Most organizations today are in a constant state of flux as they respond to the fast-moving external business environment, local and global economies, and technological advancement. This means that workplace processes, systems, and strategies must continuously change and evolve for an organization to remain competitive.
Change affects your most important asset, your people. Losing employees is costly due to the associated recruitment costs and the time involved getting new employees up to speed. Each time an employee walks out the door, essential intimate knowledge of your business leaves with them. A change management plan can support a smooth transition and ensure your employees are guided through the change journey. The harsh fact is that approximately 70 percent of change initiatives fail due to negative employee attitudes and unproductive management behavior.
Using the services of a professional change management consultant could ensure you are in the winning 30 percent. In this article, Pulse Learning presents six key steps to effective organizational change management.
It might seem obvious but many organizations miss this first vital step. This step can also assist you to determine the value of the change, which will quantify the effort and inputs you should invest. Once you know exactly what you wish to achieve and why, you should then determine the impacts of the change at various organizational levels. Review the effect on each business unit and how it cascades through the organizational structure to the individual.
This information will start to form the blueprint for where training and support is needed the most to mitigate the impacts. Although all employees should be taken on the change journey, the first two steps will have highlighted those employees you absolutely must communicate the change to. Determine the most effective means of communication for the group or individual that will bring them on board.
The communication strategy should include a timeline for how the change will be incrementally communicated, key messages, and the communication channels and mediums you plan to use. Training could include a suite of micro-learning online modules, or a blended learning approach incorporating face-to-face training sessions or on-the-job coaching and mentoring. Providing a support structure is essential to assist employees to emotionally and practically adjust to the change and to build proficiency of behaviors and technical skills needed to achieve desired business results.
Some change can result in redundancies or restructures, so you could consider providing support such as counseling services to help people navigate the situation. To help employees adjust to changes to how a role is performed, a mentorship or an open-door policy with management to ask questions as they arise could be set up.
Throughout the change management process, a structure should be put in place to measure the business impact of the changes and ensure that continued reinforcement opportunities exist to build proficiencies. You should also evaluate your change management plan to determine its effectiveness and document any lessons learned.
Is your business going through a period of organizational change? Pulse Learning can assist in managing the change process to meet business goals and minimize the associated impacts. Pulse Learning is an award-winning global learning provider experienced in change management consultancy and developing engaging and innovative eLearning and blended training solutions.
Other access options You may be able to access this content by logging in via your Emerald profile. Rent this content from DeepDyve. Rent from DeepDyve. If you think you should have access to this content, click to contact our support team. Contact us. Please note you do not have access to teaching notes. Other access options You may be able to access teaching notes by logging in via your Emerald profile. Abstract Purpose In recent years, the concept of the high-performance organization HPO has gained interest among organizations seeking to outperform their competitors and ensure business continuance.
Findings The research results show that 75 per cent of the applied change interventions were either effective or very effective. Four categories of important obstacles are: Formal structures that make it difficult for employees to act.
A lack of needed skills. Personnel or information systems. Supervisors who discourage actions toward implementing the new vision. Another model for organizational change includes a four-phase change management process: Define —Align expectations regarding the scope of the change as well as timing and business impact.
Plan —Understand how the change will impact stakeholders and design a strategy to help them navigate it. Implement —Engage with leaders and associates to execute the change. Sustain —Work with leaders and employees to track adoption and drive lasting change.
Overcoming Common Obstacles Encountered in Implementing Change Organizations can have a clear vision for changes and a technically and structurally sound foundation for making changes, but the initiatives can still flounder due to obstacles that arise. Employee resistance Successful change starts with individuals, and failure often occurs because of human nature and reluctance to change.
Some actions to build employee change readiness include: Developing and cascading strong senior sponsorship for people-focused work. In the absence of visible sponsorship, leaders should build alliances, meet business needs and promote wins. Developing tools and information for front-line supervisors and managers. Organizations should involve them early—train them, prepare them and communicate regularly.
Coaching employees to help them adapt and thrive during change. Rewarding desired behaviors and outcomes with both tangible and intangible rewards. Relying on insights from both those in the field and subject-matter experts. Communication breakdown Sometimes decisions about major organizational changes are made at the top management level and then trickle down to employees.
To avoid communication breakdowns, change leaders and HR professionals should be aware of five change communication methodologies—from those that provide the greatest amount of information to those that provide the least: "Spray and pray. The theory is that more information equates to better communication and decision-making.
Employees are passive receivers, and feedback is not necessary. Managers listen for potential misunderstandings and obstacles. This strategy is generally the most effective. This strategy emphasizes listening to employees; they set the agenda, while executives respond to rumors and innuendoes. Secrecy and control are implicit. The assumption is that employees are not sophisticated enough to grasp the big picture. Some of the specific communication pitfalls and possible remedies for them are the following: The wrong messengers are used.
Studies have found that employees tend to trust information from managers. Understanding the organization's culture will dictate who is the best messenger for change—the manager, the senior executive team or HR.
The change is too sudden. Leaders and managers need to prepare employees for change, allow time for the message to sink in and give them an opportunity to provide feedback before a change is initiated. Communication is not aligned with business realities.
