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ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT | |
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THE HUMAN DIMENSION OF THE BUSINESS Global competition, developing markets, rapid technological advances and workforce shifts: the corporate landscape is changing and companies must change too. Companies often respond to challenges such as these by increasing emphasis on bottom-line results, by simultaneously juggling growth and cost-reduction measures; by merging, acquiring and divesting; and by cultivating the value of continuous improvement.
Yet how can companies best tool themselves to successfully meet ongoing change and the challenges it brings? How can they create cultures where change is embraced as good for the company and for the employee? And what is HR’s role in this process?
HR AS THE DRIVER OF ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT Organization Development [OD] is a field of study and practice that focuses on applying knowledge of behavioural science to “…the planned development and reinforcement of organizational strategies, structures, and processes for improving an organization’s effectiveness” (Cummings and Worley, 1997). In a nutshell and as defined by one large technology company, OD speaks to “the human dimension of business.”
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ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT BENCHMARK In a recent benchmark conducted by MindShift and sponsored by Stora Enso, six multinational companies described how they use OD expertise to help their companies meet their business and people management goals. OD expertise is used, among other things, to align strategy and organizational design and processes; to support or manage key change or development programs from a people perspective; and to drive culture, engagement and performance improvement work.
For many companies, OD work, with its emphasis on maximizing the effectiveness and well-being of people, most naturally has its base in the HR (or HR&O) department. There is another, very practical, reason behind situating OD work in HR—a reason based on the consultative relationship that companies are fostering between HR business partners and the line organization.
“When managers feel that something is going wrong with the team, have process difficulties or other concerns, they often speak initially with HR. HR must be aware that managers can draw on specialist OD support and act as an interface linking managers and OD experts. HR has an important role in promoting OD work internally.”
Cheryl Mayo, Coca Cola Europe
INTEGRATE ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE HR UNIT Strengthening your organization’s OD capability does not necessarily mean hiring a large team of OD experts. The focus is on finding ways to build and distribute OD expertise throughout the organization through coaching and training. While key OD practitioners may be directly involved in the most strategic or complicated change process, the goal is to equip the entire organization to more successfully meet the challenges of change.
Please contact MindShift for further information. | |
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ABOUT MINDSHIFT MindShift is a Human Resource & Organisation consulting firm offering strategic and operational advisory services. Our clients are mid-sized or large multinational corporations from a wide range of industries. MindShift employs seven consultants with international backgrounds in human resource management, organisational development, and business administration. | |
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MINDSHIFT, Östermalmsgatan 83, 114 50 STOCKHOLM, Sweden | |
