Future-Proof Your Business with an Organisational Development Strategy

Success is never guaranteed. Even when an individual or company achieves a goal or accolade, it does not promise sustained or repeated success. Unless, of course, you plan for success and set your company on a firm path towards obtaining its goals and sustaining its performance. To achieve this, you need a sound and carefully considered organisational development strategy.

Organisational development refers to an ongoing process of growing and adapting a business to be more effective, more profitable, and always relevant to ensure sustained success in a changing marketplace and environment. To keep this growth on track to meet the goals set out by the company, a sound and clear strategy is needed that includes aligning the people who work for the company, the various departments if applicable, as well as the processes that are applied to the operation of the organisation.

When you consider the fact that all these facets need to be carefully aligned to create the optimal environment for successful growth, it becomes clear that an effective organisational development strategy includes both an effort to influence and shape the mindset of the people involved, as well as the tools and expertise used to achieve the goals set out by the company.

How Do You Start Building an Effective Organisational Development Strategy?

The process is different for each organisation, depending on where the drive originates and what situation the business finds itself in. However, there are some pointers and milestones that are similar throughout this process, regardless of the participants.

First, you must define the territory to which this strategy will apply. What does organisational development mean for your business, and what value are you hoping it will add? This will also help you to determine whether this process will be one that is integrated or separate in terms of departments and functions.

Next, you need to identify the driver for creating this strategy. What is the specific objective you want to achieve through this organisational development? What difference will this effort make? What will happen to the business if you don’t invest in this initiative? Also, consider what is realistic. While it is easy to dream big and aim for the stars, you need to know what you are working with, what capacity there is and what is achievable. This will help you to break your strategy into phases and create practical milestones for your organisational development.

It is also vital to plan for the implementation. Even with a motivated team, change management can be a challenging task. Plan for a clear communication strategy that includes everyone that needs to be involved or affected and set clear objectives. Also, plan how you will measure and evaluate these results, and what you hope to learn from the process.

There are much more nuanced and intricate research and planning required for developing and implementing a strategy that takes your company’s needs and circumstances into consideration, and which will serve to ready your business for future changes. For more information on this topic, and to partner with the experts in facilitating business growth, get in touch with the team at Orgro.