Organizational Development

Shaping an Organization for Current and Future Challenges

Organizational Development (OD) is the discipline dedicated to working with an organization to identify the key factors affecting overall company performance as well as unit, team and individual performance.

• Strong OD consultants blend a number of disciplines in their work, including management science, process re-engineering, performance management, human resource development, team effectiveness assessment, motivation theory.
• A strong OD consultant works very collaboratively with the client, because he/she doesn't so much bring the answers as he/she brings the knowledge of how to work with people so they can find their own answers.
  
• Key OD competencies include analytical skills, assessment skills, synthesis skills, strong communication skills, ethics, trust-building, management courage (the ability to give bad news).
  
• Common challenges that warrant an OD consultant include; analyzing and redesigning business processes; restructuring a company or a major unit within the company; serious unit and individual performance issues; mergers and acquisitions; entry into a new market niche.

Typical Scenario:

1. A company decides that its going to dramatically alter its marketing strategy, or the basic way it does business (core processes), or it is about to acquire or merge with another company.
2. An OD consultant is brought in to assess the impact of the change on the structure of the organization (i.e. are we organized in the most efficient and productive way), how we manage and incent our people (i.e. our performance management systems), the impact of the change on the culture (i.e. cultural assessment).
3. The consultant works with key executives to assess the various elements of the organization and make recommendations for structural and managerial changes that should be made to accommodate the new organization.
4. OD and change management are closely integrated with one another; i.e. a change management specialist is usually well versed in other OD disciplines, and vice versa.

Methods and Deliverables:

• Cultural assessment
• Process design/redesign
• Organization design (i.e. the basic structure of an organization, including ideal work units, reporting structures).
• Change management strategy
• Communication strategy
• Performance management plan