The concept of organizational development (OD) is critical for any firm that wishes to stay competitive in the market. Like many other business processes, it has several stages that assist companies in navigating through OD and adjust the course. In the majority of cases, OD runs in accordance with the following model: identification of the problem, assessment, planning, plan implementation, data collection, results in analysis, feedback, and sustaining. In this report, the stages of OD will be explained in further detail to achieve a better understanding of the process.
The Process of Organizational Development
OD process is often triggered by a certain problem which does not let business operate normally, lowering its effectiveness, thereby, necessitating improvement. The problem can be obvious, but some problems need careful assessment to locate. After the problem is identified and explained, there is a need for company evaluation to find critical spots where performance could be improved (Anderson 3). This stage may include gathering internal reports from all departments and their analysis by higher management. A company may also turn to outside professionals.
Based on the assessment, executives draw an implementation plan that elaborates a set of concrete measures to improve a company’s performance in critical areas identified in the course of the assessment. Its goal is to outline the intervention and define how the company will implement it (Anderson 71). The plan usually mentions key assets, resources, terms, and deadlines, as well as key parties responsible for the implementation of innovation.
A critical element of any plan is the establishment of measurable goals that allow for further evaluation of the OD endeavor. The plan is a critical part of OD as it allows for better control of the transitional period.
As soon as the plan is finished and approved by owners and other stakeholders, the company may initiate OD implementation stage. Depending on the chosen OD measure, there are many possible scenarios that differ in accordance with the scale of change, time and resources (Anderson 99). During the initiation phase, the company may face many difficulties such as change resistance from employees, external threats, or other adverse events.
There can be an array of different techniques to help a firm transition from its previous state to success. Those methods may include staff training, development of leadership potential, the introduction of new technology, and so forth.
At certain intervals during the whole implementation stage that can last for months or years, OD process presupposes collection and analysis of data. Data is collected in accordance with the planned measurements and core performance indicators (Anderson 137). Data collection may be semi-automatic such as through employees submitting scheduled reports into the system or managers, and department leaders may survey workers themselves.
The collected data is then analyzed to detect the necessary level of change. As established by the plan, an organization measures its progress towards the goal. The frequency of assessment may vary depending on the scale of change, yet it should not be burdening the key stakeholders. Such assessments are aimed at updating the executives on the current status of a development initiative (Anderson 171). By evaluating the deliverables in dynamics, upper management is able to tell whether any corrections are needed.
The evaluation stage often cross-references the current status against the planned levels to see if the change is significant. It also answers the question of whether the problem was correctly defined or intervention is chosen correctly. It should also be noted that the collection and evaluation stages run parallel to implementation and may influence the course of the latter depending on the outcomes. Acting on evaluation results and adjusting methods of intervention is critical for the initiative to result in success.
The next stage of the process is feedback, which reveals the final notes on the OD process and marks it as a completed. Ideally, the feedback should be positive as any negative trends should have been noted and corrected during the implementation and assessment stages (Anderson 172). The goal of this stage is to summarize the key positive and negative factors of successful or unsuccessful OD process to draw implications for future cycles of development. In its nature, it is similar to data collection and assessment stages, yet it may be less formal.
After the implementation phase is complete and feedback is gathered and analyzed the OD initiative needs to be sustained. Usually, it requires no specific measures besides monitoring the company’s performance and activity to reveal any residual inconsistencies or remissions (Benn et al. 245-247). This stage may include formal reporting of the management to employees about the success of the intervention and expressing gratitude for their impact. The improvement in crucial performance indicators should also be mentioned (Anderson 372). Celebrations and notions of accomplishment should motivate the employees to continue contributing and adhering to a new mode of operation or use a new technique.
Conclusion
All in all, the OD is a multistage process, where each step is crucial and requires proper management. Given the paramount nature of development in the course of organizational activities, there is a necessity for adopting similar models in firms in order to have a better control and understanding of the process of change. Such a framework could indeed lead the company to success as one of the most hectic and chaotic processes may now be organized.
Works Cited
Anderson, Donald L. Organization Development: The Process of Leading Organizational Change. 4th ed., SAGE Publications, 2016.
Benn, Suzanne, et al. Organizational Change for Corporate Sustainability. 3rd ed., Routledge, 2014.