As the world gets more technological and globalization
continues to push more innovative and efficient strategies, the need to stay committed
to the human relationship to innovation and creativity will be stronger than
ever, which is why I think Organizational Development is a field of study that
will continue to change with the times because it is a focus on human involvement
and human factors. I can’t prove this
with any science, but I do believe that there is a level of human desire and
need that seeks out structure built with ideas and needs for the people within
the organization. Whenever people
idolize the future, I feel like everyone thinks of sleek cars and with everything
computerized and overly efficient, but I don’t think that world will ever come
to fruition because we still have a desire to have some role in the structure
and culture that organizations provide.
We all want to be as efficient as possible, but I also think people want
to be able to slow down and have the opportunity to learn something or share in
a discussion.
While all of that isn’t directly
related to OD and managing change within organizations, I really think that the
future of the organization is going to be even more so focused on the consumer
and their needs and without an effective structure within an organization that
is creative and innovative, the needs of the consumer will never fully be
grasped. Before answering the discussion
post for this week about OD in our field, I may have had a different opinion
about Organizational Development and its relevancy in the future of organizations,
but now I feel very strongly about the need for a structural foundation in
managing an organization. There is no
one solution for everyone company, but the basic elements of OD are relevant
and have the ability to be flexible and molded to fit different needs for
different companies. OD has hung around
through a lot of changes within the strategy and function of an organization
and has continued to develop and rework itself to fit into the current
needs. With that said, for
Organizational Development to remain relevant, it has to become relevant to the
needs both current and future, of the organizations. Today, businesses are facing extreme
challenges in terms of globalization, efficiency, innovation, and
competition. Technology is now able to
connect us and enhance our research abilities to see what the rest of the world
is doing. It is also making it more difficult
for companies to recruit top talent, as everyone in the world has access to the
pro’s and con’s of an organization and whether or not it would be the right fit
for them. In previous generations, it
was normal for someone to stay at one company for the rest of their lives, but
today it is very different. Employees are able to move around and harness
experience at different companies to find the perfect fit for them. A company needs to be able to meet these
changing needs, while also establishing a foundation for what they stand
for. It’s important to change and be flexible,
but organizations still need to stay true to their vision and goals that drive
their culture and focus. This is where
and why I think OD will still be relevant in the future because organization’s
will be facing a new problem within their structure, which is balancing their
core values and cultural identity with the needs and desires of the future
talent and consumer. It is important
that OD techniques and practices are continuing to develop and rework
themselves to fit in with the new needs of organizations, or else the previous
OD trend will be irrelevant. As
companies continue to reinvent themselves, OD practices need to do the same, so
while maybe older OD techniques may be irrelevant, the purpose and need for OD
within the building blocks of an organization are not.
The biggest area of interest for me
in terms of the future of organizations and OD deals with people. When I was recruited by Fruit, I quickly
discovered that I was an anomaly.
Everyone I worked with was born and raised in the small town that Fruit
of the Loom was built in and no one ever thought to leave. Companies that refuse to change and meet the
new demands will struggle to compete and will eventually reinvent themselves
through transformational change strategies or will eventually become irrelevant
to the consumer. Brown stated in the final chapter that the biggest impact OD
intervention has on organizations is with human development and bottom line
performance (2011). I honestly do not
see our world becoming one where machines and computers are our workers and
people live leisurely lives. I know that
I need something to fill my time with; I desire knowledge and being challenged
and I believe that there is a trait in all of us that craves some aspect of
continuing are personal development, which is why there will always be a need
to OD. Organizations may take different shapes structures, but the focus of OD
human development is what will continue to keep the practice relevant and
necessary. Without a planned
intervention for change that focuses on human development, organizations will
struggle with recruiting top talent and retaining them, maintaining a focus on
engaging and inspiring the employees, and developing an environment that
continues to develop creativity and innovation.
The discussion this week really
swirled up ideas about creativity and innovation in the work place and just how
important that will be to the future of success in an organization. With the growing needs and challenges faced
by a world that can instantly connect you with top talent, companies are now
capable of creating and developing products that continue to top their
competitor (Amabile & Khaire, 2008). This constant battle will only
continue to encourage changes to happen within the organization, once again
forcing companies to rethink and reshape the way they recruit, maintain, and
encourage creativity and innovation within their employees. The desire for employees to lead the way
their company empowers them also has an affect on the potential need for OD
interventions. With the growing trend of
virtual communication and team building, the diversity that comes with this
will need a universal foundation to build it’s structure and focus off of and
develop a strong “virtual” cultural. The
ideas are endless in regards to what the future of business and team work will
look like, but one thing is certain and that is that companies now have the
abilities to recruit a more diverse, creative, and innovative work force and
the tools for harnessing the potential successfully lie in the ability for OD
interventions to adapt and become applicable to the future trends, while still
allowing organizations the ability and tools to continue to develop the
potential in their employees (Fernandez-Araoz, 2014).
References
Amabile, T., & Khaire, M. (2008, October 1). Creativity
and the Role of the Leader. Harvard Business Review.
Brown, D. (2011). An experiential approach to
organization development (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
Fernandez-Araoz, C., & Bernstein, A. (2014, October 7).
The Future of Talent Is Potential. Retrieved December 4th, 2015, from
https://hbr.org/2014/07/the-future-of-talent-is-potential/
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