A setup which brings individuals together from differentbackgrounds,varied interests & specializations on a common platform for them to work as a single unit & achieve certain predefined goals is known as organization.

Organisation Development is a growing field of Human Resource Management. It has its

foundations in a number of behavioural and social sciences. Its a systematic application

and transfer of behavioral science knowledge to the planned development, improvement, an reinforcement of the strategies , structures, and processes that lead to the organization effectiveness.” OD practitioners are unashamedly humanistic in their approach to change management and delivering sustainable organisational performance.

It is a planned, systematic, long term change in organisation with focus on problem solving capabilities, coping skills, self renewal capabilities and organisational values with the help of change agents, and behavioural science experts.

“Organisation Development (OD) is both the field of applied behavioural science focused on understanding and managing organisational change to increase an organisation’s

effectiveness and viability and a field of scientific study and enquiry”

Very often organisations invest heavily in transformational change programmes or organisational development interventions that fail to deliver performance in a sustainable way. Organisation Development believes that every part of an organisation is integral to a system that relies on and impacts other elements of the internal and external environment in which the organisation operates.OD helps organizations deliver sustainable performance improvement through people. Those who practice OD usually have a strong humanistic and democratic approach to organizational change. People and collaboration are key features of any OD intervention.

Characteristics of Organisational Development:• A planned change: compare to other approaches OD is systematic,

planned process of organizational change• Comprehensive change : generally involve total system.(strategy ,

structure , process)• Long-range change: OD takes months or years to implement . Not

intended to be stopgap measure. • Participation of change agent: services of an outside expert are

generally retained to implement OD process. “do it yourself” programs are discouraged.

• Emphasis on intervention : it results in an active intervention of change agent in the ongoing activities of the organization

• Collaborative management : in contrast to the traditional management structure , OD stresses on collaboration among various levels. It is viewed in a system perspective

To deliver a sustainable environment for performance there are a number of organisational development and design elements that may be relevant to delivering the performance outcomes required.  The OD practitioner will get involved in any number of intervention including; organization diagnostic, evaluation, strategic thinking, culture change, change management, coaching, mentoring, leadership development, team building, organizational design, evaluation, performance management, talent management, HR processes, learning and development, sales effectiveness, and customer services as part of a holistic OD intervention.