Aiding the Management of Change - Research Proposal Example

Managing Change Introduction The ability of an organisation to manage change is becoming more important especially in an environment where businesses face more pressure than they did a few years ago. Organisations are facing competition not just from local and domestic competitors, but from international competitors as well (Eriksson and Sundgren 2004, Found et al 2005, Online Executives 2006). For example, the electronics industry will undoubtedly face competition from China, India and South East Asia, as more work is outsourced to these regions. Domestic organisations also find it difficult to adapt to this change because of the stricter legislation they face in terms of operating procedures, employment rights and corporate governance, factors that tend to be absent or implemented to a minimum in developing countries ((Eriksson and Sundgren 2004, Found et al 2005, Online Executives 2006)). A survey conducted in 2002 (Online Executives 2006) highlighted that the main driver for change was increased competition, however, most domestic businesses have adapted to this by adopting similar processes and acquiring the necessary technology. However in 2006, the survey was repeated and found that the main driver for change was the desire to increase efficiency. This is indicative of an environment that is becoming difficult to control and predict, and has made planning and strategy on a short term basis. The need for efficiency is not confined to one industry but rather applies to all businesses, and this has resulted in a number of change management initiatives that are designed to increase efficiency, reduce costs, restructure the organisation, and become more competitive and to make the business more innovative. However, by increasing efficiency, reducing costs and restructuring the organisation, most businesses are directly impacting on employees as these drivers will have a negative impact on jobs. These drivers often result in redundancies and the key to a successful change management initiative will lie in an organisation's ability to handle and communicate to its employees (Chin and Benne 1968). Failure to communicate and implement change management to employees will make the initiative susceptible to failure through reduced morale from the remaining employees (Chin and Benne 1968, Scott 2005), which in turn will affect the manner in how customers are treated, which in turn will affect the organisations competitiveness. This implies that change management is not about changing physical attributes, but rather it is about managing the process of it, which includes people management. This paper will briefly look at the factors responsible for both successful and disastrous change management initiatives, and it will also look at how culture and commitment, leadership and downsizing can be managed for change. These three areas have been selected as they have a direct influence of employees and their morale. Change management initiatives It is estimated that up to 70% of change management initiatives fail to meet their objectives (Lawrie 2000, Scott 2005). This high failure rate is said to be attributed to the lack of a vision which explains the necessity of the change, the lack of effective and consistent information, the lack of adequate preparation and conditioning, and the lack of a thorough and lasting implementation process (Lawrie 2000, Scott 2005). Successful change management initiatives communicate the reasons why change is required, and in some cases these organisations would have had a history of communicating well with their employees (Scott 2005). Employees need to be aware of any environmental factors and issues that could or will have an impact on their employment. Failure often results when employees believe that the management was aware of these issues for some time and did not give the employees enough time to assess their options (Lawrie 2000, Scott 2005). Effective and consistent information is also important because in cases where change is implemented to improve efficiency in the production process or service delivery process, employees will need to be informed (Lawrie 2000, Scott 2005). The importance is also reliant on the fact that employees are aware of and familiar with the ground-level and customer requirements, and therefore any changes in such processes and procedures should ultimately involve their input. One of the main fears in the manufacturing industry in particular has been the introduction of automated machinery where employees end up not feeling valued because management have made it clear that their skills and experience present negatively in terms of reporting profit and expenditure levels. For instance, it is not uncommon for employees to be of the belief that management want to pay themselves more money, hence the need for a robotic workforce that does not have the ability to make similar demands. Another example of change gone wrong, is that of the Rover Car Group, where workers were made redundant over efficiency issues and they were not consulted. This practice differed to that of Toyota, where employees incorporated quality management processes which involved a significant amount of communication. This demonstrates the importance of communication in any organisation, as communication will aid adequate preparation and conditioning of the employees. By having regular meetings with employees on the shop-floor, current environmental trends can be translated into something that can be understood by employees. If