Organizational Development

CHAPTER 6

Formulating Interventions

Submitted to:

Gimelyn B. Tanquerido, MBA

Submitted by:

John Paul B. Balagosa

Darlene Nicole J. Bernal

Chris Jun Balanga-an

BSBA - IV

Formulating Interventions

An organization development intervention is a series of tasks, activities, and events

designed to boost an organization’s efficiency and performance. Designing
interventions also known as action planning is intended to address particular issues
and enhance specific facets of organizational performance noted in the diagnosis.
OD interventions range from widely adopted standardized programs to somewhat
specialized programs created for a particular company or department.

Concept of Intervention Schemes

Notion of Intervention Schemes

An intervention scheme or action plan starts with a thorough diagnosis or

analysis of issues relevant to a particular problem or goal. After the diagnosis, it is
expected that a strategy can be formulated to address the identified concerns.

An intervention scheme connotes a set of chronological and well-organized

activities or events designed to help a firm enhance its effectiveness or solve a
problem (Cummings and Worley, 2019; Daft, 2016). Intervention schemes are
deliberate actions aimed to disturb the status quo to implement changes in the
company or a unit. The primary objective of the intervention design is to improve the
organization's functioning. Intervention schemes vary from standardized plans of
addressing common issues to unique programs tailored fit for a distinctive and non-
recurring problem. Team building is a type of a standardized intervention scheme
designed to help teams improve productivity, communication, performance, and
employee engagement. An example of tailored fit intervention scheme is the
individual human process intervention.

Attributes of Effective Interventions

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In organizational development, there are three important conditions for implementing
effective interventions. They are as follows (Cummings and Worley, 2019):

1. The extent to which the intervention matches the needs of the

organization.

The first factor pertains to the degree to which the intervention scheme is deemed
appropriate to the needs of the company and its stakeholders.

An effective intervention is dependent on the principles of (1) collecting valid

information about the organization, (2) providing free and informed choice to
stakeholders, and (3) invoking internal commitment toward the planned change. This
is known as the "strategic phase."

a. Valid information is the end-product of an accurate and thorough

organizational diagnosis. Thus, the change agent should utilize appropriate
methodology to come up with the complete representation of what members of
the company think and feel about the current problems they are facing. This
may be achieved through the use of questionnaires, interviews, observations,
and archival research.
b. Free and informed choices indicate that choices about changes that will
directly affect an organization's stakeholders, particularly its employees, must
be made with full knowledge of its implications. This implies that OD
interventions will not be imposed upon members instead, they may choose not
to participate in the process.
c. Internal commitment means that organizational stakeholders assume
accountability in the implementation of the intervention. Management, workers,
and other organizational stakeholders commit to fulfill their role such as being a
process owner or a subject matter expert in the conduct of the planned change.

2. The degree to which it is based on causal knowledge of intended outcomes.

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The second attribute pertains to the degree to which an intervention scheme is
expected to produce its intended outcomes. The organization must be able to rely on
the intervention to produce consistent results under similar conditions. This means
that OD practitioners are expected to examine and conduct research to ascertain
evidence about the effectiveness of particular interventions. Thus, there is a need to
closely monitor the expected results and their alignment with the established
objectives. This is described as the "design phase."

3. The extent to which it improves the organization's ability to deal with

change.

The third criterion of an effective intervention involves the extent to which it improves
the organization's ability to deal with change. Following the execution of an
intervention, the fundamental principles of OD imply that the firm's stakeholders
become capable of independently carrying out planned changes as a consequence
of their active involvement in the process. As OD is an educational strategy, it aims
to expand their knowledge and competencies in dealing with change. As the impact
of technical, social, economic, and political changes continue to grow and
accelerate, proficiency in change management is essential. This is called the
"implementation phase."

Situational Considerations in Designing Response Schemes

Situational Factors in Designing Interventions

The process of design takes into account the attributes of effective interventions as
discussed in the previous section. Moreover, it requires focusing on two types of
factors:

(1) Contingencies related to the change situation

(2) Contingencies related to the organization which are the target of change

The current understanding of OD interventions is limited to the general

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characteristics for transformation. Research is still underway as to how each
particular method relates to contextual factors and corporate characteristics. For
instance, an intervention which is effective in one company may not be the solution
for another firm, even when they seem to have similar issues.

Experts have pinpointed several factors of the change situation that can impact the
success of an intervention scheme. These factors consist of:

(1) Individual differences among company stakeholders

(2) Organizational characteristics
(3) Certain facets of the transformation process

If these are not given attention in the design of the intervention, the change process
will have minimal impact to the organization or worse, it can lead to disastrous
results. It is important that the change agent be cognizant of the factors that will
influence the adjustment of the change program so that it will be relevant to a
specific situation or fit a particular setting.

