DESIGNING

ORGANIZATION
DEVELOPMENT
INTERVENTIONS
P2104: ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
 OVERVIEW
Intervention strategies are well-planned actions
formulated to improve performance and increase
organizational effectiveness. Any intervention to be
effective is dependent on the extent to which it fits the
needs of the organization, the level of skill, knowledge,
and expertise present in the organization to successfully
bring about the intended outcomes, and the extent to
which the intervention enhances the organization's
capacity to manage change.
 LEARNING OUTCOMES:
 Discuss how to design OD
interventions;
 Identify the effective interventions;
 Learn the types of interventions;
 FACTORS THAT AFFECT
ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT
INTERVENTION SUCCESS

Certain variables present in the change

situation affect intervention success. They
are the following:
Individual, group and organizational factors:
Individuals are essentially distinct. No two
persons are the same since they differ in their
beliefs, attitudes, family background, vision
and career direction, expectations, work
performance, ethics and relationships. The
reality of individual differences, groups, and
organizations affects organization development
success.
The change process itself: The change mode
itself is a critical determinant of successful
organization development execution. The
process of instituting change and transforming
the organization determines the effectiveness of
the organization development intervention.
Oftentimes, adjustments should be particularly
responsive to the dynamism prevailing in the
organizational environment.
The readiness and capability for change:
Organizational readiness and capability to
change are important to effective organization
development intervention.
Readiness refers to whether the organization managers and
members are open to change, whether the organization has the
financial resources needed to bring about the change, and
whether the technology infrastructures for change are in place.
Capability refers to the ability to execute these changes
through organizational productivity, and strategy interventions.
The capability of the organizational development
professional: Some organization development
practitioners are the cause of intervention failures. In
designing interventions, there should be a parallel
correspondence between the organization
development practitioner's expertise and experience
on the one end, and the required interventions of the
organization on the other end. Any mismatch will
cause the organization development intervention to
fail.
The organization culture: Another important
component of organization development success
is organizational culture. All organizations have
their own unique culture.
Organizational culture refers to a system of shared values and beliefs
that evolved among the organization members for a period of time. It is
intricately woven and reflected in the people, the structure and system of
the organization, thus producing distinct behavioral norms. These
behavioral norms consist of organized and shared ideas on how
organization members are expected to think, function, and react on how
their behaviors are regulated and on sanctions imposed on them when
such behaviors do not coincide with social expectations.
 A significant component of organizational
culture is organizational climate. It describes the
atmosphere permeating among organization
members. This includes employee morale, job
satisfaction, leadership cooperation and
performance. It varies from very satisfactory to
positive and good to below satisfactory,
depending on existing conditions.
Sometimes, a change in the leadership of top
management or a generous compensation and
benefits system may significantly change an
organization's climate for the better. Strongly
popular and internalized organizational cultures
greatly contribute to organizational success
because they focus on employee growth and
development, involvement and empowerment.
 TYPES OF ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT
INTERVENTIONS
Designed interventions focus on individual, group
and organizational issues. They come in different
forms. These organization development interventions
are categorized into organizational, productivity and
strategy interventions.
Different types of interventions based on
organizational development issues:

