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.
Under the umbrella of Organizational Development Jobs come several specific developmental jobs in various fields, the end result however would be just one developing the Organization. Not all of them can be handled by one person unless it is a small organization where one cannot afford to employ people per specific development. Most Companies have a vacancy for an O&M Manager (Organisation and Methods) who is a kind of a jack of all trades but master of none in that he depends on all those 'Masters' in the Organisation but effectively comes out with plans that suggest improvements to develop an Organiosation on all fronts.
There is the human resource development, product development, systems and methods development covering the entire gamut of activity, Each Department be it finance, production, research, training, all of these are in the perpetual process of development and the Organizational Development Managers need to be on the look out for methods on how there could be improvement in the performance of these Departments resulting in the development of the Organization as a whole.
Some companies engage the services of an Organizational Development Consultant on a project basis using the hire and fire concept. There is a contract signed between the Consultant and the Organisation and this Consultant is given a free hand to get into the nitty gritty of the Organisation and within the time frame allotted the Consultant has to submit a report on how best the Organization could work for better results. There are different Consultants for different areas but at the same time there are Consultants who are capable of looking at the Organization as a whole.
The HRD Human Resource Development however always gets individual attention and this is a specialized job and only those who are equipped with at least an MBA could venture into taking on the responsibility. It involves recommending the appointment of the right kind of people for the right kind of job, watching their progress if necessary give them the pink slip, organize on the job training programmes, some times organized by the Training Department that is within the organisatin or invite outside consultants.
The various aspects of a Company require that the Organizational Development Managers need to be qualified in the discipline where they are required to work over and above a degree in Business Management will go a long way in strengthening their ability to handle the job effectively. Attending regular training courses would form part of the learning process.
To be able to effectively and efficiently handle the job of Organizational Development Manager, one needs to have a university degree in the appropriate discipline and a degree in Business Management. Any company would prefer someone with adequate experience and a track record of having delivered results. The Manager needs to have excellent organizational and co-ordination skills, should be result oriented, a good planner, have good interpersonal communication skills, have an analytical mind, able to keep to deadlines with strong time management capability, have good knowledge of the English language.
The salary offered in the United States ranges from $ 80,00o to 180,000 depending on the size of the Organization, the situation of the Company. Different States offer different perks. These are for those in senior positions. . For those starting their career in this line start off normally on a salary of around USD 25,000 to 30,000. Most of these jobs as one can see are in an advisory capacity as the decision to implement the suggestions made by the Organizational Development Manager rest with the Department concerned and to that extent the Organizational Development Manager may or may not get job satisfaction.