In the case study under consideration, City Center Hospital’s executive director determined the need for a development consultant (OD) intervention to analyze the situation and identify existing problems. The invited specialist conducted a study, highlighting the organization’s main issue, which is low staff morale and then chose individual interventions to solve them. This approach is the most optimal, primarily due to the essence of this method. As the name suggests, the individual intervention consists of personal meetings, thanks to which one can add up the complete picture of staff morale. Using this method, the OD consultant can analyze the behavior and condition of each of the City Center Hospital staff members and recommend or make micro-changes without affecting the operation of the entire system as a whole.
The situation at City Center is centered around problems with low nursing morale. As practice shows, most of these problems are associated with interaction with managers and collaboration with physicians. To thoroughly investigate this problem, it is helpful to use a reflective practice tool, divided into reflection in action and action. As Bierema (2020) writes, to participate in this practice, it is only necessary to critically reflect on one’s behavior, thoughts, activities, and experiences. Thus, a discussion of past confrontations and moral dilemmas will help nurses and others conclude sound in future practice. Critical analysis of transferred experiences helps shape future actions and thoughts, which will gradually solve the moral problem.
However, the moral issue is closely related to the mood and behavior of a person. Therefore, while researching this topic, it is necessary to investigate related areas to understand where low personnel morale comes from. Given that this type of interaction is quite time-consuming, it will distract staff from their work duties. The OD consultant must determine the resources available and correctly allocate working time. Given the time and budget constraints, the evaluator can explore five various assessment levels, each with a different rigor level. Since the main issue is morality, it makes sense to analyze from a first-level perspective consistent with worker attitudes (Cady and Kim, 2017). In this case, one can use a low rigor approach in the form of multiple questions presented on the flip chart. Since research on personnel behavior is also necessary, it is essential to turn to the third level, using a more rigorous behavioral observation approach (Cady and Kim, 2017). Such an analysis allows one to identify the frequency of a particular behavior, which is vital for further research.
Using such assessment tools, the consultant can assess the mood of individuals and the culture of the team as a whole. Since this metric reflects the team’s relationships as a whole, such an assessment can provide a lot of important information regarding the work atmosphere and the management of employees. Often, the work team includes representatives of different nationalities, social and economic spheres, thereby creating diversity. Assessment of the level of diversity can help in further analysis of the situation since, according to the source, if used correctly, this concept can be helpful. However, this situation is only possible if there is a culture supporting and respecting each of the team members (Lyons, 2019). Therefore, if there are problems of mutual respect, the consultant can help to resolve them.
Research carried out can provide the consultant with enough information to draw up an idea that the basis of low morality is the tensions between employees and the management team. These bullying interactions are challenging to resolve, but the consultant’s goal is to create a healthy organizational culture (Orr and Seter, 2020). First of all, such problems are often associated with poor conflict resolution skills from the point of view of the organization’s level and personal problems related to a lack of understanding of the team’s role. Consequently, the consultant will work in these areas, thereby following the human relations intervention theory, which focuses on resolving conflicts and developing emotional intelligence (Orr and Seter, 2020). Techniques like these help deal with issues that can affect organization and staff morale, which is why they are appropriate.
References
Bierema, L. (2020). Organizational development: An action research approach (2nd ed.). Zovio.
Cady, S. H., & Kim, J.-H. (2017). What we can learn from evaluating OD interventions. OD Practitioner, 49(1), 50–55.
Lyons, S. (2019). The benefits of creating a diverse workforce. Forbes. Web.
Orr, D., & Seter, M. (2020). Od strategies and workplace bullying: Approaches for prevention, existing issues, and post-event understanding. Organization Development Review, 52(3), 36–45.