6 Keys to Increase Profits Using Organizational Development - The Role of Human Resources

What is the role of Organizational Development, also known as Organizational Effectiveness, in Human Resources? Why is this so important to an organization? Will OD affect the profitability of your organization?

Organizational Development Defined

Human Resource Software

"Organization development is the process through which an organization develops the internal capacity to most efficiently and effectively provide its mission work and to sustain itself over the long term. This definition highlights the explicit connection between organizational development work and the achievement of organizational mission. This connection is the rationale for doing OD work.

According to Warren Bennis, organization development (OD) is a complex strategy intended to change the beliefs, attitudes, values, and structure of organizations so that they can better adapt to new technologies, markets, and challenges.

Organization development, according to Richard Beckhard, is defined as: a planned effort, organization-wide, managed from the top, to increase organization effectiveness and health, through planned interventions in the organization's 'processes', using behavioral science knowledge.

Warner Burke emphasizes that OD is not just "anything done to better an organization"; it is a particular kind of change process designed to bring about a particular kind of end result. OD involves organizational reflection, system improvement, planning, and self-analysis.

The term "Organization Development" is often used interchangeably with Organizational effectiveness, especially when used as the name of a department or a part of the Human Resources function within an organization.

Organization Development is a growing field that is responsive to many new approaches including Positive Adult Development." (Quote From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)

Human Resources and Change Management...

Positive change is necessary for any organization and the highest levels of management need to understand how to work with Human Resources (HR) to help bring about the positive changes that can move your business to higher levels of effectiveness and productivity. Strategic Planning, system improvement, and the successful implementation of the organization's development plan are essential functions that can be developed and carried out through Human Resources. This process will have positive outcomes on your organization's profitability and demonstrate the value of HR. As communication improves and the organizational plan unfolds, managers and frontline personnel can better understand their roles in your organizations strategic plan. "The Big Picture" will allow for a greater investment in, and motivation for, organizational success and leads to greater work satisfaction, reduced turnover, and increased profitability. HR can be the "Change Agent" and help to create "Buy in" for more of your organization's key personnel.

What is the role of Organizational Development, also known as Organizational Effectiveness, in Human Resources? Why is this so important to an organization? Will OD affect the profitability of your organization?

As a Human Resource Professional use these 6 focus areas to enhance your organization's profitability:

1. Improve organizational communication

2. Assist in management development, especially for new managers or technical personnel raised to project or team leadership

3. Enhance the Emotional Intelligence of leadership and managers

4. Organize mentors or executive coaching opportunities

5. Bring in the training that your organization requires including: EQ-emotional intelligence, leadership, communication, time management, etc.

6. Lead strategic planning, goal setting, implementation planning

6 Keys to Increase Profits Using Organizational Development - The Role of Human Resources

Dynamics AX Customization and Development

Microsoft Dynamics AX accounting software or Axapta is a complete package that has the abilities for managing a company's financial information, from middle to large size companies. It comes with many modules like General Ledger, Production, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Inventory Management, Human Resources, Cost Accounting, Bank, CRM, Service, Master Planning, Product Builder, Project, and other accounting modules. It has many features that usually will work for a company with basic needs, but for a company that requires special functions, forms and report that follow their business and processing practice, the customization will be necessary from the developers to make it happen.

AX has a development model that allows a company or a consulting company to develop on a specific layer. The layer system is a system that let a developer or user customizes a layer like cus for the Customer layer or usr for the User layer, for examples, that will make the development independent from the other layers. Certain layers are off limited to the regular companies and can only be updated from Microsoft or business partners.

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One of the tools that is very popular and useful to develop Dynamics AX customizations is the Morphx, which provides the developers with an integrated developing environment, and can be used to write x++ codes to customize forms, reports, postings, and other processes. AX also has AIF or Application Integration Framework that enables the programmers or users to integrate it with other data sources like text files, Excel, Access, xml and other file formats. If the developer is familiar with FRX and the new Management Reporter also enable the users and consultants to create sophisticated financial statements from General Ledger data, which are often needed for accounting and tax reporting purposes. The newer versions can work with Visual Studio and Sql Server Reporting, that provides even more tools to modifying forms, reports, codes, queries, tables and other objects.

