Creating an Organizational Development Proposal
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University of Arizona Global Campus
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Creating an Organizational Development Proposal
Section One
This Organizational Development Proposal is about addressing a situation that Center City Hospital is currently facing. Center City Hospital is a large outpatient surgery center in a mid-size urban area of Kansas. The hospital is currently facing a morale issue that is of concern to the CEO, Director of Nursing (DON), and the HR manager. The CEO, DON, and the HRM believe the morale of nurses is at an all-time low, and the relationship between doctors, unit managers, and nurses is damaging to the mission of the hospital. The CEO fears that they might lose physicians due to the lack of leadership skills displayed by the unit managers. The unit managers are concerned about the stress level of the nurses and blame the arrogant behavior of the physicians as the cause of stress. To address this issue, The CEO, DON, and the HRM request an OD intervention for all internal managers to help in forging a common focus for team unity. This is designed to be a one-day workshop expected to have the anticipated impacts within the next 12 months.
It is imperative to address the situation before it escalates to unbearable levels. With low morale and lack of agreement within the organization, the performance will be highly affected. According to Romanow, Rai, & Keil (2018), low morale leads to poor communication, frequent absenteeism, recurrent complaints about small things, conflict and fighting among employees and other staff, poor work quality, and increased complaints among patients. Subsequently, poor coordination and communication among frontline hospital staff, including physicians, nurses, and managers can lead to wastage of time and resources, high healthcare costs, poor patient outcomes, and reduction in care quality (Chang et al., 2019). Poor communication also negatively affects patient and staff communication. As such, the hospital must move with haste to address this problem.
OD interventions take various forms to maintain a collaborative and productive organization. Therefore, it was a wise idea for the organization to opt for an OD intervention approach to addressing the organizational issue. As Burrell (2020) reports, OD interventions are carefully designed actions or interventions that help a team, department, or organization to either achieve a goal or solve a problem. OD interventions take various forms including workshops, internal assessments, team-building activities, audits, and so on (Minahan, 2018). This study has opted for a workshop.
A workshop is essential in assessing and diagnosing the root cause of an organizational problem and determining the actions that need to be taken to address the situation (Minahan, 2018). The participants of this workshop will be the organizational managers, who will apply various concepts and tools to assess and understand the real situation, identify the drivers behind the issues, and recommend various actions that can remedy the situation.
The workshop is designed to be a one-day event that will include the organizational managers. The workshop will be chaired by three facilitators – one will be selected from the hospital and two will be outsourced.
The organizing team will arrange for a venue outside the hospital to carry out the workshop away from the interruptions within the company. The team will ensure to involve the managers and the facilitators in making prior decisions concerning the workshop agenda, venue, preferred facilitators, date, and other requirements. After making the final program, proper communication will be relayed to relevant stakeholders, including the participants and organizational staff to make necessary preparations for the workshop. The event will run for one day starting from 8 am to 5 pm. Any requirement, including pens, papers, computers, extensions, projects, and meals will be provided for all the participants, depending on necessity.
The recommendations from the workshop will have to be implemented by the company to realize the desired outcomes. A year after the implementation, the organization will conduct an internal survey to evaluate the impact of the workshop and the implemented recommendations. The evaluation will consider quantifiable indicators such as the amount of money generated, the number of patients attended per day, readmission rates, mortality rates, patients’ feedback, healthcare professionals’ feedback, rate of turnover, and others to measure the changes.
Section 2
In this workshop, I have been hired as a consultant to help organize the workshop and ensure its success. As a consultant, I will have many vital roles to play, particularly in planning for the workshop. Consultants work in collaboration with all the relevant stakeholders to ensure that all communications concerning the event are relayed through them (Reid, 2020). I will have to select an implementation team to help in planning and organizing the workshop. I will ensure that regular updates concerning the program reach the relevant stakeholders. A consultant must provide any necessary information, support, and logistics for the workshop and all participants (Reid, 2020). Any question asked should be clarified by the consultant. I will select a location for the workshop, identify facilitators, and communicate with them via any possible official means to chair the workshop. I will also ensure that the organization team develops all handouts, ready all requirements, such as USB, projectors, and computers, and only arrange for other supplies like books, pens, and meals (Reid, 2020).
