leading in the 21st century jeana wirtenberg, ph.d jeana wirtenberg & associates, llc, and the...

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Jeana Wirtenberg, Ph.DJeana Wirtenberg & Associates, LLC, and

The Institute for Sustainable Enterprise, Fairleigh Dickinson University*

Tim LannanTim Lannan Consulting

* The survey was supported by the Institute for Sustainable Enterprise, Fairleigh Dickinson University

** The web survey design and administration was generously supported by Quantisoft, LLC.

Acknowledgments for significant contributions go to the Research Team of the Global Committee on

the Future of OD: Lilian Abrams, Ph.D, Mal Conway, Howard Deutsch and Elliott Greene, Quantisoft; LLC, Gerard Farias, Ph.D, Joel Harmon, Ph.D,

Joan Slepian, Ph.D; Tom Rich, and Jeff Wides, Ph.D.

Leader Survey Results:Challenges and Opportunities in the For Profit

and Nonprofit Sectors

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Agenda

• Purpose and Objectives of the Presentation

• The Global Committee on the Future of OD

– Background and Overview of Phase I Research

• Phase II Research – Leader Survey

– Methods and Sample

– Results in For Profit Sector

– Results in Nonprofit Sector

– Comparison of For Profit and Nonprofit Sectors

– Implications for HR, OD and T&D

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Purpose and Objectives

• Gather information from business leaders to help define the future of Organization Development

• Identify the most important factors driving business success from a people and organizational perspective, as reported by senior business leaders

• Understand the most likely sources of expertise and resources that senior business leaders will use to address those challenges (and to see where HR/OD professionals fit in)

• Determine potential OD clients’ awareness and perceptions about OD

• Identify the likelihood of future investments in OD resources

• Provide the academic community with information that may be useful in planning/redirecting academic programs and courses

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Global Committee on the Future of OD

Vision: Linking OD values and contributions worldwide to create vital, successful organizations and communities

Mission: Uniting, energizing and mobilizing thousands of OD practitioners, business leaders and academics worldwide to advance the field of OD and add value to all stakeholders, in an ever-changing world

• 14-person “self managing” Leadership Team

• 12 business, nonprofit and academic researchers/practitioners

• Over 200 volunteers, over 60 Advisory Board Members (Business, Academic, Nonprofit, Government)

• Project Sponsors:

– Institute for Sustainable Enterprise, Fairleigh Dickinson University

– Dr. Don Cole, The OD Institute

– Dr. Mila Baker, Chair of Board of Trustees, OD Network

– Dr. Rita Aloni, President of International OD Association

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Phase I OD SWOT Survey – Over 900 Responses

GCFOD survey sent to over 6000 members of OD Network, O.D. Institute, International Organization Development Association, NTL Institute and NJ OD Network to assess present weaknesses and strengths of the field.

Findings published in article by J. Wirtenberg, L. Abrams, & C. Ott, “Assessing the Field of Organization Development, Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, December, 2004.

Top Three Strengths• Systemic Orientation/Change Management • Techniques and Processes – Teamwork/Leadership Development• Values OD Brings to Practice

Top Four Areas For Improvement • Lack of Definition and Distinction of the Field of OD• Lack of Quality Control of Practitioners• Insufficient Business Acumen of Practitioners/Insufficient Emphasis on Customer Needs• Insufficiently Clear ROI/Value of the Work

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The Global Committee on the Future of OD consisted of the following Communities of Practice (COPs):

• Business Sector – Organized several industry teams including Pharmaceutical/Bio-Tech/Medical Device, High Tech/Telecom, Banking/Financial/Insurance, Energy/Manufacturing/Utilities

• Nonprofit Sector – Active engagement of diverse group of nonprofit professionals and practitioners

• U.S. Government Sector – Under development

• Country/Region – efforts to organize in Canada, India, Thailand, Finland, Germany and other countries; linkage established to regional U.S. OD organizations

Communities of Practice

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Business Leader Survey

For Profit Methods:• Survey designed and piloted with COP’s (Nov-Dec 2004)

• Internet based survey sent to approx. 16,500 business leaders:

– CEO’s, VP’s, Directors of Fortune 1000 companies across all industries from a purchased list, mostly from U.S. with some Canada

– Supplemented by COP’s forwarding to their actual/potential clients and/or submitting names anonymously

– Supplemented by e-mail notices with links in newsletters of five sponsoring organizations, GCFOD newsletters and notices, letters to Advisory Board members, etc.

– Press releases sent to 36 major business and HR organizations with personal follow-up

– Numerous announcements at OD network meetings, conferences, etc.

