The Organisational

development practitioner

The organisation
development practitioner

• Internal and external consultants

• Professionals from other disciplines who
apply OD practices (e.g. TQM
managers, IT/IS managers,
compensation and benefits managers)
• Managers and administrators who apply
OD from their line or staff positions

Consultant styles
HIGH
Cheerleader Pathfinder
Emphasis on morale

Persuader

Stabiliser Analyser

LOW

LOW HIGH

Emphasis on effectiveness

1
 Core and advanced skills
• General consultation skills
• Intrapersonal skills
• Research and evaluation knowledge and
skills/research design
• Data collection
• Organisation behaviour/organisation
development knowledge and intervention skills
• Data analysis
• Presentation skills
• Experience as a line manager/major
management knowledge areas
• Interpersonal skills
• Collateral knowledge areas

Basic knowledge and skills

• Intrapersonal skills
– Self- awareness
• Interpersonal skills
– Ability to work with others and groups
• General consultation skills
– Ability to get skills and knowledge used
• Organisation development theory
– Knowledge of change processes

The role of OD
professionals
• Position
– Internal vs. external
• Marginality
– Ability to straddle boundaries
• Emotional demands
– Emotional intelligence
• Use of knowledge and experience

2
 Internal change agents
(advantages)
• They can save time identifying and
understanding organisational problems
• They have intimate knowledge of the
organisation and its dynamics
• They know their organisation’s culture,
informal practices and sources of power
• They have access to a variety of information,
including rumours, company reports and direct
observations
• They are usually more easily accepted
• They are less threatening than outsiders
• They can more easily establish rapport and
trust

External change agents

(advantages)
• Can provide particular expertise that is
unavailable internally
• Bring a different and potentially more
objective perspective into the
organisation development process
• Their ability to probe difficult issues and
to question the status quo
• They are also afforded some deference
and power

External change agents

(disadvantages)
• Need extra time to enter the organisation and
to gain a working knowledge of it
• Organisational members may be wary of
outsiders
• They may also be viewed negatively because
they are seen as having relatively little
invested in the organisation
• Members believe that if problems arise, the
external consultants can simply walk away
with little negative consequence

3
 Internal change agents
(disadvantages)
• Loss of objectivity because of their
strong ties to the organisation
• They may be overly cautious,
particularly when powerful others can
affect their careers
• They may lack certain skills and
experience in facilitating organisational
change

Client vs. consultant

knowledge
Use of consultant’s Plans implementation
knowledge and
experience Recommends/prescribes

Proposes criteria

Feeds back data

Probes and gathers data

Clarifies and interprets

Listens and reflects

Use of client’s
knowledge and Refuses to become
experience involved

Professional ethics
• Ethical guidelines
• Ethical dilemmas
– Misrepresentation
– Misuse of data
– Coercion
– Value and goal conflict
– Technical ineptitude

4
 A model of ethical dilemmas
Antecedents Process Consequences

Role of
the Role episode Ethical dilemmas
change
agent • Misrepresentation
Values • Role conflict
• Misuse of data
Goals • Role ambiguity
• Coercion
Needs • Value and goal
Abilities conflict
Role of • Technical
the ineptitude
client
system

Kindred Todd and the ethics of OD

• 1. What ethical guidelines did the

President Larry Stepchuck violate? (see
Appendix, pages 66-70)
• 2. If you were in Todd’s place how
would you react to such a situation?
• 3. Identify a work situation in which
you were faced with a similar moral
dilemma.