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of these NGOs is the fact that they work directly with the community. They talk to communities, understand their needs, and help develop and implement programs that benefit these communities. A couple of decades back a large number of NGOs worked on programs that did not require complex technical or managerial competencies. This, however, is no longer the case. A very large number of the programs being implemented by NGOs now require a reasonable level of technical and managerial competence. Though a large number of NGOs are growing in size, they are still small: most employ about 10-25 people working for them. A typical small NGO with, say 20 people, would have three kinds of personnel: leaders, field workers and support staff. us, there might be 1-2 people in a leadership position, 1-2 persons as the support staff (handling accounts and office jobs) and the balance 16-18 would be field workers. The Challenges Faced by NGOs While there are many challenges that NGOs typically face (Funding uncertainty, governance, relations with the communities, accountability and effectiveness, etc), we focus here on those which are organizational and people related. These are: • External • Scale up - There is a strong pressure on performing NGOs to scale up. This is felt in discussions with their funding partners, the Government and other partners. There is a push to grow more, do more. Funding houses and NGOs themselves seem to be dissatisfied with the current rate of growth and progress. Organic growth is typically slow, so scaling up requires an enormous amount of energy and focus. • Energy spent on arranging for Funds - While funding for NGOs has increased overall, it has hardly kept pace with the need and the expansion in the sector. Almost all NGOs seek funds project to project. This has meant that the people in Leadership positions have to spend much of their time in this activity - meeting funders, orienting their programs towards their funding partner needs, networking for fund flows etc. This takes away from investing adequate time in their organization capability building, grooming individuals, building sustainable networks (which do not give them funding) etc. • Internal • Skill development of field workers - With leaders spending less time in the field, they spend less time guiding and coaching their field workers. This leads to relatively untrained people interacting with the community. As a result, the quality of work of the NGO starts to suffer. • Load on the support staff - The support staff consisting of people working on accounts, administration etc feel the increasing load and pressure without having the requisite skills to cope. • Need for technical plus managerial abilities - With the increase in the complexity of the programs (see previous section) it is important to have technically trained manpower. However, just acquiring such manpower (say Irrigation Engineers) is not good enough as such personnel need to be oriented and trained extensively to deal with community related issues. This requires investment of time and resources to help them adapt and learn. • Mindset of frugality - In many NGOs history also prevents them from paying new recruits adequately. Most of these NGOs were set up when NGOs heavily valued frugality. Costs 38 November 2007 NHRD Journal
were low, people lived simply and salaries reflected this. Though salaries have increased over time, the fact is that NGO salaries - as well as those of its leadership are a fraction of what one gets offered in other sectors - Government and the Corporate sector. • Attrition - There is large attrition in many NGOs. This attrition is particularly true for those who join in the Middle Line. For one, there are far many more NGOs present now than they were ten years back. Thus, when people are dis-satisfied with the NGO they are working in, they attempt to find another. Secondly, they are attracted to the donor agencies - many of them international. These donors typically offer much larger pay and greater visibility. These donors act as magnets for a large number of people who join the middle management. Donors on their part too are looking for people who have some 'field experience' - i.e., those who have worked with the community. Consequently, many NGOs who have succeeded in acquiring and training such people end up by losing them to donors. Thirdly, the expanding Corporate sector attracts many in the NGO sector, especially those who interact with community on retail services or financial products. Mintzberg and the Structure of Organizations: A Theoretical Interlude Henry Mintzberg is a Canadian management thinker who is known as someone apart from the mainstream (of management thinking) able to analyze basic assumptions about managerial behavior. In his seminal work, The Structuring of Organizations, this is what he has to say about organizational structure. • Organizations can be seen divided into five parts. • At the base of the organization is the Operating Core. These are the people who are actually doing the work. In the context of Indian NGOs, these would be the persons working directly with the Community: the so called Field Workers. • At the hierarchical top of the organization is the Strategic Apex - the managers who have the overall responsibility for the organization; the ones who take strategic decisions and provide direction to the organization. In the context of Indian NGOs these usually consist of people who have started the organization: the original Leaders of the organization. • The Middle Line is a chain of managers that implement the decision by supervising subordinates (the Operating Core), and reporting to their supervisors (the Strategic Apex). These are people who make tactical decisions and lead programs. Interestingly - and we will find out why this happens - most Indian NGOs have little or nothing in the form of this middle line. Figure 1 – Visual depiction of Mintzberg’s structure components • The fourth part of the organization is the Techno-Structure. This part serves to analyze and organize the work. In the context of NGOs these can refer to people who have a technical background in the specific work area (irrigation, health, November 2007 NHRD Journal 39
Page 1 and 2: NHRD Journal Organizational Change
Page 3 and 4: S.no Title of the Article Author Pa
Page 5 and 6: ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE INDIRA J PARI
Page 7 and 8: give subtle shape to the organizati
Page 9 and 10: to be tempered by a sense of humor,
Page 11 and 12: Although the result did not spell o
Page 13 and 14: the Project Sponsor to engage the C
Page 15 and 16: • Consultative - The target popul
Page 17 and 18: Now they are confronted with change
Page 19 and 20: A living system can never be direct
Page 21 and 22: ut in absence of formal process of
Page 23 and 24: Higgs, M. and Rowland, D. (2005),
Page 25 and 26: • Organization Structure Rigid hi
Page 27 and 28: magnitude of the programme, you can
Page 29 and 30: • In only about 10% of the school
Page 31 and 32: memorization, the focus of the teac
Page 33 and 34: HOW HR CAN IGNITE 'HOT SPOTS' YOGI
Page 35 and 36: pointed the prerequisites of change
Page 37: BRINGING CHANGE TO THE CHANGE AGENT
Page 41 and 42: 'People Academy' that seeks to fost
Page 43 and 44: DEFINING CHANGE AGENTS SANDEEP K. K
Page 45 and 46: human resource process like leaders
Page 47 and 48: References Chris Argyris, Initiatin
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Page 51 and 52: esponse to changes in the external
Page 53 and 54: THE ENDURING SKILLS OF CHANGE LEADE
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Page 57 and 58: neglected step in the change proces
Page 59 and 60: enefits of the long march are lost,
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Page 63 and 64: very capable people; but the organi
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Page 67 and 68: change, preparing the leadership an
Page 69 and 70: However the good news is that the a
Page 71 and 72: Organizational Culture and Sub-Cult
Page 73 and 74: References Ashkanasy, N. M., Broadf
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is high, implying that there would
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• Successful integration approach
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management and the labor leaders to
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ONE REASON FOR FAILURE OF CHANGE IN
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IPO: A POWERFUL INTERVENTION IN ORG
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In expectation of such a reaction,
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system was designed, requiring mana
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Then the system was recommended for
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Newsletters used to be published an
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CHALLENGE OF MANAGING ORGANIZATIONA
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productive deployment of raw talent
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Conclusion There is a broad agreeme
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change is indeed the engine which f
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and regional development programs.
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ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE-MARUTI SUZUKI
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in the HR thinking, approach and th
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• Cross Functional Teams (CFTs) o
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i. Technology • Plant location
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consolidates in a short period of f
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PBIT (Rs in crores.) The Company ha
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concepts in an organizational conte
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APPEAL TO CONTRIBUTORS The National
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