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Survey Development and Distribution

Nonprofit Methods:• Survey designed and piloted with Nonprofit COP (Nov-Dec 2004)

– To maintain comparability, survey had parallel but slightly modified questions to apply to, and use language of nonprofit sector

• Internet based survey sent to Nonprofit leaders:

– National, local, and regional nonprofit associations and organizations distributed information about and links to the survey through list serves, email, and electronic newsletters. Membership associations asked to participate in this effort included the Alliance for Nonprofit Management, National Council of Nonprofit Associations, Association of Fundraising Professionals, Aspen Institute, ARNOVA, Charity Channel; national nonprofit organizations included Girl Scouts, Planned Parenthood and the Urban Institute.

– Supplemented by COP members forwarding to their actual/potential clients and/or submitting names anonymously

– Supplemented by e-mail notices with links in newsletters of five sponsoring organizations, GCFOD newsletters and notices, letters to Advisory Board members, etc.

– Press releases sent to 36 major business and HR organizations with personal follow-up

– Numerous announcements at OD network meetings, conferences, etc.

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Respondent Gender

64%

36%

Males Females

Demographics of For Profit Respondents

Respondent Level of Management

59%

9%32%

Middle Management Executive Management Other

235 Total respondents:

120 For Profit and 115 Nonprofit

Respondents are predominantly male, middle-aged, executives.

Respondent Age

5% 13%

32%41%

9%

20 - 29 30 - 39 40 - 49 50 - 59 60+

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For Profit Survey Respondent Demographics (cont’d.)

• Annual Sales and Number of Employees

– Companies ranged from small (<$25M) and medium size to very large ($25B+), with a relatively wide and even distribution

• Industry Focus

– There was a good representation of companies across a wide spectrum of industries, with highest concentrations in manufacturing, financial services, and high tech

• Company Life Cycle

– Organizational life cycles were spread across all categories, from those expanding, to those in their prime, early bureaucracy, declining, and revitalizing

• Functional Area

– There was a large distribution of functional areas, with General Management the most common category

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Key Integrated Themes

• Globalization, Multi-Cultural, and Whole System Perspective

• Building Great Workplace, Productivity, and Performance Culture

• Leveraging Technology and Worldwide Integration

• Corporate Social Responsibility Is Increasing

• Building Leadership and Organizational Capabilities for the Future

• Regulatory Environment and New Organizational Forms

Six Key Integrated Themes (KITs) from Phase I formed the foundation for the Core Questions in Phase II:

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Business Success Factors(17 questions)

Framed by the six KITs from Phase I research

Sources of Expertise and Support

(17 questions)

Framed by the six KITs from Phase I research

Future Investments(4 questions)

Respondent Demographics(9 questions)

Questionnaire Design

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Sample Questions for Importance and Effectiveness

Question ImportanceVery Very Don’tUnimportant Important Know1 2 3 4 5

EffectivenessVery Very Don’tIneffective Effective Know1 2 3 4 5

1. Aligning and executing strategies in a way that meets financial goals and are consistent with core values.Comments:

2. Effectively addressing organizational culture during organizational realignments, industry consolidations and mergers and acquisitions (M&A’s).Comments:

Section 1: Business Success Factors: A series of statements about key areas of business success follows. For each statement there are two questions for you to answer:

1. What is the importance of this key area to your organization (i.e., that level of your company with which you are most closely associated, e.g., entire enterprise, business unit, etc.)?

2. How effective is your organization's performance in this key area? In answering each question, think about how it impacts your "bottom-line results".

Performance Gap = Importance - Effectiveness

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1. Aligning and executing strategies in a way that meets financial goals and are consistent with core values

2. Effectively addressing organizational culture during organizational realignments, industry consolidations and mergers and acquisitions (M&A’s)

3. Effectively applying organizational change principles to business and product life cycles4. Aligning strategies, people, systems and processes organization-wide to enhance

productivity and profitability5. Developing and maintaining the commitment of the workforce to the goals of the

organization for better overall performance results6. Clarifying purpose and mission to inspire and engage the workforce7. Attracting and retaining top talent8. Leveraging and aligning existing information technology with business and people

strategies9. Facilitating adoption and use of new information technologies for competitive advantage10. Using information technology to support learning and innovation11. Enhancing reputation among communities where we work, with consumers and with

employees and investors12. Enhancing employees’ commitment by focusing on corporate citizenship in the

community and contributions13. Ensuring accountability for business ethics among employees at all levels14. Building leadership capacity for now and the future15. Solving organizational problems systemically as opposed to solving them on a piecemeal

basis16. Establishing collaborative relationships and partnerships among public, private and

nonprofit sectors17. Increasing speed to market and profit for critical products and services through shared

commitments and organizational values

Gap1.03

1.35

1.021.26

1.12

1.071.270.92

0.780.720.67

0.34

0.631.451.27

0.58

0.93

For Profit Business Success Factors: Performance Gaps

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For Profit Importance & Effectiveness

2.90

3.55

4.20

3.80 4.35 4.90

Importance

Eff

ec

tiv

en

es

s

1

5

13

74

142

6

11

LL

8

15

17

910

12

3

HL HH

LH

16

Note: Items were pre-selected as important based on Phase I research and KIT’s.