During the workshop, I will ensure that I am present at the venues to see to it that everything goes as planned. I will also give administration services during the work, make necessary adjustments, and provide logistical support. After the workshop, it is the responsibility of the consultant to provide feedback on the workshop and the resolutions made to relevant stakeholders, in this case, the CEO, DON, and the HRM (Reid, 2020). I will also draft an implementation plan for all the recommended actions. I will ensure that any contract and invoice are properly developed for follow-up purposes. Additionally, I will develop the monitoring and evaluation program for the aftermath of the workshop to assess its effectiveness.
Workshop Ethics and Competencies
The workshop will maintain a high level of ethical conduct to ensure harmony during the meeting. Ethical codes of conduct guide participants on how to carry out themselves, relate with each other, and address other issues such as conflict of interest, safety, and harassment (Hooker, 2021). All participants of the workshop are urged to uphold inclusivity without discriminating against any participant, irrespective of their gender, age, ethnicity, and so on. All opinions and contributions must be considered and respected no matter who posts them. No one should be mocked or dismissed for participating. Respect will be paramount while participating in the workshop. People must be careful while choosing their words to avoid insubordination, threats of violence, discriminatory jokes and language, unwelcome sexual attention, personal insults, and encouraging or advocation for such as vibes (Hooker, 2021). Harassment is strictly prohibited. These codes of conduct will be printed, read, and distributed to all participants before the meeting.
Methodology
This will be a discussion among the Center City Hospital managers to discover the root cause of the problem within the organization. The discussion will use the 5-whys analysis technique to get to the root of the problem and make informed decisions that can help eliminate it. In the Six Sigma design, the 5-Whys takes the form of DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) (Serrat, 2017). Since the first step, which is problem identification has been done, the managers will address the first level of whys by answering the question “why is there a low morale among nurses” and “why is the relationship between doctors, unit managers, and nurses damaging the mission of the hospital.” After providing possible reasons to the questions, 4 more subsequent levels of whys will be asked to further scrutinize the possible causes of the answers being given, until no more why can be asked. The recommendations to address the problem will then be given from the fifth level of why up to the first why to generate a holistic solution to the problems.
During the implementation of the 5-whys, focus group discussion will be the primary means of the data collection method. The managers will provide their opinions on the causes of the problem and provide any statistical evidence that can reinforce their opinions. Most of this evidence will be verbal, though tangible or written evidence will also be accepted. Such evidence will include financial reports, motility rates within the hospital, readmissions rates, number of conflicts and fights within the hospital, the turnover rate among frontline care providers, and so on. Other members will be asked to corroborate the information provided and build a consensus.
Since the problem has been identified and a workshop requested to address the problem, it is necessary to schedule the workshop as soon as possible.
The workshop will be scheduled in a month to allow enough time for pre-workshop preparations. The implementation of the recommendations will begin a month after the workshop to give time for synchronizing the resolutions of the workshop and planning for the implementation. The recommendation will be implemented in order of priority, feasibility, and ease of implementation. After one year, the organization will arrange for a post-workshop survey to evaluate the overall annual impacts and outcomes of the workshop. Meanwhile. The hospital will also be using the normal monthly and quarterly reports to study the short-term impacts of the workshop and makes necessary adjustments along the way.
Anticipated Resistance to Change
People are naturally inclined to resist change and maintain the status quo, despite having the willingness to change for the better. This is because change comes with a range of new ways of doing things that expected implementors are not used to and are yet to acclimatize. As such they find it hard to adopt or just forget what the change dictates (Kalandia, 2022). This will be expected as the workshop recommendations will start being implemented. Some people may intentionally sabotage the changes because of a lack of trust in their feasibility, unwellness to abide by them, and hatred among colleagues (Kalandia, 2022). Most certainly, staff will take time acclimatizing to the changes and will resist due to forgetfulness and getting used to. Some resistance will stem from failed commitments and endless arguments about disruptions and imposing what others are not used to. Some staff may miss meetings, misunderstand directions, and mistrust the unfolding and the purpose of the change.
