HRNetwork.co.za

  • No products in cart.
  • About
    • Overview
      • Public And Legislative Sectors Division
    • Our Story
    • Our Team
    • Our Clients & Track Record
    • Our References
    • BBEEE
    • Our Partners
  • Consulting Solutions
    • Strategy
      • Organisational Strategies
        • Research & Surveys
        • Business Advisory
          • Business Disruption
        • Business Strategy
          • Business Evolution/Transformation
        • Purpose Alignment
        • Digital Strategy
        • Stakeholder Partnership Enablement (SPE)
        • Mergers and Acquisitions
        • Metrics
      • HR and People Strategies
        • People Strategy
          • HR Evolution/Transformation
        • HR Strategy
        • Organisation Models
        • Talent Management Strategies
        • Organisational Design
        • Organisation Restructuring
        • Grading Systems
        • Job Profiling
        • Competency Management
    • OD & Change Journeying
      • Change Management Consulting
      • Strategic Alignment
      • Change Journey
        • Transformational Storyboarding
        • Navigating the Waves of Change Workshop
    • Organisation Culture
    • Leadership Capability Development
    • Executive Coaching
    • HR Value Chain Solutions
      • Attract
        • Employer Of Choice
        • Talent Acquisition
          • Job Classifieds
        • Psychometrics
      • Motivate
        • Productivity Optimization
        • Performance Management
        • Performance Management Software
        • Performance Management Systems
      • Engage
        • Employee Engagement
        • High Performance Teams
        • Reward Management
        • Labour Relations
      • Develop / Grow
        • Learning Strategy
        • Training Programs & Workshops
      • Retain
        • Talent Management Processes
        • Talent Management Tool Kits
        • Talent Management Systems
        • Leadership Pipelines
      • HR Administration
        • HR Systems Software solutions
        • Workforce Planing
        • HR Policies, Tools & Job Descriptions
        • Outsourced Human Resource Management
    • Programme & Project Management
    • Monitoring & Evaluation
  • Learning Solutions
    • Our Philosophy & Approach
    • Expo Learning Workshops
      • HR Capability
      • Business Acumen
      • Diagnostic Capability
      • Leadership Capability
      • Organisational Culture
      • Agility Capability
      • Facilitation Skills
      • Influencing Skills
      • Business & People “Tools”
    • Skills Development Workshops
    • “How to” – Breakfast Workshops
      • Conduct Disciplinary Enquirers
      • Manage Poor-performance
      • Approach Retrenchments
      • Increase Productivity
      • Manage Absenteeism
      • Build an Ethical Organisation
  • Useful Resources
    • Newsletters
    • Articles
    • Blogs
    • Webinars
    • Videos
  • Events
    • Book Now
  • Contact Us
    • My Account
    • Cart
    • Checkout
    • Logout
0
hrnetwork
Friday, 21 September 2012 / Published in Organisational Development

What Is Organisational Development- Does Your Business Need It?

What-is-Organisational-DevelopmentOrganisational development is a change management strategy that has been employed across the world for more than 40 years. Its primary definition is concerned with the way in which organisations and people function and how they can be made to function more productively by using social and human processes. The need for the organisational development process is based on the fact that businesses and individuals go through so much change and exist in such dynamic and fast-paced environments. In the work place employees go through rapid changes in response to factors like client taste and preference, the competition of modern technology, different cultural influences and different processes of doing things and a greater demand for efficiency, sustainability and productivity. External bureaucracy like changes to government legislation may also put staff members through periods of big change.

 

Empowering Change Through the Organisational Development Process

For a business the organisational development process raises some profound questions:

  • What changes can we see in our business environments?
  • Do we have strategies in place to deal with these changes?
  • How can organisational development help to tackle the challenges created by these changes?

 

How is organisational development different to other models of change?

