CDO Foodsphere, Inc

Joy Noree Maramba

Employee Development and Engagement

In my current role, we design programs that support the development and engagement of employees throughout their lifecycle in the organization. This includes onboarding, technical and leadership competency assessments, learning and development programs for rank and file up to the managerial levels, performance management, succession planning and talent movements. Our main objective is to ensure that employees are committed and engaged, contributing and aligned to the goals of the organization; and competent with relevant and upgraded skills in their line of work and expertise, such that they grow together personally and professionally with the organization.

Organizational Development and Change Management

Organizational development is focused on a highly consultative process that ensures the participation and genuine commitment of employees in various change management processes throughout the organization to enable it to adapt quickly to changes in business strategies and the environment. As such, the practice of OD requires starting with where people are in terms of capabilities and balancing it with the systems and processes of the organization. As the name suggests, a people strategy has to essentially be about the people themselves—what they can do, the values they believe in, their level of engagement and the meaning they derive in the work they do for the organization. The effectiveness of a strategy or plan can only be as good as the people executing it. Because of this, it has become important to build competencies and capabilities first before executing organizational initiatives. This is done through an honest assessment of what can be done and looking for alternative solutions to meet capability requirements, including spending time on training and development initiatives, partnering with external institutions, or inviting subject-matter experts in the industry to ensure continuous learning and new perspectives.

Adapting to Evolving Talent and Business Needs

The biggest challenge to organizational development strategies will always be the fast-growing and shifting talent or competency requirements to adapt to changes in internal business processes or external trends and/or competition. Employees need to be agile, resilient, open and curious, be quick on their feet to learn and willing to try new ways of working. The best way to navigate this hurdle is to communicate and design change initiatives as fun and engaging. For instance, if this is new technology integration, it helps to highlight how work can be done more effectively than usual—and those who adapt faster are rewarded for better work outputs.

AI and Human-Centric Organizational Development

For many AI-related interventions, it can be observed that people will still choose to use traditional or human-driven processes when a human and an AI solution have similar or equivalent outputs. This includes high-context situations such as handling client issues, problem-solving, training and coaching. However, when AI can provide answers or solutions faster or with fewer errors than the traditional mode, people are more willing to try AI. Specific benefits include the generation of coding formulas that can yield better analytics and reports with fewer errors and processing large amounts of information into dashboards that can be used for people-related insights. AI is only beneficial when it enables human-centric processes to be more effective.

“Building strong networks and fostering continuous learning are key to sustaining genuine engagement and adaptability in a changing world.”

Building Strong Networks and Advancing OD Practices

In building strong networks, it is important to be constantly curious and active in exploring new ideas and ways of working in your current field of expertise—and then being willing to help, reach out and learn from others who are going through the same goals or aspiring to work with the same values. I believe that only through connecting with others and being generous with our knowledge can we have hope in uplifting the quality of the OD and HR profession so that practices across organizations can genuinely improve the quality of life and work conditions of employees across countries and communities. After all, organizational development is as fast and fleeting as the social environment by which humans themselves operate in and doing it with intent and meaning allows us to stay grounded in the core principles that sustain genuine engagement and fulfillment despite change.