Rethinking Organizational Development: A New Definition for How We Actually Work

You’ve heard of HR. Operations. Business development. These are the functions most people can name without thinking twice.

But have you heard of Organizational Development? Most formal definitions describe it as a planned, science-based process for improving organizational effectiveness and managing change. And while that’s technically accurate, it doesn’t tell you what it looks like on the ground.

It sounds like something that lives in a boardroom. At large companies, it often does, tucked into its own department, separate from the actual work being done. At smaller companies, the assumption tends to flip: we can’t dedicate resources to that, so it becomes someone’s side project, squeezed in between everything else they’re already responsible for. And side projects, as we all know, are the first thing to go when deadlines hit.

I think there’s a better way to look at it.

My take: organizational development is the intentional work of improving how we actually do our jobs. The processes, the tools, the quality controls, the delivery. Not just what we produce, but how we produce it. Clear enough that everyone understands what good looks like, and flexible enough to adapt when things change.

Let’s dig into what that actually looks like.

I’m Laura Oxsen, a Professional Engineer, Certified Learning and Development Specialist, founder of Oxsen Learning, and Organizational Development Lead at Grayling Engineers. I recently presented on this topic through the American Water Works Association, Northwest Oregon Subsection. It resonated with a lot of people, which is why I’m writing this.

This is an everyone problem

This isn’t just a small company problem. It’s not just an engineering problem. It’s an everyone problem.

Even well-run organizations with good leadership and real investment in their people deal with this. Because the challenge isn’t intention. It’s bandwidth. Everyone is focused on delivering the work. The project. The deadline. The client. And the systems that support that work, documentation, process, training, role-specific onboarding, tend to get handled in the margins by whoever has the most goodwill to spare.

Most organizations have general onboarding covered through HR. But the technical side, the role-specific training that actually prepares someone to do the job on day one, that’s where the gap lives. And it’s just one example of the broader work that quietly falls through the cracks.

Most organizations are doing their best within it. But best intentions don’t close the gap when nobody has dedicated time to actually close it.

The other reality is that the business case for this work isn’t always obvious. Winning projects, hitting deadlines, keeping clients happy, those have clear and immediate returns. Investing in how your organization operates internally is harder to measure and easier to deprioritize. So it gets pushed. Not because nobody cares, but because the bottom line is loud and this work is quiet.

What I’ve seen actually work

The biggest mindset shift is this: you don’t have to solve everything. You just have to start somewhere real.

One thing I advocate for is building learning directly into the tools people already use. Think about whatever tool your team uses most. A spreadsheet. A Word template. A checklist. A standard form. Now ask: does that tool teach anything, or does it just capture data?

Because those are two very different things.

A template with comments that walk someone through what each field actually means, what to watch out for, where people typically go wrong, is doing double duty. It’s completing a task and transferring knowledge at the same time. That’s learning built into the workflow.

Here's an example. A specification template that says:

"choose material: ductile iron or PVC C900"

and leaves it at that tells a junior engineer nothing about how to actually make that call. Add a few lines:

"Ductile iron is the standard for most public water mains and preferred by many agencies. It handles high pressure, heavy traffic loads, and has a strength that doesn't degrade over time. PVC C900 is lighter and performs better in corrosive soils. When in doubt, check with the governing agency first as many have a preferred material standard and are already stocked and trained for it."

Suddenly a junior engineer isn't just selecting from a dropdown. They're learning the reasoning behind the decision. They're building judgment. And the next time they encounter that choice, they're faster, more confident, and less dependent on someone else to get it right.

The format doesn’t matter. A spreadsheet, a spec template, a checklist. Pick one. Start there.

The role piece

Organizational Development work only gets done when it’s someone’s actual job.

The pattern I see most often is that it becomes the second job of whoever seems interested. A senior engineer. A project manager. Someone who’s good with people. They get asked to “lead” onboarding or “help with” process documentation, on top of everything they’re already doing.

It doesn’t work. Not because those people aren’t capable, but because nobody can prioritize work they haven't been given the time to do. As soon as a project deadline hits, the Organizational Development work gets pushed. Every time.

If you want to change how your organization operates, someone has to be accountable for it. Whether that’s a hire, a contractor, or an internal role transition, it needs to be that person’s North Star. Not a side project. Not a good intention. An actual focus.

Why I keep talking about this

I started Oxsen Learning because I saw a specific version of this problem in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction industry. Technical training that should exist doesn’t. The people who know the work are too busy doing it to teach it consistently. New professionals are learning by trial and error, hoping they happen to sit near the right person.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

We have smart, experienced people across every industry. We have real problems that better systems could solve. And the distance between wanting to invest in your people and actually carving out the time and resources to do it, that’s where the gap lives.

Organizational development is how you start closing that gap. Not by overhauling everything at once, but with real, sustained attention to how your people work and what would actually help them do it better.

My challenge to you

Start small. Pick one tool your team uses regularly. A spreadsheet, a template, a form, whatever it is. Add the learning. Write the notes. Flag the pitfalls. Make it do double duty.

Give yourself a month. Then share it. Drop it in the comments below: what did you pick, and what did you add? Or if you’ve already done something like this, I want to hear what worked.

This is how it starts. One tool. One month. Let’s go.

Laura Oxsen is a PE and Certified Learning and Development Specialist. She is the founder of Oxsen Learning and the Organizational Development Lead at Grayling Engineers, where she works to build the systems and training that help people do their best work. She writes about organizational systems, professional development, and practical training for working professionals.