HR Organizational Development in a Company - Research Paper Example

Human Resource Organizational Development in a Company Organizational development is a process by which an organization, small or large, undergoes changes towards growth, expansion or new direction. Although the process differs from one company to another, it shares the constant evolution that requires common essential steps to assure successful implementation of changes. Change however is the word mostly dreaded upon by employees because of its consequences in work tenure and comfort zones. How then should changes for organizational development be best handled? The famous Italian diplomat and theorist Niccolo Machiavelli once said that “There is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things” (Hitt, 1988, p. 20). This paper therefore is a discussion of the essential elements in implementing organizational change, the role of the human resource during change, and a brief on the factors that brings change. Defining Organizational Development Organizational development (OD) is about a long-term change that involves either the entire system or a sub-system of an organization towards more productivity. It necessitates dealing with culture and learning and of change agents internally and externally. The OD is a “change management strategy” known to be based on behavioral sciences that looks into the purposes and roles of the people and the organization for a better efficiency and productivity using “human and social processes” (Wamwangi, 2003, p.2). The OD practice develops “continuing capacity for learning and deepening understanding through practice” (Polotan-dela Cruz, 2008, p.4) Since 1950s, three change models have been known and applied by OD professionals in accordance to the development goal of the institution. One of the famous is Kurt Lewin’s change management model which concentrates on three developmental stages: unfreeze, change, and freeze. The unfreezing stage happens during organizational diagnosis when data shows discrepancies of organizational behavior or output desired versus what is currently exhibited (Cummings and Worley, 1993, p.53). Change stage is the process of introducing and developing the desired behavior while the freezing stage is the establishment of mechanisms like policies and new organizational structures to sustain the attained changes on behavior and attitudes. The other famous change model is the planning model by Lippitt, Watson, and Westley which approach is on the viewpoint of the external OD agent. This model with seven stages that includes scouting, entry, diagnosis, planning, action, stabilization and evaluation, and termination relies on its principle of open and unabridged communication between the organization members and the OD agent towards a concrete action for its success. The third change model is the action research model which has eight stages and is cyclical in process wherein feedback is needed for each step to provide more information for the succeeding steps. As with the planning model, the action research model calls for an open communication between the OD agent and the organization members and is commonly used for “planned change and at developing more general knowledge that can be applied to other settings” (Cummings and Worley, 1993, p.56). The eight steps of action research models are problem identification, consultation with a behavioral science expert, data gathering and preliminary diagnosis, feedback to key client or group, joint diagnosis of problem, joint action planning, action, and data gathering after action. In 1990s, an improved version of the action research model was used by organizations and OD professionals which was called contemporary action research model. This model emerged from the trends of merger, large organizations, and public-private partnerships for development (Wamwangi, 2003, p.6). This model is composed of six stages with the last two stages seen as cyclical or a continuous process. The six stages includes choosing positive subjects, collection of positive stories with broad participation, examination of data and develop possibility proportions, development of vision with broad participation, development of actions plans, and evaluation (Wamwangi, 2003, p.6). Accordingly, OD is a process managed from the top that affects the tangible and intangible dimensions of an organization. The tangible dimensions ranges from resources, policies, structures, systems and procedures, and programs and services. Intangible dimensions on the other hand are power relations amongst managers and employees, culture and behavior, vision and ideology, individual and organization values and principles (Polotan-dela Cruz, 2008, p. 6). Factors of Change The four main causes of organizational change are environmental changes, organizational deficiencies, managerial –level deficiencies and counter of organizational inflexibility (Bharijoo, 2001, p. 82). Environmental changes in an organization includes changes in regulatory or legal setting, rising competition, acquisition or merger, rising costs of material and human resources, local and foreign market changes, and technological development. Examples of organizational deficiencies are declining market share, profit, or revenues, deficiencies of organizational structure, redundancy of employment services, low quality of services, low employee morale, and fast turnover of employees. The managerial-level changes include retirement or opening of new positions, resignation, mismanagement, and job dismissal. Conversely, organizational inflexibility is the need to meet the demands for customer satisfaction, increasing market share, profit, or revenues, and the demand for good public image. Organizations change therefore because it is planned, emergent, or there’s an opportunity to be more competitive in their niche or build a new one. The Role of Human Resource in Implementing Change In 2010, a forum on HR’s role in implementing change hosted by American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC) has recognized two major tasks for human resource (Molloy, 2010, p.17). One is leading employee transitions which pertains to coaching employees to assess their imminent loses, teaching them how to cope and clarify expectations, and introduce to employees the benefits of the changes while recognizing them for their contributions in the organization. Second is to motivate employees to change by forming, norming and reinventing. Forming is a step that provides support to the employees by giving them directions and information on the business goals, norming is the step that rewards positive behavior and provision of standards, and reinventing is the step that enhances collaboration for innovation. During change, HR acts as a leader by owning the goal, as