Evaluating OD- Myths and Misconceptions?

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:

It has been said that “OD suffers from an inability to demonstrate the relevance of its interventions.  We desperately need research aimed at developing a technology for quantifying, in organizationally relevant terms (profits, services, good will, market competitiveness, innovations, etc.), the results of changes created” (Beer, 1976, p. 50).   While we’ve made inroads over the last few decades, the struggle to understand the benefits of OD interventions persists (e.g., Martineau & Preskill, 2002), coupled with greater demands for evidence in supporting management and HR decisions (cf., Boudreau & Jesuthasan, 2011 and Pfeffer & Sutton, 2006). 

This call to action implies that we, as Organization Development professionals, do not evaluate the impact of our work or that we don’t translate it in ways that are relevant to the business.   Are these statements true? Do you find Organization Development interventions difficult to evaluate? Have you had success (or failure!) stories that others might learn from?  Or are these myths and misconceptions that we can easily dispel with careful thought and planning?

Our June program, “Evaluating OD- Myths & Misconceptions” will be a chance to raise questions, challenge assumptions, and offer insights around evaluation. Join us for a facilitated discussion that leverages the collective knowledge and experience in the room.  Using the article, Quantifying Qualitative OD Results (Nielson, 2012) as a launching point, we will share approaches to evaluation for the group to consider, and then apply them to real-world OD scenarios. 

We’ll rely on you to bring your thoughts and experiences to the table.  And you can count on us to provide a link to the pre-read article upon your registration. 

REFERENCES:

Beer, M. (1976). On gaining influence and power for OD. Journal of Applied Behav­ioral Science, 12(1), 44–51.

Boudreau, J. W.  & Jesuthasan, R.  (2011).  Transformative HR:  How Great Companies Use Evidence-based Change. 

Martineau, J. W.  & Preskill, H.  (2002).  Evaluating the impact of organization development interventions.  In J. Waclawski and A. H. Church (Eds.) Organization Development:  A Data-driven Approach to Organizational Change, 286-301.

Nielson, L. (2012). Quantifying qualitative OD results. OD Practitioner, 44(1).

Pfeffer, J. & Sutton, R. (2006b) Management half-truths and nonsense: how to practice evidence-based management. California Management Review 48(3), 77–100. 

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: June 11th at 5:00 p.m.