Redesigning Library Human Resources: Integrating Human Resources Management and Organizational Development

The human resources (HR) function within organizations has expanded beyond administrative and operational roles to include more strategic responsibilities. This change is requiring HR practitioners to take on new types of responsibilities in the area of organizational development—responsibilities that include redesigning jobs and work, developing performance management systems, managing change, and designing and restructuring organizations. Four strategies for integrating human resources management (HRM) and organizational development (OD)—job analysis, work redesign, team-building, and change management—are presented in this article along with recommendations on how to integrate HRM and OD to enhance the performance and capacity of the organization and its workforce. Introduction Like the library profession, the human resources profession is no stranger to change. Shifting workforce and labor market demographics, technology, globalization, economic uncertainty, and increased competition are factors requiring redesign of the human resources function to meet new organizational demands. In most organizations, human resources (HR) departments have traditionally fulfilled two primary roles—administrative and operational— handling transactional activities such as benefits and payroll processing and employee status changes that have been the core activities of the HR department. While these roles remain important and necessary, technology and outsourcing have allowed HR departments to achieve efficiencies Pat Hawthorne, Director of Library Human Resources, University of California, Los Angeles, Library, 11617 Young Research Library, Box 951575, Los Angeles, CA 90095–1575 173 hawthorne/library human resources in managing the various transaction-based activities of human resources (Drinan, 2002b). With administrative and operational efficiencies in place, the attention of HR professionals has turned to other aspects of human resources management. Faced with rapid and constant change, many organizations are seeking improvements in workforce productivity in order to maintain a competitive advantage and, as a result, turning to HR professionals to redesign the HR function in fundamental ways. The end result is that human resources’ newest primary role is a strategic one as HR evolves from “being solely a provider of transactional services to an expert consultant,” according to Margaret Butteriss, editor of Re-Inventing HR: Changing Roles to Create the High-Performance Organization (1998, p. 41). This reinvention requires HR practitioners to continue to manage administrative and operational activities while adding new responsibilities for developing and managing strategic initiatives that enhance the performance and capacity of the organization and its workforce. “HR is increasingly becoming an important part of executive planning and actions and far more of an integral part of management than ever before,” notes Butteriss. “We see such things as performance management, creating a high-performance organization, improving organizational and individual competence, creating flexible work teams, and satisfying customers’ needs becoming a major part of the strategic planning of senior management” (1998, pp. ix–x). Within the last decade HR’s administrative and record keeper roles have begun to evolve into a more strategic one, which requires HR practitioners to use their knowledge of workforce trends coupled with knowledge of the business of the organization to work closely with senior management to develop long-term plans that link HR goals to organizational goals (Meisinger, 2003). When this happens—when the goals of the HR department purposefully support overall organizational goals—the integration of human resources management (HRM) and organizational development (OD) has occurred. Integrating OD concepts and techniques into HRM activities through such strategies as job analysis, work redesign, team building, and change management serve the purpose of enhancing the performance and capacity of the organization and its workforce and ensures that HR practitioners are proactively meeting the needs of the organization (Meisinger, 2003). Human Resources Management in Libraries According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), human resources management is “the design of formal systems in an organization to ensure the effective and efficient use of human talent to accomplish the organizational goals” (SHRM, 2002a, p. 2). Like other organizations, libraries of all types have traditional HRM activities such as 174 library trends/summer 2004 recruitment and selection, compensation, benefits, training and development, health and safety, employee and labor relations, and, in some libraries, student employment or volunteer management. Within research, national, academic, public, and special libraries, the human resources function is structured in a variety of ways that reflect such factors as the size of the library and its view and philosophy of human resources. For some libraries the HR department of the parent organization or institution provides some or all HR functions for the library. Some libraries have an internal HR department and staff devoted to handling all or some of the library’s HR functions in cooperation with the HR department of the parent institution. In other libraries individual positions may be