5 Key Benefits of Organizational Development

Could your organization benefit from high efficiency and increased productivity? The obvious answer is ‘yes’. A good way to achieve these outcomes, and a myriad of other benefits, is through dedicated Organizational Development (OD).

OD is the practice of planned, systemic change in the beliefs, attitudes and values of employees for individual and company growth. The purpose of OD is to enable an organization to better respond and adapt to industry/market changes and technological advances. Those organizations that succeed in implementing the tenants of OD often go on to exhibit higher levels of organizational agility: successfully navigating new challenges with speed and minimal disruption.

In today’s post we will focus on five benefits of OD, that range from continuous employee improvement to better traction towards business goals. 

How an People Insights Strategy Supports Your Organization’s Long-Term Development

1. Continuous Improvement:

   Companies that engage in organizational development commit to continually improving their business and offerings.  The OD process creates a continuous cycle of improvement whereby strategies are planned, implemented, evaluated, improved and monitored. Organizational development is a proactive approach that embraces change (internal and external) and leverages it for renewal.

2. Increased Communication:

   One of the key advantages to OD is increased communication, feedback and interaction within the organization. The goal of improving communication is to align all employees to shared company goals and values. Candid communication also leads to increased understanding of the need for change within the organization. Communication is open across all levels of the organization and relevant feedback is recurrently shared for improvement. Explorance’s dedicated Employee Insight platform, Blue, is designed to provide an overview and actionable recommendations based on this myriad feedback. 

3. Employee Development:

   Organizational development focuses on increased communication to influence employees to bring about desired changes. The need for employee development stems from constant industry and market changes. This causes an organization to regularly enhance employee skills to meet evolving market requirements. These enhancement efforts are based on a constant effort to identify new employee insights, and how to help their employees get to the next level. This is achieved through a program of learning, training, skills/competency enhancement and work process improvements.

4. Product & Service Enhancement:

   A major benefit of OD is the embracing of innovation, which leads to product and service enhancement. Innovation is achieved through employee development, which focuses on rewarding successes and boosting motivation and morale. In this scenario, employee engagement is high leading to increased creativity and innovation. Organizational development also increases product innovation by using competitive analysis, market research and consumer expectations and preferences.

5. Increased Business Success:

   Organizational development affects the bottom line in a variety of ways. Through raised innovation and productivity, efficiency and profits are increased. Costs are also reduced by minimizing employee turnover and absenteeism. As OD aligns objectives and focuses on development, product/service quality and employee satisfaction are increased. The culture shift to one of continuous improvement gives the company a distinct advantage in the competitive marketplace.

How Blue Can Help an Organization Make the Most of Employee Feedback