Types of Organisational Development Interventions and ...
Types of Organisational Development Interventions and Organisational Issues
Interpersonal Interventions • Relate to the human processes within an organisation Examples: • T groups • Team building • Process consultation and team building • Conflict resolution • Intergroup relationships • Large group interventions Strategic Interventions • Relate to open systems planning and allow an organisation to respond to its task environment. Examples: • Transorganisational development • Mergers and acquisitions • Culture change • Organisational learning and knowledge management • Restructure Technostructural Interventions • Relate to how an organisation designs and divides its overall work
Examples: • Structural design • Downsizing • Reengineering • Employee involvement • Work redesign Human Resources Interventions • Concerned with the management of individuals and groups Examples: • Performance management and appraisal • Reward systems • Goal setting • Career planning and development • Managing workforce diversity • Employee welfare Difference Between Career and Human Resource Planning
Workforce Diversity Age: • A related issue is ageing population • Interventions might include wellness programs, work design, career and retirement planning and reward systems. Gender: • A related issue is the increase of dual income couples • Interventions might include childcare, maternity or paternity leave, work design, fringe benefits and rewards. Disability: • A related issue is the increase of people with disabilities in workplaces • Interventions might include physical space design, work design, career planning and development. Culture: • A related issue is the rising proportion of immigrant and minority workers • Interventions might include career planning and development and reward systems.
Outcomes of Organisational Change Organisational outcomes: • Profitability • Market share • Operational effectiveness and efficiency Individual outcomes: • Receptivity and resistance • Organisational commitment, compliance, identification and internalisation • Employee cynicism • Stress Process of Motivating Change Identifying the need for change: • A continual process of assessment Creating a culture which is ready for change: • Change is inevitable and a certainty • There will always be a need for improvement • The process of change is always for the betterment of an organisation Managing resistance to change: • Resistance can be positive and constructive if there is empathy and support, communication and involvement. Creating a Vision To garner commitment a vision must: • Describe a future state • Be related to a future mission • Value outcomes • Direct an organisation Sources of Power and Power Strategies
Process of Developing Political Support • Assessing change agent power • Identifying key stakeholders • Influencing stakeholders
Process of Managing Transition Activity planning: • Detailing top management support Commitment planning: • Identifying key stakeholders Management structures: • Allocating key roles and responsibilities Sustaining Momentum • Providing resources for change • Building a support system for change agents • Developing new competencies and skills • Reinforcing new behaviours Institutionalising Interventions
Week 5 Importance of Change Agents and Managers • Change is constant in what is a dynamic business environment • It is important that leaders have major involvement in the change process and act as catalysts for change. • Managers must quickly and properly react to unexpected events by being alert to problems and opportunities, and be change agents by stimulating, implementing and supporting change within their organisation. • Successful organisations and their members are increasingly realising the need to act as agents of change in their organisations. Change Agents • Change begins with consulting and nominating a change agent • Can be internal or external
• •
Change agents create an opportunity to explore the expectations and assumptions of both parties. Promote team building
Organisational Development Practitioners • Increasingly, organisations are calling upon practitioners to conduct and lead change processes. • It is important to select the right practitioner, whether it is a professional within an organisation, or from an external source. • Practitioners are expected to have a wide array of personal and professional skills. These include emotional intelligence, maintaining independence, knowledge of change disciplines and experience with change itself. Internal Practitioners • Already belong to an organisation and so possess a high level of situational awareness. • Are often respected and trusted formal or informal leaders • Have a long term vested interest in the outcome of the change process May lack: • Specialised skills needed for organisational development • Objectivity • Power and authority External Practitioners • Consulting firms or individuals not associated with the changing organisation • Possess a different viewpoint, are objective and have increased leverage • Have a broader attitude on risks and confrontations because they are less in awe of power structures. • Unfamiliar with the client system, culture, communications networks, history and power structures. Evaluation of Internal and External Practitioners Advantages of internal practitioners: • Time saving • Have an intimate knowledge of an organisation, its dynamics, culture and practices. • Have access to a variety of information such as internal reports and observations • Less threatening than outsiders and better able to establish rapport and trust in their decisions. Disadvantages: • Lack of objectivity • Overly cautious when dealing with internal power structures • May lack certain skills and experience in facilitating organisational change Advantages of external practitioners: • Possess expertise that is unavailable internally • Possess a more objective perspective • Have the ability to probe difficult issues and question the status quo Disadvantages:
• •
Require extra time to familiarise themselves with organisations May not have a vested interest in outcomes
Practitioner Styles
Key Organisational Development Practitioner Skills Intrapersonal skills: • Self awareness Interpersonal skills: • Sustaining effective relationships with individuals and groups General consultation skills: • Managing all facets of the consulting process Organisational development theory: • Knowledge of change processes Marginality • The marginal person straddles the boundary between two or more groups that have differing goals, value systems and behaviour patterns. • Personal characteristics include low dogmatism, neutrality, open mindedness, objectivity, flexibility and information processing ability. • The marginal role of an organisational development practitioner can have positive effects when it is filled by a person with a marginal orientation. Emotional Demands • The role of a change practitioner is emotionally demanding and requires emotional intelligence. This is the ability to recognise and express emotions appropriately, to use emotions in thought and decisions, and to regulate emotion in oneself and in others. • Evidence suggests that emotional intelligence increases with age and experience and can be enhanced through personal development. Professional Ethics • As the profession of a change specialist matures, there has been increased attention on establishing ethical standards and guidelines to deal with the ethical dilemmas faced.