dedicated to HR functions. The most common position titles are HR or personnel officer, staff development officer, or organizational development officer. From library to library, the level of the position varies from line librarian or professional, to department manager, to associate or assistant director, while the reporting relationship also varies. Whatever structure exists to support the human resources management needs of the library, many human resources departments and professionals in libraries—like their HR counterparts in other organizations—are playing increasingly strategic roles within library organizations by redesigning jobs and work, developing performance management systems, managing change, and designing and restructuring organizations. Such a shift from administrative and operational activities like approving job requisitions, reviewing job descriptions, and processing employee requests to these more strategic functions is most evident by the nature of the work of library HR professionals, work that increasingly reflects organizational development activities. In other cases, libraries of all types are working with organizational development consultants who provide services that may not be available in-house. This shift to more strategic roles means that library HR practitioners are focusing on different kinds of activities and responsibilities. Using job analysis and work redesign tools and methods to determine the organization’s needs for jobs and what type of jobs and how to organize the work has taken a higher priority. Developing individual skills in all levels of employees to work efficiently and effectively in team structures has become more critical as libraries face the reality of smaller workforces, hiring freezes, pending retirements, and labor shortages. And managing the ongoing, relentless change—the permanent whitewater of the library and information profession—has become the skill most needed and valued. Many OD initiatives within libraries grow out of change management efforts when libraries seek to restructure organizations, redesign jobs and work, improve processes and workflow, and increase performance capabilities in order to enhance the organization’s ability to survive and thrive in a world of change. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (2002b, 175 hawthorne/library human resources pp. 126–127), the primary intent of OD is to strengthen the organization. OD strategies fall into three categories: interpersonal, technological, and structural. Interpersonal strategies focus on work relationships between and among individuals and groups and touch on such topics as communication. Technological strategies focus on processes and include activities such as job design and analyzing workflow and human factors to achieve coordination and communication among departments. Structural strategies examine how the organization’s structure helps or hinders the organization in achieving its goals and may examine such issues as span of control and reporting relationships. Mendelow and Liebowitz note that “OD interventions now are more wide-ranging and systemic than in the past. Whereas early interventions concentrated on the individual, interventions now involve the structure of the organization. . . . responsibility for OD is often considered to be a part of the human resource management function” (1989, p. 319). Strategies for Integrating HRM and OD Beer (1980) defines OD as a process that includes data collection, diagnosis, action planning, intervention, and change and views the purpose of OD as enhancing the fit among the organization’s strategies, processes, people, and culture. When defined as such, OD activities can and should be integrated into the HRM activities that support the organization’s strategic plan and goals (Mendelow & Liebowitz, 1989). In this new strategic role, developing the ability to capitalize on the strengths of employees and make the workforce an asset to the organization has become a critical focus for HR professionals. The shift in focus has increased the demand for human resources initiatives, strategies, and programs that enhance an organization’s ability to recruit and retain highly skilled employees capable of ongoing innovation and able to effectively deal with constant change. Four strategies created out of the intersection of traditional functions of human resources management and concepts of organizational development reflect select examples of when HR initiatives support overall organizational goals. The four strategies discussed here—job analysis, work redesign, team building, and change management—provide libraries with methods for enhancing the performance and capacity of the organization and its workforce. Job Analysis Libraries are among many organizations where jobs have undergone enormous change. Labor market shifts, budget constraints, enhanced technology, introduction of new library services and elimination of other services, and demands of customers require library HR practitioners to continuously use their expertise to examine the work performed by indi176 library trends/summer 2004 viduals in libraries to determine if the organizational and individual needs are being met. Job analysis has long been one of the most basic activities of HRM and is a “systematic way to gather and analyze information about the content and the human requirements of jobs, and the context in which jobs are performed” (Mathis & Jackson, 1997, p. 190). Job analysis informs recruitment and selection, affects compensation decisions, outlines performance goals, identifies training and development needs, and influences organizational structure (Lynch & Robles-Smith, 2001). The benefits of effective job analysis, according to Mathis and Jackson (1997, pp. 198–200) are the following: 1. Knowing what jobs exist, how many jobs exist, and what is being done, as well as what needs to be done, helps to inform HR planning. Jobs can be designed and redesigned to eliminate unnecessary tasks and duties or to combine responsibilities into logical job groups that meet needs and priorities. 