Organization development is the most misunderstanding term of management. Some people think that OD is human development process or HRD, and other people looks OD as change management toolbox. The misunderstanding makes both OD consultant and leader at lost and confuse.
From inception, OD is different from HRM and HRD. All HRM subject stresses management aspect of the discipline, which is compensation and performance management. As OD merge from change management, it separate itself from HRM and change management project for three intrinsic nature.
The first is long term. OD emphasize long-term change effort. It is not a “quick-fix” strategy for solving short-term performance issues, as employee training is often inappropriately perceived to be. Many managers are becoming acutely aware of the need to move beyond quick, unworkable solutions to complex organizational problems. Organization development is a means to bring about complex, deep, and lasting change.
The second is OD emphasizes employee participation in assessing the current and a positive future state, making free and collaborative choices on how implementation should proceed, and empowering the system to take responsibility for achieving and evaluating results. In this sense, OD differs from other methods that hold managers or consultants responsible for the success or failure of a change effort. The entire system is accountable rather than just management.
The third is OD emphasizes employee participation in assessing the current and a positive future state, making free and collaborative choices on how implementation should proceed, and empowering the system to take responsibility for achieving and evaluating results. In this sense OD differs from other methods that hold managers or consultants responsible for the success or failure of a change effort. The entire system is accountable rather than just management.
When we get clear idea what OD is, we can then move forward to use OD ideology to persuade our client adapt OD method to change whole system and makes organization more aliment and more flexible.