Organizational development is a highly regarded field of study in the world of business. OD is the observation, analysis, and comprehension of organizational policies and changes which boost the success of the organization. The need for such a discipline goes back to some human relations studies in the 1930s which claimed that the structure and processes in an organization affect the performance and motivation of the workers. The utility of this study lies in expanding the productive capacity of an organization on a company-wide scale. Analytics, assessments, and KPIs form the basis for gathering information and statistics which will help in evaluating the company’s health and effectiveness. This information is then put into use to plan for new policies and procedures.
Key Concepts of Organizational Development
Just like a physician probes a patient’s health to understand if something is out of place, OD is a check-up of sorts for an organization. Through this process, the weaknesses of the company undergo examination, and methods to boost productivity and performance emerge.
The key concepts of OD are as follows:
- Organizational Climate: refers to the collective belief system of the organization, and the ideologies which influence and motivate the members
- Organizational Culture: this refers to the traditions of the company which all the employees share and pass on
- Organizational Strategies: this is the problem-tackling methodology of the organization
Organizational development is about the understanding of these aspects of an organization and finding ways to improve employee satisfaction and retention while boosting the success of the company.
How Organizational Development Impacts an Organization
A crucial part of organizational development is discussing the problems of the organization and providing solutions such that the company learns to identify and resolve their problems on their own in due time. Implementing systems and processes which aid companies to deal with organizational issues of all kinds go a long way toward achieving the goal of OD.
The outcomes expected from OD are as follows:
- Enhanced systems of employee training and development
- Improvement in cross-department communication, partnership, and collaboration
- Better approaches towards decision-making
- An effective system of facilities that provide tools to the employees for fast task completion
- Enhancement in employee motivation and goodwill
- Trained and qualified leadership
Just like a patient’s health improves when he or she follows their doctor’s advice, an organization’s health and productivity levels get enhanced after OD. Not only that, but they are also able to fight off diseases, or in this case, handle their issues better the next time onwards.
The intention is to see real-world, long-term results and improvements in a company once the suggestions of the OD are put into place. This is a scientific process with inputs from behavioral studies, psychology, and sociology. The aim is to provide insights that will make the organization self-sufficient and aligned enough to keep changing with the transforming market and economy.
Conclusion
Organizational development enhances a company’s capacity to deal with its fundamental problems by observing, developing, brainstorming, and discussing methods to uplift the people and processes in the organization. When this is carried out effectively, the organization benefits greatly in terms of success and stability.
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