OBM - the Next Generation by Kelly Therrien and Manny Rodriguez CLG

Overview:
Articles in previous editions of the OBM Network Newsletter describe best practices, key learnings, and recommendations for successful practice in OBM.  Other articles provide recommendations for obtaining careers in OBM, from personal experience, and insights from practitioners.  The authors of this article found many of the sources recommending careers to be aligned with what they found were their skill deficits, when they embarked on the journey to become practitioners post graduate studies.  The authors will share with you 1) their learning from interviews conducted with CLG members on the successful practices and 2) a call to action, based on the interviews and their experiences, to what OBM professionals (both practitioners and researchers) should begin to think through when considering the future of OBM.

Previous Findings:
Within the OBM community, there has been writing on the status of OBM in the public eye (Braksick, 2006; Roman, 2001) and recommendations obtaining careers in OBM (Campilli, Capodanno, & Olson, 2004; Kleinfelt & Sasson, 2003).  With no formal research or validation of the methods recommended by these authors on the outcomes of OBMers using these methods (i.e., number of individuals whom obtained a career in OBM from the methods prescribed), can it be said that we are preparing our OBM students to obtain careers and bring OBM to corporate America?  Some articles have prescribed new innovative ways to train students in OBM to become more applicable to Business today (Abernathy & Harshbarger, 2005), however no data are presented to suggest the need is prevalent or otherwise that businesses are looking for such skill sets.  We assume as OBM practitioners and researchers that the need is great, we know the impact OBM can have in any organization.  However without valid data, are we addressing the right need?

Assuming these methods are valid, then there should be a high rate of graduates from OBM obtaining positions in business settings right?  Due to the fact that such statistics are not readily available, and the experiences the authors have of looking for OBM related work, they became interested in learning what makes a successful practitioner and how the field can better equip students in OBM academia to be “ready” for a career in a business setting. 

Our Learning from Interviewing CLG Members
A series of interviews were conducted with several CLG members to evaluate the competencies that practitioners in the field of OBM have found to be essential to be successful in OBM.  The practitioners were from ABA academic backgrounds (N = 8).

We asked CLG members with ABA backgrounds the following questions:

• When you began your career consulting in OBM, what did you find were your weak points?
• Did you feel ready when you began consulting?
• How did you prepare yourself to be ready and comfortable in a business setting?
• How did you accumulate business knowledge?

• What key areas would you advise students in the field to study to be successful in business?
• What are some factors of success in this field?
• What are some areas you did not learn in your college program that should be included for those in OBM?

The findings concluded a starter set of competencies for OBM practitioners:

• General Business Knowledge
• Management Theory
• Process Engineering
• Understanding of “strategic importance”
• Basics of Economics
• Intro to instructional Design
• Listening Skills
• Facilitation Skills
• Platform Skills (presentation)
• Sales Skills
• Project Management Skills
• Team Work Experience

For more detailed information on our findings, please access the presentation on the OBM Network website (http://www.obmnetwork.com/resources/articles/ABA2006/).

A Call to Action
The findings reinforced the authors’ assumptions that although ABA academia prepares practitioners to understand and apply the behavioral science, there are other pertinent and essential skills to be able to practice, teach others, and become valuable assets within organizations. 

Based on the findings, with the understanding that it is based on a small group of OBMers, the authors would like to make the following recommendations to take action for the vitality of OBM’s future.

1. Poll the Experts - It is time to take a good look at our graduates and the field of OBM – it is time to develop our competencies, gain agreement in the field and work backward to ensure we are giving our students everything they need to be successful, and to find a job!  The survey we did only looked at the perspective of some of CLG’s members.  We are suggesting that professors poll their graduates who are actively involved in OBM related work and learn how their job search went, where did they end up, what was the job description they ended up in, how are they using OBM now, and what have they learned to date from their practical experience?  Following those interviews, an evaluation of the current curriculum across all OBM programs should be reviewed, posing the question “does it match with what our graduates are doing?” And does it match what businesses need?  Are we setting our graduates up for success?
   
2. Embracing and building-in other skills — OBM knowledge sets us apart—we say it can be applied anywhere, but that does not necessarily give us the skills to be in a role in an organization.  By gaining knowledge in other fields (i.e., HR, MIS, ISD, Sales, General Business, Economics) we can supply future OBMers with an artillery of knowledge in the work place.
3. Research in areas of interest to today’s Business Market – CLG has been positioned to support organizations in such areas as Talent Management, effective facilitation of meetings, Leadership Transitions, and Six Sigma implementation.  These areas are underrepresented in the OBM literature.
4. Creating Learning Labs for Students — build platform skills, sales approaches and relationship building in your community (i.e., Societies of Performance Management, Small Business Consulting Firms).  The purpose/goal of the learning labs is to create additional practice in presenting to non-OBMers, not ourseleves.
5. Consulting Skills 101 - Learn and practice basic Consulting Skills (i.e., active listening). (Peter Block’s Flawless Consulting, Cohen’s How to Make it Big as a Consultant)
6. Establish Repertoires in Other Paradigms – There is room for us to utilize other paradigms (Six Sigma, Whole Systems Architecture, Positive Psychology, etc.)
7. Linking Practitioners to Academia - Create more opportunities to bring in practitioners to academia (i.e., Seminars, Workshops, and Webinars).  We have allowed our consequence history to establish only a few links between practitioners and academics (i.e., ABA, FABA-OBM, and the OBM Network).  With the establishment of the OBM Network Google group, we are getting closer to a stronger link.  However, Academics and practitioners share a common interest - to build and foster the future of OBM.

The value OBM brings to organizations is vast in terms of applicability, ease of use, and has helped managers and leaders better reach their bottom line results through behavior.  If we can understand what makes OBM so great from the eyes of our customers, how we are able to apply it to business practically, and how to better prepare our future practitioners, then OBM can reach a bottom line result - higher rates of OBM practitioners in business and a strong presence in the work force.

References:

Abernathy, W. B., & Harsbarger, D. (2006). A proposed new program perspective and curriculum for OBM. Retreived at www.behavior.org/psa on October 26, 2006.

Braksick, L. (2006) “OBM: A View from the Field.” OBM Network News, 20(2)2-5

Campilli, Capodanno, and Olson (2004). Student Paper: A Field Trip to Apple: Career Advice for Undergraduate Students. OBM Network News, Vol. 19, 3, 7-8

Houmanfar, Harrison, and Herbst (2001). OBM Leadership Meeting Summary Report. OBM Network News, Vol. 15, 3, 11-12.

Kleinfelt and Sasson (2003). Getting a Job with an Undergraduate Degree. OBM Network News, Vol 17, 1, 9-10

Loewy and Orizondo (2005). Florida State University’s Performance Management Experience for Undergraduate Students. OBM Network News, Vol 19, 1, 9-11

Rajala (2001). And I thought Grad School was a challenge! My View of Life on the Road. OBM Network News, Vol 15, 1, 7-10

Redmon and Hoberecht (2006). “Consulting in OBM: Thoughts on Successful Practices. OBM Network News, Vol. 20, 1, 4-7

Roman (2001). Aubrey Daniels: On the Future of Performance Management and the Science of Behavior. OBM Network News, Vol 15, 1, 5-6

Bios:

Kelly Therrien is currently employed by CLG as the Consultant Readiness and Delivery Coordinator.  She has trained over 50 new consultants within CLG in the past year to deliver OBM to CLG’s clientele. 

Manny Rodriguez is a Consultant with CLG, currently working with fortune 500 companies on deploying strategic initiatives through the use of Applied Behavior Analysis.

CLG is a behaviorally based consulting firm, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.