Comprehensive Study Notes on Organization Development and Workplace Changes and Schedules

Defining Organization Development and Learning Objectives

Organization development (OD) is defined by Burke as the deliberate process of enhancing organizational performance through the implementation of changes that are organization-wide in scope rather than focused on individual levels. This approach seeks to improve the overall health and effectiveness of the entity. The study of organization development typically centers on four primary issues: the management of change, the empowerment of employees, the process of downsizing, and the implementation of innovative work schedules.

There are five core learning objectives associated with the study of organization development. First, students must understand how and why organizations undergo change. Second, it is essential to comprehend the mechanisms for increasing employee acceptance of such changes. Third, the importance of organizational culture in these processes must be recognized. Fourth, the broader effects of layoffs on a variety of stakeholders—including victims, survivors, the organization itself, and the local community—must be understood. Finally, students must grasp the impacts of various work schedules, including compressed work weeks, flexible work hours, and shift work.

The Identification of Inefficiencies: Sacred Cow Hunts

Kriegel and Brandt proposed that the initial step toward meaningful organizational change is a "sacred cow hunt." Organizational sacred cows refer to established practices that have existed for a significant duration and invisibly impede productivity despite serving no useful purpose. A sacred cow hunt is an organization-wide initiative to identify and eliminate these redundant practices. Kriegel and Brandt identified three common categories: the paper cow, the meeting cow, and the speed cow.

Paper cows consist of unnecessary paperwork, typically in the form of reports or forms, that consume organizational resources to prepare, distribute, and consume. To identify a paper cow, organizations should evaluate whether the paperwork truly enhances efficiency, quality, or productivity, and determine if it is actually read. One company illustrated this by having employees stop sending a long-standing monthly report; they received no complaints for $3$ months, signifying the report's lack of utility.

Meeting cows involve the excessive number and duration of meetings. Organizations are encouraged to evaluate recent meetings to determine if the time was spent on business or socialization and if the meeting was necessary. Speed cows involve unnecessary deadlines that force employees to work at a sub-optimal pace. While some deadlines are required, arbitrary ones lead to decreased quality of work, heightened stress, and increased health complications for the workforce.

Factors Influencing Employee Acceptance of Change

While change is often beneficial, employees frequently display an initial reluctance due to their comfort with established methods and fears regarding future working conditions or economic outcomes. According to Warner Burke ($2008$), acceptance depends on the type of change, the reason for it, the person initiating it, and the personality of the employee. Burke distinguishes between evolutionary change, which is a continuous process of upgrading (such as changing a supervisor or travel receipt procedures), and revolutionary change, which is a "jolt to the system" that involves drastic shifts in structure or requires entirely new skill sets. Revolutionary change is significantly more difficult to implement.

Employees are more likely to accept change when the reasons involving financial stability, external mandates, or organizational improvement are clearly communicated. Conversely, they are least likely to accept change if the reasons are withheld or misunderstood. Acceptance is also bolstered when the change originates from within the work group rather than an external source, according to Griffin, Rafferty, and Mason ($2004$). Changes proposed by respected, successful leaders with transparent motives are more readily accepted than those from suspect sources, as noted by Dirks ($2000$) and Lam and Schaubroeck.

Psychological Profiles of Employees Regarding Change

Employee reactions to change can be categorized into five distinct personality types. Change agents are individuals who thrive on change, sometimes instigating it for its own sake; their motto is, "If it ain’t broke, break it." Change analysts are willing to change if it clearly improves the organization, operating under the motto, "If it ain’t broke, leave it alone; if it’s broke, fix it." Receptive changers will not initiate change but are willing participants, stating, "If it’s broke, I’ll help fix it."

Reluctant changers do not welcome change but will comply if it is deemed absolutely necessary, often asking, "Are you sure it’s broken?" Finally, change resisters actively dislike and fear change, seeking to prevent it at all costs. Their perspective is summarized by the motto, "It may be broken, but it’s still better than the unknown." Implementing change effectively requires creating a proper atmosphere through transparency. According to Denton ($1996$), employees are more responsive when informed and involved in every phase from planning to implementation, unless secrecy is required for events like mergers. Successful transitions should be timely; consultants suggest that organizations should not remain in a "change mode" for longer than $2$ years to avoid employee disillusionment.

