Organization Development
Introduction
The process of employing behavioral science through improving an organization by either changing their policies, the control, power, leadership, or job redesign, among others, is known as the organizational development (OD). The focus of OD is to establish an organization’s effectiveness and improve efficiency. It is usually a continuous process where a future change is managed. This can be done through diagnosing, planning, and evaluation (Borkowski, 2016). Organizational development practitioners have a role in analyzing companies and several other regulations through analyzing what changes can be done to help them perform well. The majority of the organizational development practitioners operate as independent consultants. OD professionals are those practitioners who oversee and implement the corporate programs to ensure and increase efficiency, strengthen the employee’s abilities and skills, improve leadership, and the overall wellness of the company.
The role of the OD professional
The primary goal of OD is to ensure that the organization’s objectives are met. They have a variety of ways to carry out this depending on the nature of the job at hand. Sometimes it may involve giving guidance to change a team, redesigning the organization’s processes or partnering with the decision-makers of the company, facilitating teamwork acting as a consultant for a specific business process, and carrying out some health checks, among others. While the roles of OD can include numerous the purposes and outcomes aimed at are usually consisted (Lau et al., 2019). The effectiveness of the organization is mostly needed in times of change. There are both internal and external OD consultants. The internal ones are usually part of the organization and are primarily found in the Human resource department. Sometimes they might add some more tasks that are not part of the OD role. The external OD is not part of the organization, and they work from a consulting firm or by themselves.
Skills necessary for an OD practitioner
The skills that are necessary for an OD practitioner are process, people, setting direction, and finally, the organizational skills. People skills include the ability to design systems that can establish trust and improve the organization’s performance (“The Skills Needed for OD Practitioners,” 2020). Direction setting skills refer to assess how the company approaches leadership and the alignment with the overall objective. Skills for the process is the capability to change the company processes in a way that they contribute to quantifiable improvements (Mohd Salleh & Sulaiman, 2019). Besides, organizational skills require one to be able to design structures that lead to growth in output and responsibility. Furthermore, the organization development practitioners are expected to have the ability to interpret the outcome of their valuations and approvals to their clients. This is because some clients might be so resistant to perceived criticism after having employed an OD to make changes.
Various interventions used in the OD process
Organization development interventions are programs that are usually structured and designed with the aim of solving problems. They enable organizations to achieve their objectives (Gabriel, 2015). The interventions include activities that are designed to improve how the organization functions hence, enabling the leaders to manage their teams better and build a positive culture. The responses are also expected to address all issues facing the company. The following are some of the interventions:
Diagnostic activity
It is an activity where information about the organization is collected. It can be done through using the past records, observation, interviews, and meeting with the members. After collection, the data eis analyzed, and members are given feedback. Actions are therefore designed to improve the health of the company. Members are also expected to provide feedback after seeing the results (Gabriel, 2015). The feedback from them is used to perceptions and attitudes towards job satisfaction. The leaders can also use it to understand how their leadership style is impacting people and see where to improve to create good relationships with their subordinates.
Team building
Activities that aim at team building have a goal of enhancing the effectiveness and boost the satisfaction of people who work in groups. Therefore, team building helps in identifying challenges facing the group so that solutions can be applied as early as possible. Some of the issues solved by team building are personality conflict within the members (Shani & Noumair, 2019). Changing the usual way tasks are done, redirecting the resources, and doing re-examination of work processes help in streamlining the group’s issues.
Process consultation
Process consultation is mostly used by an external OD consultant to assist the management of the organization processes and act upon them (Shani & Noumair, 2019). The OD tries to analyze communication patterns, decision-making processes, cooperation methods, conflict management processes, and leadership styles.
Inter-group relations
There are always problems within a specific group and among other several groups in an organization that are interdependent. Therefore, these activities help to eliminate any unhealthy issues among the groups hence promoting the achievement of the overall goals.
Sensitivity training
It entails unstructured group interactions that aim at changing the organization’s behavior. During this interaction, members can express their ideas openly, talk about their beliefs, perceptions, and learn interpersonal behavior (Shani & Noumair, 2019). This training has a possibility of resulting empathy for others, have a higher tolerance for existing differences, and improve trust among them. Other problems that can be solved through this method include conflicts in the life of authority that brings confusion. For instance, a conflict may occur between labor and management and sales and production. Openness can help in solving these kinds of disputes.
What is appreciative inquiry?
It is a theory that shifts the organization’s development methods to a positive perspective by asking guided and generative questions. Often organizations experience a change that impacts them negatively or positively (UHL-BIEN, 2020). It advocates for people focusing their attention on the factors that are doing well with the organization and to maximize on them. There is an impact on human behavior that anticipates the success of an organization. The process of asking questions requires a way that cultivates the positive thinking of employees.
How appreciative inquiry is used in the OD process
The appreciative inquiry theory is applied through the use of five phases. The OD more often referred to the phases as the 5-D cycle. The first phase is called the defining phase. It involves first defining why the AI is going to be used and how it will be (UHL-BIEN, 2020). The second phase is the discovery phase that involves inquiring what is best in an employee or an organization system that works right for them. The third phase is called the dream phase. The individual participants of an organization imagine how the organization will be like when it is at its prosperous state. The fourth phase is the design phase that involves brainstorming for ideas that show the best of the past continuity that makes the participant anticipate the move for the system towards what they imagined in the dream phase. The final step is the destiny phase that involves discussion on how to achieve the dream and the design through leveraging strengths of the participants to deliver and the organization’s resources at their disposal.
Barriers against change
People always fear change because they probably do not wish to forgo their usual way of doing things that someone might b favoring them. It is human nature to prefer routines to make work easier. Change is something that its results are unknown, and sometimes it might be a possibility of failure. It always has a significant impact on both the individuals and the organization hence causing resistance for change (Cummings & Worley, n.d.). Sometimes the company might lack enough resources like funds and staff to implement a particular change fully. Besides, the lack of proper communication concerning a planned change in the organization tends to bring different perceptions and expectations regarding the change. All the above factors can drag the implementation of change and undermine the effort, hence creating resistance.
Conclusion
OD practitioners are individuals who are specialized in doing organizational development. They are usually trusted to carry out a change process in the organization. They enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization’s operations and processes. This is through the use of active participation of individual employees to interviews through generative and guiding questions that cultivate them to think positively about the change. They engage the participants in the action plan that appreciates their strengths and let them focus on the best-highlighted working methodology for an organization.
References
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