| Kalman M. Heller, Ph.D. BOPN Liaison |
The Business of Practice Network (BOPN)
The Practice Directorate of APA, which oversees and funds many activities designed to enhance the status of the psychologist practitioner, created a new organization in 1995. It is called “The Business of Practice Network” (BOPN). The organization was slow to evolve due to a series of leadership changes and some struggles to develop a clear mission. Each state and several APA Divisions have a representative. In 1998, I was appointed as the liaison from Division 42 and was re-appointed in 1999. (I had been the Massachusetts’ representative from 1995-1997.) This past March we had our semi-annual meeting in Washington, D.C. For the first time it was a part of the Annual State Leadership Conference. It was an excellent, vitalizing experience. There was a strong sense among the delegates that we were finally gaining focus and momentum and could begin to have an impact. The remainder of this report will explain BOPN’s Mission, summarize the March meeting, and offer ideas about how to contribute to a process that can strengthen the perception of psychology as a provider of services to be valued by the business community. BOPN focuses on the workplace. We need to learn how psychologists can collaborate with the business community in ways that will improve their profitability. We want to educate the corporate world about the value we can add. This is especially important in regard to the role of corporations as health care purchasers and the need to convince them that mental health benefits should be a higher priority. Then, we want to educate psychologists about the opportunities this offers to them in terms of services to be provided. Our featured guest speaker was David Forman, the Vice President for Professional and Business Development, Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM). SHRM is the largest of the national organizations of human resource professionals. He described changes taking place in the human resource field that are requiring HR professionals to become more focused on business and financial accountability. These changes are creating anxiety for HR staff and offer an opportunity for psychologists to partner with HR staff to assist them in achieving business goals. He suggested meeting with HR staff and asking how we can be of help. One way to do this is to contact a local chapter of SHRM (there are 450), attend a meeting, network, and possibly offer to do a presentation. You can find out more about SHRM and identify your local chapter by going to their website, www.shrm.org. Current issues of concern include workplace violence, workplace stress (and its causal role in sharply rising disability claims), sexual harassment, performance enhancement, staff morale, retention of staff, and staff wellness. You can see from this list that there is much for psychologists to offer. Mr. Forman recommended two books by David Ulrich, “Organization Capability” and “Human Resource Champions,” that would help psychologists understand the language and issues of the business world. He also recommended becoming regular readers of one of the major business magazines as well as the Wall Street Journal. Psychology has spent a lot of energy trying to demonstrate medical cost offset as a way to obtain support from the business community. However, the message we received is that this is not the most effective path to be taking. One reason is that the benefits are often not seen for years and corporations are focused on short-term profits. We have been more comfortable, as health care providers, to focus on a health care issue. Instead, we need to focus on the primary concerns of the business community. I mentioned earlier the skyrocketing costs of stress-related disability. This is a major issue. Retention and performance enhancement are also critical issues. Keeping employees and improving productivity result in significant savings for companies. Mr. Forman reminded us that the majority of businesses are small, less than 100 employees, and their concerns are different from large corporations. They are more often in a survival mode and are less aware of how psychology and mental health issues may be important to that survival. On the other hand, retention and lost productivity are even more critical. A way to access smaller businesses is through your local Chambers of Commerce. Join, attend some meetings, network, and find a way to be helpful. Our March meeting ended with the setting of goals for each of the BOPN representatives. We were to write a report of the meeting for the State or Division represented, join the local Chamber of Commerce (if not already done), and do one project related to the goals of BOPN before the August Convention meeting. My goal is to meet with 1-2 Benefits Managers to better understand the process by which health care benefits purchase decisions are made and to explore awareness/interest in mental health benefit issues. We were also encouraged to use the BOPN list.serv to keep everyone informed. What can Division 42 and its members do to help achieve the goals of BOPN? Actually we are already taking some valuable steps by offering convention workshops on the role of psychologists in the business community. But we need to do more. Members who have knowledge about the world of business (e.g., Industrial/Organizational psychologists, consulting psychologists) should be enlisted to educate others with an interest in learning the language and the issues. We can promote this through articles in The Independent Practitioner and by creating a list of potential mentors who would be willing to serve as resources to our membership. We should be building relationships with benefits managers, HR executives, Employee Assistance Programs, CEOs of smaller companies, and insurance brokers who sell benefits packages to smaller businesses. We should work with local business schools as a way to learn and to create linkage to the business world. We need to gather data that demonstrates how the services of psychologists can have a positive impact on the bottom line of businesses. We need to package that data into presentation format and create a road show to educate the decision-makers that determine mental health benefits for their employees. If we can achieve all this, we can help make the workplace a healthier environment for employees, increase opportunities for psychologists to make a good living, and influence an increase in mental health benefits that creates better working conditions for those committed to clinical practice. Kalman M. Heller, Ph.D. is the Division 42 representative to the Practice Directorate’s Business of Practice Network and is the Co-coordinator of Marketing, along with Dr. Laurie Kolt, for The Brochure Project. Dr. Heller is the author of Strategic Marketing: How To Achieve Independence and Prosperity In Your Mental Health Practice. Address: 992 Great Plain Avenue, Needham, MA 02492; phone (781) 444-3450; FAX (781) 449-3134; E-mail: KHeller714@aol.com; web site: www.drheller.com. |
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