Organisational Development Competencies

By Sonia McDonald Recently a colleague and I were discussing the competencies, traits and key skills that Organisational Development Practitioners need in todays worldBig question! It is exciting to see Organisational Development taking up its vital role within the organisation and system, but does the CEO or Human Resources for that matter know what OD is really about? So I decided to put the answer out there to my network. I would have to say, an interesting topic and one will simliar answers.

Persistence Enthusiasm Patience Consistency Integrity/Honesty Good listener/communicator Strong leadership/coaching skills

Yes agree with another colleague of mine in relation to the above similar to leadership qualities? A must have is Integrity but I think this is an innate quality. Then we have;

Organisational Awareness & understanding of own organisation Marketing OD Change Management Project Management Consulting Skills Managing Service Level Agreements Analysing & evaluating metrics & data Advanced Facilitation Skills Interpersonal skills

I for one love my role in the OD space, I am always learning and improving my strengths, competencies and skills in this arena, but how do we truly take up our role in organisational development and ultimately partner with the CEO and Human Resources? One colleague mentioned that we need to be holistic in our role as well as have an understanding of our stakeholders and their capability. I agree. If you are interested in more information in this area I have attached a great piece of information on this subject.

FOLLOWING ARE THE ESSENTIAL COMPETENCIES FOR AN O/D FACILITATOR (WORLEY): SELFMASTERY. BEING COMFORTABLE WITH AMBIGUITY. MANAGING TRANSITIONS AND INSTITUTIONALIZATION. PARTICIPATIVE, CREATE GOOD IMPLEMENTATION PLAN. PARTICIPATIVE, CREATE GOOD IMPLEMENTATION PLAN. MANAGING SEPARATION. MANAGING CLIENT OWNERSHIP OF CHANGE. SETTING CONDITIONS OF POSITIVE CHANGE. USING DATA TO ADJUST CHANGE. ABILITY TO WORK WITH LARGE SYSTEMS. STAYING CURRENT WITH TECHNOLOGY. ABILITY TO EVALUATE CHANGE. ABILITY TO EVALUATE CHANGE ABILITY TO CLARIFY DATA NEEDS. UNDERSTAND RESEARCH METHODS. BEING AVAILABLE TO LISTEN TO MULTIPLE STAKEHOLDERS. BUILDING REALISTIC RELATIONSHIPS. ABILITY TO WORK WITH AND MANAGE DIVERSITY. ABILITY TO CLARIFY ROLES. ABILITY TO WORK WITH POWER. ABILITY TO KEEP AN OPEN MIND.

 ABILITY TO SEE WHOLE PICTURE. ABILITY TO INTEGRATE THEORY AND PRACTICE. ABILITY TO FOCUS ON RELEVANCE AND FLEXIBILITY. CLARIFYING OUTCOMES. IMPLIED IN THE ABOVE LIST ARE: SELF AWARENESS. CONSULTING PROCESS MANAGEMENT COMPETENCIES. ABILITY TO DIAGNOSE AND UNDERSTAND THE SYSTEM, DESIGN AND EXECUTE NTERVENTIONS, AND WORK WITH LARGE SYSTEMS. ABILITY TO TRANSFER KNOWLEDGE TO CLIENT. ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS IN ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR, MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION THEORY AND SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS IN O/D. INTERPERSONAL SKILLS. SYSTEMS THINKING RELATED COMPETENCIES. INTEGRATING, BALANCING AND APPLYING THEORY AND PRACTICE.