What does it take to be a “good” Organisational Developer in the HE sector?

What does it taketo be a “good”Organisational Developer in the HE sector? Knowsley 2009

Positioning the OD worker

LGM-081Working definition of Organisational Development “A set of explicit processes carefully planned and implemented to benefit the performance of the organisation as a whole”.

Purpose of the LGM project To help English HEIs become more self-sufficient in: • identifying their own organisational development needs • managing and sustaining an effective response to those needs • recognising and learning from good OD practice elsewhere.

What did we conclude? • In 2007, most English universities believed they were engaged in an OD venture; many were starting to name posts as OD posts • But they were not always quite sure who had responsibility for ensuring the success of their OD ventures • It was not clear how universities identified OD expertise • To bring about systemic change, OD interventions have to be recognised as being about more than process re-design and/or yet another restructure • “Oh no, not Gantt charts” - project management was often seen as a narrowly technical task • The choice of focus for an OD venture was crucial to its success • Several HEIs were starting to invest in finding out what OD approaches actually did work best for them – and were placing more emphasis on participation/engagement of a broad cross section of staff • There were anxieties about the role of HR in connection with OD.

Broad roles of respondents (%)

Primary focus of OD initiatives

Perceived location of internal expertise (50% draw on academics, 95% use professional staff) (Number of mentions of locations of professional staff)

Participation and engagement (Number = number of mentions, more than one per institution; % as a proportion of those currently engaged in OD)

External consultants used for:

Consultants used because:

Sources of external consultants (more than one source could be selected)

Externally-developed diagnostic tools in use (Number = number of mentions, more than one per institution; % as a proportion of those currently engaged in OD)

Universities are: • Multi-cultured • Multi-functional • Apt to behave other than as directed • Resistant to systems solutions • ……..but also highly bureaucratised • “Professionally argumentative” • Long-lasting!

So, in this context OD workers need to have • Sophisticated self-management skills • Capacity to remain articulate in the face of resistance • Resilience to cope with personal challenge • Confidence rooted in modesty • Optimism and staying power in the face of apparent failure

Or in other words…. • Knowledge of and empathy with the context • Highly developed research skills – observation, data collection and analysis • Intellectually authentic (and current) know-how • Capacity to be mobile within the HEI – to have credibility with different constituencies • Capacity to charm/challenge/influence/persuade • Ability to manage upwards/sideways

Is this – “the self as instrument”? …….theory in action Doing diagnosis Selecting suitable interventions Intervening

Consider the importance of: • Situation sensing • observing and understanding a specific context • adjusting behaviours to fit that context • the art of the “authentic chameleon” • and (possibly – and strategically) also personifying for others an alternative way of behaving See Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones: Why should anyone be led by you? Harvard University Press, 2006

OD Values (Roffey Park) The value of OD can be summarised by three words: optimistic, humanistic, and democratic:

What does it take to be a “good” Organisational Developer in the HE sector?