplary
performance that counted (measureable)
… But something was still amiss…

14. What if…
• You were incredibly successful in changing
behavior and the results remained the same?
• Was your operational definition wrong?
• Was something else interfering with
performance at the point of application?

15. Seeds
• Defect Identification
• Defective Glass Goes to
Cullet Chute
• Good Glass Gets Packed
• How Big is a Bad Seed
SUNFLOWER SEED= BAD

16. Ceiling Lamp Shade?
SUNFLOWER SEED=OK

17. Conclusion
• Competence is context-sensitive
• Performance is dependent on environmental
factors beyond competence
• If Managers learned performance analysis, I
might be out of work, but performance would
improve

18. My Evolution
Stage 3
• Challenge: Can You Calculate ROI for Managers?
• Especially When the Managers are Scientists &
Engineers in a Not-for-Profit Setting?
HRD ME
Performance Analysis,
Technology, Consulting
Non-Profit Research
Consulting Firm

19. Operationally Defining Competencies
For Management in Consulting
Organizations
I Asked:
• What are the KSA’s?
(Knowledge, Skills, and Attributes)
• What do they need to know and be able to do?
….I got no answer

20. Operationally Defining Competencies
For Management in Consulting
Organizations
I Asked:
• What do you fire managers for?
– Poor proposal to contract ratio
– Low billable hours
• Now I can calculate ROI for managers
…but that wasn’t the whole truth…

21. Missing Attributes
• No one said anything about Attributes
– Values?
– Customer Service?
– Internal Customer Service?
• What are the metrics for Attributes?
• Where are the Operational Definitions?

22. My Evolution
Stage 4
• Competencies Become The Basic Atomic Structure Of
Learning Management Systems
• I Can Search A Competency Data Base By Person, By
Job And By Competency
HRD ME
Performance Management &
Competencies
Global Banking and
Global Consulting

23. My Evolution
Stage 4
• Competencies Are Aligned With Mission, Vision &
Strategy
• In Knowledge Businesses Performance Management
Is the Way You Manage the Business
• HRD Becomes More OD and Gains Credibility &
Power
• Operation Definitions and Criterion References
Become Metrics & KPI’s

24. …But
• We still don’t measure Attributes…
• We talk about them
• We associate values with Mission
• We don’t measure them, because they’re not
tied to R.O.I. as much as Knowledge and Skill

25. My Evolution
Stage 5
• Massive Pre-Hire Assessment of Competence,
Capacity and Personality
• Sophisticated Performance Management,
Organizational Change Management, Succession and
Human Resource Planning
HRD ME
Talent Management Systems Retail &
Global Consumer Beverage

26. My Evolution
Stage 5
• Objective Setting And Key Performance Indicators
(Kpi’s—A.K.A. Operational Definitions) Are Pervasive
And Continuously Scrutinized
• R.O.I. Is Everywhere
• Shareholder Equity is the Promised Land
• When the Human Resource Executive Committee
Walks Down the Corridors of Power Together, the Walls
Warp
…AND

27. • It’s the definition of Draconian Bureaucracy
• Employee’s that were costly hires because
they were the best in the business are
counting the days until they don’t have to pay
back their relo package and can leave
• The Environment is Toxic
• Management Styles Can Be Equated with
Dante’s Levels of Hell

28. George Land’s S-Curve
Corrective Feedback
Systems
Positive Feedback
Systems

29. Operational Definition of Insanity
“a person or organization who behaves in a way
that is only functional for that person and is
dysfunctional for those connected with the person
or the organization”
• Looking out for my interests to the detriment of
others, destroys families, organizations,
communities, and countries

30. Karl Marx
“The last capitalist we hang
will be the one who sold us
the rope”

31. Conclusions
• When we focus on ROI, Quarterly Reports,
Shareholder Equity, we tend to forget about
ROM – Return on Mission
• When we focus on Knowledge and Skills, we
tend to forget about Attributes
• When we focus totally output, we ignore the
values inherent in the processes
• When we focus on processes, we forget about
people

32. The Lie and the Other
Operational Definitions…
What do you fire people for?
Because:
• They had a bad attitude
• They’re not a team player
• They create a toxic environment
… and you should.

33. Beauty before me
With it I wander.
Beauty behind me
With it I wander.
Beauty all around me
With it I wander.
All in a circle under the turning sky.
All in a circle under the turning sky.