Intervention in Organizational Development - Essay Example

Intervention in Organizational Development Organizational development (OD) indicates any efforts or strategies leading to wholesome change in the internal working process of an organization. The objective is to enhance the efficiency of the organization in order to achieve its strategic goal. This includes changes in the traditional culture and beliefs of the organization to prepare it to meet the changing market trends and increasing competition through “increased financial performance, employee satisfaction, and environmental sustainability” (Cummings & Worley, 2014, p.1). Intervention which is an integral part of OD is the implementation of strategic planning decided by an OD consultant after diagnosing the performance level and shortcomings of an organization. Intervention process takes place after approval from the management once the effectiveness of the planning is assessed. As defined by Chris Agryris, “to intervene is to enter into an ongoing system of relationships, to come between or among persons, groups, or objects for the purpose of helping them” (Anderson, 2013, p.190). In order to enhance effectiveness of an organization, intervention processes need to focus on groups rather than individuals to make a cultural change so that mission and goals of the organization become more attainable. For effective intervention, one major step is to build trust and it is the job of the management to earn trust from employees before expecting them to listen to their propositions. Also, it is more important to create an environment of collaboration among employees rather than encouraging competitiveness for motivation as the collaboration can improve teamwork and communication. Strategic interventions can also help in bringing about changes within the organization like mergers, expansion or improving relationship with stakeholders. There are four major types of intervention process. First is human process intervention which focuses on interpersonal relations and group performance. The goal is to create greater awareness of individual ability, develop specific behavioral skills, and to work more effectively as part of a group through various training methods (Kumar, 2010, p.187). Second type is technostructural intervention which is concerned with the organization’s technology like type and composition of job, and structure like job division and hierarchy. This intervention changes the overall working structure of the organization making it more flexible thus increasing motivation among employees. Also, it resorts to personnel layoffs and outsourcing in order to reduce costs. It redesigns the core working process to enable more integrity and coordination between different tasks. Moreover, employee well-being is also considered by increasing knowledge base and rewards. The third type of intervention is human resource management (HRM) which is an overall assessment of employee performance level and establishment of better link between individual and organizational goals. This intervention includes reward system for motivating employees for better performance, and providing opportunities to managers and other professional staff to enhance their career. Moreover, it helps management of employee diversity like making provisions for physically disabled or ethnic minorities, and safety of women. It also focuses on reducing stress level of employees through various stress management programs. The final type of intervention is strategic intervention which involves large scale changes within the organization in response to external changes like market trends or increased competition. It helps in smooth transformation from existing strategies to required strategies. It also involves merging with bigger companies to tackle complex problems. Also, this intervention makes cultural changes in the organization like changing its values and beliefs (Bhatia, 2010, pp.134-137). For instance, in an organization employees may feel they are getting differential treatment based on ranks. In such a case, a cultural intervention in necessary so as to create an environment where people can work together with shared skills. Before deciding on the type of intervention, it is necessary to assess the size of the organization and whether its management and other stakeholders are prepared for organizational development. Then it is important to be clear about the objectives and then selecting the appropriate intervention process. Since OD interventions are particularly aimed at increasing efficiency, enhancing the strengths and creating opportunities for growth therefore it is important to ensure that the organization has sufficient resources and financial backup to implement the changes. 2. In case of any kind of organizational development, the foremost issue is a proper diagnosis. It is based on accurate assessment of prevailing problems and potential solutions. Diagnosis is conducted to get a proper understanding of the current crisis and its consequences. Through a precise diagnosis, it is possible to understand the reason why an organization needs changes and what kind of changes will fulfill the objectives. It can be mentioned that there is an underlying difference between organizational analysis and organizational diagnosis; while the former involves activities for growth and expansion the latter is conducted in order to make changes within the organization to increase its efficiency (Janicijevic, 2010, pp.85-86). In general, organizational development activities are mostly focused on group performance. This is because it is team effort that plays a vital role in an organization’s success as most jobs are team-based. It is also manifestation of the