employees understand these drivers, they will probably be more likely to accept the fact that change is inevitable, and in some cases they may offer some valuable suggestions (Eriksson and Sundgren 2004). Communication is also important in this operating environment as it is unstable and liable to change at any moment. Such environments will usually demand that organisations are structured in such a way that they can adapt with a minimum impact on their employees and operations to the new status quo. One example of this can be found in the retail banking sector, where customers have seen the introduction of services that allow them to add funds to their mobile phones, make payments using their mobile phones and the ability to access the bank virtually. These services are in direct response to changes in the customer market and to competitors. This may slightly be more difficult for manufacturing organisations; however, the keys to success ultimately lie in conditioning employees to think like their counterparts in the service sector. Another example of where preparation and conditioning has publicly been used has been in the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK. The main change management initiative in this organisation has been that of the restructuring of salaries and remuneration methods. Employees where prepared and conditioned over a period of approximately 3 years, as discussions and negotiations were publicised and information made available. Employees were able to prepare themselves for the inevitable, and some probably even left the organisation prior to the full implementation of this initiative, however the point is this change management process was not alien to employees and efforts were made to educate and inform employees on what these changes would mean for them. Despite this, some employees were still not happy with these changes but this is more likely to have been a resistance to change, and not the initiative. Implementing change management initiatives will always be fraught with problems, and it is the management's responsibility to provide a lasting implementation process which will enable them to deal effectively with employee concerns and needs as they adapt to the new situation. So despite the preparation and conditioning period, employees will still need time to adapt to change, and get rid of old behaviours and cultures (Kotter 1995, den Herteg and Man 2001). If we take the example of the NHS again, implementation was done in various stages which involved a pilot phase. The pilot phase tested the initiative in a handful of Trusts and problems picked up from these Trusts were incorporated into the final implementation plans. Even with the implementation, human resources departments were given the responsibilities of addressing and resolving employee concerns and issues, with regards to job security and remuneration. Another example of implementation within the NHS involves the introduction of measures to stem unnecessary deaths from the deadly bacteria known as MRSA. The lasting implementation process involved the installation of sterile hand wash units by patient beds and ward entrances, as well as restricting access to patient areas. What this demonstrates is that for a change management initiative to work the organisations has got to provide resources to enable the change process to work (Kotter 1995, den Herteg and Man 2001). For instance, change management will fail if employees are not consulted, especially for suggestions that would compliment this change (Kotter 1995, den Herteg and Man 2001). There is no doubt that the placing of sterile hand wash units by patient bed sides and entry areas came from health professionals and not management. The factors responsible for the success and/or failure of change management initiatives all incorporate leadership, downsizing and culture issues and successful change management initiatives aim to incorporate all of these issues. Aiding the management of change There are a number of models and theories that can be used by organisations to help them manage change. There is a theory developed by Roethlisberger (Kotter 1995, Lawrie 2000) which explains how individuals interpret a change situation. This theory suggests that an individual's attitude to change and their response is likely to be influenced by their perception of change. This perception is then largely responsible for creating a resistance to change, as the individual will only anticipate the negative such as the loss of security and/or status, inconvenience, and distrust or uncertainty. These perceptions seem to stem from a lack of communication initially as the consequences of change are clearly unknown. In order to reduce the occurrence of these negative perceptions, Roethlisberger (Kotter 1995, Lawrie 2000) suggested that organisations should do all they can to reduce the level of uncertainty as this will help to reduce resistance to change. This theory also highlights the role of leadership in a change management initiative, as uncertainty and distrust will stem from a lack of suitable information sources for individuals to turn to. Lewin (1947) suggested a 3-stage process of implementing change which involved unfreezing old attitudes, introducing change and re-freezing attitudes around the new approach. This process clearly seeks to address the issue of culture and commitment, as this these two issues are instrumental for the success of change management. For instance, a change from a closed-door policy to an open-door policy represents a major challenge to