Organizational interventions include self-

interventions, training on self-knowledge, time
management, stress management, career
planning, team interventions, goal setting and
job formulation framework.
Productivity interventions include quality
concepts and tools like quality, total quality
management, statistical quality control, quality
function deployment, self-managed work
teams, problem solving groups and approaches,
benchmarking, 5s, six sigma, and continuous
quality improvement.
Strategy interventions focus on the use of the
balanced scorecard, transformational
dynamism, culture change, and knowledge
management.
 FORMS OF ORGANIZATIONAL
INTERVENTIONS
1. Self-Interventions
Interpersonal interventions generally focus on
two aspects of employee behavior namely,
employee involvement and empowerment.
 Employee involvement refers to the employees’ active
participation and commitment to the organization's vision,
mission, goals, objectives and activities. It is the process by
which a member is theoretically “brought” into the organization
and made a significant partner to organizational growth and
success. Better said and expected than true, employee
involvement is difficult to develop among the regular members.
Their philosophy in life, work culture, level of knowledge,
maturity, work environment and compensation all inter pray to
develop personal feelings of concern and involvement.
Otherwise, employees only work for monetary rewards.
Employee empowerment refers to the process of
giving employees the power to make plans,
implement them, and make important decisions
related to their work. Employee empowerment is
not absolute and unlicensed. Rather, it is aptly
constrained within the organization's system and
hierarchy of structure. To be empowered
necessitates a number of requisites. These are
the fundamentals of empowerment:
2. Training in Self Knowledge
Training groups are laboratory learning
programs that evolved from the early group
dynamics introduced by Kurt Lewin and his
group; National Training Laboratories. They are
referred to as T-groups. Purposely conducted to
develop self-awareness and leadership skills in
individuals.
T-groups aim to bring out one's blind spots
and hidden areas while increasing his/her
sensitivity to others. They help the individual
discover his/her possible blind spots and
downsides. This encounter involves from 10-
12 participants and is ideally conducted away
from the workplace.
Analyzing Johari's Window: The Johari Window Model is
a framework that measures communication awareness
based on knowledge of oneself and knowledge by others.
While each individual has a unique set of needs, values,
behaviors, expectations, motivations and family
background, he/she may know himself only to a certain
extent while other people may know him only to a certain
degree. These interrelationships are better illustrated by
Johari in the diagram below. He classifies knowledge of
oneself and by others into four different areas.
The Unknown Area is the area that is inaccessible
both to oneself and to others. Oftentimes an
individual realizes that there is much to learn about
oneself. Neither do the people around know him/her.
In fact, it is said that the journey to knowing oneself
takes a whole lifetime. To uncover this area, the
individual can spend time on regular examination
and reflection of his/her values, attitudes and
behavior.
The Private Area is the area known only to
oneself but not to others. As part of human
nature, people generally want to keep things to
themselves. They feel secure with not sharing
everything in their lives to other people. This
area is the "comfort zone" of the individual.
Other people can "enter and see" this private
area if the individual discloses himself/herself to
them.
The Public Area is the area known to oneself
and by others. It is the area that is open to
everyone, family, workplace, and the
community. The individual is generally
comfortable with himself/herself and with
others. There is no need for reflection,
disclosure, and feedbacks. The individual sees
and understands himself/herself as others do.
This is his/ her public life.
The Blind Area is the area unknown to oneself
but known by others. Some individuals are not
aware of themselves although others know them.
It is reality area that is public to people.
However, the individual is not aware of this area.
This blind area is discovered by accepting
feedbacks from others.
3. Time Management
Environmental realities today are profoundly
deafening. They dictate the tempo of living.
Some people become slaves to these
actualities.
The Age of Convenience: Because of the fast
pace of living everywhere. The transformations
are happening everywhere. These changes are
adapted to make living easy and comfortable.
Convenience stores are open 24 hours a day to
cater to consumer needs. Automated banking
allows for fast withdrawals.
Fast food outlets sell cooked foods while
subways transport people faster to their
destinations. There are instant foods like
noodles, meals and coffee. Instant photo
developing and instant eyeglasses are
