What is Practitioner of Change™?
The Practitioner of Change™ (POC™) process is an extended learning process specifically
focused on developing organization development and change competency in your organization.
Three primary elements form the foundation of the learning journey: a 360° Feedback Process,
15 learning days comprised of 5 Core Sessions of 3 days each, and an Applied Learning Project.
Since its inception in 1993, POC™ has continued to evolve in order to build critical skills of
HR practitioners that support organizations as they continue to transition HR functions into business
partnering and strategy-setting roles. We now have more than 400 POC™ graduates, from 25 different
organizations in Canada, the U.S., Europe and Australia.
Why Practitioner of Change™?
The Practitioner of Change™ process is designed to: - Meet the increasing demand for organizations to align their HR functions with their business needs and priorities, and
- Meet the demand for HR professionals to have and use strong business skills inside their organization and to partner
with their business clients.
POC™ is a comprehensive, transformational and practical approach to developing critical competencies for in-house practitioners and consultants. Participants are exposed to a wide variety of models, practices and applications to help them become a top performing contributor and ultimately, to strengthen their organization.
POC™ Vision, Purpose and Goals
The vision of POC is to repeatedly deliver “a
learning journey…beyond the words”. So far,
we’ve been successful in continuously doing this.
The Practitioner of Change is intended to be transformational;
to strengthen you as a practitioner and to strengthen
your organization. Competing from the inside out…building
the organization capability required within organization
walls so that you don’t have to seek these skills
and competencies externally.
The Practitioner of Change™ purpose is to build
your internal consulting, partnering and organization
skills. It is not just about learning how to develop
your organizations or about guiding change--it’s
about YOU, and your presence as a practitioner. It’s
about what you know and what you do that ultimately
results in your ability to consult in a meaningful way
in organizations.
-
Create significant internal capability in individuals
and their organizations through deep, practical learning.
- Bring integrated, strategic learning into the
workplace that increases individual and organizational
effectiveness by designing and leading a community-based,
extended, learning process.
- Build depth in the individual and collective
knowledge and application of organization development
and improvement practices through a community based,
extended learning process.
The Practitioner of Change™ is an integrated approach
to learning that weaves theory and practice right into
the learning community. As part of a learning community,
participants commit to actively engaging in all core
and workshop sessions. The successful participant must
complete all pre-work for sessions, plan and carry out
an individual learning project of his/her choice and
contribute to the design and implementation of an action
learning group change project.
POC™ develops you as a value-added business partner
able to influence and respond to the ongoing needs in
organizations of today.
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POC™ Development Outcomes
and Metrics
There are many intended outcomes achieved by investing
in building Practitioners of Change™ in your organization.
These include:
- Significant measurable internal development
of organizational capability through the development
of individuals.
- Practitioners who are competent and confident
in their own ability to work as organization developers
and business partners to influence business outcomes.
- Demonstrated practitioner tools, techniques,
processes and materials to be able to design and respond
to the diverse needs of client groups; to consult internally
in a way that makes a difference and to influence business
success.
- Development of a community of practitioners
with shared mindset, mutual accountability and capacity
for collaboration.
We use hard and soft metrics. The Practitioner of Change™
learning design is based on an extensive competency
framework. Participants complete a comprehensive Competency
Self-Assessment prior to the learning journey. Upon
completion, they complete an After Self-assessment,
and are invited to solicit feedback and input from others.
We measure:
- Pre and post competency shifts (individual and
consolidated by organization) by individual, learning
group and through 360° feedback.
- Action learning team project metrics are developed
and reviewed throughout the process.
- Comprehensive workshop feedback is gathered
and consolidated electronically after each core session.
- Participant and client anecdotal feedback is
tracked.
In our most current POC™ community, the project
manager’s goal was to recoup the learning costs
through the work of the action learning teams. In the
project managers own words “we wildly exceeded
our expectations and with the consulting dollars saved
as a result of the work completed by the action learning
teams, we not only covered the costs of POC™ 1,
we have enough to sponsor a second POC™ community”.
We work with sponsoring clients to ensure the work of
the action learning teams is relevant and successful.
We believe learning happens through success.
