Organizational Development and Change Management Implement AR, AI, and PC for Steller Non-Profit Org.

Introduction

The purpose of this research study was to discover how action research, appreciative inquiry and process consultation processes can help to improve organizational development and change management for the Steller Nonprofit Organization. Steller nonprofit organization provides fitness classes and health & wellness education at no cost to underserved teens in King County, Washington. The objective was to set aside bias and preconceive notions about Steller while consulting to help implement a change management model, which include leadership, communication and effective communication that can help Steller to identify the best leadership styles and effective communication models that may define and address challenges they were confronting in their high “turnover” of fitness coaches. Steller needed to recognize who, what, why, and who. In defining the causes that can help them create strategies to develop processes to address their challenges. The first step was accountability to discover innovative ways to address their challenges with the consultant’s used as “self-instrument” in structuring the framework to achieve the results they desire. Intervention is the “key” in setting up the workplace environment as a forum for improvement in the change management processes. The consultant’s compacity helped in this process by exercising the AR cycles as a point of reference to continue the processes even if the researcher present would not witness the result due to the limited time spent with Steller Nonprofit Organization. However, in the time spent observing and guiding can give enough information that the participants needed to take in the right direction toward effective leadership and communication which included planning out initiatives, discussing, revisiting, and implementing action during the intervention process (Maxton & Bushe Gervase, 2018).

Organizations that have strong leadership and an effective communication system tend to do well when addressing challenges or opportunities (Waglay, Becker, & du Plessis, 2020). Statistics show 75% of organizations that experienced employee overturn, decrease in revenues can be caused by a lack of leadership and communication (Nicdao, 2019). Organizations experiencing change should focus on the best leadership style for their organization, which can be most helpful such as transformational leadership according to, Tefera, Yuanqiong, & Luming (2020). Transformational describes a leader who encompasses three concepts: power, purpose, and capable of making changes that can lessen retention form employees (Cook, 2018). Transformational leaders are an agent of change, which improves interactions among team members and stakeholders by how they communicate, motivate, and support to build a healthy culture in the workplace (Arthi & Sumathi, 2020). Crea (2018), stated one of many focuses for transformational leaders is to encourage their employee's personal and professional growth, which can increase productivity benefiting the organization's health. Transformational leaders support employees to analyze their strengths and weakness to achieve their goals within their organization (Chamberlain, 2017). Steller’s paramount issue low ratio of fitness coaches can be due to the leadership style and communication ineffectiveness.

Communication is essential to any organization’s strength towards sustainability (Ballaro, Mazzi, & Holland, 2020). The consultant realized Steller’s communication needed improvement where each team member was comfortable to express their perspective of why the decrease in fitness coaches was a primary issue. One of the most challenging tasks for leaders is to effectively communicate change. To accomplish this task, leaders must understand the dynamics of resistance among their followers. Chang-Dae Ham, & Kim (2019), stated that leaders who possess change-oriented behaviors can identify the SWOT analysis model, which can interpret and promote change while fostering alliance in support of implementing change. Consultants have supported the concept that change management initiatives are unsuccessful in organizations in part because some leaders are challenged by communicating changes effectively (Ruben & Gigliotti, 2017; Wang, Aenis, & Siew, 2019). Leaders must be able to influence a team, develop consensus, and create an inclusive environment for all stakeholders to engage in the change management processes (Kelly & MacDonald, 2019). (Merlijn, Johnson, Zhang, Xiao-Hua, & Klodiana (2019), stated that effective communication practices encourage and influence organizations to achieve intended changes. Also, by repeated planned interventions which can help an organization increase its communication effectiveness to reach a desirable outcome.