everywhere. These constitute efforts to adjust to
the demands of living practicality, ease and
convenience.
The Human Chain to Technology: Today, living is
synonymous to technology. It means using cell
phones to communicate, sending messages via
facsimile machines, corresponding through
electronic mail, illustrating through computer aided
design, doing business through the internet,
operating through computer-integrated
manufacturing, functioning through remote digital
networking and performing tasks through robotics. In
effect, technology is synonymous to existence.
Children's Playtime. Due to the demands and chance
of providing better lives for their children more and
more parents are spending less and less time with
them. Some are just too busy earning a living to the
point of neglecting them. They send their children to
preschools, hoping that these preparatory learning
centers will teach them the rudiments of socializing,
speaking and writing: parental responsibilities that
are essentially theirs.
Time: Because of these environmental realities, a
number of people develop an unhealthy addiction to
technology. One individuals may hooked to the
internet for long periods. With cell phones open 24
hours, the results are lack of privacy and personal
time. Earning a living, providing for the children
and coping with the demands of life are more
stressful than ever. There is more pressure today
than there was in the past. Hence, time has become
an important issue in everyday living.
WHAT IS TIME?
Time is a systematic passing of a specific
duration. One day is equivalent to 24 hours no
more no less. Time is universal. It is constant.
Time stays, we go. If we waste time, the waste
accumulated. These are time “leaks”. Can we
manage time, then? The answer is" no“. We can
only manage ourselves in relation to time. If
unable to do so, we create chaos in our lives.
 Thus, there is a need for every individual to
develop good work attitudes, values and
habits. One should learn productive time
skills and techniques and appreciate the
importance of efficient and effective time
management.
Time management is the ability to handle one's
time in such a way that time leaks are minimized
and time utilization is optimized. Time leaks are
big significant time loss.
What kind of Time Waster are you?
Some of us waste time inadvertently or
with sheer difference. One way or
another, we are one type of time waster.
Rats-individuals who hate to throw anything
away, thinking that they may need these things
in the future. Oftentimes, they waste more time
looking for things.
Turtles-they are constantly late individuals.
They never seem to be on time. (Appointments
and even deadlines)
Dogs-they are persistent volunteers who continually
offer their services to people. Forever helpful, that
they fail to do their own work and consequently
jeopardize their productivity.
Ostriches-are characteristically lazy people. They
expect other people to do things for them. They wait
and wait until they are pressed for time. They are
known as the last minute performers.
Snakes-love to inquire on others. They snoop around
mind and monitor other people’s work.
Time Bandits: Like a thief, we steal time when
we waste it due to the following reasons:
Procrastination is postponing the performance
of certain tasks. Forms of procrastination include
delaying, suspending, shelving, or completely
not doing the expected errands, responsibilities
and tasks. Some individuals have this perpetual
habit of delaying or deferring task responsibility.
Unclear goals slow down the execution of work.
Ambiguity in direction and performance causes
confusion in what is expected of the individual.
It is like driving a car and not knowing where to
go. Unclear goals encourage arbitrariness and
hesitance in accomplishing set objectives. This
tentativeness affects motivation, performance
and productivity.
Too many interruptions in the workplace
distract individuals in their work. They lose their
attention and focus so it takes more time to get
back to their precious frame of mind. Engaging
in a long and not work related conversations is a
distraction. Interruptions unconsciously detail
individuals in their work concentration. At the
end of a working day, they realize that little has
been accomplished.
4. Stress Management
Time management is closely related to stress
management and burn out. Stress is an internal
response to a stimulus that threatens to disturb a
person's emotional stability. It refers to patterns of
emotional and physiological reactions in response to
the demands of the internal and external
environments. This includes day-to-day living,
working and relating with other people. Stress is
unavoidable.
Nature of Stress: Stress may be due to changes
in one's life that are either positive or negative.
Expectations, pressures, death of a spouse,
divorce, separation, aging, disappointments,
sexual difficulties, trouble with in-laws or with
superiors, violations of the law, promotions,
marriage, marital reconciliation, pregnancy,
retirement, buying a house and going on a
vacation are sources of stress.
Stresses are categorized into three ways:

