Training Course: Organisational Development for HR Professionals

Organisational development (OD) for HR professionals is the planned, evidence-based improvement of how an organisation works, using needs assessment, OD interventions and evaluation to build lasting capability. This 5-day course is for HR business partners, HR generalists and learning specialists, and delegates finish with an OD action plan that links a diagnosis to a chosen intervention and its evaluation measures.

Introduction

Three models anchor the course. The action research model is the cycle of data gathering, feedback, action and review on which OD practice rests. The Burke-Litwin model links the external environment, leadership, culture and systems to organisational performance, and is used here for diagnosis. The Kirkpatrick Four Levels model evaluates interventions by reaction, learning, behaviour and results. The level is practitioner, for HR staff new to leading OD work. Teaching uses case studies and diagnostic exercises from banking, healthcare and manufacturing organisations.

Course Objectives

• Distinguish organisational development from change management and define the HR role in each
• Apply the Burke-Litwin and Six-Box models to diagnose an organisation's development needs
• Select data collection methods that suit a diagnostic question and interpret the results
• Compare individual, team and organisation-wide interventions and justify the level that fits a problem
• Apply stakeholder mapping and resistance responses when implementing an intervention
• Interpret Kirkpatrick-level evidence to judge whether an intervention achieved its intended change

Target Audience

• HR business partners advising line managers who must judge whether a performance problem calls for an OD intervention
• HR generalists taking on change projects who must decide which diagnostic data to collect
• Learning and development specialists who must choose between training and wider interventions
• Talent and engagement leads who must decide which survey findings justify organisation-wide action
• HR managers sponsoring change who must judge how intervention results are evaluated and reported

Course Outline

Day 1: OD Principles and Theoretical Foundations

• Organisational Development: Planned, Systemwide Change Built on Behavioural Science
• OD vs Change Management: Capability-Building Process Compared With Project-Led Transition
• Action Research Model: Cycle of Data Gathering, Feedback, Action and Review
• Lewin's Three-Step Model: Unfreezing, Changing and Refreezing Organisational Behaviour
• HR Role in OD: Aligning Leadership and People Practices With Development Goals

Day 2: Organisational Diagnosis and Needs Assessment

• Burke-Litwin Model: Transformational and Transactional Factors Driving Organisational Performance
• Weisbord Six-Box Model: Purposes, Structure, Relationships, Rewards, Leadership and Mechanisms
• Surveys vs Interviews vs Focus Groups: Choosing Data Collection Methods for Diagnosis
• Gap Analysis: Comparing Current and Desired States to Locate Development Needs
• Data Feedback Sessions: Returning Diagnostic Findings to Leaders and Teams

Day 3: Choosing OD Interventions

• Individual vs Team vs Organisation-Wide Interventions: Matching Level to the Problem
• Human Process Interventions: Team Building, Coaching and Conflict Resolution Approaches
• Technostructural Interventions: Work Design, Structure and Process Redesign Options
• Human Resource Interventions: Performance, Reward and Talent Practices as Change Levers
• Force Field Analysis: Weighing Driving and Restraining Forces Before Choosing an Intervention

Day 4: Implementing Change and Engaging Stakeholders

• Stakeholder Engagement: Involving Leaders and Key Team Members in the Change
• Stakeholder Mapping: Power-Interest Grid for Planning Involvement and Communication
• Resistance to Change: Sources, Signals and Constructive Responses for HR Practitioners
• Pilot vs Full Rollout: Testing an Intervention Small Compared With Organisation-Wide Launch
• Adaptive Implementation: Adjusting Interventions as Conditions and Feedback Change

Day 5: Applied Practice: Evaluation, Learning Culture and the OD Action Plan

• Kirkpatrick Four Levels: Reaction, Learning, Behaviour and Results Applied to Interventions
• Leading vs Lagging Change Indicators: Early Adoption Signals Compared With Performance Outcomes
• Learning Organisation Practices: Applying Feedback Loops to Sustain Continuous Learning
• Future OD Trends: Applying Agile, Digital and Hybrid-Work Insights to Development Plans
• OD Action Plan: Completing Diagnosis, Intervention, Evaluation and Sustainment Steps

Skills You Will Gain

• Organisational Diagnosis
• Action Research
• Diagnostic Data Collection
• Intervention Design
• Force Field Analysis
• Stakeholder Mapping
• Change Evaluation
• Learning Organisation Practices

Why Attend This Course

• From responding to every request with training to diagnosing the need before choosing an intervention
• From relying on a single engagement survey to combining surveys, interviews and focus groups
• From launching change and hoping it lasts to piloting, adjusting and sustaining interventions
• From change efforts without measures to an OD action plan with evaluation at four levels

Conclusion

OD done by HR is a disciplined loop: find out what is really holding performance back, choose an intervention that fits, and check whether behaviour and results moved. The course makes three distinctions clear: OD versus change management, individual versus organisation-wide interventions, and leading versus lagging change indicators. It is the right choice for HR professionals starting to lead development work; a ten-day advanced edition suits OD practitioners handling large-scale, organisation-wide change.

Course FAQs

What is organisational development for HR professionals?

It is the use of behavioural science methods by HR to diagnose how an organisation functions, choose and run interventions that improve it, and evaluate whether behaviour and performance changed as intended.

What is the difference between organisational development and change management?

Change management moves people through a specific transition, such as a new system, within a project timeline. Organisational development builds the organisation's ongoing capability to diagnose itself and improve, often across several changes.

Which models does the organisational development for HR professionals course follow?

The course follows the action research model for the OD cycle, the Burke-Litwin and Weisbord Six-Box models for diagnosis, Lewin's three-step model and force field analysis for change, and the Kirkpatrick Four Levels for evaluation.

Is organisational development for HR professionals right for an HR business partner?

Yes. HR business partners are often first to hear of performance problems, and the course gives them the diagnostic models and intervention choices needed to advise managers beyond defaulting to training or restructuring.

What do delegates produce on the organisational development for HR professionals course?

Delegates produce an OD action plan that sets out a diagnosis using a recognised model, the chosen intervention and its level, stakeholder and implementation steps, and evaluation measures at each Kirkpatrick level.