facilitator by implementing change smoothly and professionally, and as a specialist by giving expert advises. As a leader, HR identifies the issues and change needed within the organization. In doing so, HR develops a plan on how to execute change and its solutions. It informs the people in the organization about the change and effectively deals with arising resistance. As a leader HR prepares employees about the impending change ahead of time by identifying and approaching first individuals who will be affected by change, and assess the readiness of the people for change (Scott, 1995, p.21). In communicating about the change, it is the HR’s role to explain the reasons for change by telling the truth in person and listening to the employee’s feelings and messages. Since change involves partial or total alteration of behavior, culture, and/or structure, individual and organizational resistance is a predictable part of change. The HR counter resistance by understanding the reasons and signs of resistance and creating rituals that can help disgruntled employees move on and realize the better opportunities that change will bring. As facilitator HR guides and involves the people within the organization and outside it that includes stakeholders in confirming the issues that called for change and in gathering the right solutions for the business, its people, and clients. The HR assists the employees and the organization to assess their current situation, clarify objectives, identify problems, and brainstorm solutions. Providing feedback during change is an essential HR role since employees need to know the progression of their performance and the progression of change, and employees needed encouragement and support. Change affects performance thus it is important to have a regular schedule of report and feedback mechanism. As specialist, HR provides the decisions makers and the leaders the best options, guidelines, strategies and implementation framework. One critical strategy is establishing transition structures by creating transition groups who will demonstrate the change and identify possible resistance or impediments. Another is the reward system strategy that will give incentives to those who successfully executed the change as an example, and by “creating public displays that acknowledge groups and individuals who have helped make things happen” (Scott, 1995, p.24). Rewards can also be given to those who exerted efforts to attempt execution of change since it develops self-esteem and ownership of change that leads to commitment. Essential Elements in Implementing Change Over the years, the OD professionals have developed several measures to help ensure the success of implementing change in an organization regardless of its size. According to Hrebiniak (2005), there are six key steps in managing change (p. 255). One is to conduct accurate assessment on the size and content of the needed change by determining the things that need changes, the scope of the problem, and the method of response to be done by the organization. Like in mergers, the main concern is on scale and complexity thus time is not a major issue contrary to e-commerce companies that thrives in speed and contemporary methods of implementation (Duck, 2001, p. 156). Another is to determine the amount of time needed to execute the change by clarifying if it will be done promptly or gradually. The third step is to determine the exact strategies to use in conducting change while the fourth step is about clarifying the individuals responsible and accountable for the aspects of change. The fifth is the need of HR to counter resistance to change which can hinder or delay the implementation of change. Lastly is the establishment of mechanisms to monitor the effects of change in the employees and the organization as a whole. In implementing change, alternative strategies are recommended that includes test and deploy, building of behavior first, enlisting champion for change, change by modeling and attraction, and planed duplication (Duck, 2001, p.154). The test and deploy is piloting the change design first to a specific department before involving the entire organization. Building behavior pertains to engendering all the people inside the organization to focus on a single change objective by involving them in the execution of change. Enlisting champion for change refer to having a person, either thru hiring or organic in the organization, who has credibility and authority to head the change efforts. In some organizations, hiring external OD professional is the practice to work with the human resources for the implementation of the desired change. Change by modeling and attraction means implementing change in one department and use its success stories as a model for others. Planned duplication is a strategy wherein change is executed in few departments but training leaders within to be the future champion on change and to execute plans accordingly in new departments. Leaders play an essential role in implementing change. Since change leads to resistance, it requires a committed and participatory leadership since they act as a champion for change and development. Accordingly, “organizations that successfully implement significant change reinforce and reward desirable behaviors of leaders and managers with appropriate changes to corporate infrastructure such as performance appraisal, performance management, and compensations systems” (American Productivity and Quality Center, 1999. p.4). Culture change is also seen as fundamental to make organizational change effective and long-term as it helps the employees and the organization view change as transformational rather than a threat to their existence. To make culture change successful, open communication, formal education and training, changes in infrastructure that includes human resources and financial incentives like rewards should be implemented. Change in an organization is believed to be effective and sustainable with the active involvement of “empowered and educated workforce” (American Productivity and Quality Center, 1999. p.5). Empowered workforce means granting authority and responsibility to the people by involving them in dissecting the issue that needed change, planning for the change process, and letting them be responsible of their work outputs. An educated workforce pertains to the knowledge of the employees on the culture of change, the purposes of change, and their roles in executing change. As mentioned earlier, the establishment of monitoring mechanisms is important to measure the progress as well as failures of change strategies. To be more effective, the monitoring mechanism must be coupled with an open communication in the organization to send important messages across the leaders and employees. The monitoring mechanisms are