Organizational development encompasses a wide variety of activities, theories and processes that all aim to improve organizations. It focuses on transforming thoughts and behaviors of the employees and leaders at the organization. It stresses the importance of carefully planned approaches to change and improve organizational structures and processes. An organization that hopes to succeed and have motivated employees needs to have a strong focus on organization development to do so. Here are five benefits that come with organizational development.
Increased communication
Focusing on organizational development results in increased communication, interaction and feedback between all employees. When everyone in an organization communicates effectively, it aligns everyone to the company’s shared goals and values. Organizational development gives leaders the necessary tools to determine what is important to their employees and how to structure the organization to make it work best for everyone. It opens the lines of communication between leadership and employees.
Continuous improvement
Companies engaged in organizational development have decided to consistently work to improve their business practices. Organizational development creates a cycle of improvement where strategies are planned, put into effect, reported on, adjusted and monitored. Organizational development embraces both internal and external change.
Adaptability
A company with a focus on organizational development has better personal contact with their employees. When changes need to be made to adapt to marketplace challenges, those personal connections make that process easier. These types of organizations have methods for implementing change and communicating that change to employees that gives it an edge over other organizations.
Emotional Intelligence
Many organizational development programs popular today have an increased focus on emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is a recently emerging field but one that holds a lot of importance, especially in the workplace. Emotionally intelligent employees are more self-aware, motivated and empathetic. Developing these skills helps employees to manage their stress better and connect more deeply with their co-workers. They’ll perform better in their role and feel more satisfied with the company as a whole.
Increased profit
Organizational development makes companies and employees more innovative and productive. Productive employees raise the efficiency of a company, which in turn increases profits. It also makes employees happier and more satisfied in their position, which helps to reduce costs by minimizing the employee turnover and absentee rate. It helps shift the organization’s culture to one focused on continuous improvement which gives the company an advantage in competitive markets.