Change Management Project - Dryburgh Footwear Company - Case Study Example

Change Management Project Name: Tutor: Course: Date: Change management project: Dryburgh Footwear Company 1. Location/role within the structure I am the external change management consultant for Dryburgh Footwear Company. My role is to formulate, investigate, comment and advise on the various issues affecting the firm in terms of competitiveness and profitability. The company has been experiencing management issues involving human resources, operations and top management that require change management programs to transform the company in the marketplace. As companies in the clothing, footwear and textile industry experience seasonal fluctuations in productivity, sales and human resource, it is critical that organizational change is embraced. As a change management consultant, I am concerned about systems, processes, people, machines and work environment and how all these facets co-exist in an organization. Specifically, this role will transition the organization, teams and individuals by re-directing modes of operation, budget allocation, business processes and use of resources. 2. Identification of issues and forces Dryburgh’s personnel officer, Bill Brown, is concerned about some issues that tend to bog the company from achieving its organizational goals and objectives. These are; employee turnover and absenteeism, production methods and processes, management style, and the quality of human resource. Employee turnover and absenteeism: Dryburgh has one of the highest employee turnover and absenteeism cases in the industry. While absenteeism was in excess of 4.5 percent monthly, the turnover was going beyond the hundred percent rate. The direct costs associated with these were; low employee morale, re-direction of management time, increased rework and reduced quality and disruption of work flows as well as reduced productivity. The likely reasons for high turnover and absenteeism are; High number of female workers with children to attend to during working hours Work description not commensurate to pay and actual work completed Payment of minimum wage rate Biased or unfair weekly bonus payments Failure by management to recognize them as a valuable resource to the organization Weak worker unions To start with, Dryburgh Company human resource constitute a high number of female workers (75% of the workforce) aged between 30 and 33 years with young children. This implies that the employees will spend more time handling issues of their children such as sickness, school and play rather than concentrate on work. Second, employees are fewer than required number implying that they are not likely to meet the organizational expectations. Third, differential payment systems with some being paid the minimum award rates were not only discouraging but also discriminatory. Fourth, the weekly bonus systems de-motivated employees by being unfair and inconsistent. Complaints by employees to the management were ignored because their unions were weak. Finally, the management could not regard its shop-floor employees as an important asset thus failing to curb rampant turnover and absenteeism. Production methods and processes: Traditional shoe making processes tend to spent more time of the management in correcting poor quality work and rework. This left less time to listen to employee challenges and issues. Secondly, middle level supervisors were under constant pressure to meet product deadlines given the constant changes in production requirements. Thirdly, adoption of Just-In-Time (JIT) systems caused divisions among workers as some working as conventional work systems felt that those under JIT were being favored. Besides, the JIT system was partially operational in the organization. Fourthly, frequent machine breakdowns led to lowered efficiency and performance in subsequent processes. Fifthly, encouraging group bonus system limited specialization and skills honing in areas of expertise among employees. Management style: The defined organizational culture evident in the general manager, Greg Jackson, demonstrated the lack of will to empower employees and improve their job satisfaction levels. While the management is authoritarian and uncompassionate on employee work-life balance, there is often a popular belief among workers that the management is ‘taking them for a ride’. The management is not ready to negotiate terms of payment with workers, conditions of work and their levels of skills and qualifications to ensure they match their job description. Narrow pay differentials between work and pay did not motivate despite the one-year in-house training courses. Low-level employees and their immediate supervisors complained on continual pressure of tight deadlines giving less time to tackle employee issues and brainstorm areas requiring improvement. Management’s leaning towards JIT systems tend to be biased towards conventional employees as the former developed multiple skills, better wages and higher job status. 3. Implementing change at Dryburgh’s Footwear factory The primary focus of this plan is to create and implement change that maximizes employee engagement and resistance in order to reduce turnover and absenteeism. This will be done through higher proficiency on the changes, greater ultimate utilization and driving faster adoption. It is important that the top management led by Greg Jackson fully cooperate and own this change management plan to achieve the best business results. To start with, I will observe ethical behavior and professional rules of conduct when dealing with both employees and the management. To implement this change successfully and powerfully, it will be necessary to adopt the Kotter’s 8-step model (Kotter, 2008). This will be as shown in the table below. Step Description 1. Create urgency Dryburgh should urgently develop ‘buy into’ the need for change through a convincing and honest dialogue. I will develop scenarios and identifying potential threats, examining opportunities, starting honest discussion and requesting support from customers and industry people or stakeholders. 2. Form a powerful coalition The top management should not only manage but lead change through coalitions and teams with various expertise, job status and titles. The change coalition team will provide momentum and urgency for change. I intend to identify true leaders in the organization, ask for emotional commitment, and work on building teams and having a good mix of people from various levels and departments. 3. Creating vision for change A clear vision should be linked to people’s ideas and solutions. I will identify values central to change, create strategy to execute the vision and develop a short summary. 4. Communicate the vision The vision will need to be embedded by communicating it powerfully and frequently. This should not be only on special meetings but in every occasion. Leaders should demonstrate the behavior they want from other. I will prevail on Dryburgh’s management and employees to talk often about the change vision, address anxieties and concerns and apply the vision from performance reviews to trainings. 