What does an organizational development director do?
An organizational development director is primarily in charge of spearheading and overseeing the efforts to optimize an organization's resources and operations. They set objectives and guidelines that usher the employees into the organization's mission and vision. As an organizational development director, it is also their duty to manage budgets and timelines, assess the workforce performance, communicate with key clients and suppliers, keep abreast with the latest technology, enforce the best practices, and implement the organization's policies and regulations, developing new ones as necessary.
Organizational development director responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real organizational development director resumes:
- Extend product revenue by delivering new products for managing configuration of Linux platforms.
- Develop and market management training programs and leadership initiatives base on ongoing assessments of enterprise-wide needs and client consultations.
- Develop and facilitate performance management initiatives including defining accountability and measuring results.
Organizational development director skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Organizational Development Directors are proficient in Human Resources, Employee Engagement, and Project Management. They’re also known for soft skills such as Business skills, Communication skills, and Collaboration skills.
We break down the percentage of Organizational Development Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Human Resources, 10%
Partnered with human resources to enable global business-unit talent strategies including identifying high potential candidates and succession plans.
- Employee Engagement, 8%
Increased employee engagement by introducing competencies and development plans for senior leaders and provided one-on-one coaching for improvement.
- Project Management, 7%
Implemented strategies such as Agile Project Management models to support new development methodologies for product development.
- Succession Planning, 6%
Implemented robust succession planning and talent management program to include regular people review meetings with executives.
- Organizational Effectiveness, 6%
Implemented interventions enhancing individual, departmental and organizational effectiveness and performance in support of organization's goals, strategies and values.
- Organization Development, 5%
Research and implement capacity building best practices in the field of organization development, training and strategic planning.
"human resources," "employee engagement," and "project management" are among the most common skills that organizational development directors use at work. You can find even more organizational development director responsibilities below, including:
Business skills. The most essential soft skill for an organizational development director to carry out their responsibilities is business skills. This skill is important for the role because "training and development managers must understand business operations in order to match training with business goals." Additionally, an organizational development director resume shows how their duties depend on business skills: "execute large scale change management initiatives for the rapidly growing business. "
Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform organizational development director duties is communication skills. Organizational development directors responsibilities require that "training and development managers must clearly convey information to diverse audiences." Organizational development directors also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "assessed organizational structure, communication systems, and interaction between working groups to facilitate organizational development and change. "
Collaboration skills. organizational development directors are also known for collaboration skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to organizational development director responsibilities, because "training and development managers need strong interpersonal skills because delivering training programs requires working in concert with staff, trainees, subject matter experts, and the organization’s leaders." An organizational development director resume example shows how collaboration skills is used in the workplace: "instituted the use of charters and sharepoint collaboration sites for business and process improvement projects. "
Instructional skills. organizational development director responsibilities often require "instructional skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "training and development managers need to understand the fundamentals of teaching and lesson planning." This resume example shows what organizational development directors do with instructional skills on a typical day: "supervised, coached, and led staff of 54 high-performing professional development facilitators, including 4 instructional designers. "
Leadership skills. Another crucial skill for an organizational development director to carry out their responsibilities is "leadership skills." A big part of what organizational development directors relies on this skill, since "managers are often in charge of a staff and programs." How this skill relates to organizational development director duties can be seen in an example from an organizational development director resume snippet: "designed and implemented site senior leadership team professional development program required to support process excellence and the value stream organization. "
The three companies that hire the most organizational development directors are:
- Raising Cane's2 organizational development directors jobs
- Corcentric2 organizational development directors jobs
- Banfield Pet Hospital1 organizational development directors jobs
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Compare different organizational development directors
Organizational development director vs. Hse manager
A health, safety, and environmental (HSE) manager is primarily in charge of spearheading and overseeing a company's health and safety programs. Their responsibilities typically revolve around coordinating with different departments to gather data, assessing existing programs and policies to identify areas needing improvement, implementing solutions on issues and concerns, developing strategies to execute programs, and creating new safety policies as necessary. Furthermore, as an HSE manager, it is essential to lead and encourage team members to reach goals, all while enforcing the company's policies and regulations.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between organizational development directors and hse manager. For instance, organizational development director responsibilities require skills such as "human resources," "succession planning," "organizational effectiveness," and "organization development." Whereas a hse manager is skilled in "regulatory agencies," "osha," "environmental regulations," and "safety program." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Hse managers tend to make the most money working in the construction industry, where they earn an average salary of $105,683. In contrast, organizational development directors make the biggest average salary, $142,110, in the health care industry.On average, hse managers reach lower levels of education than organizational development directors. Hse managers are 12.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 4.9% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Organizational development director vs. Senior training manager
A senior training manager is responsible for facilitating and monitoring training programs and orientations for all employees and new staff. Senior training managers handle the training budgets and ensure the allocation of resources to support training operations. They also develop training management plans by coordinating with department heads for the necessary business needs. A senior training manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills, especially in resolving issues and strategizing efficient training methodologies with strict adherence to company standards and regulations.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, organizational development director responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "human resources," "employee engagement," "succession planning," and "organizational effectiveness." Meanwhile, a senior training manager has duties that require skills in areas such as "powerpoint," "instructional design," "training content," and "training materials." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, senior training managers earn a lower salary than organizational development directors. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, senior training managers earn the most pay in the telecommunication industry with an average salary of $111,694. Whereas organizational development directors have higher pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $142,110.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Senior training managers tend to reach lower levels of education than organizational development directors. In fact, they're 11.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 4.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for organizational development directors in the next 3-5 years?
Gregory Zobel Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Educational Technology, Education & Leadership, Western Oregon University
Organizational development director vs. Training manager
A training manager is responsible for directing new staff with the tasks and training programs, leading the business to its growth and profitable development. Training managers' duties include supervising the staff's performance and improvement, facilitating knowledge assessment and developmental training, sharing strategic plans and techniques, creating effective training manuals, monitoring training expenses, and evaluating areas of improvement. A training manager must have excellent leadership and communication skills, as well as extensive experience on how to improve the team's performance and enhance their capabilities.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, organizational development directors are more likely to have skills like "employee engagement," "succession planning," "organizational effectiveness," and "organization development." But a training manager is more likely to have skills like "customer service," "leadership," "brainstorming," and "food safety."
Training managers earn the best pay in the government industry, where they command an average salary of $71,976. Organizational development directors earn the highest pay from the health care industry, with an average salary of $142,110.training managers typically earn lower educational levels compared to organizational development directors. Specifically, they're 15.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 4.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Organizational development director vs. Training administrator
Training administrators coordinate employees and management training programs. The administrators administer competency or skill assessments, outplacement, career counseling, and other specialized training for employees. They update and organize the training programs for administrative and clerical works. It is also their job to plan and enforce these programs for government agencies, business enterprises, and other institutions. Leadership skills, communication skills, and management skills are necessary for this job.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between organizational development directors and training administrators, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an organizational development director might have more use for skills like "employee engagement," "project management," "succession planning," and "organizational effectiveness." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of training administrators require skills like "nursing home," "long-term care," "home health," and "logistics. "
The health care industry tends to pay the highest salaries for training administrators, with average annual pay of $45,657. Comparatively, the highest organizational development director annual salary comes from the health care industry.In general, training administrators hold lower degree levels compared to organizational development directors. Training administrators are 10.2% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 4.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of organizational development director
Updated January 8, 2025
