Organisational Development is an approach which involves looking at whole organisations from a systemic perspective.
Organisational Development first seeks to understand the system, then seeks to make it function more effectively and productively.
In many organisations, Organisational Development (OD) is often combined with the Human Resources (HR) function, or an offshoot of it.
We feel this is a mistake and missed opportunity.
How Organisational Development (OD) differs from HR?
Though HR and OD come from similar places and have a lot of overlap, from a business perspective their purposes are very different.
HR is historically concerned with the efficient management of the employment process and compliance with legal matters.
Human Resources (HR) is therefore predominantly about defence and ensuring bases are covered.
OD practitioners look at the application of behavioural science to help improve behaviours, culture and business processes.
Organisational Development (OD) is about offence: It drives productivity and value creation.
For this reason, we feel that OD should be a standalone function that is central to firm’s business areas.
Organisational Development drives productivity and value creation.
Organisational Development: Developing ‘People Alpha’ in Financial Market businesses.
Placing Organisational Development at the heart of Financial Market businesses could help make a major contribution to additional value creation.
In Financial Market businesses, we see Organisation Development as a key tool to help a business generate ‘People Alpha‘.
People Alpha is the additional value earned by focusing on the human and behavioural aspects of Financial Market performance.
People Alpha stands in contrast to ‘Operational Alpha’, the income generated by firms on their core-business activities.
If you enjoyed this article:
You may enjoy some of our other articles which explores a range of themes related to human performance in Financial Markets. These include ‘Organisational Development: The Answer Trading & Investment Businesses Need.’ and ‘Why Hedge Funds Should Focus On ‘People Alpha’ and other posts on our Articles Page.
We are passionate about working with people and businesses that want to better themselves.
If you are curious about any aspect of our work, or would like to understand more about how we could help you or your business: Then please email us at info@alpharcubed.com.
