01
Competency framework
Role-family competencies with observable behaviours at each grade, written so a manager can actually rate against them rather than guess.
Build the next layer of managers before you need them
Organisations usually discover their leadership gap at the worst moment — when a function head resigns and the obvious internal successor is two years away from ready. Development work is unglamorous precisely because it has to start before the vacancy exists.
In short
What is organisational development?
Organisational development is planned work on an organisation's capability: defining the competencies each role needs, assessing where people stand against them, building learning and leadership programmes to close the gap, planning succession for critical roles, and managing the change that follows. BridgePoint builds competency frameworks and development plans as defined engagements of eight to sixteen weeks, and typically identifies two ready successors for every critical role before a programme is considered complete.
What's included
What you actually get
Every item below is part of the standard engagement, not an upsell.
02
Capability assessment
Current capability mapped against the framework through manager input, self-assessment and structured exercises, producing a gap map by function and grade.
03
Learning and development plan
An annual calendar with programme owners, formats and budget, prioritised by the gaps that affect delivery this year rather than every gap found.
04
Leadership development
A programme for first-time and mid-level managers covering the things that actually break — delegation, feedback, hiring and performance conversations.
05
Succession planning
Critical roles identified, successors named at ready-now, ready-in-one-year and ready-in-two-year horizons, with development actions attached to each name.
06
Change management
Structured support for restructures, mergers, system rollouts and policy shifts: stakeholder mapping, communication plan and manager briefing packs.
Scope
How engagements are shaped
6–8 weeks
Competency framework
The foundation. Without defined competencies, assessment and development are opinion.
4–6 weeks
Capability and gap assessment
Where the organisation stands against the framework, reported by function and grade.
3–6 months
Leadership programme
Cohort-based development for a defined group, with practical assignments between sessions.
6–12 months
Succession and change
Succession depth for critical roles, plus change support through a restructure or transition.
Deliverables
- Competency framework by role family with grade-wise behaviours
- Capability gap map by function, grade and competency
- Annual learning and development calendar with owners and budget
- Leadership programme design, materials and facilitation
- Succession plan naming successors and readiness horizons for critical roles
- Change management plan with communication and manager briefing packs
Scope and deliverables are confirmed in writing before work begins. If something here does not apply to your situation, we take it out rather than bill for it.
Process
How the work runs
01
Understand
A working session on what you actually need — the role, the mandate or the outcome. We put the brief in writing and you sign it off before work starts.
02
Plan
A scoped plan with owners, timelines and the numbers we will report against. If the brief is unrealistic on budget, market or timeline, we say so here.
03
Execute
Delivery against the plan, with a weekly written update whether or not there is good news. Silence is not a status report.
04
Review
Results measured against what we agreed at the start, with an honest read on what worked, what did not, and what we would change next cycle.
FAQ
Organisational Development — questions
What is the difference between organisational development and training?
Training is an intervention; organisational development is the diagnosis that decides which intervention is needed. Most training budgets are spent on programmes chosen because they were available, not because a capability gap was measured. The framework and assessment come first for that reason.
Do we need a competency framework at our size?
It becomes worth the effort somewhere above fifty to seventy-five employees, or sooner if you have multiple grades in the same function and promotion decisions are being argued rather than evidenced. Below that, a simple set of role expectations usually does the job.
How do you build a leadership pipeline?
Identify the critical roles, name candidate successors against readiness horizons, then attach specific development actions — a stretch project, a cross-functional move, external exposure — to each name. We aim for two identified successors per critical role, and we report honestly where there are none.
How do you measure whether development work paid off?
Against baselines agreed at the start: internal fill rate for senior vacancies, time-to-productivity in promoted roles, retention in the target cohort and reassessment against the competency framework. Programme satisfaction scores are not a measure of capability.
Can you support us through a restructure?
Yes, and the practical work is mostly sequencing and communication. Stakeholder mapping, a communication plan with dates, briefing packs so managers answer consistently, and support on the statutory side where roles are affected — notice, settlement and retrenchment obligations under applicable labour law.
Related services
Often needed alongside this
Talk to us about organisational development
Tell us the situation and we will give you a straight read on scope, timeline and whether we are the right firm for it.