contribution of t-groups in the history of organizational development. The most common form of group level OD intervention is team building which can be defined as “a long-term, data-based intervention in which intact work teams experientially learn, by examining their structures, purposes, norms, values, and interpersonal dynamics, to increase their skills for effective teamwork” (Jex, 2002, p.447). This type of intervention assists the group to become more efficient in recognizing problems and make proper diagnosis of them to arrive at appropriate solutions. The purpose here is not making groups free of problems, but to prepare the groups to recognize the core reasons of any problems and arrive at necessary solutions. Team building can be effectively done only after a proper group diagnosis. In many cases, groups are so large that they are akin to the size and form of an organization, for instance, operating division at Viacom. In such cases group diagnosis is conducted in the scale of organizational diagnosis. However small groups have their individual working processes and hence problems separate from the organization. Therefore they require distinct diagnosis model to concentrate on their distinct problems. Work groups are part of every organization. While some groups are permanent and perform ongoing jobs, most groups are temporary and formed to perform specific tasks (Cummings & Worley, 2014, p.107). The key components of group level diagnosis are “organization design, group-level throughputs and group performance” (Sharma, 2012, p.110). Organization design includes all the inputs of a group like its culture, leadership, formation, assessment system, technology and strategy. Since a group is an integral part of a large organization, therefore its strategy needs to align with the overall strategy of the organization. While extent of technology usage determines the skill level of the group, assessment system reflects its performance level. Group-level throughputs include clear identification of goals, and structure and functioning of the group. Every individual in a group needs to have same level of understanding regarding goals. There should also be effective interaction and coordination between all the members of a group, and also every group needs autonomy power with respect to establishing goals and making strategies for the assigned task. Another component is composition of a group which determines the education, experience and skill level of the group members. In case of disparities in skill or social status level there may exist certain level of stress within the group. Also, the relationship between group members is another component to be considered. In case of competitive environment, there can be lack of communication between the group member while too much focus on maintaining cordial relationship may shift the focus from the task. Therefore, the need is to ensure that group members work in harmony with coordination and smooth communication between them. The final component which is group performance measures the performance level of a group by evaluating its output quality and creativity. Also, group members’ work life quality is ascertained through measuring their satisfaction and motivation level. Their commitment towards the organization is a major component of group performance (Sharma, 2012, pp.110-111). It is the combination of all the group level components that contribute towards organizational development and absence of any one of them can hinder progress. An example can be absence of a strong group performance caused by lack of high skilled employees or lack of motivation can deliver low quality output. In this changing market conditions and stiff competition, poor quality output can affect the overall success of the organization. 3. Organizational development is a key element for increasing efficiency of an organization by promoting cultural changes, technological developments, group-level efficiency, motivation among employees, and smooth communication and coordination between various groups and departments. Historically, OD is based on five stems. First is laboratory training, also known as sensitivity training which has its roots in 1946 in the Research Center at the MIT. It involves a group of raw recruits who learn and gain experience through mutual interactions, personal growth and group development (Cummings & Worley, 2014, p.8). The basic approach is to encourage the group to work in a given environment and record their performance on video to be observed by the group so that they can learn from own performances in an effective manner. The results of training sessions depend on feedback (Springer, 2013, p.326). For effective training sessions, role of senior management is vital along with adequate resources. Lack of proper training due to paucity of fund can cause the organization to lose its reputation through poor performance, low quality output and customer dissatisfaction. Today, it is not possible for management to execute daily operations of an organization without a skilled and reliable team of employees. In order to maximize productivity from each employee, proper training is essential for everyone from janitor to senior management. The difference lies in the process of training which depends upon the job requirement and responsibilities of each position (Singer, 2001, p.17). The second stem of OD is action research/ survey feedback. Action research which was developed in 1947 “takes the form of systematically collecting data from people about process issues and feeding it back in order to identify problems and their likely causes” (Bhatia, 2009, p.245). This means a problem is first identified in order to determine the course of action required