The Assessment Process Problems Affecting an Organization &Implement Strategies Essay

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Greenvale Correctional Facility has recently undergone a massive loss of staff, from 300 to 210 within six months. Their pay structure and benefits are comparable to similar institutions and they have been actively participating in recruiting efforts and job fairs, largely to no avail. Not only are they experiencing challenges bringing in new staff, they are struggling to retain current staff, hence the drastic drop in personnel recently. When it appears an organization is doing all the right things as far as recruitment and incentive packages, the next logical step is to look internally at what could be influencing these unwanted outcomes. Some of the issues have been identified at Greenvale and include leadership issues and poor working conditions, as cited by staff in their exit interviews. Additionally, the management style has led to employees feeling not included in discussions about policies and procedures that affect them and are not responding well to the “top-down” style the leaders are engaging in. 

There are several variables at play that could be facilitating ongoing issues contributing to staff turnover and resistance to change. First, motivation levels can affect employee behavior. It appears that even with external motivations like a generous benefits package, there is still resistance to change. When employees are not motivated, or motivated by the wrong things, this can create a ripple effect that manifests in resistance to change (Rothwell, 2015; Turner, 2017). Second, dysfunctional patterns of group or intergroup behavior can have a detrimental effect on any change processes (Kahn, 2012). When there are divisions of labor and structures that divide people into departments, groups, and teams, while it may be effective and productive to do so, it can create an environment that fosters an “us versus them” mentality. Despite the risk of sanctions, these patterns often serve an underlying purpose and fulfill functions for individuals and teams (Kahn, 2012). A valid concern at Greenvale is that these dysfunctional patterns are preventing efforts to change the structure or behavior of employees, despite extrinsic motivations available to them. Next, resistance to change can occur even when the change promises to be positive. Rothwell (2015) explains how resistance to change is natural when people are asked to do something different. Greenvale employees may be experiencing normal levels of resistance and this needs to be differentiated from toxic levels of resistance. Knox (2016) defines three groups of people that emerge in response to change and includes champions, fence sitters, and change deniers. Another issue facing Greenvale could be that management has not created and disseminated a clear vision for the change as well as a rationale and how employees are involved in that process. Without clarity, these groups of employees will exhibit resistance in different and challenging ways (Knox, 2016; Timony, 2015). 

Explain your assessment process and the factors you considered during your analysis. Include how organizational culture affects assessment in organizations.

Having a plan and blueprint for the assessment process is critical for the OD professional to be successful at helping Greenvale diagnose the core issues and then implement a plan to course correct. Assessing and diagnosing “shows what is happening in the organizations and suggests proper interventions to resolve or improve organizational issues (Rothwell, 2015, p. 13). The assessment process includes data gathering, providing feedback to the proper people about the assessment, and finally, designing interventions and implementation (Rothwell, 2015). To effectively plan an assessment, the first step is to understand the evaluation environment. Specifically, what is the culture, what are the social norms, and who is the target group for assessment. Next, creating a logic model for the evaluation provides structure, adds clarity, and generates goals. Third, determining benchmarks and indicators helps keep the goals measurable and attainable. Next, outlining a schedule is important so that the agency knows what to expect and when. Last, choosing the assessment tools to obtain the necessary information for an accurate diagnosis is imperative (Banyai, 2019). Stone et al. (2018) discuss the efficiency and usefulness of surveys. Since employee behavior cannot be observed in an in-depth manner over long periods of time, surveys can capture employee attitudes and opinions. The key is to utilize reliable and valid measurements that will improve the accuracy of the overall assessment. 

Culture also comes into play when trying to assess an organization. If employees are not motivated to participate, or do not feel that their input will be taken into consideration, this may make it difficult to get meaningful responses. Also, if the culture perpetuates codes of silence, responses may not truly reflect the perceptions of what really goes on that contributes to the dysfunction. Cultural indoctrination can be a variable that contributes to maladaptive patterns continuing (Kahn, 2012). Understanding the power of culture and the need to understand it will help the OD professional in making a thorough assessment that includes addressing cultural implications (Rothwell, 2015). 

References

Banyai, C. 5 steps for effective planning. (2019). Retrieved from https://instituteod.com/5-steps-effective-evaluati…

Kahn, W. A. (2012). The functions of dysfunction: Implications for organizational diagnosis and change. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 64(3), 225–241. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0030009

Knox, H. (2016). Converting fence sitters to change champions. Leadership Excellence, 33(10), 16.

Murray, J. (2017). Get to the root of the problem. TD: Talent Development, 71(2), 26–29.

Rothwell, W. J. (2015). Organization development fundamentals: Managing strategic change. Alexandria, VA: ATD Press.

Stone, K. B., Brown, L., Smith, S. L., & Jacobs, J. (2018). Organizational assessment: An integrated approach to diagnosis and interventions. Organization Development Journal, 36(1), 67–95.

Timony, B. C., (2015). Figuring things out: A guide for OD Practitioners. Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/o…

Turner, A. (2017). How does intrinsic and extrinsic motivation drive performance culture in organizations? Cogent Education, 4(1). doi:10.1080/2331186X.2017.1337543