Urgent/Opportunity

HighPriority/Opportunity

Weakness

Strength

Business Success Factors:Key Findings

Gap of 1.35 Gap of 1.45

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Business Leader For Profit SurveyKey Results

Urgent?

Items:

2. Effectively addressing organizational culture during organizational realignments, industry consolidations and mergers and acquisitions (M&A’s)

Importance = 4.52

Effectiveness = 3.17

Gap = 1.35

14. Building leadership capacity for now and the future

Importance = 4.63

Effectiveness = 3.18

Gap = 1.45

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Urgent? Verbatim themes and illustrative quotes

Effectively addressing organizational culture during organizational realignments, industry consolidations and mergers and acquisitions (M&A’s) (item #2)

• These events are “windows of opportunity,” but the role and processes of culture disruption and change are not taken seriously

• Challenge of execution of M&A’s and realignments – too little, too late• OD should be playing a key role in this, but it does not

“I consider these events to be windows of opportunity to revisit and renew a commitment to organizational culture”

“Usually the weakest link in the people/process/technology triangle of keys to success”“Organization talks about the importance of aligning cultures during

reorganizations/restructuring however they do not design OD interventions that assist in the alignment. They expect people impacted by the change to adapt.”

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Urgent? Verbatim themes and illustrative quotes

“Building leadership capacity for now and the future” (item #14)

Challenges cited around developing leadership capacity include:– Internal philosophies and practices around “growing your own”– Defining, recognizing and rewarding leadership attributes– Perceived Lack of Time– Retirement– Little or no succession planning in their organization

“Have seen no evidence of trying to build future leadership capability”

“Need more work on succession strategy”

“We focus on managing the business instead of leading people and teams”

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Business Leader For Profit SurveyKey Results

High Priority?Items:

1. Aligning and executing strategies in a way that meets financial goals and are consistent with core values

Importance = 4.80; Effectiveness = 3.77; Gap = 1.03

4. Aligning strategies, people, systems and processes organization-wide to enhance productivity and profitability


5. Developing and maintaining the commitment of the workforce to the goals of the organization for better overall performance results


6. Clarifying purpose and mission to inspire and engage the workforce


7. Attracting and retaining top talent


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High Priority?Verbatim themes and illustrative quotes

Aligning and executing strategies in a way that meets financial goals and are consistent with core values (item #1)

• Critical importance of alignment between strategies, values, tactics to deliver “bottom line” business results, and delivering shareholder value

• Measuring effectiveness (metrics) and project management (scheduling) are keys to success in aligning and implementing strategies

• Tension between strategic alignment and tactical execution is often resolved in favor of tactical execution

“This is a key area of focus to improve”

“Our primary strength is in being consistent with our core values.”

“Getting the proper balance is a struggle, have gone through cycles where the numbers rule and then when core values rule.”

“How to measure effectiveness is a huge barrier especially for interventions that do not tie easily to the bottom line or ROI.”

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Aligning strategies, people, systems and processes organization-wide to enhance productivity and profitability (item #4)

• Leadership sees this alignment as important; however, it is not always given high priority. • Complexity of processes, business needs, size, and business models makes this

increasingly difficult to accomplish

“Productivity is a direct function of process and the effective alignment of vision, strategy and people.”

“Personally this is very important to me, but at my company support varies as to how much time to spend on alignment.”

“No longer clear path. Profitability depends more on new, undefined business models with no track record in an environment where customers are competitors and old rules have turned upside down.”

“As we have grown, this has become more difficult to accomplish”

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Developing and maintaining the commitment of the workforce to the goals of the organization for better overall performance results profitability (item #5)

• Developing and maintaining commitment to the goals of the organization is vitally important

• Systems and processes must be in place to support engagement and commitment

“A great strategy that is poorly executed fails. To execute companies have to have alignment and the engagement of its workforce. Engagement is a multiplier – good and bad to the execution component.”

“The company can’t only expect employees to commit to high performing results until it demonstrates the commitment to employees’ growth both professionally and personally.”