Messages should be honest and include the reasons behind the change and the projected outcomes. Communication is too narrow. If the communication focuses too much on detail and technicalities and does not link change to the organization's goals, it will not resonate with employees.
Other obstacles Employee resistance and communication breakdowns are not the only barriers that stand in the way of successful change efforts. Other common obstacles include: Insufficient time devoted to training about the change. Staff turnover during the transition.
Excessive change costs. An unrealistic change implementation timeline. Insufficient employee participation in voluntary training. Downturn in the market or the economy. Change management experts have suggested that unsuccessful change initiatives are often characterized by the following: Being too top-down. Executives relate their vision of what the end result of the change initiative should be, but do not give direction or communication on how the managers should make the change happen.
Being too "big picture. Being too linear. Managers work the project plan from start to finish without making even necessary adjustments. Being too insular. Most organizations do not seek outside help with change initiatives, but businesses may need objective external input or assistance to accomplish major changes.
Mergers and acquisitions A merger is generally defined as the joining of two or more organizations under one common ownership and management structure. Devising ways to meld the two organizations most effectively, efficiently and humanely for the various stakeholders. This process entails coordinating separation and severance pay issues between the combining organizations. Addressing the ethical dilemmas involved, such as when an HR professional may be required to eliminate his or her own position or that of a co-worker or an HR counterpart in the combined organization.
Downsizing Successfully implementing a layoff or reduction in force RIF is one of the more difficult change initiatives an HR professional may face. Tasks HR professionals will need to undertake include: Planning thoroughly.
Each step in the process requires careful planning, considering alternatives, selecting employees to be laid off, communicating the layoff decision, handling layoff documentation and dealing with post-layoff considerations. Applying diversity concepts. HR should form a diverse team to define layoff criteria and make layoff selections.
Addressing the needs of the laid-off. This step involves reviewing severance policies, outplacement benefits, unemployment eligibility and reference policies. Dealing with the emotional impact.
HR professionals should understand and prepare for the emotional impact of layoffs on the downsized employees and their families, on the managers making layoff decisions, on other HR professionals involved, and on remaining employees and managers working with the post-layoff workforce.
In some situations, an HR professional may even be responsible for implementing his or her own layoff, a case calling for the utmost in professional behavior. Managing the post-layoff workforce. See Managing Downsizing by Means of Layoffs and Drive Team Performance Using Organizational Transformation Bankruptcy Filing for a business bankruptcy and successfully emerging from the process is generally a complex and difficult time for all parties.
Closing a business operation Businesses make the difficult decision to close all or part of their operations for many reasons, including economic recession, market decline, bankruptcy, sale, a realignment of operations, downsizing, reorganization, outsourcing or loss of contracts.
Some of HR's major responsibilities during this type of organizational change are listed below: Following facility-closing notification laws. HR must determine whether and to what extent the business must comply with notification requirements under federal or state laws for mass layoff and facility closings. HR will also lead the announcement process and participate in all aspects of employee communications, which may include all-employee meetings, written announcements and media interviews.
Announcing the closure news. HR has an important role to play in anticipating and responding to workforce reactions by having as much information and resources on hand as possible. To avoid hostilities or other destructive behavior, HR should consider using an employee assistance program or an outplacement firm.
Providing employee benefits information. After the shock of the announcement subsides, the most frequently asked questions involve benefits, including unemployment compensation, health care continuation, pension plan issues, and retirement plan distributions and rollovers. Coordinating outplacement services. Offering outplacement services for departing employees may enable business owners and managers to provide much-needed support and protect the organization's reputation.
If financially feasible, the organization may offer departing employees outplacement services from a private outplacement consulting firm or, in some states, a state agency. Negotiating with unions. In unionized facilities, employers have a duty to bargain about the effects of a business closure decision. These negotiations typically involve assistance benefits, seniority issues, pension plan issues and employment opportunities at facilities not affected by the closure.
Costing the closure. Anticipating the costs of a business closure is critical from an early stage of the process and will fall heavily on HR. This procedure involves assessing the cost of winding down employee benefits, assistance benefits, payroll and administrative costs, severance payments, union demands, unresolved employee claims or charges, security precautions, and any closing notification penalties.
Disposing of company property. HR should know the organization's policy for disposal of company property and respond to employees' requests for office furniture, equipment, machinery and other tangible business assets. If the business does not sell or transfer assets or is not in debt to creditors, HR may help determine whether to give items to employees, community groups, schools or other potential recipients. Complying with legal requirements. Numerous legal issues surround the closing of a business.
Depending on the number of employees and the employer's commitments to employee benefits programs, legal compliance may require following closing-notification requirements, sending out COBRA notices and termination letters, issuing final paychecks, making any required severance payments and communicating unemployment compensation. HR must know how to comply with the laws and avoid litigation risks.
Outsourcing For several reasons, including cost savings and freeing staff to focus on more strategic efforts, an organization may decide to outsource HR or other business functions.
When deciding whether to outsource, an organization should carefully consider questions about its needs in a particular functional area, current processes, business plan and outsourcing options, including: Does the situation merit outsourcing? Is the department providing excellent service with existing staff and processes?
Is it meeting the organization's needs? Can the affected department handle outsourcing without disrupting operations? Will the CEO and top management team support and pay for an outside vendor?
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