as solution. The action is then implemented by the people who face the problem. Proper diagnosis of the problem, conclusion regarding needed solution and action planning are major elements of action research. Survey feedback “is a variety of action research in which data is systematically collected about the system and then fed back to groups to analyze and interpret as the basis for preparing action plans” (Bhatia, 2009, p.245). Therefore, the research team and feedback team needs to coordinate their activities since the former identifies the problem while the latter encourages interaction within group to search for alternative solution. According to the third stem of OD which is normative approach and it holds the view that human relations approach is the best option for management. It involves combination of two types of management. One body of management focuses more on motivation and satisfaction level of employees and shows less concern for production. This type of management promotes various schemes to provide better working conditions, security and comfort to employees. Then there is the second body of management which emphasizes on enhancing productivity through technological development, and focuses less on creativity and commitment of employees. Normative approach suggests that a third type of management assumes that there is always a gap between individual goals and organizational goals. Therefore, the need is to establish coordination between organization and its people by integrating individual goals with organizational goals to encourage employees to think and influence the organization (Cummings & Worley, 2014, p.11). The fourth stem of OD is quality of work life (QWL) which is concerned with safety and motivation of employees through variety in jobs, discretion and feedbacks. QWL became popular during the 1950s in Europe and the 1960s in the United States. Through QWL programs it was established that a group’s effort and contribution play an immense role in the development of an organization. These groups consist of highly skilled people who are given the autonomy to make strategic decisions regarding execution of their assigned job. QWL programs focus on physical and mental health of employees and therefore contribute towards fulfilling their personal needs by improving working conditions, rewards for job efficiency and job promotions. The fifth and final stem of OD is strategic change, and this has a strong and overwhelming impact on organizational development. With constant evolution of technologies and changing socio-political environment, the fifth stem focuses on increasing efficiency of an organization with the goal of making it more compatible with the external environment (Cummings & Worley, 2014, pp.12-13). The five stems contribute towards organizational development by ultimate focus on increasing the efficiency of the organization through increased productivity and well-being of employees. While the first, third and fourth stems focus on the human management approach by providing people with training and motivation, the second stem emphasizes on research and analysis to understand the core problem and its reasons so that appropriate actions can be designed. The fifth stem makes an overall change in the organization’s culture and technological conditions that makes a positive impact on the employees and productivity of the organization. As OD process, QWL can provide solution to prevailing employee related problems. For instance, an organization can establish promotion and reward schemes for employees who exhibit performance above a certain level. This can enhance their motivation which can increase their QWL. 4. In this era of increasing competitiveness and changing market dynamics, organizational development has become an essential objective. An integral change in the organization in terms of technology, human resource management, cultural environment and financial performance has become a vital issue. However, crisis occurs when intervention processes fail to fulfill the required objectives. For business leaders, it is therefore necessary to study the factors that contribute towards failed initiatives before designing any strategic changes within the organization. It has been estimated that almost 75 percent of all change initiatives fail caused by different reasons (Grout & Fisher, 2007). A survey conducted in small and middle size organizations in North America, Europe and Asia has revealed that according to employer opinion only 55 percent of change initiatives taken by management has faced only initial success while only 25 percent of employers feel that change initiatives survive till objectives are fulfilled. Moreover, 87 percent of the employers felt that managers are properly trained for making changes but only a mere 22 percent of the training shows effective results (Lipman, 2013). There are several reasons attributed to the failed change initiatives. Often it happens that sense of urgency is not propagated which means people and stakeholders are not made aware of the critical situation that requires an overall change in the organization. While people become aware of management’s impending change decisions they are not fully cognizant about the urgency. Hence, there is often a lackluster approach of people towards change more because any such initiatives require a drastic change in the cultural environment like prevailing beliefs and vision (Russell, 2006, p.32). Another underlying factor is that people remain comfortable with stability and order in their lives which is another reason why people do not welcome change with an open mind unless they learn about the urgent need of change (Gabriel, 2008, p.33). The second reason of failed initiative