June 27, 2014

Greetings All—

I'll be posting on this forum in the coming weeks about the practicum I'm completing for credit as part of my M.S. in I/O Psychology at the University of Baltimore. I'm working this summer as a graduate intern in Organization Development (OD) at T. Rowe Price, an investment management firm headquartered in Baltimore. Some of you already know my background, but for those who don’t, I worked for a decade in finance before I returned to graduate school and have an interest in remaining in financial services post-degree in an organizational effectiveness capacity. The opportunity at T. Rowe offered a nice fit for my professional and academic interests. 

T. Rowe Price (TRP) is global investment services firm that offers asset management and investment planning for both institutions and individuals. As of March of 2014, T. Rowe Price had $711.4 billion in assets under management. The OD group at T. Rowe Price serves a number of enterprise-wide functions: Organizational Change Management, Organizational Design/Redesign, Team Development, Organizational Assessment, Capability Building, and Organizational Culture initiatives.

I am involved in a number of projects this summer, but for the purposes of these postings, I’ll focus on the most comprehensive (which I think is also the most interesting). The project involves the divesting of an operational unit of the firm to a competitor. Approximately 300 employees will be moving to a new firm as part of the agreement. With the assistance of a Big 5 consulting firm, the OD department is handling the human resource element of the organizational transformation. A number of relevant I/O matters are involved, listed below are just a few:

•             Selection: devising a selection protocol and tool. As noted, approximately 300 employees will be switching firms. What are the relevant KSAs that necessitate staying at TRP or moving to the partner firm and how are those KSAs tracked and utilized?

•             Organization Design: what will TRPs organization look like post “lift-out?” What are the reporting relationships? What units will retain certain responsibilities? What units will accrue new responsibilities?
•             Engagement: what measures can the project team implement to maintain levels of worker engagement as the transformation unfolds? Given the prospect of job change, clearly stress is high for many of the employees.

Broadly speaking, the project detailed above can be classified as “change management”—a buzzword overused in management and I/O literature today in my opinion. Silly names aside, it’s been reassuring to see so much of the curriculum at UB utilized in practice, even if not explicitly named. I've employed elements of Personnel Psychology, Personnel Assessment, Organizational Psychology, Employment Law, and Job Analysis every day in this role. 

As I noted, I’ll be posting here as the summer rolls on. Unfortunately, I can’t remove any names from the list, so feel free to delete immediately if I start clogging your inbox.

Thanks again,

Jake Hunter

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