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POC™ Process Overview
The Practitioner of Change™ is an integrated
approach to learning that weaves theory and practice
right into the learning community. As part of a learning
community, participants commit to actively engaging
in all core and workshop sessions. The successful participant
must complete all pre-work for sessions, participate
in all core sessions, demonstrate and document application
of the learning and contribute to the design and implementation
of a learning group change project.
One time registration fees cover all session delivery
which includes at least two senior consultants, comprehensive
workbook materials and practitioner guides. All core
sessions are held in an off-site facility. Travel and
residential costs are the responsibility of the participant
or sponsoring organization and are negotiated by Converge.
All attempts are made to keep residential costs as reasonable
as possible.
Four primary elements form the foundation of the learning
journey:
360° Feedback Process
The Practitioner of Change™ process is built
upon a comprehensive competency model which is reflected
in a 360° feedback process. There are three levels
of input: self, feedback from learning group members,
and from clients and co-workers.
Core Session Pre-Work
Upon registration, each participant will receive a registration
and pre-work package that includes selected pre-reading
and questions to complete prior to the program launch.
Each core session is supported with pre-reading, extensive
workshop materials, application guides and in-session
application.
Core Sessions
The learning journey is comprised of fifteen days total
(5 core three-day sessions), held off-site, in a residential
setting every six to eight weeks. All learning sessions
consist of pre-reading and pre-work, experiential learning
and group and community development application. The
core sessions are designed for adults and combine theory
with practice, knowledge with skill building and themselves,
become learning labs. Concepts and theories are tested
throughout the development of the learning community.
As such, the design is intricately integrated, with
each core session building off the last. As a learning
lab, participants have a first hand opportunity to examine
and explore organizational dynamic as they are learning
about them as concepts.
Applied Learning Project
The POC™ process is grounded in action learning
and application and participants are required to work
on a change project as part of their learning group.
As well, individuals are required to write up an individual
application of their learning.
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POC™ Process Leadership
Shelley McLean, an M.Sc.O.D. graduate of Pepperdine
University designed and delivered the pilot Practitioner
of Change™ process in 1993 for a major client
she was working with. Since then she has led close to
twenty practitioner communities and has customized the
application in many ways for in-house delivery to client
organizations. She is a founding partner of the CONVERGE
Consulting Group, a full service management consulting
firm with head offices in Calgary, Alberta, CANADA …
dedicated to bringing purpose, people and performance
together. We are experts in the development of internal
organization capability and offer a wide variety of
consulting services. Visit our website at www.converge-group.com
to learn more about the areas of competency and experience.
While her passion and dedication to the Practitioner
of Change™ process is immeasurable, her ongoing
consulting practice keeps her current and knowledgeable
in what practitioners must have demonstrated competence
in to be successful as internal business partners. As
a result of her experience, Shelley is able to provide
on-going coaching to participants, helping them pragmatically
strengthen their skills as well as use them within their
organizational settings. She invites participants to
bring real situations into the learning process as a
way of connecting the learning to their organizational
roles.
POC™ success is a testament to true collaboration
however. Shelley has a wide circle of associates who
are actively involved with the Practitioner of Change™,
and who play an co-facilitating role with her throughout
the learning process. Practitioner of Change™
associates co-lead core sessions and are both familiar
with and committed to the overall learning process.
Together with and supported by her business partners
they have customized the application for in-house delivery
to client organizations. Process leaders fulfill a critical
and ongoing role in the integration of design and process
concepts for the entire learning journey. They lead
and/or collaborate in the delivery of all core sessions
and have accountability for linking theories and models
to the practical application of concepts. As well, they
provide ongoing consulting support to the learning community
itself.
Associates are actively involved with the POC delivery
process and play an integrating role with the process
leader at key points throughout the learning process.
They have extensive practical working experience combined
with strong academics and knowledge of organization
development. Working with organizations undergoing change
in North America and internationally, associates bring
in-depth and applied internal and external experience
to the learning process. Practitioner of Change™
associates co-lead core sessions or workshops and are
both familiar with and committed to the overall learning
process. Associate leaders include:
Nancy Brown-Johnston TripleWin, Tennessee
Wynne Chisholm, Chisholm & Associates , Calgary
Beth Craig, Craig Communications , California
Robert Gerst, Converge Consulting Group, Calgary
Dale Lake, Human Performance Systems , Colorado
Shaun Murphy, Murphy/Klatt , Calgary/Halifax
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