Most versions and especially the newer versions of AX works with Sql Server databases, and make the developers that are familiar with Sql Server stored procedure, statements and queries work much easier with the AX database. The data accesses part of the x++ language is very similar to the standard Sql statements, that will enhance the developer capabilities to work with it. For any modules like Inventory, Production, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Inventory Management, General Ledger, Human Resources, Cost Accounting, Bank, CRM, Service, Master Planning, Product Builder, Project, and other accounting modules, the data are exposed to the developers for customizing the AX environment.

For new versions of AX, web customizations are presented and become more sophisticated. The programmers can develop applications with Visual Studio and Web Services to allow the users to access the data going through the web from their favorite browsers.

To develop on certain layers that will be available to the companies and consultants, the appropriate license will need to be purchased and installed on the computers. There are information from the Microsoft Business partner website, blogs, and information websites that are on the web, and are ready to be searched for the information about the partners, and where and how to purchase. There are consultants or companies that provide supporting work that can be searched on the search websites.

Dynamics AX Customization and Development

Telecommuting Policy Development - Top Ten Tips

Telecommuting offers a lot of benefits to both the employer and employees. For the company, the set up means a more cost-effective way of operating business functions because less energy is consumed for the performance of daily tasks. There is also little need to manage a huge workspace when most of the workers are accomplishing their assigned tasks from outside the office. For employees, working from home allows them to save from the expenses incurred commuting to and from the office. It also gives them an opportunity to spend more time with their families, as in the case of WAHM (work at home mom), and reduce work-related stress.

Developing a work-at-home policy: A guide for HR managers

Human Resource Software

Managing telecommuting programs is different from supervising actual workers in person. To maximize the benefit of telecommuting, it's important for supervisors to learn how to work with remote teams from a virtual office.
Before anything else, however, you need to devise a policy that covers flexible work options and managing virtual workers. Such concepts as maintaining workplace flexibility and wage and hour laws must be taken into consideration.

Here are top ten tips in developing a telecommuting policy.

