| The purpose of this research study was to explore the activities and roles being provided by internal Training and Organization Development practitioners and the relationships and status between the two departments. The roles between Training and OD, if ever clear, have become complicated by the emergence of teams, greater emphasis on leadership, motivation, stress management, and managing change training and activities. Clarification of these elements can provide greater understanding of the intended and unintended outcomes expected of these areas, a means for enhanced collaboration, a reduction of conflict, and optimized performance of the systems each is working within.; This study explored the frequency with which forty-two activities and roles, delineated in the literature as those most often conducted by Training and OD departments, are provided by the two sets of internal practitioners. Surveys and data cards were sent to study participants in medium to large hospitals in Northern Illinois. Although various organizational classifications could have served as the population for this study, health care was chosen, in part, because of the current dramatic changes taking place in its environment.; A quantitative analysis was used to examine the raw data. Activities and roles were analyzed using the Concept System software which utilizes multidimensional scaling and Ward's hierarchical cluster analysis, providing graphical representation in the form of point, cluster, rating, cluster rating, and a pattern matching maps. Descriptive statistical computations were conducted to obtain the results to answer the relationship, budgeting, staffing, and status questions.; Study results indicate that: a number of the activities and roles were consistently conducted by both sets of practitioners; some “traditional” OD activities are not conducted by the internal practitioners; there are different roles and expectations for the internal and external OD practitioner; OD practitioners' positions are consistently higher in the hierarchical positioning and have a higher level of status than the Trainer counterparts. The information obtained in this study provides colleges and universities, individuals preparing themselves for either an OD or Training positions, and those currently in these positions, a representation of the expectations required to fulfill organizational needs. |
