Organisational change occurs because there is a need for change and this need for change is due to the environmental changes around us. In order for organisations to be successful, they would have to adapt to the changes that are on-going and morph in order to keep up. It is under these pressures that companies are forced to downsize, re-engineer, flatten their structures, go global and even initiate more sophisticated technologies (Waddell, Cummings, & Worley, 2007). These days, it has become common to hear of the many challenges faced by organisations.The one change that has impacted organisations the most is the realisation that people, are the main competitive advantage an organisation can have (Ruona & Gibson, 2004). And therefore, in order to make changes, a leader is required; the leader, who is also known as the “Change agent”, can be anyone with the power or authority to implement and conduct the change process in an organization so as to help it achieve its objectives (Nelson & Quick, 2007).
2. Types of OD PractitionersBasically, there are 3 different types of OD practitioners 1) Professional people that can be either internal or external consultants 2) People who specialised in the OD field 3) Top management who are proficient in OD and utilize it to their own work scope. All OD practitioners should have a mixture of personality and traits, experiences of all kinds and knowledge and skills (Yee, 2013). With these 3 different types of OD practitioners comes about the set of skills that they are required to have.
Some basic skills in OD practitioners are leadership, project management, communication skills, problem-solving skills, inter-personal skills and personal skills (Brown & Harvey, 2006). Advantages and Disadvantages of Internal/External OD Practitioner These days, internal OD practitioners usually found within the human resource (HR) department. There are five structural models to be taken into consideration: 1) Traditional, this is OD within HR. 2) Independent, which is a freestanding unit.
Integrated, which is every HR person an OD practitioner and vice versa. ) Strategy, which is OD being an integral part of the strategic planning function. 5) Decentralized, which is part of a business or regional unit. (Burke, 2004).
Internal OD Practitioner Internal OD Practitioners play a significant role in managing changes within. For example, Singapore Airlines, SIA has a straight organization structure with a wide span of control, which allows for freedom to build a more adjustable business which entitles people to create decision and to improve the jobs (Heracleous & Wirtz, 2009).SIA often looked for intelligent leader from within the organisation and they focus on their human resource. 4. 2. 1 Advantages of an Internal OD Practitioner It is time-saving in identifying and understanding problems faced by the organisation as the internal OD Practitioner would have intimate knowledge of the organisation and its dynamics.
They are also aware of the culture, informal practices and have access to a wide variety of information. In addition, they will be easily accepted by the staff members as they are not outsiders and thus have a greater and easier ability to establish rapport and trust.This is the traditional method whereby OD is found within the HR department or internally (Yee, 2013).Disadvantages of an Internal OD Practitioner There would be a loss of objectivity because the OD Practitioner knows the employees of the organisation personally and it would be harder to not be subjective and take sides or be biased in judgement. There would also be a fear in offending people with power and internal OD practitioners may lack certain skills and experience in facilitating and handling change (Yee, 2013). External OD Practitioner External OD Practitioners are engaged from external sources.
They are the temporary employees who worked in a consultancy firm or university. One example of a company who employed an external OD Practitioner would be 3M. 3M is a global technology company launched in 1902. The company produces thousands of different science-based products and in 1990, its financial performance was shown to not be making any profit, it led to a lack of innovation and in turn resulted a loss.
Then, in 2001, it was broadcasted that an external agent was allowed into the company to improve the growth (Black, 2004). Advantages of External OD Practitioner An external OD Practitioner would be able to provide particular expertise that would otherwise be unavailable internally and bring about a different and potentially more objective perspective. An external OD Practitioner would also be able to probe the more challenging issues and to question the status quo due to them having more perceived expertise and experience. Disadvantages of External OD PractitionerHowever, the downside of having an external OD Practitioner would be that extra time is needed to gain knowledge of the organisation. Internal members of the organisation would be wary of the external OD Practitioners and may not give accurate and timely responses or information.
There might also be a lack of commitment due to the practitioner not being from within the organisation and members within the organisation might feel that should bigger issues arise, the external OD Practitioner would be able to simply walk away with little negative consequences. Criteria in choosing an internal or external OD Practitioner Internal and external OD Practitioners adds different values to an organisation; therefore, organisations should asses their own needs and then make the choice of which to use based on the contributions each makes (Scott & Hascall, 2003). According to Waldersee, Griffiths, & Lai (2003), there are 4 steps to be used in the selection strategy, listed below are the steps required: Type of change There are two types of change, one would be incremental change and the other, quantum change.Incremental change is a step-by-step change where the organisation has got the luxury of time to implement the change at a pace they are comfortable with, examples of such would be addressing problems like poor communication between departments, high absenteeism among low level staffs or low productivity and etc (Yee, 2013). In this case, an internal OD Practitioner would be adequate to perform the change because being an internal staff, the OD Practitioner would already have a relationship with the existing employees and would be able to empathise and understand their discomforts better in order to fix the situation and implement the change.However, for quantum change, it tends to be more complex and extensive and therefore, more people are involved in the process.
It is more tedious because a quantum change requires the redesigning of many features of the firm, for example, performance measures, rewards, planning process and etc (Yee, 2013). Therefore in this case, an external OD Practitioner would be preferred as they would be more objective and goal oriented when it comes to implementing the changes.Time requiredIf the change is a long-term change, it is more advisable to use an internal OD Practitioner, as external OD Practitioners might be involved in other outside activities or have other commitments. Most of the time, external OD Practitioners are only available for part-time basis for a certain timeframe.
Therefore, internal agents are more suitable for the job if it is a long-term change as they are able to provide a continuing point of contact for the organisation and its members anytime along the way (Yee, 2013). Knowledge and skills required to implement change According to Marks, Warrick, & Meeks (2011), OD Practitioners have to call upon many different types of behavioural sciences to help and guide in their work. Depending on the skills required for the changes that has to be made, an internal or external OD Practitioner will then be decided upon based on the skills that they currently posses. There has to be skill variety in this case, because what is more important is to get the right person to do the right job. Political situation within the organisation The political situation within the organisation affects the choice of the OD Practitioner greatly because in a highly political organisation, the views of a person who is objective would be more welcomed compared to the views of someone on the inside who would tend to be less objective. However, because an external OD Practitioner comes from a different culture, trying to solve the problem might just create more problems for the organisation due to cross cultural differences (Bourgeois & Boltvinik, 1981).
Therefore, should an external OD Practitioner be brought in, a certain timeframe has to be given to the practitioner to understand the under-going complexities of the organisation. ConclusionAn OD Practitioner regardless of external or internal, are both equally important when it comes to facilitating changes in an organisation. It is due to the different relevant skills they possess which would help the organisation make the change that they require.It really depends on the circumstance to decide upon the type of leadership that is needed.
For internal OD Practitioners, it is usually when the company is doing well in the business and is stable. Whereas if the company requires a large scale change, it would be advised that the organisation should engage an external party as the OD Practitioner to help implement the changes because the perspective that would be offered is different from existing employees of the organisation and can assist in making the appropriate changes.