According to experts, the following factors should be considered in formulating

intervention schemes:

1. Readiness for Change

The ability of the organization to embrace change will determine whether the
intervention plan is successful. Sensitivity to change pressures dissatisfaction with
the status quo inside the organization, availability of resources needed to complete
the transformation, and management commitment to allot the necessary time for the
transformation to take place are all precursors of readiness for change.

Some useful change management tools that will measure the organization's
readiness to change include:

(1) Field analysis provides a framework for ascertaining at the factors that
influence a situation - whether the forces are driving toward a goal or blocking
the attainment of the goal. This is based on the work of Kurt Lewin.

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 (2) Stakeholder analysis refers to the process of identifying, evaluating, and
prioritizing the employees who will be affected by the business or project. It is
a helpful mechanism that helps the organization to better understand the
employees involved, the concerns that matter to them, and their expectations
or needs.

In addition, change management can be facilitated by the use of a Gantt chart,

a project management tool that provides a graphical depiction of a schedule that can
be used to plan, coordinate, and track tasks in a project.

2. Capability to Change

Implementing planned change entails specific knowledge and skills to ensure its
success. These comprise the ability to stimulate and direct change, nurture
members' support, address change issues, and maintain the momentum of the
initiative. If the organizational stakeholders do not possess these competencies,
there should be a training conducted to prepare members so that they can
participate and support the planned change better.

3. Cultural Context

The organization and its members are subjected to the influence of national
culture. Societal factors such as indigenous beliefs and local customs can affect the
members' receptiveness to change.

4. Capabilities of the Transformation Agent

The competence of the transformation agents or consultants is a key

determinant of its success. In the formulation of the planned change, consultants
should make sure that the requirements of the proposed scheme are within their
level of capability. When the proposed intervention is beyond their competence, they
can reconfigure the activities of the said scheme to better fir to their expertise or
recommend another intervention that is more aligned to their knowledge and
experience.

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Factors Related to the Change Target

1. Organizational Issues - Organizations need to tackle specific concerns

related to its operating efficiency.

Four interdependent aspects that are the primary focus of OD interventions:

a. Strategic Issues - To be successful in their operations, organizations must decide

which goods or services their businesses will manufacture, as well as which markets
they will sell to. Businesses must, therefore, be careful in keeping up with market
trends so they can modify their offerings to meet the shifting needs of their
consumers. New business models emerge in light of different factors such as
globalization and social movements.

b. Technology and Structure Issues - To support strategic initiatives, businesses

must choose the best way to organize work into different units and coordinate the
operations of these units. Additionally, the company must decide how to best provide
its goods or services to its customers by assigning individuals to the various jobs.

c. Human Resource Issues - Human resource issues relate to attracting qualified

people to the organization. Aside from recruitment, HR issues also involve setting
performance goals, creating suitable compensation policies, implementing career
succession and providing training development, and stress management programs.

d. Human Process Issues - Human process issues involve social processes

transpiring among and between organizational stakeholders, such as exchange of
information, decision-making, leadership, and group behavior. OD activities targeting
the said concerns are called "human process interventions."

2. Target Level of the OD Intervention

Companies operate at various levels-individual, group, organization, and trans-

organization. Any of this level may be the focus of OD interventions. However,

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following the systems theory, it is important to remember that an OD intervention
may also affect the other levels of the company.

Steps in Designing Effective Interventions

OD intervention schemes are structured activities intended to solve a problem or

address issues, thereby enabling a company to achieve its goals and objectives. The
intervention plans aim to specifically address concerns affecting the organization
ranging from processes, procedures, methods, technology, skills, and others.

Step 1: Define the outcome.

The first step in planning an intervention scheme is to determine the intended

outcome. Outcomes or expected outputs of intervention initiatives must be specific,
measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely.

Step 2: Carefully plan the intervention.

The proposed intervention scheme must follow careful planning to ensure its
success. The structure of the scheme must be tailored to the problem, scope, and
target members of the organization. Through this, the design can be recycled and
reconfigured anytime to address a specific issue in the organization.

The following queries will guide in the design of the planned change:

 Who will be the target of the intervention scheme?

 What are the resources needed to carry out the program?
 What specific strategies can be used in the program?
 What does the organization expect to achieve after the implementation of the
scheme?

Step 3: Start small.

One way of testing the degree of effectiveness of the intervention scheme is through
the use of the "control group." It is easier to assess the outcomes of the scheme if it

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is initially applied to a small group.

Step 4: Scale up the intervention.

Once the company finds the intervention scheme that works well, then it is time for
the firm to level up the program. The following questions will guide how the
organization can scale up the intervention initiative:

 How will the company manage its employees' time?

 How will this affect the employees' performance?
 How can costs be controlled?
 How can resources be utilized at the optimum level?
 How will the company encourage the employees to support the intervention
scheme?

Step 5: Monitor the progress.

There might be some unforeseen circumstances that will affect the implementation of
the intervention initiative. Thus, it is important to conduct periodic monitoring to
ascertain if the scheme is working based on the plan or not.

If there are deviations, then corrective measures must be adopted to ensure the
project's success.