extended beyond the organization to the stakeholders and clients for to develop a better understanding on the dynamics of change and on what else should be done in implementing change. Amidst execution of change, the HR in an organization also calls for significant changes in its systems that align with the goals of the change. Since HR plays a vital role in planning and implementing change, it is imperative for the HR to be a primary model to convince the employees and the organization on the positive outcomes that the change will bring. The essential elements to a successful change are fashioned to prevent the failures and the Molly’s (2010) presentation has identified top ten reasons why organizational changes fail: Employees lack the knowledge, skills, or abilities to survive, lack of sponsorship at all levels, processes and systems are not aligned to support the initiative, employees are not held accountable for action, business reason for change is unclear or not communicated, front-line management unskilled at empathizing with employees, ideas from those most affected are not collected or implemented, employees being asked to change are not involved in the change, leadership believed that telling the employees to change is the same as an implementation strategy, and there is a lack of strategic alignment on the strategy, structure, processes, people, and rewards system. (p. 8) Case Sample of Change in a Non-Profit Sector The Peace and Equity Foundation is a non-profit organization in a developing country that funds local projects on food, water, shelter, health, and education that contributes to socio-cultural growth, economic development, and effective governance. The organization was established in October 2001 and has grown to have 25 regular employees and over 50 associates for special projects with three satellite offices in major cities across the country. It has strong partnerships with the national and local government units as well as with other non-profit organizations in the country. Since the organization was instituted, it was able to support over 500 small and large projects in its priority areas where poverty was found more dominant using the poverty map the organization has developed. In 2010, change happened in the organization thru reorganization of the entire structure of the foundation. Accordingly, the reorganization happened due to changes in leadership and the success and failure of the organization to attain its vision, mission, and goal. During the execution of change, the human resource was most helpful in managing the change itself by providing good analysis of the situation and articulating to the board of directors of the organization the need for change, communicating to the stakeholders the reason for change, firing, hiring and re-tooling staff, and in making sure that change does not bring about legal problems. The success of the major change executed in the organization was due to the fact that the HR has communicated well the planned changes to the leaders, employees, and stakeholders, and involved everyone in the execution of change. In addition, the HR did transition planning by assisting the employees in building a career outside the organization by conducting professional skills and knowledge assessment, and assistance on resume writing and job hunting. Two years after decision was made for reorganization, the foundation is still implementing some aspects of change such as hiring of new staff that would handle operations that is now located at the capital city. The evaluation of change is now based on the new directions of the organization using short term indicators like the cost of executing change and the number of suits filed by irate staff who resisted the change, and long term indicators like the capacity to achieve targets based on new strategic plan (R. Torres, personal communication, April 20, 2012). Conclusion Clearly, change is an integral part of any organization in order to survive or cope with the internal and external factors. In administering such, the role of an OD professional or the organization HR has been controversial because not only they perform a very important task of bringing change but because their presence provides people with someone to blame when change do not come into fruition. It is therefore most crucial for OD practitioners or HR individuals to equip themselves with the contemporary change management strategies the same way that they are dedicated to empower and educate the people and the organization about change. Ingenuity should guide them which among the strategies are applicable to the setting of the organization they served. Conversely, behind the desired change culture and behavior for an organization and its people are the personal culture and behavior of OD professionals and HR practitioners that should promote justice and integrity. When change has become twisted or does not promote goodwill to any further extent, it is the responsibility of the OD professional or HR practitioner as well to correct the mistakes before it can do harm than good to the organization and its people. References American Productivity and Quality Center. (1999). Organizational Change: Managing the Human Side [PDF file]. Bharijoo, Surendra B. (December 2005). Organizational Change: An Emerging Need for Survival and Success. The Journal of Nepalese Business Studies. Vol II. No. 1.81-86 Cummings, T. G. & Worley C. G. (1993). Organization Development and Change. 5th Edition. Minnesota : West Publishing Company. Duck, J. D. (2001). The Human Forces that Fuel or Foil Corporate Transformation and Change. First Edition. New York: Crown Business. ISBN 0-609-60771-5. Hrebiniak, L. G. (2005). Making Strategy Work. Leading Effective Execution and Change. New Jersey: Wharton School Publishing. 255-256. Hitt, W. (1988). The Leader-Manager Guidelines for Action. Ohio: Barttelle Press. 17-38. Molloy, J. (2010). HR’s Role in Change Management [PDF file]. Retrieved from American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC): http://www.apqc.org/knowledge-base Wamwangi, K. (2003). Organizational Development as a Framework for Creating Anti-Poverty Strategies and Action Including Gender Mainstreaming. 5th Urban and City Management Course for Africa face-face and Distance Learning Version. Retrieved from The World Bank Institute and Municipal Development Partnership: http://info.worldbank.org/etools/docs/library/114925/eum/docs/eum/tanzania/MODULEIIORGANIZATIONALDEVELOPMENTKINUTHIA.pdf Polotan-delaCruz, L. (2008) An Overview of Organization Development [PowerPoint slides]. Community Leadership and Organizational Development in CD. UP CSWCD. Scott, C. & Jaffe, D. (1995). Managing Change at Work. Leading People Through Organizational Transitions. California: Crisp Publications, Inc. Read More