Identify your business needs. It's important to list how having people work from outside the office would benefit your business, and assess if the benefits outweigh the consequences. Your policy needs to sufficiently address the expectations of your company as far as work output and human resources are concerned. Identify who can telecommute. Understand that not everyone in your company can and should be allowed to work from home. Managing telecommuting arrangements means overseeing to the productivity of people who are not within shouting distance so you wouldn't be able check on the quality of their output until the work is actually submitted to you. As such, developing a telecommuting policy needs to include creating requirements for those who want to telecommute. For instance, you need teleworkers who are organized, exhibit strong problem solving abilities, and have excellent communication skills, among other skill sets. Your policy should constitute a clear criterion for determining who can work from home so you can easily defend your decisions later on. Beyond the individual's skill sets, you must also look into which positions in your organization lend themselves to telecommuting. Some positions will not be affected at all if the worker becomes a teleworker; others may be impossible to fill with a remote worker. Implement guidelines for dependent care. While working from home does have the added benefit of being able to spend more time with one's family, it should not be taken as an alternative to making arrangements for dependent care. Work productivity will be compromised if the teleworker has to attend to the children while drafting documents for the virtual office. Formalize agreements on equipment Your policies should also consider the types of equipment that a telecommuter would need to be able to work efficiently out of the office. The agreement has to stipulate who will provide the equipment for the worker. Some companies provide computers and allowances for internet services to their remote teams while there are those who don't. In the latter case, flexible work options are usually provided as alternatives to working in the office. Employees still have the choice to show up and finish their work in the conventional workspace provided for them. Ensure employee safety. It's also important to make sure that your agreement clarifies who is responsible for employee safety when the worker is accomplishing his tasks from home. You can hold your workers accountable for maintaining the safety of their home workplace. In addition, you can provide a clause that allows you, the employer, to inspect the home workspace to make sure that it follows the guidelines stipulated in the agreement. Ensure confidentiality. Company information is another consideration when managing virtual workers. Business data may be compromised since workers are accessing them from outside the office. As such, it's important to stipulate in the agreement ownership of information and company documents in case the employee leaves your company. This should be clearly spelled out and confidentiality of work information should also be underlined. Make sure that technology is available. If you're going to hire virtual employees, you need to also include a technology checklist of what you require the applicant to have to qualify as a telecommuter. Technology is important when maintaining a virtual workspace, so new hires should have devices such as a dedicated phone line for business, three-way calling systems, high-speed internet access and fax machine among others. Wage and hour laws If unprepared, a human resource manager may be forced to face a minefield of issues on wage and hour laws. You need to navigate this carefully in order to avoid liability. Record and track all hours worked by employees who telecommute. You may consider installing timekeeping software for the equipment / computers given to employees, as punching the usual timeclock is not possible. Determine a system of properly compensating telecommuting workers for all hours worked, plus overtime (if they are not exempt). The biggest problem here is how to compensate telecommuting employees who sit idly, waiting for instructions. Keep in mind that telecommuters may be considered "on call" 24/7. Make sure that it is clear to the employees whether they "engaged to be waiting" (as in firemen, for whom the waiting time is working time) or "waiting to be engaged" (which means they can do what they like as long as they are available by email, cell, etc.) Quality metrics To gauge the effectiveness of a telecommuting program, you need to devise certain metrics for quality of service. It's important for you to make sure that your employees are still performing according to your expectations. Just like in any work situation, quality, quantity, cost-effectiveness, and timeliness ate the four main measures to review. Once you have established performance measures, you need to establish a feedback system, which helps maintain good performance. Additionally, telecommuting employees need a channel with which to keep their managers informed about their work progress. Communication Finally, one important detail that you need to consider when developing a telecommuting policy is communication. The policies should include information on how often you expect your workers to check their e-mails, for instance, so they're kept updated. Communication should never be one-way; thus, you also need to establish and follow guidelines on how employees can reach their supervisors - who may also be telecommuting.

Telecommuting Policy Development - Top Ten Tips

Outsourcing Software Development - A Way to Custom Software Solutions

Outsourcing Software Development involves repositioning of software development activities by a company to third party service vendors or software firms that may be located in offshore destinations. It can save you time and money if you know what you need. Development is a specialized task that involves huge investments and a specialized workforce. Outsourcing the same could give the companies a chance to develop software at a lower rate, employ specialized labor at a cheaper cost, promote software research and save time. This is the reason why most companies decide to outsource their software development activities to offshore destinations, like India.

Whether you need a dynamic, database-driven website or a fully functioning e-commerce website, Outsourcing Software Development services in India have the creative talent and technical expertise to accommodate your company's web development needs. Any company can save about 40% of its expenses by outsourcing project overseas. There is no doubt that it is a most effective way to stretch your budget. Many organizations use Outsourcing their Software Development projects to India to reduce their costs.

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The traditional approach to outsourcing development projects typically follows a single strategy. You begin by negotiating a contract, which may be based on previously defined requirements or may include the effort of gathering, documenting and validating fresh requirements. The Outsourcing service then works to your requirements to develop the system. Regular communication helps resolve potential misunderstandings.

Advantages of Outsourcing Software Development:

Getting access to specialized labor at low rates Cutting human resource costs Cutting operational costs Reducing software project expenditure Ensuring proper project management Software research at lower rates Reducing training costs

The success of any outsourced project depends on many factors; Companies specially in US and Canada are looking to outsource their software development projects to India and Indian Companies are becoming a profitable choice for them. This is because they, being a mid sized and growing custom software development companies, understand their client's business process very well and can then convert it into IT solutions, thereby fulfilling the client's needs and requirements.

So for the software development companies, irrespective of whether they are in US, Canada or EU, willing to outsource their projects should try out Indian companies to know the quality and expertise they cherish. Because it is always better to try out before trusting.