Stresses due to personality factors: Some

people are more easily stressed than others.
These are individuals with Type A personality.
They are essentially introverted. They believe
that external forces control their lives. They tend
to have an anxious personality.
Stresses in one's personal life: Significant
changes in one's life, everyday annoyances, and
family, social, financial, school, physical and
mental health problems, terrifying experiences,
and disappointments with hobbies, interests and
sports are causes of stresses in one's personal
life.
Stresses in the workplace: Harassment by
supervisor, frustrated career ambition, work
overload or underload uncomfortable physical
and social working condition, dissatisfied
monetary compensation, and computer stress are
forms of stress in the workplace.
Consequences of Stress
What happens when an individual is stressed?
Any person can react in either two ways.
He/she may confront the stress and deal with
it or turn his/her back and run away from it. In
such instances, his hormones are chemically
activated. Stresses can be either beneficial to
the individual or otherwise.
 The valuable effects of stress are increased
motivation, creativity, better use of time, increased
ability to concentrate and meet demands, higher
productivity; a great sense of achievement, and
improved problem solving and decision making
abilities. On the other hand, harmful consequences of
stress include negative emotions and behavior,
intellectual problems, problems with employers,
adverse physiological symptoms and burnout.
Burnout: Burnout is a condition of
emotional, physical and mental
exhaustion and cynicism to work in
response to longstanding job stresses.
 It is that point where an individual has reached his/her
saturation point. What are the signs of experiencing
burnout? Some of the symptoms include feeling sluggish,
experiencing restlessness, having allergy and rashes,
finding difficulty in sleeping, not having enough time for
family and friends, withdrawing from people, keeping a
disorganized work space, having no time to relax and do
the things that one loves to do, being irritable and
impatient and experiencing a low level of personal
accomplishment.
5. Career Planning
All of us go through life with our own career
plans. To have a career is to engage in a series of
job tasks essential to professional growth in
one's occupational life. Career refers the
sequence of activities and jobs engaged in by an
individual during his working life.
Career "Pathing": An individual takes a unique
career path. Career path is the course and
direction that an individual takes as he goes
through his personal and work life. It consists of
job patterns that encompass a person's career.
According to psychologists, an individual
follows a life cycle. He generally undergoes
these sequential stages.
Birth to 14 years: In this developing stage,
the person develops self-concept. He/she
identifies and interacts with his family, friends
and other people important in his/her life.
He/she seeks both parent and peer approval
and gets ideas about his abilities and interests.
Fifteen to 24 years: In this discovery stage,
he /she develops a more realistic understanding
of his abilities and interests. He/she explores
occupational possibilities and alternatives.
He/she tries out his/her entry-level job and
decides the course to take.
Twenty-four to 44 years: This is the "heart" of
a person's career. This is the stabilization stage.
At age 25 to 30 years, he/she determines
whether his/her chosen field is suitable or not.
At age 30 to 40 years, he/she sets his career
goals and undertakes career planning. At age 40
to 44 years, he/she seriously reassesses his/her
career activities in relation to set career goals. It
is in this stage where “mid career crisis occurs.
Forty-five to 65 years: This is the maintenance
stage. The individual is self-confident. He/she
ultimately attains his/ her goals and maintains his/her
career. The individual has reached a level of career
fulfillment, if not success.
After 65 years: This is the decline stage. The
individual accepts reduced levels of power work and
responsibility. He/ she acts as adviser, mentor and
confidant. He/she redirects his life and involves
himself/herself in other activities.
6. Team Interventions
Effective managerial and team building skills are essential
in today's organizational team environment. To gain
acceptance and support, a cohesive and dynamic team is
important. The necessity for team development
interventions is evident and reflected in the incidence of
team conflicts, the problem ineffective communication,
the presence of unbalanced power and authority, the lack
of clear objectives and the difficulty in reaching group
decisions.
 Hence, the objectives of team development include
enumerating team objectives, setting priorities,
improving communications and relationships among
team members, determining how a team functions,
improving the team's ability to solve problems, and
examining team performance. Team development
decreases unhealthy competition, increases
cooperation among team members, requires respect
for individual differences and demands effective
collaboration with other teams.
7. Goal Setting
Goal setting is an approach that emphasizes
the need to aim for something. This target may
be personal, organizational, national, or global,
in nature. In relation to the organization, the
