Many organizations face the ongoing challenge of balancing the need for specialized expertise with the rising cost of external consulting. One of our clients recently addressed this issue head-on by creating a business plan to train their OD/HR team as internal Organization Development (OD) Consultants. Their goal was clear: to minimize the high expense of outsourcing while creating a consistent and sustainable approach to driving change and supporting business partners.
Why Build an Internal OD Consulting Team?
External consulting firms often bring deep expertise, but at a steep cost. Fees for strategy development, change management, and leadership initiatives can quickly climb into six-figure ranges—often without leaving the organization with the necessary skills or capacity to sustain the work in the long term.
By contrast, an internal OD consulting team provides:
- Cost Efficiency: Investments in training internal HR/OD professionals are a fraction of the ongoing expense of hiring external consultants. Over time, this shift creates significant savings while delivering equal or greater value.
- Consistency in Approach: External firms may bring in varying methodologies, creating confusion or fragmented practices. Internal OD consultants provide a unified, consistent model across the enterprise, ensuring alignment with culture, strategy, and goals.
- Organizational Knowledge: Internal consultants already understand the history, culture, and business strategy of the organization. They don’t need months of onboarding to learn the environment—they can apply solutions faster and with greater relevance.
- Sustainability and Growth: Building internal OD capability ensures that skills and best practices remain within the organization. The team evolves alongside the business, strengthening capacity to respond to future challenges.
Learning from the Past: Why Previous Change Efforts Fell Short
The client recognized that past change management training programs had not delivered the desired impact. These efforts often failed because they provided generic toolkits and one-size-fits-all solutions that were not tailored to the unique challenges of each business unit. Leaders and employees felt disconnected from the process, resulting in low engagement, poor adoption, and wasted resources.
How the Action Research Model Changed the Game
To address these shortcomings, the client adopted the Action Research Model (ARM) as the foundation for developing their internal OD consultants. This model emphasizes collaboration and ongoing engagement with business partners to ensure relevance and buy-in.
The ARM provides a structured but flexible seven-phase process that includes:
- Entry and Contracting
- Data Collection
- Data Analysis
- Feedback Reporting
- Action Planning
- Implementation
- Evaluation and Sustainability
This cycle ensures that each intervention is evidence-based, collaborative, and aligned with business needs. Leaders feel ownership of the change, employees experience solutions that make sense in their context, and results are more sustainable.
Building Capability Through IOD’s ODCP Program
By attending the Institute of Organization Development’s OD Certified Professional (ODCP) program, the client’s OD/HR team acquired the consulting skills and frameworks necessary to succeed. The program equipped them to:
- Apply the 7-phase Action Research Model to address pressing business challenges systematically.
- Use organization systems and structure design models to align people, processes, and strategy for greater effectiveness.
- Leverage culture change frameworks to help leaders anticipate and overcome resistance to change.
- Facilitate feedback sessions, design customized interventions, and measure results to ensure accountability and sustainability.
A Consistent Approach that Strengthens Business Partnerships
By embedding what they learned through ODCP, the client’s OD/HR team can now provide a consistent, consultative approach to every business partner. This consistency builds trust, increases the credibility of HR and OD functions, and ensures leaders across the organization receive high-quality support in tackling strategic and operational challenges.
The Bottom Line
This forward-thinking business plan is more than a cost-saving measure. It’s a long-term investment in people and organizational effectiveness. Past change management training may have fallen short. Still, with IOD’s ODCP program, the client’s team learned how to combine the 7-phase Action Research Model, systems and structure design, and culture change models to deliver meaningful, sustainable results.
Building an internal OD consulting capability enables organizations to reduce their dependency on expensive external firms, strengthen consistency across business units, and foster a culture of continuous improvement.
Developing internal OD consultants is not just an operational strategy; it’s a competitive advantage.
Organizations that invest in building their own capacity for change are better positioned to adapt, innovate, and thrive in today’s dynamic environment.
If you would like to learn more about our ODCP Program and how you can build your team’s capabilities path in Organization Development, contact us at 888-574-5265, email info@instituteod.com, or visit www.instituteod.com
About the Author
Dr. Nancy Zentis, Ph.D.
CEO and Founder of the Institute of Organization Development (IOD). Contact: nancy.zentis@instituteod.com.
The Institute of Organization Development offers online Certification Programs on Organization Development, OD Process Consulting, Talent Management, Executive Coaching, Leadership Development and HR Business Partner
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