Organizational Development (OD) is a powerful tool for helping organizations reach their goals. It is an effort that focuses on aligning strategy, structure, people, rewards, metrics, and management processes to optimize efficiency, productivity, and profitability. Organizational development is a multifaceted process that involves a manager, an animator, and an organizational psychologist. It is used to analyze every element of a proposed product's innovation and to plan and manage the growth and expansion of a company or business.
OD also helps create a single organizational development strategy for the entire organization and ensures that the company has the right skills and vision to thrive. Kurt Lewin, considered the father of organizational development, described the process of change as unfreezing, changing, and refreezing. Warren Bennis introduced the concept of organizational culture and identified that OD is “a complex educational strategy aimed at changing the beliefs, attitudes, values, and structures of organizations so that they can better adapt to new technologies, markets and challenges.” Organizational development is distinct from “cultural change”, “change management” and “business transformation”. It allows organizations to have a more agile mindset which is essential for innovation and promotes process improvement, risk management, experimentation, and leadership development initiatives.
Continuing to invest in development interventions as well as in OD professionals will ensure that your company always has the right skills and vision to succeed. You can commission Roffey Park to carry out specific research for your organization on the topic of organizational development. As an expert in organizational development (OD), I can confidently say that it is one of the most powerful tools available for businesses looking to reach their goals. By aligning strategy, structure, people, rewards, metrics, and management processes with OD principles, organizations can optimize efficiency, productivity, and profitability.What is Organizational Development?Organizational development is a multifaceted process that involves a manager, an animator, and an organizational psychologist. OD also helps create a single organizational development strategy for the entire organization and ensures that the company has the right skills and vision to thrive. Kurt Lewin was one of the first to recognize the importance of OD when he described the process of change as unfreezing, changing, and refreezing.
Warren Bennis further developed this concept by introducing the idea of organizational culture. He identified that OD is “a complex educational strategy aimed at changing the beliefs, attitudes, values, and structures of organizations so that they can better adapt to new technologies, markets and challenges.”How Does Organizational Development Differ from Other Change Strategies?Organizational development is distinct from “cultural change”, “change management” and “business transformation”. It allows organizations to have a more agile mindset which is essential for innovation and promotes process improvement, risk management, experimentation, and leadership development initiatives.
The Benefits of Investing in Organizational Development
Investing in development interventions as well as in OD professionals will ensure that your company always has the right skills and vision to succeed. By taking advantage of these resources you can create an environment where employees are empowered to take initiative while still being held accountable for their actions. Organizational development also helps create a unified vision for your organization which can be used as a guide when making decisions or setting goals.This unified vision will help ensure that everyone in your organization is working towards the same objectives. Finally, investing in OD will help you stay ahead of your competition by allowing you to quickly adapt to changes in technology or markets. This agility will give you an edge over other companies who are not taking advantage of these resources.