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Clarifying purpose and mission to inspire and engage the workforce (item #6)

• Inspiring and engaging the entire organization around its mission is critical• Mission and purpose statements are often ambiguous and unclear – they only make

sense to the upper levels of the organization and mean little to the lower levels

“It is a critical Leadership responsibility”

“Depends on the level of the organization – most effective at upper levels”

“The mission statement was written by a senior team with no input from the hoi polloi and then groomed by an agency. We see it on our external website, but that’s about the extent of it.”

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High Priority? Verbatim themes and illustrative quotes

Attracting and retaining top talent (item #7)

• Attracting and retaining talent is important in most areas• Attracting talent is often viewed as being more important than retaining it, particularly in

the recent economy

“We are very good at this in the areas of the company we deem to be critical or strategic to our success (i.e., R&D, Sales) and we are less effective at this in the areas that are more tactical in nature”

“High turnover rate as a direct result of sacrificing employees for shareholder value”

“Dissatisfaction has existed for last 5 years and was waiting for the job supply to catch up. Turnover will increase over next 1-3 years.”

“We give lip service to valuing people, but our corporate culture and structure does not put this value into practice.”

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Urgent areas?

Positioning industry consolidation, M&A, and strategic alignment for success from a cultural perspective?

For Profit

Position for Success from Cultural Perspective

Consulting Firm

Line Magm't

HR

External OD

Internal OD

Pe

rce

nt

40

30

20

10

0

Business leaders turn to line management first, consulting firms second, HR third, and OD fourth when positioning industry consolidation, M&A, and strategic alignment for success from a cultural perspective.

To whom do you/would you most likely turn for support in each of the following areas?

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Urgent areas? Building leadership capacity for now and the future


For Profit

Identify/Attracting/Develop/Retain Leadership Talent

Consulting Firm

Line Magm't

HR

External OD

Internal OD

Pe

rce

nt

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

• Business leaders turn to HR first, and line management second for identifying, attracting, developing and retaining leadership talent.

• Business leaders turn to line management to foster leadership courage, decision making and problem solving

For Profit

Foster Leadership Courage/Decision Making/Problem Solving

Consulting Firm

Line Magm't

HR

External OD

Internal OD

Pe

rce

nt

80

60

40

20

0

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High Priority Areas: Building a Performance Culture

Leaders turn to Line Management first, HR second, and OD third, for:• Enhancing workplace, productivity and performance culture• Fostering employee engagement and commitment

For Profit

Enhance Workplace, Productivity and Performance Culture

Consulting Firm

Line Magm't

HR

External OD

Internal OD

Pe

rce

nt

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

For Profit

Foster Employee Engagement/Commitment

Consulting Firm

Line Magm't

HR

External OD

Internal OD

Pe

rce

nt

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0


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Do you have a distinct OD Department? If yes, to whom does it report?

• Only 36% of all for profit respondents have a distinct OD department

• Of those who did, 76% reported into HR, 16% into other staff and 9% into line management.

For Profit

Have Distinct Organizational Development Department

yesno

Pe

rce

nt

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

For Profit

To Whom Does OD Department Report

Line Dept.Other StaffHR

Pe

rce

nt

80

60

40

20

0

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How likely is it that your organization will invest/continue to invest in OD resources (people and money), either in-house or outsourced, over the next three years?

63% of respondents indicated they were either very likely (40%) or somewhat likely (23%) to invest in OD over the next three years.

Do you expect that your investments in OD resources over the next three years will be less, about the same or more than during 2004?

39% of respondents indicated their investments in OD would be more, 54% about the same and 7% less than in 2004.

For Profit

Likely to Invest in OD over Next 3 Years

Very Likely

Somewhat Likely

Neither L or UL

Somewhat UnL

Very Unlikely

Pe

rce

nt

50

40

30

20

10

0

For Profit

OD Investment in Next 3 Years Compared to 2004

MoreAbout the SameLess

Pe

rce

nt

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

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Comments from For Profit Panel

• Joe Toto, Director, Leadership Development and Learning, Becton Dickinson & Company

• Bob Hoffman, Ed.D, Organizational Development, Oncology Business Unit, Novartis

• Ellen Jackson, HR Director, Workforce Strategy & Planning, AT&T

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Implications for You and Your Organization?

1. What overall implications do you see?

2. To what extent does OD play a central role in addressing these critical issues in your organization?

3. What could be done in your organization to increase awareness of the value of OD (both quick wins and long-term)?

4. In terms of the finding that business leaders often turn to line management for support, what are the implications for better positioning OD?

