Generalists in Modern Organizations: Theoretical Review

Ruslan Kutuev: "Twoyears on the programme "Psychology in Business"- these were very cool two years. Interactive lessons, a lot of practice, new knowledge and skills. During two years I managed to work in consulting, a training center, and now I work at the Institute of Practical Psychology. If I had the opportunity to return to the past, I would have entered the program again! My classmates. Thanks to the program for this unique "mix" of former bachelors and professionals already held in their fields. It was cool! It was funny and provocatively! And most important -- we learned from each other and became better. I hope that we will meet again, colleagues!"

Oksana Klimacheva: "Perhaps, the choice of the master's programme "Psychology in Business" for continuing studies was one of the most faithful. The bachelor's degree in Marketing gave a general idea of how the market for advertising, marketing and PR works, who plays what rules and how much it costs. I always wondered how companies are becoming great and brands are gaining millions of fans. But, unfortunately, the realities are such that you won't start reading the book from the end, and building a house from the roof - you need a solid foundation of knowledge to form an organization as a business tool, and to study consumer behavior for its successful existence. The programme "Psychology in Business" was a discovery for me -- it can be said that in two years of training I improved all my indicators both personally and professionally. The development of leadership qualities and the creation of a motivational core help to competently build positive relationships with others, which ultimately leads to your success and the success of the projects you are involved in."

Sofia Paramonova: "When I just finished my undergraduate studies, I entered the first place of work only because I graduated from the psychology department of HSE, and because I decided to continue my studies at the master level. Of course, HSE is a brand. And not without reason: it was incredibly interesting to learn, but the intense rhythm of learning helps to adapt to the business world!

The program "Psychology in Business" implements an integrated approach to learning. It provides a range of diverse psychology practices in business. This allows us not to focus exclusively on the HR sphere, but also on the psychology in advertising, organizational behavior and development, advisory psychology and coaching. The result is a unique professional, guided in a wide range of professional tasks and owning practical tools. This is much more valuable than narrow specialization.

What does business psychology mean to me? When I started to study at the master programme and work, for me HR was a business psychology. Now for me it is marketing, and coaching, and psychological counseling, and much more. A business psychologist is such a unique professional who works for the benefit of the organization and people, knows how to organize work so as to get the best result. A business psychologist is a solid foundation in the form of fundamental science and flexibility in the use of tools. It is interesting that I would answer another five years later?"

Tatyana Belyaeva: "I have been working in the banking sector for over 10 years, 7 of which are engaged in training, development of employees and teams, launch and implementation of projects in the field of intangible motivation, talent management and improving business efficiency. While working in international banks, of course, I myself went through many courses, trainings, various training events, but for me it was extremely important to get the highest specialized education. The competitive environment, digital transformation, accelerated pace in all areas only increase the demand for escorting individuals, teams, organizations by professional psychologists, while there is a shortage and demand for professional business psychologists with a systemic, deep and complex education.

How happy I am that I made a choice in favor of the Business Psychology two years ago, all modern, practice-oriented approaches, disciplines and tools -- coaching, marketing, facilitation, business consulting and psychological counseling are all intertwined in a single pattern of professional competencies of a business psychologist. It was here that I found that what is really important when working in the business unit is an integrated approach, world-class advanced tools and practices with the simultaneous ease of delivering information. A kaleidoscope of various forms of training - lectures and master classes, coach sessions and trainings, project teams and individual studies, support groups and consulting, international internships and conferences (I studied in London, fellow students went to Italy, Canada, it all depends on the field interests and goals and priorities). The programme includes training people from completely different fields, which allows you to broaden your horizons, learn a different view of familiar processes, and also solve "work and personal cases" right during the training process. Teachers of the programme are a separate huge advantage -- the best experts and practitioners in our country, always in touch, always open, always ready to give feedback to help, support, share experience! I'm sure that the more professional "bankers" choose to study on the programme, the more efficient and harmonious the business community will develop, because people always do business!"

Conclusion

The analysis shows that in modern organizations there is a tendency to increase interest in the role of generalists, their approach, relevance, career, education. This term applies to a wide range of professions, such as managers at various levels, consultants, business psychologists, business trainers, HR managers, etc. The cases considered in this article allow us to present a number of the most important qualities of generalists, such as a broad outlook, systemic education, the ability to perform a set of work, and a focus on development. At the same time, we can distinguish at least three slightly different types of professionals in the organization who are referred to as generalists.

Professionals who work within the same unit have clear functional responsibilities. They are invited to work by management to optimize the personnel issue in the company and in the hope of improving the quality of management. Professionals who, due to their job responsibilities, must solve a large number of diverse tasks and interact with very different culturally and socio-economic people. Professionals who work in different departments of the same organization or in different organizations at the same time. They must assess the possibilities and prospects of their development, take the necessary managerial steps and economic calculations of the feasibility of the efforts made.

In the analyzed cases, the role of ethical norms, values, communication competencies and the ability to self-determination in the activities of the generalist was revealed. We can note that the attitude of society towards professionals is changing, at least in the humanitarian sphere. The values of deep knowledge and specialization are being replaced by values of broad horizons, adaptability, the ability to see and solve complex problems. It is possible that this reflects the economic side of situations in which both people and organizations find themselves. It is necessary to be in demand in the market of professions, services, goods, to be able to show oneself from the side demanded in society. We would call it the “marginalization of professions”, i.e. transition to the forefront of the demand for demand for professionals and willingness to acquire the results of their work.

Perhaps the growing trend in interest for generalists reflects the attitude of society towards the quality of knowledge and action. We can assume that the range of professions is narrowing, where experts are required to have very deep knowledge of the subject of their work and the ability to perform actions at a high level, apparently, is narrowing. In the dynamic conditions of the modern world, many such professions quickly die off or become so technologically advanced when all the actions are clearly stated in the manuals and, if desired, easily mastered in training, so that laypeople can easily claim them. It is also possible that this indicates a decrease in the criticality threshold for specific actions on the part of clients and customers, but an increase in the requirements for a wide range of implemented projects in the organization.

The interest in generalists also demonstrates the instability of concepts and rules on which many processes in organizations are based. If in the “era of specialists” organizations showed a tendency to follow clear definitions and rules, then in the “era of generalists” these definitions and rules are formulated in project groups and teams and are subject to examination by similar groups and teams. In the sphere of the analysis, we can say that the professional paradigm is changing in the direction not of opposing specialists to the generalists, but of finding a possible combination of the merits of both in the activities of a particular person or work teams. So far, we have identified at least two ways of forming such professionals. The first was framed in the case of the training of public managers, in which, based on the basic training of the generalists, subsequent specialization takes place in a narrower area. The second was presented in the training of business psychologists, when people who have received special knowledge in certain areas receive training of generalists who are able to see and solve complex problems and change the path of their professional development in changing situations.

In conclusion, we note that there is a need to build a systematic concept for the professional development of generalists, which will allow, on the one hand, to create a professional environment in the society for carrying out the planned innovations, and, on the other hand, to conduct these innovations without prejudice to the basic foundations of human life. It is possible that the interest in generalists observed today in organizations testifies the second Renaissance. It was during the Renaissance that the most vivid personalities that went down in history, such as Leonardo Da Vinci, were generalists, in our understanding. Maybe we are already experiencing this period or it is only approaching. But what will be the result of this revival depends on those concepts of professionalization that will occupy leading positions in society.

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