An organisation is like an open system. It interacts
with the external environment, through the marketplace
drivers – competition, suppliers, regulators, economic
conditions etc. – and, also, through the products and
services it provides to its customers. These external
factors define the forces that the organisation will
need to deal with in its lifecycle.
Internally, the organisation is made up of an
interesting mix of an enduring “culture,” a volatile
and changing “climate,” and the union of employee
skill sets. Together, this internal mix defines an
organisations ability to tackle the external
environment and deliver its own performance. These
internal factors, also, predict how the organisation
will react to a change in any of the external factors.
For us at ODA, all training needs – provided they
arise out of a real business concern – are to do with
an organisations need to change. This change can
either be transactional or it can be transformational.
A need to address dysfunctional teams, or drive
operational efficiencies, or facilitate market
segmentation strategy, or revisit performance
management strategy, or drive renewed focus on
organisational values, are all examples of
transactional changes. Transformational changes, on
the other hand, are more revolutionary and deal with
larger organisational makeover – mergers and
acquisitions, or redefining vision, mission and
values, or strategic diversification, are some
examples.
Within the above areas of organisational change, ODA
specialises in managing the human side of change, and
by doing that we facilitate organisation’s growth and
transformation.
In order to partner the organisation in its change
journey, it is critical to understand the various
factors at play, and the human interface matrix.
Lets us take a closer look at the internal factors.
These can be divided into 3 large categories:
1. The
Culture Drivers
-
Vision and Values
-
Leadership
-
Mission and Strategy
Organisation Culture is a derivative of the
organisation vision, its core values, and the
assumptions, norms and tangible signs of how these are
operationalised by the leadership, in enacting the
mission and strategy of the organisation. It orients
employees to company goals and suggests the kinds of
behaviours necessary for success. It is enduring and
long-term.
2. The
Climate Drivers
-
Motivation and Attitude
-
Workgroups and Teams
-
Structure and Processes
Organisation Climate, on the other hand, is a mirror
of the motivation and attitude, related to work, of
the organisation members, and the resultant matrix of
their interactions towards dealing with organisation
hierarchy, its policies, work processes, the external
environment, and the intra-workgroup chemistry. It is
transient and short-lived – though, with an effort, it
could also sustain.
3. Individual
skills
These are specific, task related, competencies – a mix
of subject knowledge and functional behaviours.
We firmly believe that while a lot of effort is put in
developing individual skills to enhance performance,
it is the first two drivers, of culture and climate,
that are far more critical in delivering sustained
performance and growth.
At ODA, our diagnostic model, hence, looks
holistically at the organisation before creating an
intervention framework to facilitate the change
journey.
External Environment
This refers to an outside condition or situation that
influences the performance of an organization. This
could include the marketplace (competition, partners,
suppliers etc.), global economic changes, social
factors, statutory regulations, and political /
governmental circumstances.
Mission
This is what top managers believe and have declared as
the organization’s objective, often highlighted as a
milestone to be achieved. It is, also, what employees
believe is the central purpose of the organization,
and the means by which the organization intends to
achieve its purpose over time. It describes what an
organization does and who it serves, and it reflects
its priorities.
Strategy
A strategy represents the way an organization uses its
resources to gain and sustain a competitive advantage.
It is the amalgamation of the stream of decisions
about how the organizational resources will be
configured to meet demands, constraints, and
opportunities, all within the context of the
organization’s history and its future course.
Leadership
Leadership refers to the executive behaviour
of the management that provides direction and
encourages others to take needed action. It includes
followers’ perceptions of executive practices and
values and leaders’ role modelling.
Vision and Values
A Vision is the set of fundamental reasons for the
existence of an organization; a shared image of a
desired future state.
Values represent the core priorities in the
organization’s culture, including what drives members’
priorities and how they truly act in the organization.
A well-defined Vision clarifies the general direction
for progress and change, motivates people to take
action in the right direction, and helps coordinate
people’s actions, while values determines what’s
important for an organisation.
Structure and Process
Structure is defined as the skeleton of the
organization - its hierarchy represented as the
organizational chart. The mechanisms which enable the
formal organization to carry out its work are termed
as the organizational processes.
Workgroups and Teams
A team is a group of people with
complementary skills required to complete a task, and
accountable for collective performance. This is a well
structured group, with individuals aware of their
roles and responsibilities, and the governing norms.
Workgroups, usually, refer to transient teams which
are formed for a specific task or project.
Motivation and Attitude
This refers to aroused behavioural tendencies to move
toward goals, take needed action, and persist until
satisfaction is attained (i.e., the energy generated
by the combined desires for achievement, power,
affection, discovery, and / or other important human
values).
Skills
These refer to the behaviours required for
effectively completing a task - including specific
knowledge and functional behaviours (cognitive,
technical and interpersonal).
Productivity
The usage of this term in the model is as a reference
to the organisations products and services, as in its
interaction with the external customers, and, also, to
its own definitions and measurements of its
performance levels to deliver these products and
services.
