Organization Development

Before performing any OD intervention, consultants should perform a cultural assessment of the organization.  The purpose of this assessment is to develop the proper approach to an OD intervention.  There are a few techniques for assessing an organization’s culture.

1. Interview:   By interviewing the employees, the consultant can obtain personal perceptions and opinions.  The drawback is that the opinion of the individual may be confined to that person.  As an outsider to the corporation, employees may be reluctant to share too much with the consultant.
2. Survey:  A survey is a popular method for assessing culture.  This form of data collecting is great for obtaining demographics and for calculating statistics.  Employees may be more willing to answer honestly, knowing that their identity will not be revealed.  On the other hand, employees may not like filling these out - whether electronic versions or on paper.  Electronic surveys can be disrupted at any time or ended prematurely, while paper surveys can be discarded.
3. Observation:  As long as you can do this with anonymity, observations are a perfect way to see first-hand the interaction between employees.  This method requires plenty of note taking, preferably in an inconspicuous matter so as not to discourage existing patterns of behavior.  Another note:  observations are great for case studies; not so great for statistical research.

These are the three most popular methods for looking at the culture of an organization.  Internal or external consultants may prefer one over another or a combination.  The key point to remember is that before any intervention, one must assess the client’s organizational culture.

Reading suggestions on assessing culture:

• “Defining Organizational Culture”, Edgar Schein
• “Dynamics in Organizational Culture”, Mary Jo Hatch
• “Organizations in Action”, James D. Thompson.

Gina