Organizational Development Jobs

Different companies have different organizational development models. Some look at it as development of their human capital while others focus on business initiatives and process improvements. Organizational development is a continuous, structured process to effect positive changes in an organization with the ultimate objective of improving organization health and effectiveness.

There is a wide range of jobs in organizational development in the United States and Canada. It spans from organizational development specialists, OD managers, OD developers, OD consultants to OD directors. Job opportunities in organizational development are available in corporations and management consultancy firms.

Organizational development jobs usually deal with policies, procedures and management initiatives relating to organizational enhancement. It also involves business operating systems, reporting relationships and work processes. In many companies, organizational development goes hand-in-hand with training and employee development, thus the organizational development effort is the responsibility of the human resources department.

Organizational developers are employed by companies or independent consultancy firms. They study the organization's current systems and procedures, identify areas of weaknesses and develop plans and strategies for improvement. They are also called organizational development or management consultants. Entry level organizational development jobs usually start with the roles of HR generalists, handling either compensation, recruitment or training. As the person progresses, he or she will assume more specific responsibilities.

The salaries for organizational development jobs in the United States and Canada vary, depending on the company and its location as well as the experience and credentials of the candidate. A typical organizational development manager in the United States earns an average of USD 98,000. More senior positions such as vice presidents and directors command annual salaries as high as USD 180,000.

The expected average salary for organizational development consultants and organizational developers is USD 80,000 while organizational development analysts and specialists earn USD 40,000 to USD 60,000. Entry level positions in organizational development typically start off with USD 25,000 to USD 30,000.