An Entrepreneurs' Roadmap to "Build Back Better" with Organizational Development

Organizations operate in a constantly-changing environment; externally (where markets change, new competitors emerge, and technology evolves) and internally (where people come and go, cultures evolve, and leadership agendas change). Because the this, organizations often find that the practices they have used historically that used to perform well, no longer work as well as they did - they need adjusting to maximize their impact on the organization achieving its goals.

So it’s critical that OD is an ongoing activity rather than an annual or ad-hoc initiative. Without constant review of the organization's goals, its effectiveness in achieving them and an analysis of how the processes and practices are (or are not) helping achieve that performance, there is a risk of organizations drifting into complacency and decline.

As it’s often a people and problem-centered activity and usually spans different parts of an organization, successful OD practitioners need to be very effective at working with colleagues across departments or organizational disciplines in a multi-disciplinary approach. This provides a more holistically-informed perspective when analyzing what works and how to realign practices to bring about a desired change.

One way to approach OD is to use organizational metrics and people analytics to identify the ‘fit’ between the organization's goals and needs, and the practices that are attempting to fulfil them. So, for example, information from an annual staff survey might indicate that there are engagement issues, which might be having an impact upon absence and performance levels. This might be a trigger to undertake an OD initiative to review and redesign related practices to improve the connected areas of performance.

However, as well as the ongoing review of organizational effectiveness, there may be a more timebound trigger for undertaking organizational development activities. With the current pace of change, organizations are having to review their strategy frequently, often altering their course in response to external forces.

The pace of change and disruption facing organizations has never been more of a challenge than now, where organizations are operating in an increasingly volatile and uncertain environment and the rate of disruption and transformation is happening quicker than ever before, with new technology, new start-up firms, and new customer habits all rapidly evolving. Read more about the role of organizational development practitioners in leading through the COVID-19 pandemic.

OD activities are usually overseen at board level to ensure they reach all areas of the business and take the organization forward in a systematic way. Because of this, to be successful, practitioners also need to have a strong grasp of strategic planning and a good estimation of the potential of the organization’s people to create value.

How should you do it?

The OD process has various stages:

1. Organization review.

To identify what it needs (‘needs analysis’). Uses a range of tools and approaches including:

• Strategic review.
• Future state analysis.
• SWOT.
• PESTLE.
• Quantitative performance targets.
• Target Operating Model.

2. Diagnose the extent to which those needs are being met.

Essentially the same thing as doing a gap analysis to identify the difference between a current position and the desired future position, but using a range of frameworks or diagnostic tools to analyze the situation fully, including:

• ISO.
• Lean / Six Sigma.
• Force Field Analysis.
• Total Quality Management (TQM).
• Organization design frameworks (used as diagnostics), such as McKinsey’s 7S model, the Burke Litwin framework, or the 5 Star model.

3. What intervention would best fit the gap identified, and whether to design it or buy it in.

OD's multidisciplinary roots means there’re different types available:

• Human process interventions – coaching, mentoring, training, group work, facilitation, action learning.
• Techno-structural interventions – Lean / Six Sigma, business process re-engineering (BPR), outsourcing.
• Human resource interventions – performance management, reward and motivation, employee surveys, psychometrics.
• Strategic interventions – business planning, cultural change, transformation programs.

All these do the same thing in that they seek to develop the processes and practices within an organization so that it can perform better, but each type approaches the activity differently depending on what the practitioner thinks is needed. In essence, what they are trying to achieve is improved organizational performance, but the how will differ depending on the preferred method. A good organizational development practitioner will identify what the challenge is (diagnosis), and decide which method / approach is most likely to improve it (treatment).

4. Implement the initiative.

It’s always good practice to use robust change management practices, which will include focusing on communication, stakeholder involvement, and evaluation metrics.

If you found it helpful, go ahead and do it. Let me know in comments what you liked and if you face any problem :)