During the 1990s organisational development became a popular method for dealing with conflict and problems in government where understanding of core obstacles needed to be enhanced for problems to be solved successfully. It has been used successfully to overcome challenges such as poverty reduction, responses to HIV/AIDS campaigns and in problems where environmental sustainability has been an issue.

The Need for Change

While it is certainly is part of human nature to adapt in order to survive the rate of change required of people today is highly demanding. With change comes new social values, new ways of getting things done and many new opportunities. Businesses need change in order to thrive, but they can only benefit if their organisations and the people in them have been equipped with the coping skills and understanding required to take things to the next level.

We need to look closely at the changes that are taking place and ask questions like whether the changes are due to external forces, whether we can see the change taking place inside us and how many different types of change we are faced with.

There are two primary types of change in organisational behaviour we mention here: organisational change and organisational development.

 

Organisational Change

Organisational change is the relationship between organisational change and human change. Organisational change may include services and products, systems, technologies and management techniques. In order for organisational change to be effective it must be embraced by all employees and often performance management techniques need to be employed to ensure this happens. If we approach change from a methodical point of view we first need to address the employees’ needs for knowledge through which to change their attitudes and behaviours before we can expect to affect change within an organisation or group.

 

Organisational Development

Organisational development is simply a technique or methodology that introduces changes into an environment. Features of effective organisational development include: it is usually planned and makes use of behavioural science knowledge, it targets organisational culture as an area for change and applies it on a broad scale to whole groups or departments. It takes strong leadership, requires good structure, performance management strategies and must be managed from the top.

Stan Horwitz is a Master OD Practitioner with more than 20 years of experience across all industries in South Africa. He runs HR Shop to help organisations address their own change management needs and also operates as a business and leadership consultant throughout the country. Contact Stan here.

  • Tweet

What you can read next

The Role of Futurist Thinkers in Organisational Development
Book Your Seat at the SAODN Cape Town Session: “Transformational Storyboarding” with Stan Horwitz
Future International Trends in OD

Recent Posts

  • The Silly Season is over – A Time to Recharge and Re-energise for 2017?

    Not that any of us need any encouragement, but ...
  • International OD Conference planned 2017 – Cape Town

    What a privilege it has been for me (Stan Horwi...
  • Psychometrics: The Be All or End All?

    By Monique Glass (Industrial and Consulting Psy...
  • 10 Social Media Tips for Employee Engagement

    Social media has tangible and sustainable busin...
  • Future International Trends in OD

    Written by Stan Horwitz Master OD Practitioner ...

Archives

  • February 2017
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • June 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012

Categories

  • Change Management
  • Human Resource Management
  • Leadership
  • Organisational Development
  • Performance Management
  • Psychometrics
  • Public Sector
  • Training and Development
  • Uncategorized

Join our mailing list

Get exclusive news | Job Placements | and HR Tools on a monthly basis

Thank you for joining our list

Our Latest Article

  • The Silly Season is over – A Time to Recharge and Re-energise for 2017?

    Not that any of us need any encouragement, but ...

Get in touch with us

National OfficeCape Town, South Africa

Email: info@hrnetwork.co.za

Web: www.hrnetwork.co.za

  • GET SOCIAL
HRNetwork.co.za

© 2013 HRNETWORK. All Rights Reserved. Powered by VTR Partners

TOP
×
Let HRNetwork Assist You With Change
Meet Stan Horwitz, Master OD Practitioner and Change Facilitator, who has more than 20 years of professional experience leading large-scale change initiatives. Sign up for our monthly newsletter and receive tips, news and info on:
  •  
    Change Management training & courses
  •  
    News on change and organisational development
  •  
    Latest webinars
  •  
    Public seminars

Powered by OptinMonster

×
Would You Like to Read More of Our News and Updates?
Join our mailing list and become part of our growing HR and business community. Every month we take a look at:
  •  
    HR Issues
  •  
    Business News
  •  
    Management and Leadership Trends
  •  
    Top Jobs and Recruitment News
  •  
    Latest Accredited Training

Powered by OptinMonster