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Nonprofit Results

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Respondent Gender

43%

57%

Males Females

Respondent Age

45% 27%

9.6%2.6%14.8%

20 - 29 30 - 39 40 - 49 50 - 59 60+

Demographics of Nonprofit Respondents

Respondent Level of Management

23.5%3.5%

67.8%Middle Management Executive Management Other

235 Total respondents:

120 For Profit and 115 Nonprofit

Respondents are predominantly female, middle-aged, executives.

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Nonprofit Survey Respondent Demographics (cont’d.)

• Annual Budgets and Number of Employees

– Annual budgets ranged from less than $500,000 to more than $10 million, with a relatively wide and even distribution, but most had fewer than 50 employees

• Industry Focus

– There was a good representation of organizations across a wide spectrum of industries, with highest percentages in human services and health.

• Organizational Life Cycle

– Organizational life cycles were spread across all categories, with highest percentages in prime, expansion, and revitalization.

• Functional Area

– There was a large distribution of functional areas, with the vast majority in General Management.

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Organization Success Factors: Performance Gaps

1. Aligning and executing strategies in a way that advances the mission and is consistent with core values

2. Effectively addressing organizational culture for collaboration and strategic alliances3. Effectively applying organizational change principles 4. Aligning strategies, people, systems and processes organization-wide to enhance

productivity and sustainability5. Developing and maintaining the commitment of staff and volunteers to the goals of the

organization for better overall performance 6. Clarifying purpose and mission to inspire and engage staff and volunteers7. Attracting and retaining top talent8. Leveraging and aligning existing information technology with business and people

strategies9. Facilitating adoption and use of new information technologies for mission effectiveness10. Using information technology to support learning and innovation11. Enhancing reputation among communities where we work, and with clients, employees

and donors/funders12. Enhancing employees’ commitment by focusing on service and contributions in the

community13. Ensuring accountability for values and ethics among employees and volunteers14. Building leadership capacity for now and the future15. Solving organizational problems systemically as opposed to solving them on a piecemeal

basis16. Establishing collaborative relationships and partnerships among public, private and

nonprofit sectors17. Increasing speed of response to emerging client and stakeholder needs through shared

commitments and organizational values

Gap0.91

1.011.241.25

0.99

0.790.901.00

0.840.830.81

0.37

0.751.441.33

0.64

0.89

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Survey of Nonprofit Leaders Key Findings for Importance and Effectiveness* **

*Actual Items appear on slides 15.**Note: Items were pre-selected as important based on Phase I research and KITs.

Non-Profit Importance & Effectiveness

3.2

3.7

4.2

4 4.45 4.9

Importance

Eff

ec

tiv

en

es

s

4

2

315

14

8

10

9

17

111

57

13

6

16

LL LH

HHHL

12

High Priority

Urgent

Weakness

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Survey of Nonprofit LeadersKey Results

Urgent2. Effectively addressing organizational culture for collaboration and strategic

alliancesImportance = 4.60; Effectiveness = 3.59; Gap = 1.01

3. Effectively applying organizational change principles Importance = 4.51; Effectiveness = 3.28; Gap = 1.24

4. Aligning strategies, people, systems and processes organization-wide to enhance productivity and sustainabilityImportance = 4.74; Effectiveness = 3.49; Gap = 1.25

14. Building leadership capacity for now and the futureImportance = 4.75; Effectiveness = 3.30 Gap = 1.44

15. Solving organizational problems systemically as opposed to solving them on a piecemeal basisImportance = 4.58; Effectiveness = 3.24; Gap = 1.33

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Urgent Verbatim themes and illustrative quotes

Effectively addressing organizational culture for collaboration and strategic alliances (Item #2)

• Collaboration is a great idea, but it is often neglected or ignored• Creating a collaborative and trusting culture is hard.

“The mission of most nonprofits is too large to accomplish without collaboration. Yet, our funding environment is competitive, which prevents nonprofits from developing collaborative attitudes.”

“There are so many details that we attend to, often our collaborations and alliances are put on the back burners, even though they can be very beneficial to our overall mission.”

“Our service units are often at odds, pulling for their own cause, not the bigger picture.”“People relationships sink more organizations than the technical and other skill sets. I

place this at the highest level of importance. It is extremely important to have trust, credibility and coordination of effort.”

Survey of Nonprofit Leaders: Key Results

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Effectively applying organizational change principles (Item #3)

• Non profits must continually change to sustain and achieve their mission.• Change is particularly challenging for nonprofits’ “be nice” culture.

“The challenge is that we have many words, and different meanings around change dynamics, and we use a short-hand or abstraction, which in turn adds to confusion.”

“Nonprofits by and large find it difficult to change or innovate at a pace that can keep up with community needs.”