The Dynamics of Employee Empowerment

Empowerment involves granting employees the authority to participate in and make decisions, which typically increases job satisfaction by giving individuals control over their professional activities. However, "empowerment" often means different things to employers and employees. There are four established levels of employee input. At the "following" level, employees have no control and receive specific instructions; this is typical for new or inexperienced workers. At the "ownership of own product" level, employees are told what to perform but are solely responsible for the quality of the output, such as a secretary ensuring a report is free of typographical errors.

At the "advisory" level, employees provide suggestions and feedback on organizational concerns, though the organization only guarantees that the input will be considered, not necessarily followed. The highest level is the "shared/participative/team" level, where decisions are made at a group level. This might involve a team determining a benefits package or marketing strategies. Research by Robert, Probst, Martocchio, Drasgow, and Lawler ($2000$) shows that empowerment increases satisfaction in the United States, Mexico, and Poland, but not in India. While it can lead to higher skills, pay, and security, the downside includes increased stress and the risk of termination for poor decision-making.

Strategies for Downsizing and Mitigation

Downsizing is a reduction in workforce size resulting from economic hardship, stockholder pressure, mergers, new technology, or empowerment programs that reduce the need for management. Cascio ($2002$) notes that organizations often have warnings of impending downsizing, and proactive steps can mitigate the impact. Common strategies include a hiring freeze for permanent staff—using temporary employees (temps) or leaving vacancies unfilled—and outsourcing, which is used by over $80\%$ of organizations to have external vendors perform internal tasks.

Other mitigation strategies include encouraging and training employees for career changes, offering early retirement packages to make voluntary departure financially attractive, or implementing pay cuts and salary deferrals (Dyekman & Susseles, $2003$). Pay cuts are often traded for company stock to keep production normal during recessions. When layoffs are unavoidable, selection criteria usually include seniority, performance, salary level, and organizational need. Segal ($2001$) recommends that committees making these decisions be diverse in race, sex, and age to prevent legal issues.

The Execution and Impact of Layoffs

Layoff announcements should be conducted in person, either through general announcements or one-to-one supervisor meetings. Employees require concrete answers to questions regarding the necessity and alternatives to layoffs, the timeline, selection criteria, financial assistance, outplacement support (like resume writing), and pension impacts. Outplacement programs offered by organizations, as described by Juergens ($2001$), typically include emotional and financial counseling, career assessment, and job search training.

The effects of downsizing are widespread. Victims experience physical health issues like headaches, stomach upsets, high cholesterol, heart trouble, ulcers, and hypertension, alongside emotional stress, depression, and social withdrawal due to shame. Survivors of layoffs also suffer psychological trauma, and their productivity is tied to how humanely the process was handled. Communities suffer through reduced tax bases, retail losses, and increased crime and social problems like divorce. While the local community may benefit from a higher quality available workforce, the overall organizational effectiveness after downsizing remains questionable.

Innovations and Challenges in Work Schedules

Modern work schedules evolved from the $18$th-century standard of $14-16$ hours a day, $6$ days a week, to the standard $5$-day, $40$-hour week established by $1950$. Recent trends include compressed workweeks, such as working $10$ hours a day for $4$ days or $12$ hours a day for $3$ days. This provides employees with more vacation time and reduced commuting costs, though it may result in moonlighting—working a second job. Examples of moonlighting include a Ford Motor Company operator working a night shift at a $7$-Eleven. Organizations often restrict moonlighting if it involves a conflict of interest or use of company equipment.

Flexible work hours, or flextime, consist of three components: bandwidth (the total available hours, e.g., $6\,a.m.$ to $6\,p.m.$), core hours (the mandatory period when everyone must work, e.g., $11\,a.m.$ to $1\,p.m.$), and flexible hours (the remaining time chosen by the employee). Specific variations include "gliding time," where hours are chosen without notice, and "flexitour," where hours must be scheduled in advance. Other variations include peak-time pay (paying part-time employees more during busy hours, such as lunch at McDonald’s), job sharing (two people sharing one $40$-hour position), and working at home.

Shift Work and Circadian Rhythms

Approximately $25\%$ of all employees work evening or night shifts due to the around-the-clock nature of jobs like police work or nursing. These shifts are often categorized as the "swing" (evening) shift and the "graveyard" (late-night) shift. Research indicates that these schedules can have negative physical and mental effects because they disrupt circadian rhythms—the $24$-hour physiological cycles maintained by the body. Organizations may use fixed shifts, where employees stay on one shift permanently, or rotating shifts, where employees cycle through day, swing, and night shifts over time.