individual culture equilibriums; which calls for a structured process to change management initiative. Unfreezing old attitudes prepares employees for change, by introducing a dialog with employees which serves the purpose of communicating change (Lewin 1947). Employees need to be given sufficient time to adjust their culture and commitment to the organisation and by doing this some employees may actually decide they cannot conform to the intended change, resulting in voluntary and amicable resignations. This will also reduce the negative effects of downsizing as employees will not feel that they are being targeted in the interests of maintaining profits. Change management initiatives also require leadership guidance on the reasons for change, as employees will be keen to find out what benefits they will get from this change, and if the benefits focus on the leadership, then this will create feelings of distrust and resentment (Lewin 1947). Visible leadership is also important because employees will be looking to see culture changes in management, and the most effective way of leading is by example. If employees witness their managers and supervisors implementing and adhering to this change, then they are likely to play their part (Lyneham-Brown 2001). This highlights the role of leadership during a change management initiative, as effective leadership will be able to address communication, personal desires, anxiety and hidden agendas, factors which are important to reduce resistance to change (Chin and Benne 1968, Kotter 1995, Lawrie 2000, Lyneham-Brown 2001). Employees tend to watch leaders for any signs, and employees will only comply with what credible leaders tell them (Chin and Benne 1968, Kotter 1995, Lawrie 2000, Lyneham-Brown 2001), hence the importance of selecting the right change champion. An effective leader will understand the wider context of change and will be able to explain it effectively to employees. Too often change is explained in terms that employees cannot relate to (Chin and Benne 1968, Kotter 1995, Lawrie 2000, Lyneham-Brown 2001), for example, profit and investment levels, when employees would really prefer to have information on how the change will impact on them directly. An effective leader will communicate the change vision with commitment and passion to employees and this helps in making employees believe that change will impact on them positively (Chin and Benne 1968, Kotter 1995, Lawrie 2000, Lyneham-Brown 2001). Once again this goes back to the point that employees are constantly watching their leaders for signs. If a leader shows weakness or doubt, then employees will not buy into the change management process (Chin and Benne 1968, Kotter 1995, Lawrie 2000, Lyneham-Brown 2001). Commitment and passion also introduces the scope to bring the ideas to life and to get employees to engage with the process, and this can only be done by listening to employee concerns, comments and suggestions (Chin and Benne 1968, Kotter 1995, Lawrie 2000, Lyneham-Brown 2001) as this shows that the organisation is showing an interest in their thoughts, which most employees would not expect. Effective leaders will also treat employees with respect by recognising their achievements, encouraging their contributions and showing appreciation (Chin and Benne 1968, Kotter 1995, Lawrie 2000, Lyneham-Brown 2001), and by doing this, an organisation will often be able to persuade employees to subscribe to the change management initiative without resorting to authoritative measures. Other qualities of an effective leader include the following: setting and sticking to high standards, taking ownership of issues and ensuring resolution, encouraging individual development, instilling self-belief in people, giving constructive feedback and building high performance teams (Chin and Benne 1968, Kotter 1995, Lawrie 2000, Lyneham-Brown 2001). All these qualities are valued by employees as they contribute to making them feel valued and a part of the organisation. Therefore organisations need to be aware of how interlinked culture, downsizing and leadership are in contributing to the change management process. Culture is important as this is what the consumers will see, and any changes are likely to affect the business in the long term (Chin and Benne 1968, Kotter 1995, Lawrie 2000, Lyneham-Brown 2001). For instance, if employees suffer a significant downturn in morale, then this will be picked up by consumers as bad service or bad products. When an organisation undergoes change it needs to realise that it is changing its culture as well, and individuals need sufficient time to determine if they are able to adopt this new culture. This is where the importance of unfreezing and freezing comes in (Lewin 1947), as it provides a platform for individuals to re-align themselves to the organisation. The process of communicating change to employees is crucial in the early stages of the change management initiative, as this will reduce the negative effects of downsizing (Chin and Benne 1968, Kotter 1995, Lawrie 2000, Lyneham-Brown 2001). If employees feel they cannot conform to the new change, then they may decided to voluntarily resign from the organisation, and this way the organisation retails employees that committed to the organisation and adopting the new culture. Employees often associate change with downsizing, however downsizing will reduce the capability of a business to survive as it results in the loss of skilled and motivated staff. Downsizing also reduces an organisation's ability to sustain growth, its ability to sustain