“Perhaps our concern for others leads to a "be nice" culture, which prefers the established over change. In other words we are not able to cope with change because we don't like conflict.”

“Intentional improvements, and even unexpected changes brought about by external factors, have seemed very disruptive to staff. The organization's staff are relatively inexperienced, and funding challenges make it difficult to hire and maintain more experienced folks (who would have more likely experienced change in past positions, and possibly even led change in the past).”


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Aligning strategies, people, systems and processes organization-wide to enhance productivity and sustainability (Item #4)

• Many nonprofits are actively engaged in developing new systems and strategies.

• Day-to-day service needs and priorities take precedence over the development of new systems, processes, and strategic priorities.

• Ambivalence about the meaning and value of “alignment.”

“We invite in a business coach several times a year to tune us up in new strategies, systems, and processes.”

“The day to day mandates of outcomes and services, coupled with the needs of the clients, take preference over these activities.”

“The organization is in the early stages of its lifecycle. Many internal systems and processes are not fully formalized, documented, or consistently applied by staff.:

“Alignment is about respect for the whole, especially the people who make all the rest of the whole work. Add spirit, commitment and trust to productivity and sustainability... those are markers of the people part in this alignment.”

“The level of effectiveness is thanks to the people not the processes”“I do not believe it is always healthy to always be aligned. Variety and novelty can be driven out.”

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Building leadership capacity for now and the future (Item #14)

• Desire to do more but lack of staff/money or advancement opportunities.

• Doing what is possible with limited resources (e.g., mentoring).

• Not seen as a priority by our communities and nonprofit leadership (boards and staff).

“This is critical for both paid staff and volunteer leadership.”

“With a small staff, the internal leadership opportunities are fairly limited; so we work hard to offer external leadership opportunities for personal growth.”

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Solving organizational problems systemically as opposed to solving them on a piecemeal basis (Item #15)

Seen as important but difficult given “fire-fighting”; the need for more money/resources; and turnover in leadership.

No time/necessity for this approach to all problems.

“This takes absolute discipline if you are used to being a brush-fire fighter...sometimes it feels overwhelming, but I am resolved that we continue.”

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High PriorityItems:1. Aligning and executing strategies in a way that advances the mission and is

consistent with core valuesImportance = 4.90; Effectiveness = 3.99; Gap = 0.91

5. Developing and maintaining the commitment of staff and volunteers to the goals of the organization for better overall performance Importance = 4.88; Effectiveness = 3.88; Gap = 0.99

6. Clarifying purpose and mission to inspire and engage staff and volunteersImportance = 4.70; Effectiveness = 3.90; Gap = 0.79

7. Attracting and retaining top talentImportance = 4.83; Effectiveness = 3.91; Gap = 0.90

11.Enhancing reputation among communities where we work, and with clients, employees and donors/fundersImportance = 4.85; Effectiveness = 4.04; Gap = 0.81

13.Ensuring accountability for values and ethics among employees and volunteersImportance = 4.72; Effectiveness = 3.99; Gap = 0.75

16.Establishing collaborative relationships and partnerships among public, private and nonprofit sectorsImportance = 4.64; Effectiveness = 4.00; Gap = 0.64

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High Priority Verbatim themes and illustrative quotes

Aligning and executing strategies in a way that advances the mission and is consistent with core values (Item #1)

Alignment between mission, activities, and strategic planning is critical. The details of the work and the passion and interests of staff often make it

difficult to maintain our strategic focus. The impact of externalities (board, funding sources, clients’ emerging

needs, etc.) often complicates this process, yet they are critical for success.

“Strategic planning has resulted in much more efficient use of our resources and ensured that what we do is consistent with our vision and core values.”

“We each have to wear many hats. The details in our work sometimes bog us down and we lose sight of our overall mission.”

“Where we get less effective is due to occasional mission creep, driven by the passions and commitment of staff and volunteers.”

“Mandates of current funding sources impact daily actions.”


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Developing and maintaining the commitment of staff and volunteers to the goals of the organization (Item #5)

• Developing and maintaining commitment to the goals is vitally important.

• Impact of differing priorities between staff and volunteers.

“We have been fortunate in having most of our staff being passionately dedicated to our core mission of protecting the environment.”

“People are just too busy and committed to their own agendas to help.”“Staff and volunteer priorities are often seen as mutually exclusive--if we

invest in staff, then members will suffer, if we invest in members, then staff will feel left out.”

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Clarifying purpose and mission to inspire and engage staff and volunteers (Item #6)

• Inspiring and engaging the entire community is central and critical.• Mission statements are often problematic in focusing shared

commitment and action.

“We work hard at insuring that our purpose and mission resonate with everyone involved in driving the organization.”