goal setting theory states that goals must be
specific, measurable and attainable.
8. Job Formulation
Job formulation is a process in which specific
tasks are analyzed, designed and redesigned. It
has three phases. The first is the conduct of Job
analysis. Once completed, job design follows. If
there is a need to improve and enhance the
designed job, the organization can implement
job redesign.
 PRODUCTIVITY INTERVENTIONS
To bring about quality and productivity in
organization, appropriate productivity
organization development interventions are
adopted. These productivity interventions
begin with understanding the following:
 1. Quality
It is the totality of all the features and
characteristics of a product or service that
supports its ability to satisfy stated and implied
needs (ISO 9004).
Quality is never an accident. It is the result of
the deliberate and intelligent effort of
management and organization members to
pursue this valuable feature.
 2. Total Quality Management
In this age of global competitiveness, the emphasis
today is on total quality management. Total quality
management (TQM) refers to the management of
activities involved in improving the quality of a
product or service. It is a quality of a product or
service. It is a quality culture that involves everyone
in the organization. It emphasizes quality and
continuous improvement.
3. Quality Management System
To be competitive, an organization has to put
in place an effective quality management
system. According to Clements (1989), a quality
management system (QMS) is a studied and
regulated system of rules, instructions and
procedures designed to make sure that only
conforming products are delivered and served to
customers.
 The International Organization for Standardization
(ISO 9000), European Quality Award, Malcolm Baldrige
National Quality Award, Deming Quality Award and
Philippine Quality Award are popular and globally
respected quality management systems. ISO 9000 is
global, the European Quality Award is for European
organizations, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality
Award is granted to American companies, the Deming
Quality Award is given to Japanese organization and the
Philippine Quality Award is our own quality award.
4. Benchmarking
Benchmarking can be defined as a systematic
compilation of methods and techniques, which when
efficiently and consistently applied, can significantly
improve an organization's performance, and consequently
strengthen its competitiveness. It is an organizational
outlook, a conscious mental attitude and purposive effort
to continuously and consistently improve and even attempt
to perfect, if possible, one's processes, output, services and
labor resources with respect to organizational practices
and standards.
5. 5S: A Practice in Good Quality
Housekeeping
Having originated in Japan, 5S is well known
as a quality practice in good housekeeping. It is
a basic tool utilized in improving productivity.
5S is attitudinal and action-oriented. (Sort, Set
in Order, Shine, Sustain & Standardize)
6. Six Sigma: The Zero Defect Goal
Six sigma is a quality tool that emphasizes
significant reduction in defects and wastes.
Essentially, it is a disciplined approach towards
optimality in costs, waste and cycle-time
reduction and capacity improvements. The
concept of six sigma was introduced in 1980s by
Jack Welch of General Electric and Bob Gavin
of Motorola.
 STRATEGY INTERVENTIONS
Oftentimes, organization and productivity
intervention are not adequate or appropriate so
introducing strategy interventions become the
only alternative. Strategic interventions can
involve:
1.7-S McKinsey's Model
In employing changes, the 7-S model is one
blueprint that can be adopted. Developed by Tom
Peters and Robert Waterman who are consultants
of McKinsey and Company, it stresses that an
organization is not just a mere structure. Instead, it
consists of seven elements that are vital in
undergoing change. These essentials are structure,
strategy, systems, style, staff, skills and shared
values.
7s McKinsey’s Model
2. The Balanced Scorecard
The balanced Scorecard is an effective organization
performance measurement tool. A management device, it
is valuable in investigating and solving fundamental
business issues. It was developed Robert Kaplan, a
professor at Harvard University and Davi Norton, a
consultant from Boston. The balanced scorecard in a
measurement system. It translates vision and strategies to
measurable goals and objectives. Aside from financial
measure the balanced scorecard complements customer,
internal process and learning and growth measure.
The Balance Scorecard
3. Strategy Maps

A strategy map is a simple graphic that shows

a logical, cause-and-effect connection between
strategic objectives .It is one of the most
powerful elements in the balanced scorecard
methodology, as it is used to quickly
communicate how value is created by the
organization.
4. Knowledge Management
The basic component of organizational memory is
data. “data” may refer to numbers, figures, symbols and
letter. They are raw and nebulous because they are not
presented in context. However these data are
contextualized or illustrated in a comprehensive manner,
they are considered “information”. When this
information becomes functional, then “knowledge” is
born. It is the conscious process of defining, structuring,
retaining and sharing the knowledge and experience of
employees within an organization.