2. Job analysis ensures that recruitment and selection are based on valid criteria by linking knowledge, skills, and abilities required to the tasks, duties, and responsibilities in the job description. Such information can also help to identify where to recruit for potential employees. 3. Job analysis information is often the basis for determining compensation and can help to prevent inconsistencies and inequities in compensation. In addition, job analysis information is used to help classify positions (exempt vs. nonexempt, represented or nonrepresented, etc.). 4. Effective job analysis helps to create job descriptions and performance standards that are useful tools for both training and development and for performance management. 5. Information identified in job analysis helps to identify health and safety hazards and working conditions that require special training or accommodation. Job analysis involves collecting information about the characteristics of a job using one of several methods: observation, interviewing, questionnaires, or more specialized job analysis methods such as position or functional analysis. Organizations sometimes use a combination of job analysis methods (Mathis & Jackson, 1997; McDermott, 1987). In collecting information about a job, HR practitioners often examine such aspects as work activities and behaviors, department or unit structure, interactions with others, performance standards, machines and equipment used, working conditions, supervision given and received, and knowledge, skills, and abilities required in the job (Mathis & Jackson, 1997). Job analysis identifies three major components of jobs: (1) tasks, the “distinct, identifiable work activity composed of motions”; (2) duties, the 177 hawthorne/library human resources “larger work segment composed of several tasks that are performed by an individual”; and (3) responsibilities, the “obligations to perform certain tasks and duties” (Mathis & Jackson, 1997, p. 190). Capturing such data through job analysis provides the information needed to develop job specifications and job descriptions. Job specifications—the knowledge, skills, and abilities required in the job—play a key role in recruitment, selection, and compensation decisions. Job descriptions identify “what is done, why it is done, where it is done, and, briefly, how it is done” (Mathis & Jackson, 1997, p. 192) and are key to the development of performance standards that impact performance management. Using systematic job analysis to determine the exact job is far more strategic than simply writing or updating existing job descriptions. Performing systematic job analysis on a regular or periodic basis or under special conditions helps managers ensure that the jobs being done are the jobs that need to be done. Work Redesign Complementing job analysis is work redesign as another strategy that integrates HRM and OD. While job analysis often focuses on an individual job or job families, work redesign is a broader analytical process that examines work done throughout a department or unit or within the organization at all levels. An excellent example of work redesign in a library setting was the work redesign project of the North Suburban Library System (NSLS) in Illinois. In the late 1990s the NSLS, an organization of 680 academic, public, school, and special libraries in northern Illinois, received a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant for redesigning work in NSLS libraries. Working with organizational development consultant Maureen Sullivan, NSLS director Sarah Long and four library directors spearheaded an eight-month project that guided work redesign at four different libraries. The ultimate goal was to analyze work and put new structures in place to positively affect member services in the library system and to “build the capacity of the organization” (Hayes & Sullivan, 2003, p. 87). “The work redesign process provides an opportunity for today’s library to stop and analyze how time and effort are currently applied in the organization,” write Hayes and Sullivan (2003, p. 88). The NSLS project’s final report outlines a ten-step process: (1) select project consultant; (2) gather information; (3) conduct a planning meeting; (4) conduct a readiness assessment to benchmark the general indication of the library’s readiness for work redesign; (5) establish design teams; (6) train design teams in workflow analysis and work redesign; (7) have teams conduct workflow analysis; (8) develop process maps, which are graphic representations of the activities and tasks that make up a process; (9) present proposals to library directors and approved changes to staff; and (10) 178 library trends/summer 2004 develop a plan and timeline for implementing changes within the library (Hayes & Sullivan, 2002, pp. 7–21). One major goal of the NSLS project was