Change Programs and Organizational Development

If you were developing a change program, how would you create readiness for change?

Technological progress imposes serious challenges for businesses and organizations. Therefore, the first step in a change program should start with the introduction of the training programs. These programs, however, must be developed about the competencies, skills, and readiness of employees to accept changes and adjust to a new environment. The second step of the change program will be premised on Lewin’s change model. According to this model, change is possible through the implementation of such stages as unfreezing, change, and refreezing. The first step is the most crucial one because it permits employees to realize the need for the changes (Montana & Charnov, 2008). It consists of unsettling factors that undermine current behaviors, attitudes, and behaviors.

Why is organization development relevant to an organization in today’s marketplace?

According to Cheung-Judge & Holbeche (2011), “OD is an organizational process for understanding and improving any and all substantive processes an organization may develop for performing any tasks and pursuing any objectives” (p. 10). In this respect, the task of the organization’s leaders lies in not just improving the situation and enhancing employees’ potential, but also in ensuring the sustainability of these improvements. So, due to the rapid competition of the global environment, sustainable development is a priority for any international organization. More importantly, the development of virtual trades as a part of organizational activities should also be taken into the organization to predict further challenges of adjustment.

Why do most change efforts fail? How would you implement an effective change management program in your organization?

Change management is an important part of organizational development because it permits the person to adapt to a constantly changing business environment. However, inconsistency in implementing strategic change is predetermined by the manager’s inability to understand how the organization’s mission and values can be modified to adjust to a new realm. Therefore, my change management programs will be based on detailed stages, including training to nurture change, balancing local and global challenges, communicating value propositions at a global level, identifying the cultural diversity issue, changing recruitment culture, and designing a new approach to allocating responsibilities. As soon as all stages are sufficiently considered, the manager should be ready to proceed with further changes to prevent complications in terms of the organization’s functions and performance.

References

Cheung-Judge, M.-Y., & Holbeche, L. (2011). Organizational Development: A Practitioner’s Guide for OD and HR. US: Kogan Page Publishers.

Montana, P. J., & Charnov, B. H. (2008). Management. US: Barron’s Educational Series.