About Organization Development
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What is OD? What are the Values of OD? What do OD practitioners do? Why is OD Important?Organizations are increasingly challenged by change. The world is moving faster and faster. Competitive pressures are becoming more and more demanding. Rapid technological change and the globalizing economy both confuse us and open new doors. In the midst of this, employees seek more satisfaction and meaning from their work lives, and more balance in their lives as a whole. Whether the organizations are private, public or non-profit, they must adapt to this new world if they are to survive and thrive. They need to become more nimble, more customer-driven, more innovative, more effective. They need to attract and retain competent and committed employees. This will require more flexible organizational structures, new types of leadership, and new ways of managing. OD can help organizations navigate this difficult terrain. |
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What is OD?Let’s start with a definition:
This definition has several key elements.
Another good definition of OD comes from Organizational Behavior (Robbins, S.P., 1998. Organizational Behavior. Prentice Hall.) "A collection of planned change interventions, built on humanistic-democratic values, that seeks to improve organizational effectiveness and employee well-being." OD is sometimes thought of as the "soft side" of change as opposed to the hard side of technology or business systems. It is concerned with how people react to change, and how their needs have to be considered if change efforts are to be effective. One of the common issues is to understand and work with the resistance to change that usually occurs in organizations undergoing change. "Change management" is a term that is sometimes used interchangeably with OD. Although OD is considered a distinct field or profession by many, there is not unanimity as to exactly what specific methods or practices comprise the field. And, like most professions, OD is evolving. The field now known as OD began in the 1940s and 1950s with "T-group" or sensitivity training, moved into such practices as survey research and feedback, and action research, and in the 1980’s and 1990’s into quality of work life issues and more strategic and large-scale change efforts. |
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What Are the Values of OD?Values often tell us a lot about someone or something. In the case of OD, there are certain values usually associated with the profession. Since the beginning, OD values have generally been described as humanistic and democratic. They have to do with how people treat each other, and how decisions are made. A key concern is how satisfied employees are in the workplace. Employee participation and collaboration are key concepts associated with OD. More recently OD has also become concerned with productivity and organizational effectiveness. There is more of an explicit focus on business issues and bottom-line results. (This shift has been reinforced by several recent research findings that employee satisfaction has a clear impact on customer satisfaction and therefore on revenue and profits.) |
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What Do OD Practitioners Do?OD practitioners are frequently called upon to address a variety of organizational issues or problems. These might include how to:
In order to address these types of issues, the practitioner might employ a variety of interventions or methods. According to Cummings and Worley, there are four basic categories of OD interventions:
Of course, these are not distinct or exclusive methods and they are often used in conjunction with each other. Following is a representative list of specific services or techniques that might be offered or used by OD practitioners:
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