Organisational Development

8 Signs that Your Company Can Benefit from Organisational Development

If you are tasked with the management of an organisation or occupy any type of leadership, managerial or senior post within an organisation, you would have heard the term “organisational development” used in some form or another. In short, what this refers to is the company or organisation’s ability to identify challenges and to perform optimally through agile behaviour and focussed investment in employee and leadership development that address these challenges.

Organisational development is not something that happens by chance or magically comes together through a series of positive actions here and there throughout an organisation. It requires a focussed strategy with measurable outcomes and a committed, concerted effort to implement, monitor, and adapt this strategy.

So, how do you know whether your company is on track and achieving everything it could? Here are some tell-tale signs that could indicate that the organisational development in your organisation is either lacking or needs to be realigned with your business goals:

1. You Don’t Have an Organisational Development Strategy in Place

Don’t wait to observe negative traits or sluggish performance. If your organisation has never introduced a clear strategy with defined goals, or you haven’t reviewed your strategy in years, then you need one. It is universally accepted that a focussed organisational development strategy is not only beneficial but absolutely crucial for any organisation to perform optimally.

2. Your Organisation or Team Is Punching Below Its Weight

As companies grow, teams change and the business environment evolves, it is only to be expected that methods, approaches, and techniques that worked before might not be the most effective or ideal now anymore. Continuous growth is necessary to successfully adapt to ever-changing situations and to thus maintain the optimal efficacy of a team.

3. Your Staff Turnover Is Higher Than the Ideal

Employee turnover is an expensive exercise for any business. An excessive or sustained turnover of talent will not only cost you dearly but will also hamper work continuity and standard of performance. Such a turnover could be indicative of a need for increased investment in the development of your employees, as well as clearer communication of objectives and recognition of goals achieved.

4. Employee Morale Is Low

It is often said that employees are a company’s greatest asset. It’s not enough to only attract and employ the best talent. These people should also be nurtured. Ultimately, you don’t want a group of capable people merely going through the motions to keep the company running. You want passionate individuals who push for progress and exceptional performance.

5. There Is A Shortage of Innovative Thinking

This is very much an extension of the previous point. Innovation is a necessary part of any successful business. But innovation is not something that happens in isolation or a task that gets briefed in. True innovation happens when talented individuals are put in an environment that enables communication, inspires creativity, and rewards progress.

6. Communication Gaps Are Causing Noticeable Problems

A lack of communication can be detrimental to the performance of a company, lead to unnecessary losses, and cause extreme frustration. A key feature of effective organisational development is that it establishes and supports clear communication channels. In fact, it depends on defined goals, unambiguous guidance, and honest feedback.

1. Your Organisation Is About to Change Its Product, Service or Approach

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for running companies. So, if your company is changing its goals or focus, such as its core product or service, it also needs to change its way of approaching the newly defined objectives to assure that the effort put in is reflected in the success it delivers.

2. A Merger Is on The Horizon

This is maybe one of the most obvious situations where the benefits of a fresh organisational development strategy will be clear. Whether your organisation is assimilating another or joining a larger corporation, changes are inevitable, and a concerted effort needs to be made to integrate the two different sets of cultures to create a single unit that is motivated, engaged, and working optimally.

Orgro can help you create and implement a wonderfully effective organisational development strategy that will help your organisation meet the demands of a fast-changing world, resulting in the increased performance of your business. Talk to us to find out more about how this is possible.