Write a paper of 2,000-2,500 words in which you discuss the impact that culture, climate, and interventions influence organizational development. Support your responses with current research. In your

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 1

Organizational Development

Nancy Fisher

PSY 834

October 16, 2019

Researchers in the field of workplace climate and culture have agreed that the very essence of these phenomena is directly related to leadership as an antecedent to change. Fundamentally, leadership provides guidance and modeling for employees who desire change and are willing to give attention to and show effort to said change in the workplace. Leaders who attend to, reward, and communicate with workers reinforces the dynamic. Leadership trainings and development programs should implement policies that form traditions, symbols, socialization, and everyday behaviors will produce satisfactory results in the organization. Both climate and culture are terms that describe social systems in organizations. Cultures are made from values, stories, and categories while climate is the perception of policies, practices, and behaviors and how they are exhibited in teams. As an organizational coach, many pitfalls should be avoided as the relationship between the coach and the client is developed. This relationship is the foundation for organizational change (Schneider, Gonzalez-Roma, Ostroff, & West, 2017).

Vandaveer, Lowman, Pearlman, and Brannick (2016) offer many ideas and frameworks for coaching assessments. When coaching people and not organizations, a personal reflection path can be helpful. For instance, emotional intelligence techniques can aid in creating a positive workplace climate. When employees work together to maintain control their reactionary impulses, relationships tend to be more beneficial to the individual.

One similarity that both organizational culture and climate is the involvement of people and their emotions. Research has reported that the study of affect and emotions and its relationship to social competence and appropriate behaviors is an important foundation for organizational development. This study of affect and emotions includes five phenomena and interactions: within-person, between persons, interpersonal interactions, group dynamics, and organization-wide effects (Julmi, 2017).

Julmi (2017) defines organizational culture as the shared situations employees experience together. These situations include program issues, evaluation assessments, and other problems that affect individuals. Social competencies and their relationship to appropriate behaviors is the dynamic that results in either a positive or negative workplace culture. These shared situations are a common link between people in the organization and can foster interactions between persons (shared experiences) and interpersonal interactions (feedback from shared experiences (Julmi, 2017).

Organizational climate is the overall emotions-based atmosphere that is formed from individual perceptions. As mentioned above, organizational culture is based on shared experiences, climate is the emotional foundation that is consistent and long-lasting. Changes needed for a transformation to a more positive environment should start with organizational leaders in that any real change needed is based on people and their emotions. Shared experiences and perceptions spill over to an overall environment that is either conducive or restrictive to organizational success (Julmi, 2017)

Consulting psychologists looking to help organizations improve the culture of the workplace need to define interventions before they begin to work with the client. Schein (2003) defines interventions as contracting, interviewing, testing, or surveying of the system. He posits that at consultant cannot understand how an organization works until they try to change it. Assuming that the organization needs standardized diagnoses that are empirically valid can be misleading. A developing relationship between consultant and client will need to determine what needs to be addressed based on the whole picture of the organization and its employees. This joint relationship can then work on problem solving decisions that come from two minds. Three different subcultures exist: operator culture made up of the basic products and services, design culture which focuses on research and development, and executive culture that works with financial aspects of the business. All three of these should be aligned when the process of culture change is deemed complete (Schein, 2003).

Organizational Interventions

A coach can serve as a facilitator or guide in a process that involves team building and problem solving. The goal is to develop and support a process that where individuals become self-reliant in a setting where task-oriented skills are expected. When groups and/or individuals are open to coaching suggestions begins with a relationship that is between the client and the coach and sets a foundation for professional and performance goals (Hackman & Wageman, 2005).

A common practice that allows for executive coaching to be successful begins with forming a relationship between coach and the client. Leadership growth is important to the organization in order to motivate workers and benefit the organization. Using behavior conditioning the coach can work with the client to form and develop an agreed upon set of professional and personal performance assessments. As one of the most valued, executive coaching is looked at as an intervention that works (Bennett & Bush, 2009).

Coaching competencies that result in a successful client/coach relationship are many, but a few seem to encompass the foundational framework for this construct. Knowledge theories and disciplines are foremost importance. Two examples are emotional intelligence theory and cognitive behavioral theory. Studying how people think and how they react to social stimuli can help identify communication problems. Professional and business knowledge in the client’s industry helps the coach with empathy and understanding of what is not working in the organization (Vandaveer, Lowman, Pearlman, & Brannick, 2016).

Information gathering and strategic thinking are needed skills in order to form an approach to analyzing problems in the organization. It’s almost like going to the doctor. He asks for symptoms (information gathering) and then provides a diagnosis (strategic thinking) to treat the individual (offering suggestions). This exchange also requires active listening in order to assess what information needs to be gathered for the process of diagnosing the organizational problems. Professional credibility should be present so that the clients can actually trust the coach and what suggestions they may use to help. Finally, using prior life experience can aid in empathy (Vandaveer, Lowman, Pearlman, & Brannick, 2016).

Organizational interventions are more manageable and popular due to advances in technology. Data analytics and artificial intelligence are two of the many tools available to consulting psychologists. Assessing the types of interventions can be an arduous task as these interventions should be appropriate and accessible to clients. Cady & Kim (2017) report that intervention assessment is dependent on accurate analysis. The evaluation of these interventions should be measured by proving questions, improving questions, time questions, and money questions. For example, proving questions should consider how many people are expected to be affected and a part of the intervention where improving questions guide the intervention in the direction towards present and future interventions. Time is a consideration as well as money due to possible production loss while interventions are being executed (Cady & Kim, 2017).