“Our strategic planning process resulted in big improvements in this area.”“Extremely difficult to coordinate all the agendas and motives and perceived means,

into one reasonably cohesive purpose and mission that all stakeholders can support. Often what can be generally agreed to is that which is not offensive to everybody – which is always too general and too amorphous to actually implement or succeed.”

“Mission and purpose statements are usually too general to inspire as compared to specific campaigns and strategies which can really be exciting and produce tangible results.”

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Attracting and retaining top talent (Item #7) Salary constraints make it difficult to attract and retain top talent. Successful attraction and retention of nonprofit staff involves non-

monetary compensation (meaningful work, recognition, quality of life, etc.).

Challenges include assessing and identifying “top talent,” cost-effectiveness of using external consultants (outsourcing), and succession planning.

“Top talent is critical. Yet, when we write proposals we don't include wages that can attract top talent. "You are working for a charity" so you can't have better pay is the sector's overall attitude.”

‘Retention has been maintained through recognition and education.”“We are blessed to have a small staff of talented individuals who have been with us through

difficult times and have stayed to enjoy the fruits of exciting program development.”“We need to examine carefully how we are assessing top talent and what constitutes ‘top’?”“Having top talent is dependent on the situation, the leadership within that setting, and faith

that we can in fact, step up and do the work.”“We are also improving in the area of succession planning.”

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Enhancing reputation among communities where we work, and with clients, employees and donors/funders (Item #11)

Better staff, more money, and focus is needed to accomplish this. This is critical to getting the work done and ensuring sustainability.

“We have a good image and have recently improved in this area.”

“We need to do more to enhance our reputation.”

“We are well regarded among communities where we work and with clients/employees, but need to do much more to get the word out to potential donors.”

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Ensuring accountability for values and ethics among all employees and volunteers (Item #13)

Many nonprofits have successfully done work in this area. Non-profits are more sensitive to ethics than for-profits to begin

with, perhaps too much so; need to balance ethics & values with accountability.

“We are now working on – and still have work to do in – this area.”

“My experience is that people attracted to nonprofit that benefit society are more aware than other workers about values and ethics. Many nonprofit leaders and their followers get bogged down in the pool of what's right and wrong, and by who's standards.”

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Establishing collaborative relationships and partnerships among public, private, and nonprofit sectors (Item # 16)

“This is the key to sustainability in the 21st century”

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Working cross-culturally• Nonprofit leaders predominately turn to line management to address culture issues

related to collaboration and strategic alliances.

• Nonprofit leaders turn to internal Human Resources or OD departments first, nonprofit management support centers second, line management third, and then to external OD and consulting firms when building skills and competencies in multi-cultural sensitivity and diversity.


“To whom do you/would you most likely turn for support in each of the following areas?”

Non-Profit

Position for Success from Cultural Perspective

Other

Nonprofit Management

Consulting Firm

Line Management

External O.D. Firm

HR/Internal O.D. Dep

Pe

rce

nt

40

30

20

10

0

Non-Profit

Build Skills/Competencies in Multi-Cultural Sensitivity/Diversity

Other


Consulting Firm

Line Management

External O.D. Firm


Pe

rce

nt

30

20

10

0

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Creating a performance culture


• Nonprofit leaders turn to Line Management first and foremost then to HR and Internal OD for enhancing workplace productivity and performance culture. External OD consultants were a distant third.

• Nonprofit leaders turn to Line Management first and then to HR andInternal OD for building skills for innovation and flexibility in the workforce.

Non-Profit

Enhance Workplace, Productivity and Performance Culture

Other


Consulting Firm

Line Management

External O.D. Firm


Pe

rce

nt

40

30

20

10

0

Non-Profit

Build Skills for Innovation/Flexibility in Workforce

Other


Consulting Firm

Line Management

External O.D. Firm


Pe

rce

nt

40

30

20

10

0


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Building leadership capacity for now and the future• Nonprofit leaders turn to Line Management first and HR second for

identifying, attracting, developing and retaining leadership talent.• Line management is the primary resource for fostering leadership courage,

decision making and problem solving, with HR and Internal OD a distant second.

Non-Profit

Identify/Attracting/Develop/Retain Leadership Talent

Other


Consulting Firm

Line Management

External O.D. Firm


Pe

rce

nt

40

30

20

10

0

Non-Profit

Foster Leadership Courage/Decision Making/Problem Solving

Other


Consulting Firm

Line Management

External O.D. Firm


Pe

rce

nt

50

40

30

20

10

0


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Do you have a distinct OD Department? If yes, to whom does it report?