improvements in efficiency, and a finite lifecycle (Lyneham-Brown 2001). In terms of leadership, effective leadership is required to manage culture and commitment, which contribute to the probability of downsizing. Organisations should always strive to reduce downsizing, by only limiting it to redundant processes and procedures, however, this can be successfully achieved by communicating the change to employees (Chin and Benne 1968, Kotter 1995, Lawrie 2000, Lyneham-Brown 2001). Implementing a successful change management process In order to avoid change management initiative failures organisations need to adopt the 6-step process for effective change (Kotter 1995, Froud et al 2005, Scott 2005). The first step of this process is establishing a clear direction and presenting a compelling case and a sense of urgency (Kotter 1995, Froud et al 2005, Scott 2005). This step is considered to be the most important step and it tends to take place over several weeks or months, and the main concern will be to create a sense of urgency without stressing individuals (Kotter 1995, Froud et al 2005, Scott 2005). This sense of urgency is generally created by communicating through formal processes, as well as making employees understand the timescale involved (Kotter 1995, Froud et al 2005, Scott 2005). Timescale is important as it has to be reasonable and practical to employees. There is no point in having a change process that could take up to 10 years to complete, as the sense of urgency is not present and employees will not make an effort to find out about the change. The second step involves establishing a clear ownership and leadership of the change management initiative (Kotter 1995, Froud et al 2005, Scott 2005). This involves setting up a leadership team that report to a manager on the progress of the process (Kotter 1995, Froud et al 2005, Scott 2005). A leadership team will also establish guiding principles which will be visible to all in the organisation, and explain the issue to all (Kotter 1995, Froud et al 2005, Scott 2005). More over the team and management have to be seen as being unified and representing a common goal. If employees can detect any rifts or disagreements within this team then this will contribute to resistance within the organisation. The team will also consist of a leader who will be recognised for championing the new culture. Ownership is important for change management initiatives as this will define the start and finish of the change management process (Kotter 1995, Froud et al 2005, Scott 2005). This corresponds with the fact that having a timeline is important. Ownership also includes giving employees a part of the process to own, and this is known as the RACI approach which stands for Responsibility, Accountability, Consult and Inform (Kotter 1995, Froud et al 2005, Scott 2005). Responsibility entails sharing tasks for the change management process, for example with the NHS Agenda for Change, employees were encouraged to contribute by evaluating their jobs as management could not undertake this role as they were not doing the jobs. However, with responsibility the organisation has to be clear about what tasks are being delegated, how they will be delegated and who will be responsible for them (Kotter 1995, Froud et al 2005, Scott 2005). This introduces accountability, and when individuals feel accountable they will be less likely to resist the change. Consulting and informing will involve consultation sessions with employees before any major decisions are made that will impact directly on them (Kotter 1995, Froud et al 2005, Scott 2005). Consulting and informing will also give the organisation the opportunity to take feedback which may or may not have been initially considered. The third step is communicating the case for change early and often (Kotter 1995, Froud et al 2005, Scott 2005). The main driver for resistance to change has to be employees being notified later on in the process when important decisions have been made without their consultation. For example, the car plant closures in the UK where characterised by employees not being aware their organisation was due to be taken over or merged with another organisation. In some cases these changes resulted in job losses and employees only being notified months before the intended redundancy deadline. Communication is paramount to the success of change management initiatives because it can also be the biggest barrier to change in the way of poor communication. Poor communication tends to occur when employees do not understand or feel that no efforts have been made to make them understand any concerns (Kotter 1995, Froud et al 2005, Scott 2005). The fourth step is creating and maintaining a workable change plan that includes major tasks to be completed, deliverables, timeline, task delegation, risk assessment and logistical issues (Kotter 1995, Froud et al 2005, Scott 2005). This step more or less represents the theory being change management, which involves organising human resources and physical capital to enable change. Or example in the NHS, this also involved changing the selection and recruitment process to enable the smooth running of the initiative. This step will also involve training and development for those managing the change management initiative (Kotter 1995, Froud et al 2005, Scott 2005), as single largest source for resistance and/or failure will come from employees, and therefore all individuals involved in the change management initiative will need to be appropriately qualified and trained to manage individuals during