A Day in the Life of an Organisational Development Manager

James Anderson-Dixon is Organisational Development Manager at Nationwide Building Society.

“Organisational development is all about taking a holistic approach to improve the efficiency of a business. There is a great deal of overlap with other HR roles such as employee relations, recruitment, and learning development, but the difference is that OD looks at the whole business rather than one aspect of it, and you have to understand all factors affecting a situation, not just dealing with them in isolation.”

James has an MSc in neuro-linguistic programming and organisational development. “Specific qualifications are not essential although many ODs are typically CIPD graduates and you can do job specific qualifications such as a Masters in occupation psychology.”

“However, being focused, flexible, expedient and approachable are vital for the role. Having an ability to understand the difference between the content of 'what' someone thinks versus the structure of 'how' they think is the clincher for me.” He adds, “I have always had a keen interest in what makes people tick and how they adapt to change. Previous, seemingly unrelated careers across a variety of industries culminated in a breadth of experience that helped shape my career in OD.”

“One of the key projects I am involved in is creating a knowledge enabled network with our suppliers. This means the dissemination of learning and sharing of best practice approaches for all levels. Some of our suppliers are really large organisations so its great to be able to tap into the collective research in the supply chain.”

“Every day brings a rich mix of challenges and opportunities”, James comments. “My role is broad and involves designing methodologies to improving personal wellness management which contributes to organisational wellness. In laymen’s terms, this means designing and implementing  interventions to help both the employees and our supply network as a whole raise their game to perform more efficiently and effectively- and most importantly sustain this efficiency.”

He adds, “My favourite part of the job is the freedom to be creative and to make a real difference at both an individual and collective level within our supply network. Processes and systems are important, but at whatever level of an organisation you work it is people and their behaviour that ultimately drives business success.”

The salary range for an organisational development manager is £30-£65,000 per annum.

Hays Human Resources is the UK’s leading HR recruitment consultancy. For hundreds of roles nationwide, visit www.hays.com/hr

Note to Editor:

Hays Human Resources is the UK’s leading HR recruitment consultancy. Since launching in 2001, Hays Human Resources has established a network of 25 regional offices employing over 90 dedicated consultants, with unrivalled experience and expertise in recruiting HR professionals into generalist and specialist positions, including Learning & Development role and senior appointments.  Hays Human Resources has dedicated teams focused on interim and permanent recruitment within industry and public services organisations.

Hays Human Resources is a subdivision of Hays Plc, the FTSE 250 Company which employs 7,753 staff operating from 376 offices in 25 countries across 17 specialisms. Hays Plc placed circa 68,000 candidates into permanent jobs and paid circa 46,000 temporary workers weekly during the year ending 30 June 07.