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Organizational Development Consultant

An Organizational Development Consultant (ODC) is a professional, often with a
managerial background, hired by an organization to evaluate its operations and make
recommendations on areas that need to be improved on (Anderson, 2016). Conditions that may
compel a business organization to hire an ODC include long period of loss-making and general
underperformance of the organization. The work of the ODC, therefore, is to make
recommendations that help the business organization become profitable and return to peak
performance.
Roles and Styles of Organizational Development Consultants
ODC’s offer a wide range of services to organisations that hire them. The services or
roles that they perform include talent management, team development, change management,
business process redesign, and group problem-solving. In their talent management role, ODC’s
help the organization’s management to get a proper assessment of knowledge, experience, and
skills of its employees. This assessment can then be used to assign employees tasks and positions
that they are most suited for.
Their team development role, on the other hand, involves assessing various teams within
the organization, establishing reasons why they do not work well and then recommending
measures to be adopted to help the teams improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their efforts
(Anderson, 2016).
As for their change management role, ODC’s are tasked with reviewing various aspects
of the organization and establishing where changes need to be made, the exact changes to be

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made, and how they are to be implemented. To this end, they usually work with the heads of
various departments and committees to get the true picture of the organization’s situation so that
whatever recommendations that they make are practical (Anderson, 2016).
Their role in business process redesign involves analysis of how the business currently
performs its various tasks. Based on this analysis they may recommend various ways in which
these business processes can be redesigned in order to make them more efficient and effective
(Anderson, 2016).
Lastly, in their group solving role, they study various groups in the organization, collect
important information about them, and then establish causes of their problems. They then
propose plans to help the management address the highlighted problems (Anderson, 2016).
Comparison and Contrast of the Roles and Styles of an ODC
The main role of ODC is to make recommendations that help a business organization
improve its performance. In fulfilling this role, there are a lot of things that they do in the same
manner and there are many others that they do differently. For instance, they all try to build a
positive environment in the organization that fosters healthy relationships among its different
members. They also carry out their tasks mainly through consultations with various stakeholders,
reviewing of reports, and holding meetings (Storey, 2016). Despite these similarities, there many
differences in styles among ODC’s. In general, an ODC can adapt a stabilizer, cheerleader,
persuader, analyzer or pathfinder style.
An ODC who adapts stabilizer role works in a manner that is neither undercover or overt.
By rationally and calmly working with various teams within the organization, ODC’s who adopt
this style seek to ensure that their work does not lead to any disruption in the normal activities of

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the organization. This style is generally preferred for ODC’s working for large organizations or
whose change recommendations may not find favor with a significant number of the
organization’s members (Tosey, 2017).
Cheerleader style, on the other hand, involves a show of exuberance and enthusiasm on
the ODC’s part in the course of their work. The style is suitable for organizations whose
members may need some motivation. The cheerleader’s style, therefore, improves morale of the
members (Tosey, 2017).
As for the analyzer style, the consultant focuses less on the needs of individual members
within the organization and more on the organization’s overall needs. This style is characterized
by the ODC using analytical techniques to work on the organization’s issues and problems
(Tosey, 2017).
The pathfinder style involves working within a team to find problems affecting the
organization. The consultant acts as the leader of the team. Solutions to problems are arrived at
through discussions within the team (Tosey, 2017).
Lastly, the persuader style involves taking a low profile and non-confrontational
approach. The consultant seeks no input from members of the organization but rather works on
their tasks independently (Tosey, 2017).
Role and Style that Best Fits Me as an ODC
Of the roles and styles that have been discussed, the one that fits me best is the pathfinder
one. Through working within a team, it ensures that ideas that are presented as solutions are

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thoroughly interrogated for their suitability. Thus, I believe it the style that is bound to help me
arrive at the most effective solution.
Conclusion
The importance of an organization development consultant cannot be disputed. It is
particularly important for organizations performing poorly and finding it hard to compete
efficiently. As this paper has shown, ODCs use different styles for different situations and
organizations. The suitability of a given ODC or ODC style depends on the conditions of the
organization.

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References

Anderson, D. L. (2016). Organization development: The process of leading organizational
change. Sage Publications.
Storey, J. (2016). Changing theories of leadership and leadership development. In Leadership in
Organizations (pp. 33-58). Routledge.
Tosey, P. (2017). Understanding Organisation Development. Kogan Page Publishers.