If you’re someone who’s eager to inspire change, have you ever considered a career in organizational development?
As a relatively new field, there is a fantastic opportunity to strike while the iron’s hot. It’s relevance has become more pronounced, during a shifting technological age where businesses must regularly innovate to meet changing consumer demands.
Change is a difficult process, so organizations need help identifying and implementing new strategies. As an organizational developer, you’ll be responsible for helping businesses grow, improve, and sustain change.
There are many organizational development jobs at your disposal, and because it’s a new phenomenon, now is as good a time as any to join an unsaturated job market. Before we delve into career opportunities, let’s start with a definition.
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What is Organizational Development?
Organizational development involves the strategies behind increasing organizational effectiveness, while encouraging organizational change in the process. Multiple disciplines are involved, and the ultimate intention is to make organizations better.
Organizational development assesses cultural values, utilizing employee feedback to implement sustainable, long-term changes.
If this seems appealing, you’ll enjoy the prospect of helping organizations improve, especially when given an opportunity to convert a struggling company.
What is the Main Function of Organizational Development?
To help organizations effectively influence change. This a full time job in itself, especially when you consider the complexity of changing established processes, and encouraging staff to embrace change when their natural instinct is to reject it.
Professionals must identify and assess the change climate and culture, before presenting an organizational strategy.
This will include a diagnosis, action planning, intervention, and evaluation. You’ll look to develop an organizational capability which aligns strategy, structure, people, management processes, and rewards.
When you observe your changes making a real impact, it becomes a very rewarding profession, but you’re probably wondering what organizational development jobs are available?
What Are the Best Organizational Development Jobs?
Organizational Development Practitioner
Sounds impressive right? Though often used interchangeably with organizational development consultant, the job involves helping organizations improve their operations by planning a scope for change.
To succeed in this role, you’ll need to be an expert in organizational development, having studied a relevant qualification.
Organizational Development Specialist
A specialist will evaluate an organization’s current practices, before determining an appropriate course of action to help them progress in their sector.
A specialist will implement strategies that improve teamwork, garnering working relationships that help employees work towards common organizational goals.
You’ll be responsible for improving the organization, and will earn roughly $80,000 on average.
Organizational Development Manager
Working directly with the management team, you’ll be responsible for regularly assessing training programs.
With the insight you gain about how the organization develops its employees, you can work to improve its infrastructure, and the resources available for personal development.
By attempting to implement more effective programs, you can help the organization meet its long-term goals more effectively. Another impressive payout with this job, where you’re looking at around $70,000 or more.
Organizational Development Consultant
This is a remote position, where you can be called out to multiple companies wherever and whenever your services are required.
This offers a level of flexibility unlike the other positions, while creating diversity to maintain a fresh outlook on work.
You’ll be asked to help struggling companies, leveraging theories and practices to the best of your ability. The position pays less than the others mentioned, but is arguably less stressful.
Director or Organizational Development
As one of the top tier positions, you’ll be expected to oversee the entire organizational development department, while implementing employee training programs.
Though you’ll be involved in developing theories too, your main objective is to oversee the entire operation, having gained considerable expertise in the field.
Play your cards right and you could be looking at a $100,000 salary!
How Do You Break Into the Organizational Development Field?
There are varied pathways to reaching a varied field, but one thing you should acknowledge above all else: it won’t be easy.
With hard work and dedication, your perseverance will pay off, providing you’ve obtained a degree in a relevant field.
As an emerging profession, few colleges offer specific organizational development degrees, but by adhering to the following steps, you can successfully begin your organizational development career path:
- Obtain a bachelor’s degree in the behavioral sciences, human resources, or business.
- Find a job in a related field, garnering valuable experience and knowledge on how organizations run.
- Put your ideas into practice, seeking opportunities to address organizational issues.
- With a foundation to build upon, research specialist organizational qualifications, and study a suitable master’s degree in organizational development.
- Continue your pursuit of knowledge, embodying a continuous improvement philosophy where you’re learning all the time.
- Stay on top of the latest business and technology trends.
- Network regularly to discover new opportunities!
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