• Only 15% of all nonprofit respondents have a distinct OD department

• Of those who did, 37% report to HR, 44% to other staff and 19% to line management.

OD in the Nonprofit Sector

Non-Profit

Have Distinct Organizational Development Department

yesno

Pe

rce

nt

100

80

60

40

20

0

Non-Profit

To Whom Does OD Department Report

Line Dept.Other StaffHR

Pe

rce

nt

50

40

30

20

10

0

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OD Investment Intentions

• “How likely is it that your organization will invest/continue to invest in OD resources (people and money), either in-house or outsourced, over the next three years?”

– 67% of respondents indicated they were either very likely (36%) or somewhat likely (31%) to invest in OD over the next three years

• “Do you expect that your investments in OD resources over the next three years will be less, about the same or more than during 2004?”

– 40% of respondents indicated their investments in OD would be more, 47% about the same and 9% less than in 2004

Non-Profit

Likely to Invest in OD over Next 3 Years

Very Likely

Somewhat Likely

Neither L or UL

Somewhat UnL

Very Unlikely

Pe

rce

nt

40

30

20

10

0

Non-Profit

OD Investment in Next 3 Years Compared to 2004

MoreAbout the SameLess

Pe

rce

nt

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

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Comparison of For Profit and Nonprofit Results

• Most urgent areas in both sectors are: Effectively addressing organizational culture …

(for profit)… “during organizational realignments, industry consolidations, and M&A’s;”

(nonprofit).. “for collaboration and strategic alliances”

Building leadership capacity for now and the future

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• Non Profits rated every item higher in importance than for profits, with three statistically significant differences:– “Establishing collaborative relationships and

partnerships among public, private and nonprofit sectors” (4.6 nonprofit vs. 3.9 for profit)

– “Enhancing reputation” among stakeholders…(4.9 nonprofit vs. 4.4 for profit)

– “Effectively applying organizational change principles” (4.5 nonprofit vs. 4.1 for profit)

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• Nonprofits rated most items higher in effectiveness than For Profits with six statistically significant differences:– “Establishing collaborative relationships”(4.0 nonprofit vs. 3.4

for profit)– “Attracting and retaining top talent”(3.9 nonprofit vs. 3.5 for

profit)– “Clarifying purpose and mission to inspire and engage…” (3.9

nonprofit vs. 3.5 for profit)– “Effectively addressing organizational culture” (3.6 nonprofit

vs. 3.2 for profit)– “Enhancing reputation” among stakeholders (4.0 nonprofit vs.

3.7 for profit)– “Solving organizational problems systemically as opposed to

solving them on a piecemeal basis” (3.2 nonprofit vs. 2.9 for profit)

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Comments from Nonprofit Panel

• Gayle Ellis Davis, Manager, Affiliate Relations/Community Relationships (Adults), Girl Scouts of the USA

• Paige Carlson-Heim, Associate Director, Housing and Community Development Network of NJ

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Implications for You and Your Organization?

1. What overall implications do you see? To what extent does OD play a central role in addressing these critical issues in your organization?

2. What insights do you have about the differences between the For Profit and Nonprofit sector results?

3. What thoughts do you have about what the For Profit or Nonprofit sectors can learn from each other?

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Summary of Findings and Implications for Organization Development and Human Resources

• Business Leaders across a wide swath of industries see opportunity for HR and OD related work

• There is considerable room to improve the perceived effectiveness of organizations in areas that business leaders consider very important

• A high percentage of business leaders are likely to invest in OD over the next three years, with about half planning to invest about the same, and more than another third planning to invest more.

• However, OD as a distinct field or function is barely even on the radar screen for much of the work that OD could/should be helping with. Business leaders usually go elsewhere, at least initially, for the support they need and want (especially line management, HR, and consulting firms)

• OD needs to work with line management to support them, transfer their knowledge, and exhibit a high degree of flexibility to make it happen

• Findings call for further inquiry as to OD’s fundamental identity, marketing, branding, and positioning with executives and line managers

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Conclusions and Next Steps

• Conclude in-depth analysis of data and publish findings – promote public awareness, dialogue and debate

• Discuss use of findings with key stakeholders: (HR, OD, line management, professional organizations, academic institutions, etc.)

• Galvanize debate among stakeholders on setting priorities for use of findings

• Support action teams of Global Committee on the Future of OD -- Business Strategy Action Team; Enterprise Sustainability; New Models of Change, Development, Action Learning; and Communities of Practice.

leading in the 21st century jeana wirtenberg, ph.d jeana wirtenberg & associates, llc, and the...

Documents

od institute

field of od

od resources

od values

od swot survey

future of od background

future of od vision

members of od network