As an HR professional, you have probably heard of Organizational Development (or OD for short).
Maybe you've even applied a few OD interventions to improve processes and drive change within
your organization, perhaps without even realizing it.
But what exactly is Organizational Development?
How does it relate to HR?
And how can you use OD in your organization?
Let’s find out.
*MUSIC*
Hi, I’m Neelie and welcome to another episode of Learning Bites.
In today’s video, we’ll talk about what Organizational Development is, the relationship
between OD and HR, and a 7-step Organizational Development process that you can apply in
your organization.
If you want a quick reference guide for Organizational Development, you can download the OD Process
Cheat Sheet for HR using the link in the description below.
And don’t forget to subscribe to our channel, hit the notification button, and like this
video!
So, what is Organizational Development?
Organizational Development is a critical and science-based process that helps organizations
build their capacity for change and become more effective.
It does this by developing, improving, and reinforcing the organization's strategies,
structures, and processes.
Organizational Development goals can vary between organizations.
But in essence, the one central goal of OD is increasing the organization's competitiveness.
We’ve established what OD is.
But how does it relate to HR?
In a nutshell, there is some overlap, but also major differences.
Let's take a closer look.
Based on business strategy Both OD and HR have their roots in the business
strategy – that is, the mission, values, and vision of the organization.
Also, they both outline the actions needed to implement that strategy in their respective
fields.
Varying approaches While HRM focuses on people practices, OD
takes a more holistic approach.
And while OD always focuses on strategic themes, HR is often a lot more operational.
Interventions OD practitioners use many kinds of interventions
to achieve their goals, and some of these interventions are directly related to the
HRM function.
Examples of Human Resource Management interventions for OD include talent management, performance
management, and diversity interventions.
So OD has some overlap with HR, but many differences too.
For an HR professional, there are huge benefits to developing a better understanding of Organizational
Development.
Understanding OD means you can identify which elements of core HR functions need to be focused
on in order to support the organization in becoming more efficient.
Let's take a look at the seven-step Organizational Development process.
Entering and Contracting
The first step starts when a manager or administrator spots an opportunity for improvement.
Common triggers include external changes, internal conflicts, lack of innovation, or
loss of profit.
Diagnostics
The main goal here is to understand how the system currently functions.
You can collect relevant information using surveys, interviews, or by analyzing your
data to find the root cause of the issues.
Data collection and analyzing
Data collection methods you can use here include existing data from work systems, questionnaires,
interviews, and observation.
When collecting your data make sure to ask yourself:
Can you ensure sufficient confidentiality and anonymity?
Is your purpose clear?
Are you being affected by observer bias?
(In other words, are you seeing what you want to see?)
Are your employees experiencing the Hawthorne effect?
(So, are they acting differently because they are being observed?)
Feedback
This is when the OD practitioner needs to give information back to the client, either
via presenting the key findings or through a detailed report.
This information should be relevant, understandable, descriptive, verifiable, significant, and
should drive action.
Designing interventions
After gathering data and aligning with stakeholders, it's time to design interventions.
To ensure their success, you need to make sure they're based on the needs of the organization
and potential outcomes.
You’ll also need to define success criteria for change, as that is the only way to measure
your progress.
Leading and managing change
According to Gartner, half of all change initiatives fail, and only 34% are a clear success.
If you want to make sure that your change project is part of that 34%, focus on motivating
change, creating a vision, developing support, managing the transition, and sustaining momentum.
Try incorporating positive messages into your communications, celebrating success, or giving
people ownership over small wins.
For more information on this topic, check out the link in the description for more information
about HR and change management.
Evaluating and institutionalizing change
Once you’ve implemented a new system, you’ll see opportunities for improvement.
Continuous improvement is the key to a better user and employee experience.
It's also important to evaluate the change.
Effective interventions measure their own success and are created in a way that enables
comparison between the state of affairs before and after.
Use data to determine whether your program is meeting your success criteria, and what
has changed before and after you implement your program.
So there you have it, the basics of Organizational Development for HR professionals.
Want to learn more?
Don’t forget to check out the guide on the Organizational Development Process using the
link in the description.
And as always, please give us a like for our video, subscribe to our channel, and hit the
notification bell.