A Comprehensive Guide to Organizational Development Imagine it’s 2005, and a small drinkware business opens up in the center of town. Although they have a simple website to provide store information and field online inquiries, their collection of customized mugs, shot glasses, and more continuously grow in popularity due to loyal customers and word of mouth. Now imagine it is 2015. The small team has done well for itself; however, its online presence is suffering. Underestimating the shift to online shopping, the company cannot handle the influx of questions, feedback, and requests to create an eCommerce platform. Once they’ve identified this problem, how do they implement changes to field this issue and stop it from happening again? Successful businesses require systems and processes. If situation A happens, what are the steps in response? Organizational development (OD) enables companies with a systematic approach to identifying issues, implementing changes, and evaluating the success of the process. What is organizational development? Organizational development is a systematic process aimed at initiating and implementing changes in the values or operations of an organization to promote long-term growth and efficiency. It equips organizations with the tools to assess themselves and advance their core strategies, processes, and structures in response to internal and external changes. OD serves to increase communication and productivity, improve products and services, create a workplace culture that embraces advancement and increase profit margins. Organizational Development and Human Resources Organizational development and human resource management are both processes centered on people. The two...

5 Open Door Policy Examples Whether they have an issue they want to be resolved or ideas they think would improve the company or better serve clients, employees just want to be heard. When you don’t create an open line of communication with your team, they may feel discouraged, leading to poor morale and ultimately lower production. Not to mention that employees who feel undervalued are likely to take their time and talents elsewhere. But an open-door policy can help employees bring fresh ideas to the table and make you aware of small issues before they become major problems that affect everyone. Here’s what an open-door policy entails, how you can create one yourself, and some examples of open-door policies in action. This workplace standard should foster communication and trust throughout the company, and employees should not have to fear retaliation should they raise issues with the company or their work with any managers. Instead, they should feel heard and supported through an open door policy. Benefits of an Open Door Policy There are several benefits to maintaining an open-door policy in the workplace. First, it fosters better communication across the company. It also helps employees speak their minds about workplace issues as soon as possible, which minimizes conflicts. An open-door policy can help employees feel more supported and valued by management, which boosts morale and ultimately productivity. It may even lower turnover rates. In one study on employee voice, researchers found that at a national restaurant chain with...

How Your Company's Attrition Rate Could Be Impacting Your Business Happy employees are the key to a successful business. According to the University of Oxford, happy employees are 13% more productive. High employee satisfaction can go a long way towards your bottom line. Of course, when your employees are not happy, that shows too. You’ll likely see a slowdown in productivity, a change in the work environment, and you may start seeing an increase in employee turnover. What have you noticed in your own organization? Are employees loyal and in it for the long haul, or are they leaving in droves? If you’ve been seeing more and more employees leaving the company in a short amount of time, it might be time to calculate your attrition rate and examine what’s really going on in your organization. There are a variety of metrics that you can use to determine how your employees are doing. Many of them focus on productivity metrics such as progress to goals. However, these productivity metrics don’t tell the whole story. That’s why it’s important to understand your attrition rate to help determine the health of your organization. Let’s discuss what an attrition rate is and how to lower it. Understanding your team’s attrition rate is important for the health of your organization because having a high attrition rate can have devastating impacts on your team’s success. With too many experienced team members leaving at once, you run the risk of losing valuable organizational knowledge...