Outsourcing Software Development - A Way to Custom Software Solutions

Resources for Development

Development Cycle

Development is unthinkable through 'government only' efforts owing to the limitations of resources, outreach and continuity. Though all of us in our own capacities are doing a great job for change in our spheres but tend to be doing so in isolation most of the time. It takes away the true potential of our individual contributions- No one can do it alone.

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Development cannot be deemed as an isolated event; in fact it is a complete life process of individuals and communities. One part is linked to the other- Education to livelihood to healthcare and that to better choices, capacity to pay and the true growth and development. For example, On one hand poverty takes away capacity to pay and on other the poor communities are not lucrative markets; like education is value addition to overall growth while resources are essential for quality education and ill- health is the mother of depressed productivity and healthcare always has a price tag, so one is connected and dependent to the other as a continuous life process. The cycle of development has an inherent continuity and that is why it cannot be segregated into commercial and non-commercial or for-profit and not-for-profit or even social development and market growth.

The idea that development is some government or 'NGO' job only takes away its amplifying continuity. Hence the paradigm of multi-sectoral engagement and action for sustainable development requires change. It means further obliteration of the traditional gap between commercial and non-commercial entities. It also means understanding the 'true profits' and directly connecting the same with sustainable development. The paradigm change also encourages that the social sector should invite more of 'business-like' thinking and skill set. Likewise the commercial sector should struggle more to inculcate skills for sustainable/ dependable market development.

Resources- Financial and Non Financial

The above perspective also offers an eye to see a 'resource-strength' in everything and everyone around us. However it is important to understand that Man, Money, Material and Time are earned through exchange of value. Creating tangible/ measurable value is the trick of this multi-sectoral engagement. Let us see what this value exchange means.

People derive satisfaction from what they do and the source of this satisfaction is not money only. The argument is supported by the fact of ever increasing volume of volunteers regardless of recession or growth in the markets. This region still has to go a long way to capitalize on the value of volunteerism. Reforms in the Human Resource function are pivotal to add value to volunteerism. Voluntary time and skill contribution needs more structuring in terms of input/output, tasks and credentialing. The volunteerism must assume a very important place in all human- resource evaluations. Placement interviews should give more weight-age to voluntary contributions and volunteer work. It means creating measureable value for people to contribute their time, skills, energy etc.

Likewise the money contribution in the social projects is mostly seen by corporate as going into waste or non-core activity with no or immeasurable returns for their stakeholders. This requires forging partnerships that can tangibly demonstrate to have positive impacts on bottom line along with sustainable outcome for the served communities. For example the organizations those work for improving healthcare of children and those that are in the business of producing and selling services/ products for children are natural allies. Projects can be built between the two to address the underserved on one hand and create opportunities for livelihood and growth on the other. Thus service and business can get along and social impacts and profits can become flip-side of a single coin if value is shared.

Though financial resource is very important but the non-financial resource is most sustainable. Undoubtedly both are essential for effectiveness and sustainability. Openness and understanding that individuals and organizations carry some strength, and that they are willing to share the same, can create mutually beneficial alliances and partnerships. Like media can offer free space and time, pharmaceutical free or discounted medicines, computer software companies the training and software so on.

Finally in the given competitive environment developing regions have already been left behind in the agriculture and industrial market functions. At this critical juncture, the knowledge revolution could offer an opportunity and alternative model of human economic and social progress. Hence in the context of resources for development knowledge can be enlisted as one of the important element besides Man, Money, Material and Time.

NEW ALLIANCES- Participation of strength

The change and development agenda has to start from individual, from institution, from organization and thus from the society. And it is always short of achievements until the efforts of government are supplemented through recognized and effective forums. The magic of sustainable partnerships lies in the right recipe of participation of strengths.

There are organizations that have enormous potential to catalyze change within their immediate neighborhood given their financial and non-financial strengths. Likewise academia has lot to exchange in terms knowledge, skill and research. Development without an effective voice will always face lack of interest and participation. Therefore Media has a vital role to play in this mix. Thus to enhance the true potential of change for development an integrated and structured approach to combine these forces and pool the strengths is essential.

Resources for Development