Week 7 Evaluation Report - Organizational Development Strategies

Organizational development is a planned process of change. It doesn’t happen overnight nor is it the same for every organization. Organizational development depends on the needs of the organization. Because organizations are increasingly challenged by change (competition, globalized economy, technology, etc.) and employees are constantly seeking to get “more” out of their work yet find better balance with their personal lives, organizational development can help improve an organization’s effectiveness.

When organizational development is implemented, the test of its effectiveness is its outcome (Borkowski, 2011). In order to be effective, the organization has to “own” the development, implementation, and results of the intervention. To do this, the organization must also be continually evaluating the process and results of the implementation. It is essential that the organization incorporates the “change” into all parts and expects all aspects of the organization to embrace the strategies to change.

The type of intervention needed depends on the type of change needed within the organization. There are four main categories of change including: strategic, technostructural, human processes, and human resource management. Strategic intervention is needed when there are issues regarding organizational performance due to market competitiveness or marketing strategies. Technostructural intervention is needed when organizational design or work design issues are apparent. Human process interventions deal with issues among the people within the organization. Human resource management interventions target issues dealing with larger-scale issues involving the people of an organization (i.e. a mass exodus from the company). Regardless of the type of change needed, developing a strategy includes planning activities to resolve difficulties and building on strengths.

Human Resource Management (HRM) Interventions Versus
Human Process Interventions

Human resource management HRM interventions aim to enhance overall organizational performance by improving the performance of individuals and groups within the organization. Some of the strategies involved in HRM interventions include (Sabar, n.d.):

Goal Setting and Performance Appraisal
Involves setting clear and challenging goals (Foster, 2013)
Attempts to improve organization effectiveness by establishing a better fit between personal and organizational objectives (Foster, 2013)
Systematic process of jointly assessing work-related achievements, strengths and weaknesses (Foster, 2013)
Reward Systems
Involves the design of organizational rewards to improve employee satisfaction and performance (Foster, 2013)
Career Planning & Development
Focuses on managers and professional staff and is seen as a way of improving the quality of their work life (Foster, 2013)
Coaching and Counseling Activities
Managing Work Force Diversity
Important trends, such as the increasing number of women, ethnic minorities, and physically and mentally challenged people in the workforce (Foster, 2013)
Requires a more flexible set of policies and practices (Foster, 2013)
Employee Wellness
Include employee assistance programs (EAPs) and stress management (Foster, 2013)

Human process interventions are aimed at enabling employees to develop a better understanding of their own and others’ behaviors for the purpose of improving that behavior such that the organization benefits. Often there are distinct communication barriers, a “history” between employees, or possibly ineffective leadership (Borkowski, 2011). Some of the strategies involved in human process interventions include (Sabar, n.d.):

Sensitivity Training
Increase participants’ insight into their own behavior and that of others by encouraging an open expression of feelings in a trainer- guided group
Team Building
Helps work groups become more effective in accomplishing tasks
Process Consulting
Carefully intervening in a group or team to help it accomplish itsgoals
Concentrates on the way the team works, rather than what it is working on
Large-group Interventions
Bring all of the key members of a group together in one room for an extended period of time
Skills Training
Increasing the job knowledge, skills, and abilities that are necessary to do a job effectively
Job Redesign
Method that alters jobs to improve the fit between individual skills and the demands of the job
Conflict Resolution
Employee Wellness
Stress reduction education; employee assistance

Conclusion

The strategies involved for each intervention are varied. Nevertheless, they are effective for the given intervention. An organization that is struggling to be competitive may benefit from both a skills training intervention as well as team building as they may increase employee satisfaction with their job, which could, in turn, help the organization as a whole. Likewise, an organization that has multiple personalities “conflicting” within the work environment may benefit from the HRM intervention strategy of managing workforce diversity. All of the strategies mentioned have the potential of being useful, but if the wrong strategy is used for a given situation, it may not appear to be useful. Therefore, management/leadership must be aware of the needs of the organization and be able to target the needs with the most effective intervention.

References

Borkowski, N. (2011). Organizational Behavior in Health Care. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers

Foster, C. (2013). Organization development. Retrieved from

Patil-Bhide, A. (2012). Organization development. Retrieved from

Sabar, R. (n.d.). Strategic interventions. Retrieved from