What
do you see as the future of the OD discipline?
Throughout MSLD 630 and 631, we have studied a lot about how organizations are
changing, becoming more diverse, more global, transforming in different
ways. There is a need to grow and change
as our workforce changes, becomes something different, something better. Leaders see the need to make these changes as
well to keep up with the ever changing environment in order to stay ahead in
the business world. Almost every chapter in the Organization Development text
book starts with phrases such as ‘change’, ‘globalization’ and ‘innovation’
just to name a few. The text has emphasized the need to be able to adapt and
evolve with the ever changing market. We are no longer local, we are
worldwide. It is so simple to hold
meetings with employees who are in England, Asia or Spain all from the comfort
of your living room or the company conference room.
Organizations who do not change
and adapt will be left behind and die out in the near future. We are learning more ways to be able to
communication with each other, to work together toward a common goal. This means
that managers and leaders need to be on board with making these changes for the
good of the organization and the people they employ. “Managers need to
understand that OD interventions have the potential to make the biggest
difference in human development and bottom line performance” (Brown, 2011, p
429).
The practice of OD is also
changing as new techniques and approaches are being developed and this shows
that even the practice of the different areas of OD are changing and adapting
as new research is conducted. Is OD right for everyone? It depends on what an
organization is looking to accomplish but one thing that I have learned over
these last two classes is that it is important for organizations to recognize
who their leaders are, who their employees are and how to get the two to work
together as a collaborative team that share the same goals and values of the
organization. What is important to understand is that the purpose of OD is that
it is not a quick fix, it is a long term plan that must be monitored and
changed as needed to continue to grow with the organization. Some leaders will
jump on anything that seems to be good enough for the company without realizing
that it is not something you put a band aid on and hope that fixes it. “Unless
problems are identified and solutions are systemically thought out supported by
the commitment of management, the “fixes” may become another fad in a long
series of fads” (Brown, 2011, p 425).
One of the things that I have
found in these courses is that change is a good thing. It is all in how one
approaches it and gets their organizations on board with it. You can’t come
into an organization and start making changes without observing first to see
where the real issues are. You don’t
stick your nose in the spreadsheets and base your changes on that alone. You
have to really truly understand the culture of the organization. What are the issues? Where is the breakdown in communication,
technology, management? How can it be
fixed? Just because a technique worked in
one organization it is not ‘one size fits all’ you need feedback from everyone
within the organization. Start at the
bottom and go up, don’t just rely on the top management because most of the
time they have no clue what is going on in frontlines because they are not in
it working it every day.
OD practitioners are at the
forefront of change. Some of the future
trends of OD are Organization Transformation (OT), empowerment, learning
organizations and organization architecture (Brown, 2011). OD practices are
here to stay as they have made some great impacts to date. With anything, the more it is studied and
tweaked to fit in with the changes in the globalization the better it will
become. Even the best companies have their issues from time to time and being
able to recognize it and fix is the first step in the right direction. The
future of OD as Brown explains, “The course of change anticipated for OD will
predominately surround the issues of a changing workforce, global competence,
and transformation within the organization” (Brown, 2011, p 429). I personally
cannot wait to see what is in store for me when I am done with this program and
how I can take what I learned and make a difference in the workforce. I know it takes someone who can see the
potential, the positive side and vision of where an organization can go.
Reference:
Brown, D.R. (2011). An
experiential approach to organization development (8th ed). Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Prentice Hall
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