Karyn Troxell's Reflections on OD&C

“Organization Development (OD) is a change effort that is carried out in a participative way, involving those affected by the change, and that uses action research as a key roadmap for the change” (Rothwell, 2012, p. 276).

I recall learning about Action Research in the first course that I had in the OD&C curriculum with World Campus.  What has been interesting is that I have had several opportunities to apply it during change interventions that I have been involved with at my organization.

One recent example is with respect to formalizing the process by which new associates are onboarded to the organization.  IN this case, the challenge that had been presented by the stakeholders is that there is inconsistency across the organization- some departments are conducting different processes.  Parts of the Action Research model that my project team has been following include conducting focus groups to collect feedback and then share that with the stakeholders, in addition to collecting feedback from them.  We then were able to collect information and put it into an action plan (which was intended to create a more formal, company-wide process).  We presented this recommendation to the stakeholders,they approved, and we are in the process of implementing it.

Whether there are small-scaled or large scaled change efforts, I have found that the ARM is a solid, relatively simple way to systematically work through the intervention.  It’s been incredibly useful.

As I have gone through the courses in the OD&C curriculum, each of them had a focus on ethics within the field.  One of the biggest points that I have taken away is around the personal conflict that an OD practitioner would have around their own biases and whether those may be present within the work.  When an OD practitioner engages with a client and understands their needs, I would imagine that they might naturally begin to solutionize, would be based upon their previous experiences with related work.  In order to provide the best service to their client, they should go through the full OD process without incorporating those biases.  In the event that they would be unaware of this, it could lead to a compromised process or misrepresentation of work.

I think about this within my own role in Organizational Effectiveness.  There are certain practices that I like to propose when working on a project, based on my own comfort level and knowledge of what ‘works’.  An unintentional abuse of this, would look like me proposing a solution without fulling knowing if that was the best solution to propose.  It would be pushing my own agenda upon the client.

To avoid this, I think that it’s important for the practitioner to gain clarity around the goals of the project and understanding exactly what the client is trying to ‘solve’.  Then, engaging the client throughout the process is important in order to keep themselves ‘in check’ to make sure that they are comfortable with the process and the actions that are proposed along the way.

Hi everyone!  My name is Karyn Troxell, and this is my last semester in the OD&C program- woohoo!!!  I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was a bit nervous because I just recently decided to double-down and take 2 courses this semester to graduate.  Okay, so this may not sound like a big deal, but my family and friends would tell you that I have a tendency to bit off more than I can chew 🙂

I work at Penske Transportation Solutions, out of the headquarters in Reading, PA.  I’m the Director of Corporate HR and Organizational Effectiveness and I’ve been with the company for 17 years.  I love what I do, and I enjoy being able to apply the learnings from this program to my work.  I have an endless amount of projects that I think could be used for this course, so I’m really excited to apply the OD lens, in action, to one of them.

Personally- I was born and raised in Berks County, PA.  My husband, Jeremy, and I have 2 children, Ella (12) and Jeremy, Jr. (8).  As if they don’t keep us busy enough, I am involved in a few groups outside of work, like our County Workforce Development Board and the Berks County Employment for Individuals with Disabilities committee.  I love the beach, traveling, and watching my kid’s sports events.

Best of luck to all of you this semester!

Karyn

What is the most important thing you have learned in this course?  How do you feel about it?

The biggest takeaway that I have had with this course is one that I took away from one of the first lessons….the importance of the evaluation / appraisal in any change effort.  One of the key points that was reiterated throughout the course was the fact that this process is so easily missed.  I could speak for personal experience in my organization and having been a part of many change efforts where the change was not sustained due to the fact that there was no “anchor” to any of the objectives that were set at beginning of the change effort.  In fact, in many of the projects that I have been a part of, there was no formal step in the beginning of the initiative where there was even a discussion around the key objectives.  This is the one change that I plan to apply to my current job.  I now  have an opportunity to ensure that an evaluation is included in the beginning of a change initiative and then included throughout the whole change effort.