ORGB390 Assignment 4: Due: After you complete Lesson 9 Credit Weight: 25% of your final grade Purpose: Examine stakeholders’ involvement in the continuous change process and assess how diversity and i

Lesson 8: Human Resource Intervention

Overview:

Lesson 8 focuses on issues surrounding human resource management (HRM) practices in the workplace. Most interventions will require that HRM systems, particularly performance management, be adjusted. In some cases, human resource systems will be the primary focus of the intervention, but in others, HRM practices will be adjusted to support other changes.

The HRM practices addresses in Lesson 8 concern goal setting, performance appraisals, and reward systems. It is vital that HR systems align the work behaviour of employees with business strategy and workplace technology. Any changes in business strategy, employee involvement, and workplace technology will require some adjustment to performance management systems (and employee goals) to reinforce changes made. These systems, in turn, feed into reward systems. If HRM systems are not adjusted to reinforce change, change is unlikely to persist. It is important to consider the question, Are employees rewarded for the past, undesired state, or for a future, desired state?

Career Planning and Development

This lesson also deals with career planning and development, which are key activities for organizations and their members. It is important that the organization match the development of organizational members with the future needs of the organization, to maximize the synergies between employees and the organization. Career planning and development activities are consistent with the goals of a learning organization that seeks to promote from within the organization.

Career planning and development is also an important strategy by which to retain key employees. Employees who see potential career advancement within the organization are more likely to stay. Furthermore, promotions can be a key element of the reward process.

Career planning and development also play a key role in addressing current or expected staffing shortages in skilled areas. Note that while the textbook refers to US demographics when discussing issues related to managing the workforce, Canada shares the same problems, including diversity issues, skilled worker shortages, and an aging workforce.

Stress and Wellness Interventions

Finally, Lesson 8 examines employee stress and wellness interventions. Employee stress and wellness interventions are becoming an increasingly important topic, as employer costs related to stress and illness have risen dramatically in recent years. Companies may be interested in managing employee quality of working life both for egalitarian reasons and to reduce health insurance demands, thereby containing costs.

Learning Objectives:

After completing Lesson 8, you should be able to

1. discuss the components of a performance management system.

2. describe and evaluate the effectiveness of goal-setting interventions in organizations.

3. discuss the application of performance appraisal interventions.

4. discuss how reward systems interventions can be applied in organizations.

5. examine and evaluate coaching and mentoring interventions.

6. describe the process of implementing management and leadership development interventions.

7. explain how career planning and development interventions improve individual competencies and enhance traditional human resource approaches.

8. examine human resources management interventions related to workforce diversity and inclusion.

9. evaluate the effectiveness of employee wellness interventions.

Learning Activities:

Reading Assignment

In Cummings, T. G., & Worley, C. G. (2019). Organization development and change (11th ed.). Cengage Learning.

• Chapter 14: Performance Management

• Chapter 15: Talent Development

• Chapter 16: Workforce Diversity, Inclusion, and Wellness

Lesson 9: Strategic Change Interventions

Overview:

While all organizational interventions should be strategic, organizations can respond in a variety of ways when the external and/or internal environment changes.

Lesson 9 addresses transorganizational change and mergers and acquisitions in relation to the environment. Transorganizational change allows organizations to work together to keep pace with the ever-changing external environment and, thereby, survive and maintain stability.

Transorganizational change is becoming more popular in business, because for organizations to survive, they must extend their boundaries. To be self-sustaining, organizations need to develop strategic alliances and merge with other organizations to acquire additional resources, share expenditures and expertise, and become more efficient at solving complex problems.

Transformational Change

This lesson also deals with transformational strategies, which are organizational responses that result in people viewing both the organization and work itself in a different way.

To this point, this course has addressed incremental changes (i.e., changes occurring little by little) to deal effectively with the environment. Transformational change, on the other hand, requires a radical shift in the way organizational members accomplish goals, and involves a rather sudden response. When we discussed organizational culture earlier in the course, it was in the context of making small adjustments to culture to support other changes. In Lesson 9, we focus on major transformation of culture as an end in itself. Some think that transformational or cultural change is an impossible and unrealistic goal, especially with regard to deep-seated values that are taken for granted. (Note: You may wish to refer to Lesson 3 to review the four major cultural elements and the three methods for changing culture.)

Transformational interventions involve radical changes in how people in organizations perceive, think, and behave at work. Such changes to an organization’s culture or basic character can happen in response to major changes in the environment or in anticipation of changes. The textbook focuses on threats to an organization, and writers on change, such as John Kotter (2012), espouse a philosophy that organizations are most likely to react when there is a sense of urgency.

While organizations can also attempt to change in response to opportunities, without the sense of urgency that a threat generates, it is more difficult to implement lasting and meaningful change. One strategy that can be undertaken is to frame an opportunity as a threat. For example, an organization may wish to adopt a new technology that would give them a competitive advantage (an opportunity). Senior management may frame this opportunity in such a way that if the organization does not take advantage of the new technology, another organization will, putting them at a disadvantage.

The significant changes discussed in this lesson are often undertaken to realign strategies, organizational design, and culture to ensure that they are mutually compatible and reinforcing.

Reference

Kotter, J. P. (2012). Leading change. Harvard Business School Press.

Lesson 9: Learning Objectives

After completing Lesson 9, you should be able to

1. describe the characteristics of transformational change.

1. outline the integrated strategic change intervention and describe how it represents the revolutionary and systemic characteristics of transformational change.

2. explain the organization design process, including domestic and worldwide applications.

3. discuss the process and key success factors associated with downsizing.

4. compare and contrast four continuous change organization development (OD) interventions.

5. describe the elements and processes associated with the dynamic strategy-making intervention.

6. identify the demands of turbulent environments and describe the self-design intervention.

7. define organization learning interventions and outline their application.

8. explain the logic and process of developing agile organizations.

9. explain the rationale and logic behind organization collaboration.

10. describe and apply organization development (OD) interventions that enable mergers and acquisitions.

11. discuss and apply the OD process to strategic alliance formation and development.

12. describe the process of network formation and change, and transorganizational development.

Learning Activities:

Reading Assignment

In Cummings, T. G., & Worley, C. G. (2019). Organization development and change (11th ed.). Cengage Learning.

• Chapter 17: Transformational Change

• Chapter 18: Continuous Change

• Chapter 19: Transorganizational Change

Viewing Assignment

Bridges, W. (2016, August 12). Managing transitions . YouTube. https://youtu.be/3Gm9bEGp4mY 

Supplementary Reading

• Bridges, W. (2009). Managing transitions: Making the most of change (3rd ed.). Da Capo Press.

• Bridges, W. (2004). Transitions: Making sense of life’s changes (2nd ed.). Perseus Publishing.

• Kotter, J. P. (2012). Leading change. Harvard Business School Press.

• Kotter, J. P., Akhtar, V., & Gupta, G. (2021). Change: How organizations achieve hard-to-imagine results in uncertain and volatile times. Wiley.