a change process. By focusing on the planning the organisation so that employee concerns are considered, the team will be able to ascertain some alternatives to some tasks (Kotter 1995, Froud et al 2005, Scott 2005). For instance, if one of the objectives was to make a portion of the workforce redundant then consultation with staff may reveal that some employees may be eligible for re-training in another area, which would reduce the number of jobs up for redundancies. Examples of this will include retraining data entry clerks to validate data or training machinery operatives in the ways of quality management and techniques so as to add value to their jobs. Failure to consider all alternatives, even when they seem ludicrous will probably only result in high levels of redundancies which will in turn result in reduced morale and a poor organisational identity in the competitive environment. The fifth step is about empowering broad based action, which helps to maintain and measure progress during the change management initiative (Kotter 1995, Froud et al 2005, Scott 2005). This ties in with creating a sense of urgency as this step involves ensuring a lasting benefit has been made clear to employees. This can be created by involving employees in the change management initiative as they more involvement is likely when employees feel that they have a direct impact on helping to shape the outcome. This does not have to be complicated and instead can involve minor tasks such as researching options and costs, or suggesting improvements and having at least one of those improvements implemented. By involving employees in the initiative, the organisation will be able to foster the perception of trust and empowerment amongst the workforce (Kotter 1995, Froud et al 2005, Scott 2005). Another important factor to consider with this step is that the leadership and/or change management team need to set up measurement process with clear targets (Kotter 1995, Froud et al 2005, Scott 2005), as this will enforce a sense of permanence for employees. So for example, if a certain number of employees have volunteered for a certain task, then should be recognised. If a department or team have come up with a suggestion, then this should be shared throughout the organisation so that other employees become familiar with the tasks that are expected of them. By recognising efforts other employees will start to identify these individuals as they will be modelling good leadership behaviours (Kotter 1995, Froud et al 2005, Scott 2005). The final step is similar to Lewin's (1947) model which involves establishing the new culture or in this case anchoring a new approach. This stage is the most important stage as the true success of any change management initiative will rest on its ability to establish the new culture and how visible this is to consumers and employees (Kotter 1995, Froud et al 2005, Scott 2005). For example, this can be achieved though various mechanisms, some of which include the continuous reinforcement of the shared vision, encouraging and recognising reinforcing behaviours, celebrating as a team, realistic and challenging goals and objectives and a strong sense of unity (Kotter 1995, Froud et al 2005, Scott 2005). For instance, in the IT industry, such reinforcement could mean replacing all hardware to make sure that all employees are using the new specifications and are reinforcing change through its continued use. Conclusion Change management initiatives are notorious for their high failure results, and more resources are being dedicated to rectify this as change management is a process which requires planning and coordination. Change management initiatives fail for a variety of reasons, which include the absence of a sense of direction, and employees end up perceiving change as being a back-handed approach to downsizing staff. These negative perceptions are also indicative of the lack of communication and consultation which are essential for promoting inclusiveness and involvement. The absence of these factors only serves to foster resistance to the change management initiative. Failure also results from employees not understanding what change means to them and the impact on their life and work. Change represents a long term continuous process and is not a one-off programme. Employees need to be able to understand how this will affect them in the long-term. However, despite its long term outlook, employees also need to have a defined timescale to adjust their perceptions and attitudes. If the timescale is too long, then employees will lose interest and have the perception that the change is not serious and not permanent. Further more most change management initiatives fail because organisations fail to present clear picture of ownership of the change management process. This making available the details of the individual approving the project, the individual managing the change process and the people involved in implementing this change. Ownership also helps in aiding communication and involvement with employees, which helps to reduce any resistance to change (Browne 2006). References Browne, N. (2006) "Leading Change - Guidelines for Managers" Version 7 - 24th June 2006, Manager of Organisational Development. The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen. Chin, R. and Benne, K.D. (1968). "General strategies for effecting changes in human systems". In: W.G. Bennis, K.D. Benne & R. Chin (Eds.). The planning of change, 2nd ed. London: Holt, Rhinehart & Winston. 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