Department of Continuous Renewal – Striving for a Holistic Approach to Change

Should organization's view change as a program, or as an event? This was the topic of an interesting conversation I recently had with a colleague responsible for guiding his organization through successful change. As a result of that thought-provoking exchange, I thought it might be helpful to my readers to explore ‘change’ and the field of ‘organization development’ since we’re all dealing with some kind of change.

In 1965 John W. Gardner, writing about change, speculated that perhaps what was needed in a world dealing with so much change was a "department of continuous renewal that could view the whole organization as a system in need of continuing innovation." Gardner, along with management consultants including McGregor and Argyris, was trying to identify a workable solution for dealing with the magnitude and complexity of change occurring in our country at the time in politics, society, and workplaces, as well as in relationships between different generations and races.

Gardner’s idea for the Department of Continuous Renewal does exist in many organizations today. It may or may not be titled Organization Development (OD) Department but that’s what the assigned staff is responsible for. However, almost 50 years after Gardner brought attention to the need for managing continuous change the OD profession, as well as the organizations in which we work, continue to struggle in clearly defining what organization development is and how to intentionally apply it.

Primary Characteristics of OD

OD is often defined as an educational strategy adopted to bring about a planned organizational change. With that said, be aware that the strategies designed and implemented can differ enormously from one situation to another. In some cases the need may be focused on assessing and understanding the organizational culture in order to make intelligent and well-informed recommendations about ways to improve performance. In others, the need may be helping employees adjust to the dynamics of working with peoples that are different from each other – in traditions, backgrounds, gender, years, education, work styles, etc. Yet another example might be helping a team impacted by a merger or acquisition realign with a new mission, vision and goal. Whatever the strategy, OD almost always concentrates on the values, attitudes, relations, and client – the ‘people side’ of business.

Secondly, the focus of the change work is directly linked with the demands the organization is facing, which vary in intensity and can be as extreme as changes required for the organization to survive.

OD relies on that educational strategy mentioned above to emphasize experienced behavior. Utilizing assessment, feedback, training, meeting facilitation, and other experience-based methodologies, the OD professional is able to generate publicly-shared information and experiences needed for adequate action planning.

Most often, the individuals guiding change - ‘change agents’ - are external to the organization. Certainly internal OD consultants do great work. I’m not declaring that they don’t. What I am suggesting however, is that external consultants have the benefit of bringing an innocence, or unbiased perception, when observing the organization and clarifying surfaced problems. Having experience working internally and externally, I find that there is usually, rightly or wrongly, a real or perceived notion that the ‘external’ consultant is bringing more experience to the engagement, which often aids in gaining executive commitment to change.

OD implies a collaborative relationship between the consultant and the client system, and that’s where my passion lies. The word collaboration can mean a lot of different things. As you consider the word, what does it mean to you? For me, it involves working with people jointly committed to a goal, working in a way that demonstrates mutual trust and influence. It’s a way of coming together where no one is alone.

OD leaders of change share a set of values about the world in general, and human organization in particular, which influence their strategies, interventions and responses to client system behaviors. We believe that bureaucratic and impersonal values reduce organizational effectiveness while values supporting human factors, open communications and trust lead to healthy and productive organizations.

And last, but not the least OD professionals are guided by a set of goals which include:

• Improve interpersonal competence.
• Shift values so human factors and feelings are considered legitimate.
• Develop an increased understanding between and within working groups in order to reduce tensions and improve efficiencies.
• Develop effective teams.
• Develop better methods of conflict resolution.
• Share and develop an understanding that the organization is an organic system; not a mechanical machine.

So What’s Next?

Considering these characteristics of OD, it’s easy to see that a program, or holistic approach to change, is one that can be more efficient and effective in producing and sustaining change across an organization rather than approaching it in small and random pockets dependent on the leader’s willingness to deal with change.

What difference would it make to your organization if the change program was managed by the ‘Department of Continuous Renewal’? What impact could an orchestrated change plan, with at least the following eight components, working simultaneously in concert with each other have on the success of your requirements for change? Noted below is a brief overview of EMI’s Holistic Change Model.^©

I.   The foundation of the change program is built on the desired vision, mission, goals and culture, intentional values, performance objectives, behavioral standards, leadership expectations.

II.  Surrounding the core foundation are eight gears working in harmony with each other:

1. Strategic Change Planning – including a Transition Plan, Communication Plan, clarification of language and definitions, structure and chartering of change team
2. Individual Check-In – opportunities and tools for employees to identify where they are now, where they are going, what they need to let go of, as well as acquire, training needs, and chances for collaborating and participating in change initiatives
3. Team Realignment and Development – understanding restructuring and impact of change, individual contributions, re-engagement, performance metrics and training
4. Leadership Assessment and Development – clarification of leadership styles needed for organizational impact and goal achievement, assessment of competencies, attitudes, skills and passions, executive coaching and development
5. Stakeholder Integration – assessment of needs, clarification of expectations, opportunities for collaboration and involvement with change team
6. Performance Expectations – modified position descriptions, updated development plans, relationship building (internal and external), continuous performance management feedback and development
7. Communications – frequent updates, two-way (horizontally, vertically and diagonally engaging employees) dialogues, integration of technologies and social media, effective planning and facilitation of meetings, easy to understand messages, attention to WIIFM (What’s In It For Me?) questions, town hall/brown bag opportunities for staff and management to dialogue
8. Change Metrics and Plan Modification – periodic check-ins, alignment of change plan with other internal and external impacts, celebration of achievements, program modifications

III.  Surrounding these eight dynamic components is a Program Management team to ensure:

• Knowledge sharing occurs between the Change Team, organizational leaders and internal and external change consultants
• Timely follow-up on action plans and open items
• Barriers to change are addressed and resolved
• Future needs are anticipated and planned for as the organization shifts

So often I observe an organization focused on an individual OD intervention, such as meeting facilitation, or executive coaching. It’s excellent that leaders understand there is a need. However, my observation is that the time and investment made in that one engagement would have a much better ROI if it was integrated into a more holistic approach to organizational change.

As you think about how change is occurring in your organization, I hope this glimpse of a holistic approach is helpful to you. As always, I welcome your comments to my posting; please click below. I also appreciate your sharing a copy of this article with others you believe will find it interesting. Have a great week.

This article was written by Deborah A. King, SPHR, CEO and Sr. Organization Effectiveness Consultant with Evolution Management, Inc. Debbie and her team are ready to assist with organizational change to improve effectiveness, efficiencies and the overall workplace experience for employees. If you’re interested in learning more about our services, please contact us: www.evolutionmgt.com or 770.587.9032.

Tom Orths