to be able to recruit and retain the best employees. Analyzing the work performed by staff identified ways to redesign work processes to create a more positive work environment. Among the benefits evident, according to Hayes and Sullivan (2003, pp. 90–91) were the following: • Participants demonstrated a new sense of collaboration and cooperative learning that enabled them to learn critical skills and master new processes. • Trained staff were able to identify key competencies for key programs and services. • Staff shifted their focus to the big picture. • Staff reexamined traditional jobs and practices and created new approaches and practices and new jobs. While the NSLS work redesign project was conceived with a purpose to create a work environment that would attract and retain top-notch talent, work redesign in libraries can occur for a wide variety of reasons. Work redesign can also be used in libraries when units or libraries are merged, when new services are initiated by a unit or library, or when costs need to be reduced. Information technology and the introduction of new electronic services are other factors that often lead work redesign through the implementation of new systems that change workflows and processes or through the introduction of new digital services. Work redesign is akin to process improvement and can be used as a dynamic tool that involves employees in examining and refining purpose and shifting the focus to customers. In the corporate world, work redesign is often used to streamline processes, increase efficiency and productivity, and reduce costs while maintaining quality and service and competitiveness. Work redesign initiatives can result in a number of outcomes, according to Lemmer and Brent (2001), including increased productivity and output per employee, improved morale, decreased absenteeism, improved safety, more improvement initiatives, decreased inventory costs, faster cycle times, reduction of waste, and increased customer satisfaction. Involving employees and managers in work redesign can improve service, increase efficiency, and reduce costs as well as enhance employee capabilities and increase organizational capacity. Team-Building Teams emerged in libraries several years ago and have rapidly become a key work unit used in libraries of all types and sizes. Among Fortune 1,000 companies, the use of self-managed work teams (SMWTs) grew from 28 179 hawthorne/library human resources percent in 1989 to 72 percent in 1999 (Yandrick, 2001, p. 138). Such a significant change in corporations reflects substantially changed views about hierarchy, management, and employee involvement and contributions and the impact these have on the bottom line, in addition to reflecting a willingness to invest in making major changes in the ways in which work is organized and accomplished within the organization. In corporations SMWTs have become the stuff of legend in areas such as quality improvement, resulting in “production increases, waste reduction and accelerated product-development cycles” (Yandrick, 2001, p. 138). While team contributions can have dramatic positive effects, there are also instances where teams sometimes fail to accomplish their objective or to master the process to work together effectively. In addition to organizational support, both Joinson (1999) and Yandrick (2001) emphasize that what can make a difference between success and failure of a team is adequate training for team members in interpersonal skills, effective communication, active listening, problem-solving, and conflict resolution. Many fail to understand how and why teams are different from other work units such as a department or committee. Teams revolve around six basic concepts as outlined by Katzenbach and Smith (1999). Generally small in number (less than twelve members), “no team performs without the complementary skills required for success. Teams must have a common purpose, common set of specific performance goals, and a commonly agreed upon working approach. Finally, teams must hold one another mutually accountable for their performance” (Katzenbach & Smith, 1999, pp. xix–xx). The mutual accountability is perhaps the most significant difference. In most other work groups, accountability is to a direct supervisor who oversees the work group or to the person who appointed the committee; being accountable to peers in a team is significantly different. While some work groups or committees can have team-like qualities, it is usually due to the leader or members working to establish team-based characteristics within the group. The major difference between teams and other types of work groups is that a work group or committee can perform like a team, but a team cannot perform like a work group or committee and still be a team. As in other organizations using teams, libraries and library workers sometimes struggle with making the transition to teams. Making the successful transition from committees, the most common type of group structure other than departmental work groups in libraries, to teams varies from library to library and with type of library and is dependent on the individuals involved and their receptiveness and willingness to learn new skills. Quinn (1995) outlined the differences between committees and teams, illustrated in Table 1, in six basic areas—responsibility, authority, management, objectives, process, and information. Table 1. Differences between Committees and Teams Areas Committees Teams