5. Remove obstacles Resistance to change should be eliminated. I will put in place change structures, continually check for barriers and empower people to execute the vision. I will identify the change leaders within Dryburgh to deliver change, scrutinize the compensation systems, job performance, job descriptions and the organizational structure. I will advocate for rewards and recognition of people making change. I will then recognize the people resisting change and help them to see the requirements. I will finally take action to remove barriers whether human or otherwise. 6. Create short-term barriers I will give Dryburgh a taste of victory early in the change process through quick wins such as staff satisfaction surveys, improved productivity and sales performance. I will go for cheap targets and analyze the pros and cons of each target. I will reward the people who help in meeting the targets. 7. Build on the change Real change should run deep. I will keep looking for improvements in employee commitment, satisfaction, and loyalty. I will analyze successes and what needs improvement such as employee skills and qualifications, gender sensitive recruitment and fair work systems. To continually build on momentum, the change processes will set short-term and long-term goals. I advocate for the idea of continuous improvement using Kaizen methodology. I will also suggest leaders for the change coalition and the need for new change agents. 8. Anchoring change into the corporate culture At the moment, the management of Dryburgh takes employees and production systems for granted. Showing value to all employees will be demonstrated in day-to-day work. Top management should continue supporting the change including new leaders and existing staff (Paton & McCalman, 2008). I will dwell on success stories about change and talk about the progress in every opportunity given. During training and hiring of new staff, the change values and ideals should be included. Members of the original change coalition will be publicly recognized. As we move on, I will create plans to replace key change leaders to liven their legacy. 4. Timetable for implementing change Activity Dec 2016-June 2017 July 2017-Dec 2017 Jan 2018 – June 2018 July 2018 – Dec 2018 Jan 2019 – June 2019 Start a discussion or dialogue with the general manager Interview key managerial employees, customers, suppliers and industry people Scrutinize the compensation systems, job performance, job descriptions and the organizational structure. Develop values central to change and create strategies Identify leaders for the change coalition and the need for new change agents Set short-term and long-term goals and targets Advocate for rewards and recognition of people making change. Recognize the people resisting change and help them to see the requirements. Develop vision and connective leadership behaviors for Drynburgh management Create continuous improvement using Kaizen methodology Continually monitory and evaluate top management support for change including their attitude towards new and existing staff Conduct employee satisfaction surveys Evaluate the results against the set goals and targets 5. Testing readiness for change The success of organizations in implementing change depends on their importance, magnitude and pace of improving their effectiveness. While extant theory considers the system-oriented or the macro-level, a micro-level or focus on individuals has gained momentum (Armenakis & Harris, 2002). Macro-level looks at the organization functions and how it can be changed as the micro-level looks for employee’s willingness to support change. In the Dryburgh case, two stages will be involved; macro-level indicators and individual level. At the organizational level, the enablers will be clear mandate, top leaderships, and pattern-breaking leadership behaviors and shared understanding (Burnes & Jackson, 2011). The barriers will be; top level decision-making, misalignment of evaluation, financial constraints, skills and qualifications and shift in core-business operations. At an individual level, the factors to be considered are; discrepancy, organizational valence, senior leadership support, personal valence and self-efficacy (Holt et al., 2007). On the other hand, the barriers are resistance to change such as short-term thinking, and emotional reaction and routine seek behavior. In the first level, top leadership at Dryburgh and clear mandate will ensure that high levels of management become powerful champions of change. There is need for sufficient legitimate power to enable the change. On pattern-breaking behavior, the traditional behavior patterns will need to be actively put aside, ignored or amended. Individuals should implement change innovatively, and seize, support and recognize opportunities. Top management and employees should have shared understanding of outcomes and objectives for effective implementation (Weiner, 2009). On decision-making, people involved in the change process should make some decisions based on legitimacy, skills and knowledge. Misalignment of evaluation to over-evaluate potential outcomes should be checked. This can drive the change into stagnation or in the wrong direction. There is need to check the attitude for individual readiness to organizational change at Dryburgh Company such as content, the process, context and the characteristics of the individuals being asked to change. Specific activities to capture these psychometric properties include; Comprehensive item development Administering questionnaires Item reduction Evaluating scale Replicating with an independent sample The factors at individual level will then be aligned with those at the organizational level. For example, content will be aligned with the organizational valence while the process will be aligned to management support. On the other hand, individual attributes such as personal valence and self-efficacy will be aligned with discrepancy so that micro-elements are mapped to macro-enablers. References Armenakis A.A. & Harris S.G. (2002). Crafting a Change Message to Create Transformational Readiness. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 15(2), 169-183. Burnes, B. & Jackson, P. (2011). Success and Failure in Organizational Change: An Exploration of the Role of Values. Journal of Change Management, 11(2): 133-162. Holt, D.T., Armenakis, A.A., Field, H.S. & Harris, S.G. (2007). Readiness for Organizational Change: The Systematic Development of a Scale. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 43(2), 232-55. Kotter, J.P. (2008). Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail. Harvard Business Review, 73(2): 59-67. Paton, R.A. & McCalman, J. (2008). Change Management: A Guide to Effective Implementation. 3 rd ed. London: Sage Publications Ltd. Weiner, B.J. (2009). A Theory of Organizational Readiness for Change. Implementation Science, 4(67): 450-456. Read More