Fixing Key Issues in Organizational Development

An organization’s performance can be improved by aligning strategy, people, rewards, and management processes. Organization development strives to achieve the same goal. It is an interdisciplinary field combining social science, organizational behavior, change management, and research design.  Management theory and practice benefit greatly from the field of organizational development. There is a growing body of information and techniques that can be used to increase organizational effectiveness and change. As such, it appears to be particularly suited to meeting the needs of our society in the present and in the future. However, there are several key issues in organizational development that must be dealt with if organizational development is to become a useful and significant discipline for managers. 

The process of organizing, planning, leading, and controlling resources that contribute to the achievement of organizational objectives. Management must effectively resolve issues and make decisions in order to be both effective and beneficial. 

As organizations grow, the chances of workplace problems increase. Owners and managers of small businesses usually face one or more of these types of conflicts – Starting a business is hard, and it can be filled with demanding tasks and problems. 

AN ANALYSIS OF ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES 

1. Individual employee challenges can include personality conflicts, manager issues, personal turmoil, or concerns regarding the structure of the company. Management must identify the cause of the problem and who or what is aggravating it. If no clear reason can be identified, then the cause may be poor or upsetting communication. Staff members in a dispersed organization might feel they must report to several supervisors if the social structure is not clearly communicated. 
2. Problems and disconnections occur in teams when they fail to work towards a common goal. If they experience a sense of personal detachment from their colleagues, the group will not be able to perform its normal functions. Communication breakdowns on the part of management or organizations are often responsible for these issues, as they result in confusion about the team’s and individual’s goals. Leaders should continuously provide feedback and encourage team unity. When faced with team issues, managers must identify the issue and take immediate corrective action to prevent a more serious performance breakdown. 
3. In the absence of prompt and comprehensive reformatory action, simple employee or team issues can easily engulf the entire organization. A situation like this must be avoided at all costs, as it often leads to the formation of groups that are not in harmony. If all the avoidance actions fail, be prepared to take much more powerful corrective measures. It is imperative to avoid these problems by negatively affecting the corporate culture, which has been carefully cultivated to make the company a high-performance institution. 
4. It is common for organizations to lack direction due to two main reasons: the leaders rarely discuss or list a well-considered direction or strategy for the future, or they fail to communicate a rational message about the strategy to all members of the organization. The organization must carry out several activities and lacks the adjustments required to gain the grip necessary to transform, adapt, and shape its future. Such activities would ensure long-term, sustained growth for the organization. Individuals lack a clear understanding of their role within the organization. Therefore, people become confident and satisfied to simply show up, handle today’s business, and hope that someone oversees leading the company. 
5. It is often difficult to assemble a team composed of diverse personalities, regardless of whether the team is part of a special project or an operating team in a production facility. Different people have very different personalities, and the diversity of backgrounds, opinions, views, and experiences can pose challenges to teams. This can create a unique set of issues and opportunities. A diverse team of leaders can achieve amazing results if they are able to form an alliance and support common objectives. Taking on the demands of customers and meeting the threat of competition is also possible. However, if leaders stay within their departments, fail to share information, fail to collaborate on shared problems, or fail to think with an ambitious mindset, the organization will underperform. 
6. People have good intentions in organizations but fail to develop key competencies and behaviors. Even with all their experience and technical skills, creating a high-performance organization is tough. Everyone, including senior leaders, has weaknesses. Leaders are often aware of their behavioral shortcomings but blind to their leadership shortcomings. People in the organization are often afraid to speak their minds and it’s hard to help hugely successful leaders with their weak spots. Leading and managing an organization is a difficult job that requires a unique blend of skills. Great leaders use their natural strengths and improve their behavior. Organizations can’t be successful without continuous improvement. 
7. There are numerous teams in which there is a lack of honesty, constructive, and openness about the team members’ styles, skills, or behaviors. Without a culture of openness and feedback, organizations will struggle to grow. In fact, this is a key issue in organizational development. Many teams try to struggle through this somehow, enduring the bully. People often fear revenge if they open, but the reality is that leaders can’t execute their strategies when people fail to communicate. This is an issue that must be overcome. 
8. Building a successful organization takes hard work and a keen awareness of the culture and environment that exists in a business. Market conditions change fast. This demand huge portions of a leader’s time. Since executives are busy focusing on their many necessary operational distractions, many of them fail to remain focused. This means that communication suffers, and leaders fail to recognize people or invest time reviewing processes and better ways of working across functions. People then become disengaged and lose focus and commitment. 
9. Managers falsely attribute employee turnover to either the quality of the job offer or claim the employee wasn’t a fit anyways. The truth shows something quite different. Most employees leave their jobs because of their manager. Employee turnover is very costly in every organization. 
10. The manager of a team has a big impact on its effectiveness. They account for most of the variance in employee engagement. Employee performance depends on how effective their manager is. Despite these facts, most employees do not have an effective manager helping them in their performance at a high level. It’s hard to be productive if your manager doesn’t take advantage of your strengths, nor do the things that make you engaged at work. 
11. Managers set up the best processes for their teams. These decisions determine how things are carried out. Managers can accomplish this by enabling and empowering their team members. When people focus on their strengths, they are more likely to be engaged in their work and be productive. Poor managers use politics as a means of slowing down the process and failing to resolve important key issues in the organizational development. 
12. Leadership pipelines are among the top concerns of executives. For many organizations, this remains an unresolved issue. Employee development begins at the managerial level, yet many managers fail to provide it. As a result, they have a number of excuses, such as other tasks piling up, demands to meet numbers, and a large number of other responsibilities. Nonetheless, it continues to be one of the perks people expect at work and seek in future employment. 
13. Managers set the example for how their teams should conduct themselves with customers. Their careful and diligent behavior will be followed by their teams. Unfortunately, if they are blunt and brief, their teams will also follow. Their teams will not be concerned with the needs of their customers if they are not concerned with them. It can cause serious problems for leaders if poor customer experiences are the cause of major client complaints. 
14. Every company claims to be innovative yet fails to get beyond marketing claims. The best ideas are often aroused from front-line staff since they are closest to the needs of the customer.  Not every idea will be unique, and managers need to learn to say no. Even worse, if managers take credit for their team’s ideas, they are discouraging them from coming to them with future ideas. Good managers listen to their team’s ideas and give them credit when they are worth it. 

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The key issues in the organizational development cannot be easily resolved but developing mid-management can have a significant impact on many of them. In the workplace, people strive not to join the ranks of the unemployed, meet their aspirations, and grow professionally. Key issues in the Organizational development can take many forms. To effectively resolve these issues, it is imperative that the current issue be resolved immediately to prevent a repeat of the issue. 

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