Feedback is an intervention tool that can help with management, leader, and employee development. Objective feedback assists in developing insights by working through development, interpreting the feedback, and acting on the feedback. Gregory and Levy (2016) report that coaches providing objective feedback can benefit objective performance assessments. These performance evaluations are used to determine candidates for pay raises, promotions, and leadership opportunities. Involving employees with the performance appraisal by offering feedback leads to positive cultures and climates. Within these workplace social structures, employees are more likely to perform better (Gregory & Levy, 2016).

Appreciative Inquiry

Group coaching provides opportunities for forming solid structures, developing and standardizing group expectations, and interpersonal connections. When a group is dedicated to working together in a construct that not only produces results but also interpersonal relationships, group members and coaches succeed. There are many challenges in coaching groups and giving attention to individuals within the group is important to address (Hackman & Wageman, 2005).

Zaretsky and Cole (2017) researched the main approaches to appreciative inquiry as SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats). SWOT has been the main approach for the last 60 years and served as the foundation to the newer and positively focused SOAR (strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and results). By shifting to a framework that employs positive practices, the culture and climate improve. Simply put, an employee who is recognized for their strengths will perform better than one who has been evaluated on their weaknesses. Historically, organizations have spent time and money on how the negative aspects, weaknesses and threats, have used this data for strategic planning tools.

Appreciative inquiry focuses on what is right in organization. Tools used to determine these results include surveys with questions regarding employees’ experiences in positivity, optimism, and strengths of each participant as part of a whole. AI is often used in activities and projects that incorporate planning, professional development, conflict resolution, program reviews, team development, and appreciation for diversity. Because SOAR and SWOT share facets of appreciative inquiry, they both look at the long-term gain of an organization, they are the same in that the focus is on the individual’s perceptions of the climate and culture of an organization (Zaretsky & Cole, 2017).

Emotional intelligence traits are a valuable tool in determining the possible success in interventions. Although employees benefit from the ways they communicate with others, bridging the gap between miscommunication based on emotions versus objective feedback, it is the leader’s emotional intelligence that sets the premise for organizational development (Carleton, Barling, & Travisonno, 2018). Transformational leaders who enjoy success in achieving a positive climate and culture are said to have the ability to exhibit some or all of the Big Five. Traits of transformational leaders include four of the Big Five: openness, agreeableness, trustworthiness, and conscientiousness. It seems that these characteristics that lie within a leader (trusting and nurturing) would be ascertained as an important factor in transformational leadership. One is the foundation for the other. While traits of leaders are important, the modern practice of building and retaining working relationships is the focus of an effective organization. The closer a leader becomes accessible and appreciative, the likelihood of achieving success is realistic (Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2004).

Organizational development relies heavily on the people within the organization and their emotions. Workplace culture and climate affect the people in the organization in either positive or negative ways. Leadership styles act as a catalyst in organizations and can benefit from outside consulting. A solid relationship between the consultant and the coach is essential. Leaders and employees who utilize objective feedback as a starting point for change are successful. Because organizational development starts with people and their personal and professional perceptions of what’s happening in their workplace, studies have reported that there should be an appreciation of emotional intelligence factors in individual and group interactions.

References

Bennett, J., & Bush, M. W. (2009). Coaching in organizations: Current trends and future opportunities. OD Practitioner, 41(1), 2-7.

Cady, S. H., & Joo-Hyung Kim. (2017). What we can learn from evaluating OD interventions. OD Practitioner, 49(1),50-55.Retrieved from https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=121529808&site=eds-live&scope=site

Carleton, E. L., Barling, J., & Trivisonno, M. (2018). Leaders’ trait mindfulness and transformational leadership: The mediating roles of leaders’ positive affect and leadership self-efficacy. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue Canadienne Des Sciences Du Comportement, 50(3), 185-194. doi:10.1037/cbs0000103

Gregory, J. B., & Levy, P. E. (2015). The role of feedback in human capital and talent management processes. (pp. 95-108). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. doi:10.1037/14619-008 Retrieved from https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pzh&AN=2014-45190-008&site=eds-live&scope=site

Hackman, J. R., & Wageman, R. (2005). A theory of team coaching. Academy of Management Review, 30(2), 269–287.

Julmi, C. (2017). Organisational atmospheres: The missing link between organisational culture and climate. International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion, 8(2), 131-147.

Mayer, J. D., Salovey, P., & Caruso, D. R. (2004). Emotional intelligence: Theory, findings, and implications. Psychological Inquiry, 15(3), 197-215. doi:10.1207/s15327965pli1503_02

Schein, E. H. (2003). Five traps for consulting psychologists: Or, how I learned to take culture seriously. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 55(2), 75-83. doi:10.1037/1061-4087.55.2.75

Schneider, B., González-Romá, V., Ostroff, C., & West, M. A. (2017). Organizational climate and culture: Reflections on the history of the constructs in the journal of applied psychology. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), 468-482. doi:10.1037/apl0000090; 10.1037/apl0000090.supp (Supplemental)

Vandaveer, V. V., Lowman, R. L., Pearlman, K., & Brannick, J. P. (2016). A practice analysis of coaching psychology: toward a foundational competency model. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 68(2), 118–142. doi:10.1037/cpb0000057

Zarestky, J., [email protected], & Cole, C. S. 1. (2017). Strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and results: An emerging approach to organization development. New Horizons in Adult Education & Human Resource Development, 29(1), 5-19. doi:10.1002/nha3.20166