Interpersonal Interventions • Relate to the human processes within an organisation Examples: • T groups • Team building • Process consultation and team building • Conflict resolution • Intergroup relationships • Large group interventions Strategic Interventions • Relate to open systems planning and allow an organisation to respond to its task environment. Examples: • Transorganisational development • Mergers and acquisitions • Culture change • Organisational learning and knowledge management • Restructure Technostructural Interventions • Relate to how an organisation designs and divides its overall work
Examples: • Structural design • Downsizing • Reengineering • Employee involvement • Work redesign Human Resources Interventions • Concerned with the management of individuals and groups Examples: • Performance management and appraisal • Reward systems • Goal setting • Career planning and development • Managing workforce diversity • Employee welfare Difference Between Career and Human Resource Planning
Workforce Diversity Age: • A related issue is ageing population • Interventions might include wellness programs, work design, career and retirement planning and reward systems. Gender: • A related issue is the increase of dual income couples • Interventions might include childcare, maternity or paternity leave, work design, fringe benefits and rewards. Disability: • A related issue is the increase of people with disabilities in workplaces • Interventions might include physical space design, work design, career planning and development. Culture: • A related issue is the rising proportion of immigrant and minority workers • Interventions might include career planning and development and reward systems.
Outcomes of Organisational Change Organisational outcomes: • Profitability • Market share • Operational effectiveness and efficiency Individual outcomes: • Receptivity and resistance • Organisational commitment, compliance, identification and internalisation • Employee cynicism • Stress Process of Motivating Change Identifying the need for change: • A continual process of assessment Creating a culture which is ready for change: • Change is inevitable and a certainty • There will always be a need for improvement • The process of change is always for the betterment of an organisation Managing resistance to change: • Resistance can be positive and constructive if there is empathy and support, communication and involvement. Creating a Vision To garner commitment a vision must: • Describe a future state • Be related to a future mission • Value outcomes • Direct an organisation Sources of Power and Power Strategies
Process of Developing Political Support • Assessing change agent power • Identifying key stakeholders • Influencing stakeholders
Process of Managing Transition Activity planning: • Detailing top management support Commitment planning: • Identifying key stakeholders Management structures: • Allocating key roles and responsibilities Sustaining Momentum • Providing resources for change • Building a support system for change agents • Developing new competencies and skills • Reinforcing new behaviours Institutionalising Interventions
Week 5 Importance of Change Agents and Managers • Change is constant in what is a dynamic business environment • It is important that leaders have major involvement in the change process and act as catalysts for change. • Managers must quickly and properly react to unexpected events by being alert to problems and opportunities, and be change agents by stimulating, implementing and supporting change within their organisation. • Successful organisations and their members are increasingly realising the need to act as agents of change in their organisations. Change Agents • Change begins with consulting and nominating a change agent • Can be internal or external
• •
Change agents create an opportunity to explore the expectations and assumptions of both parties. Promote team building
Organisational Development Practitioners • Increasingly, organisations are calling upon practitioners to conduct and lead change processes. • It is important to select the right practitioner, whether it is a professional within an organisation, or from an external source. • Practitioners are expected to have a wide array of personal and professional skills. These include emotional intelligence, maintaining independence, knowledge of change disciplines and experience with change itself. Internal Practitioners • Already belong to an organisation and so possess a high level of situational awareness. • Are often respected and trusted formal or informal leaders • Have a long term vested interest in the outcome of the change process May lack: • Specialised skills needed for organisational development • Objectivity • Power and authority External Practitioners • Consulting firms or individuals not associated with the changing organisation • Possess a different viewpoint, are objective and have increased leverage • Have a broader attitude on risks and confrontations because they are less in awe of power structures. • Unfamiliar with the client system, culture, communications networks, history and power structures. Evaluation of Internal and External Practitioners Advantages of internal practitioners: • Time saving • Have an intimate knowledge of an organisation, its dynamics, culture and practices. • Have access to a variety of information such as internal reports and observations • Less threatening than outsiders and better able to establish rapport and trust in their decisions. Disadvantages: • Lack of objectivity • Overly cautious when dealing with internal power structures • May lack certain skills and experience in facilitating organisational change Advantages of external practitioners: • Possess expertise that is unavailable internally • Possess a more objective perspective • Have the ability to probe difficult issues and question the status quo Disadvantages:
• •
Require extra time to familiarise themselves with organisations May not have a vested interest in outcomes
Practitioner Styles
Key Organisational Development Practitioner Skills Intrapersonal skills: • Self awareness Interpersonal skills: • Sustaining effective relationships with individuals and groups General consultation skills: • Managing all facets of the consulting process Organisational development theory: • Knowledge of change processes Marginality • The marginal person straddles the boundary between two or more groups that have differing goals, value systems and behaviour patterns. • Personal characteristics include low dogmatism, neutrality, open mindedness, objectivity, flexibility and information processing ability. • The marginal role of an organisational development practitioner can have positive effects when it is filled by a person with a marginal orientation. Emotional Demands • The role of a change practitioner is emotionally demanding and requires emotional intelligence. This is the ability to recognise and express emotions appropriately, to use emotions in thought and decisions, and to regulate emotion in oneself and in others. • Evidence suggests that emotional intelligence increases with age and experience and can be enhanced through personal development. Professional Ethics • As the profession of a change specialist matures, there has been increased attention on establishing ethical standards and guidelines to deal with the ethical dilemmas faced.