is that all stakeholders do not share a common vision. Very often a certain group of stakeholders remain unaware of the actual purpose of the change initiatives and therefore there is lack of cooperation. Managers need to remain aware of the goals at the stage of implementation so that resources are properly allocated for the purpose. Likewise, board members should be knowledgeable about the changes so that they can align the programs with the organization’s strategic vision. Lack of communication between different groups of people also contribute towards lack of shared vision. Without proper acknowledge of the purpose of change, it is not uncommon that there will be resistance at certain level even if the change is viewed positively by the top management. Then there are reasons like failing to anticipate potential hurdles and ignoring the organization’s culture. Often, change initiatives require an overall cultural change in the behaviors and beliefs of people which become difficult to perform (Russell, 2006, pp.33-34). An example of a failed OD intervention occurred in private organization named Promotion Inc. One major concern was high turnover of employees which was costing the company $600,000 annual on training facilities. The company’s Total Quality Management (TQM) Steering Committee conducted a survey designed by an outside consultant for understanding the cause of such high turnover. When the survey report was given to the committee, they held meetings with the consultant for probable solutions. However, the meetings were attended by three members who refused to issue any changes based merely on employee feedback. Therefore, although the reasons behind the high turnover were detected no attempt was taken to develop solutions (Swanson & Zuber, 1996). The foremost solution lies in spreading the real reason behind any kind of changes needed in the organization to all people from management, board of directors, employees, and other stakeholders. Proper allocation of resources and finance can be done only if the concerned departments are made aware of any initiatives. All data retrieved from research and analysis conducted to identify problems and their reasons need to be duly assembled so that intervention can be designed in strategic manner to fulfill concrete goals. Moreover, technology must be used in the way so that it does not serve the purpose of any one facet of OD, otherwise any data created will become redundant (Richtermeyer, 2010). 5. Any change management plan needs to be designed in the manner so that within the specified time period positive results can be achieved. For this, proper coordination needs to be maintained in all the aspects of intervention so as to “manage the change as a whole, outlined in the change management strategy” (Franklin, 2014, p.58). There are five key elements of an effective change management program according to Cummings and Worley (2014, p.180) – 1) motivating change, 2) creating a vision, 3) developing political support, 4) managing the transition, and 5) sustaining momentum. The first thing that needs to be done is to prepare the organization to accept and adapt to the changes. For this purpose, it is needed to bring together all those people who have first-hand knowledge about the core problems and their potential solutions along with challenges and opportunities of those solutions. The next step is to explain the overall objectives and vision of the change management program to all the people involved. Most stakeholders may resist the changes if they are not properly informed about what is in stake for them. It is necessary that all people are provided a shared vision so as to expect cooperation and coordination. The third step is to engage an efficient and skilled change agent to make the initiatives. Also, it is needed to identify those stakeholders who can be hindrance to the project so that they can be positively influenced. The fourth element is effective planning and management of the project to ensure a smooth transition from existing environment to a changed environment within the organization. The final element is to maintain sustainability of the project by proper allocation of resources, developing skilled employees, and building support system for change agents (Cummings & Worley, 2014, p.180). In 1981, British Airways underwent an internal restructure which was initiated by a new chairperson, John King who had noticed that company was giving poor performance due to wastage of valuable resources. He began by reducing the workforce by 20,000, but he did this after informing everyone the necessity of such change implementation. He also closed several routes and sold off cargo service business and planes. In this way, he managed to bring the company out of a position that could have been disastrous (Martin, 2012, p.247). References Anderson, D.L. (2013) Organization Development: The Process of Leading Organizational Change, SAGE Publications Bhatia, S.K. (2009) Organization theory and designs, Deep and Deep Publications Bhatia, S.K. (2010) Organization Development and Transformation, Deep and Deep Publications Cummings, T.G. & Worley, C.G. (2014) Organization Development and Change, 10th ed., Cengage Learning Franklin, M. (2014) Agile Change Management: A Practical Framework for Successful Change Planning and Implementation, Kogan Page Publishers Gabriel, Y. (2008) Organizing Words: A Critical Thesaurus for Social and Organization Studies, Oxford Univ. Press Grout, J. & Fisher, L. (2007) What do leaders really do? John Wiley & Sons Janicijevic, N. (2010) Business processes in organizational diagnosis. Journal of Contemporary Management Issues, 15(2), 85-106 Jex, S.M. 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