RETHINKING BIZ FUNCTIONS

Sanjeewaka Kulathunga explains the measures that organisations must take

It’s apparent that the future of organisation development (OD) will span three important areas – the pace of change, technology and people. The scope of this discipline is gradually becoming ingrained in all aspects of a company. Furthermore, employees at all levels require OD skills.

Considering current events, all global economies must now reconsider their vision, mission, relevance and purpose. Accordingly, OD is the entry point for making the necessary adjustments in the next decade of business management.

Instead of depending solely on a company’s human resources, OD will employ modern technology and reduce the time it takes to undertake such interventions. Greater emphasis will be placed on learning, development, innovation and growth. And the interconnectedness and multidisciplinary nature of a business will grow exponentially.

Drastic changes must be consistent with futuristic trends in a globalised business environment to tackle modern and future challenges.

The goal of OD is to promote continuous improvement in an organisation. It begins with suitable strategic decisions, and encompasses all actions and decisions taken to increase efficiency and effectiveness. The ultimate aim is improved performance at the same or lower costs.

According to a survey conducted by LaMP International last year, 100 percent of the firms consulted acknowledged that technology and digitalisation will be central to all of their OD interventions.

While they recognised the value of their human resources, they believed that technological advancements enabled a wider range of choices and opportunities. This entails investing in platforms rather than products, digitalisation instead of mechanisation, insights rather than data, experiences more than services, and project focussed talent rather than long-term employment contracts.

By now, the use of mobile technology, social media, online learning and flexible or adaptable learning principles have begun trending in OD. They have changed the traditional ways in which corporates evaluated their performance in the recent past, and demand that businesses and employees are flexible with digitally run organisational structures.

A growing number of businesses are adopting hybrid work models. Though providing greater freedom to employees might increase productivity, management must ensure that the organisational culture, team dynamics and colleague connections are maintained.

To ensure that hybrid work arrangements are sustainable, firms must consider what responsibilities and activities may be performed remotely, in addition to what kinds of individuals and abilities are well suited to telecommuting. Using design thinking, OD specialists may assist companies in finding new methods to handle hybrid work arrangements.

With the labour shortage and so-called Great Resignation, businesses must adopt a more imaginative, people centric strategy to engage employees, and build and strengthen connections with potential talent.

Adopting inclusive recruiting strategies enables organisations to access a wider global talent pool. This includes seeking prospective talent in uncommon areas or abandoning qualification requirements that may disproportionately reject unsought talents despite national and geographical boundaries.

Offering better perks and wellness programmes will help businesses retain employees. Studies indicate that employees who use these perks have better mental and physical health, which translates to improved performance and retention.

Organisations can also use internal employee mobility to retain bright employees through coaching and development programmes. Leaders can design measures to evaluate employee engagement and wellbeing with the assistance of OD specialists, to better understand the employee experience and analyse their requirements.

The immediate future will see many changes such as shortages of human and other resources. To manage an unpredictable and pressurised labour market, business leaders will need to rely on out of the box OD strategies. And they will need to develop trust and provide a safe working environment to reduce employee anxiety, through flat and flexible organisational structures.

Leaders must be creative enough to bring out the best in their people and strike a perfect balance between keeping employees accounta-ble for their performance, and allowing them to pursue their own interests and career growth. They must also be inclusive and actively foster a sense of belonging within their teams. In this case, OD may assist businesses in developing a leadership pipeline and strengthening leaders’ people skills.

Well-crafted OD strategies will help companies make these changes in a deliberate and people centric way.