Organisational Development (OD) should be implemented on all three levels of the St. Galler Management House − normative, strategic and operative. There is no either-or but only an as-well-as. From this perspective − in accordance with the title of this post − OD is much more than employee participation and change!

After only a small circle of employees actively participated on the first two levels of the St. Galler Management House, everyone shall now be included in the third level – operative execution: processes, tasks, actions.

Considering the results of strategic analyses, a rolling master plan is created that contains among other things

  • a market attractiveness-competitive strength-portfolio,
  • SWOT analysis and standard strategies, and
  • strategic directions of impact and goals.

Further, it is about means, time frame, resources and measures that as Program Management are institutionalised with the following tasks:

  • coordination following a strategy map,
  • moderation and coaching, as well as
  • implementation and
  • evaluation.

Below, I would like to give an overview of eight main tasks on this third level:

  1. Projects as an organisational form of limited duration play an important part. As a result of increasingly shorter planning and decision phases, more agile methods steadily gain in importance.
  2. Team development for the joint completion of complex tasks is essential. For that you need a collective vision, trusted relationships as well as clearly defined but still flexible roles. Additionally, a solution-focused attitude, regular feedback and a high motivation are features of high-performance teams.
  3. The optimisation of operational, cross-departmental end-to-end processes has gained a new quality because of digitalisation. The focus has to be on relevant client segments and their needs.
  4. Another increasingly important assignment of OD is knowledge and competence management. Specifically it is about establishing a knowledge or competence culture respectively and turning human capital into structural capital.
  5. Through working with optimised processes and prospectively necessary staff segments and skills one has to review the organisational structure and possibly reframe it. This requires transparent responsibilities and managerial authority.
  6. The coaching of leaders is also part of the tasks of OD. The big opportunity is for management to participate more in the mobilisation and directing of change and to accept that this process starts with them.
  7. No change happens without conflict. This is why moderation and mediation are also part of OD.
  8. The outcomes of the previously outlined goals have to be evaluated together with early warning indicators along the goals pertaining to cost, performance and composition.

OD contributes to a sustainable organisation mainly through the balance of short-term agility with long-term vision, through newly defining work, procedures and structures and through complete transparency in communication and information exchanges on all organisational levels.