So, what is organisational development?

Swanson suggests that organisational development, or OD, can be defined as "a system-wide application of behavioral and social science knowledge (primarily psychological, systems, and economic theories) to the planned development, improvement, and reinforcement of the strategies, structures, and processes that lead to organization performance" (2022, p. 286). 

While this is pretty long-winded, a shorter version is also supplied: "Organization development is a process of systematically unleashing expertise to improve performance at all levels" (p. 286). So OD can be thought of as (a) a continuous, holistic organisational improvement process, and (b) the department for change, and - somewhat tongue in cheek - (c) the hit squad. 

 Two sentences that Swanson outlines clearly shows the 'rock and a hard place' which OD practitioners may find themselves in: "Using OD to get employees to accept unfair and exploitative policies and practices is rarely discussed. Most organization bankruptcy and restructuring efforts rely on sophisticated OD tools to get employee acceptance of downward compensation and benefits while at the same time, upper management often retains and even gains added rewards" (2022, p. 287). The executive bonuses paid during the global banking crisis illustrated the latter point very well. 

 OD focuses on improving organisational effectiveness and efficiency by having: improved strategic alignment; a productive organisational structure; the 'right' people in the 'right' roles; appropriate remuneration; sound measurement and data; and reliable and rigorous management processes (Association for Talent Management, 2023a). Then the OD decisions made need to be grounded in research, tapping into the disciplines of organisational psychology; management (HR, Leadership, OB); social sciences; education (pedagogy); and research methods (Association for Talent Management, 2023a).

In thinking about the job of OD, it is to increase organizational effectiveness and competitive advantage. Organisational outcomes from improvement need to be clear, and - while differing between organisations - usually include "financial performance, customer satisfaction, organizational member engagement, and an increased capacity to adapt and renew the organization" (AIHR, 2023). 

I hope that helps!

Sam

References:

AHIR. (2023). What is Organizational Development? A Complete Guide. Academy to Innovate HR. https://www.aihr.com/blog/organizational-development/

Association for Talent Development. (2023a). What Is Organizational Development?. https://www.td.org/talent-development-glossary-terms/what-is-organization-development

Association for Talent Development. (2023b). OD Strategy [image]. https://d22bbllmj4tvv8.cloudfront.net/23/c8/3a130d734b41a011ae822f4b890c/563492443-organization-development-graphics-r2.jpg

Swanson, R. A. (2022). Chapter 14: Overview of Organization Development. In Foundations of Human Resource Development (pp. 286-305). Berrett-Koehler Publishers.