The change organizers must understand that change is inevitable and implement the strategies that can address the anticipated resistance in time. Staff will be duly informed about the changes and their opinions sought before implementing them. The implementors will identify mobilizers who will try to rally the people behind the changes and highlight their importance (Kalandia, 2022). Additionally, a range of repercussions for non-compliance that is jointly agreed upon will be developed to enforce compliance. The changes will be implemented in stages to prevent bombarding people with many modifications at once.
Section 3
The main purpose of this study is to address the ongoing low morale among nurses and the strained relationship between doctors, unit managers, and nurses that is damaging to the mission of the hospital. After the workshop, the situation is expected to improve by boosting the morale among nurses and restoring a productive relationship between doctors, unit managers, and nurses. The intervention will also prevent an impending problem of physician turnover which is likely to be caused by a lack of leadership skills among managers. The workshop is also expected to lower the stress levels of frontline care providers and instill good behavior among physicians since that is the primary cause of stress. The frontline care providers in the hospital are expected to form synergies and collaborations while handling their duties within the organization. With this, there will be a common focus and unity within the hospital that will improve its performance and productivity along with patients’ outcome.
Using managers to fix this problem is an effective approach because they are primarily involved in the smooth running of the organization. They encourage professionals to work towards achieving a common goal and give specific directions relevant to the knowledge, background, and skills of the organizational personnel (Goyal and Sharma, 2017). Managers also participate in updating managerial policies and procedures and can enhance communication between frontline employees to enhance productivity. This is why involving managers in searching for the solution to this problem is effective (Goyal and Sharma, 2017). They are professionals in various fields and hold vital information and influence to spearhead the anticipated changes. They set the context that can drive each component of the hospital to improve its contributions to the wider organizational goals.
Conclusion
The ongoing problem at Center City Hospital requires an urgent move that can avert the situation. Low morale among nurses and poor relationships between doctors, unit managers, and nurses will certainly have undesired ramifications for the hospital and patients if not addressed in time. Therefore, an OD intervention that can restore this relationship and boost nurses’ morale is certainly called for. This proposal has recommended a one-day workshop for organizational managers to avert the situation. Managers are key figures in the organizations that participate in ensuring productivity and high performance of the organization. Therefore, it is an effective approach to handling the situation and arriving at the expected outcome. Center City Hospital should move with haste to implement this proposal for the betterment of the organization.
References
Chang, Y. P., Lee, D. C., Chang, S. C., Lee, Y. H., & Wang, H. H. (2019). Influence of work excitement and workplace violence on professional commitment and turnover intention among hospital nurses. Journal of clinical nursing, 28(11-12), 2171-2180. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.14808
Goyal, D. K. and Sharma, R. C. (2017). Hospital administration and human resource management. PHI LEARNING.
Hooker, J. (2021). Advanced introduction to business ethics. Edward Elgar Publishing
Kalandia, A. (2022). Acceptance of change: Exploring factors of employee resistance to organizational change. GEORGIAN SCIENTISTS, 4(4). https://doi.org/10.52340/gs.2022.04.04.11
Minahan, M. (2018). Finally! Global OD Competencies. OD PRACTITIONER, 50(3), 20.
Reid, D. H. (2020). The clinician’s guide to consulting: Achieving performance change, desired outcomes, and staff acceptance. Charles C Thomas.
Romanow, D., Rai, A., & Keil, M. (2018). CPOE-enabled coordination: Appropriation for deep structure use and impacts on patient outcomes. MIS Quarterly, 42(1), 189-212. https://doi.org/10.25300/MISQ/2018/13275
Serrat, O. (2017). Knowledge Solutions: Tools, Methods, and Approaches to Drive Organizational Performance. Springer Singapore.