Recent Changes in the Workplace of Tesco - Assignment Example

Faculty of Business Environment and Society Table of Contents Introduction 3 Tesco & Change Management 4 Causes of Change-Hypocrisy 4 Critical Evaluation of the Causes Identified 7 Recommendations for Change Management Methodology 9 Conclusion 11 References 12 Introduction It is a universal fact that change is one of the most constant events on going in the lives of people. It has its extensive presence in every domain of the society. A change can be referred as a particular process that is executed with the intention to bring positive transformations within a particular business domain. As apparent, the aspect of change is quite extensively present in the domain of modern day business, which is seen as an integral part for operations of companies. In the modern day, business context changes have emerged as an important facet of the overall operational process of companies, irrespective of their industrial context (Hiatt & Creasey, 2003). In any sector, with the increasing competitiveness of the market and changing nature of customers’ demand, change has become crucial up to a larger extent (Kramar & Syed, 2012). It will also be crucial to mention that a change in any business sector is initiated with the assistance of a systematic process that is planned and executed in an efficient manner altogether. However, it is often seen that changes are welcomed in organsaitions in a collective manner, which further affects the potential effectiveness of the proposed change. There might be various reasons that develop reluctance in employees with regard to the initiation of change within the organisations (Briscoe, Schuler & Tarique, 2012). To get a conceptual understanding in this context, this particular discussion will mainly focus on analysing some recent changes in the workplace of Tesco along with comprehending the causes for their reluctance to change. The discussion will also emphasise depicting a set of recommendations to the company so that it can mitigate the resistant factors amid the employees that results in the reluctance to change. Tesco & Change Management Tesco Plc is recognised as one of the leading players in the international retail sector in terms of its operational experiences as well as scale of operations worldwide. One of the major driving factors that have ensured unparalleled operational success for the company over the years is its effective approach towards dealing with the external environment (Tesco, 2014). Notably, change, as depicted above, is one of the most important aspects associated with the operations of any particular business. It is quite a stable approach in business and it rarely changes over the period. Contextually, Tesco is also aware of the constant changing nature of the external environment, which further encourages it to change its business functions accordingly to align its internal competencies with the external business environment. Change is being experienced in Tesco owing to various aspects. Recent trends portray that most of the changes in the workplace of Tesco is largely owing to the declining performance of the business unit in the recent times. Changes were also initiated in the workplace of Tesco with the intention to mitigate with the performance gap existing within the operations of the company. Besides, the company is also associated with constant changes in the domain of adopting latest and advanced technologies in its business operations (Daily mail reporter, 2010). Hence, it is quite apparent that change is one of the most frequent approaches adopted by Tesco’s management and has helped the performance of the company in a favourable manner altogether. Causes of Change-Hypocrisy As depicted previously, change is one of the most important aspects associated with any particular business unit. This is because of the fact that change is conducted in any sort of business with the intention to deal with the changing nature of the market and demands of the customers and other challenges associated with any business. Correspondingly, change in operations and other business activities has become one of the integral parts of Tesco’s business environment. The company is known to be quite responsive towards the changing nature of the business and strategize its move accordingly. In this regard, one of the examples of changes in the workplace of Tesco will be the approach of the company towards making its shops entirely based on the self-service domain. Notably, this is one of the most significant changes undertaken in Tesco during the last decade (Daily Mail Reporter, 2010). As per the concept, the company aimed at developing its shops entirely on a self-service basis with less number of human assistance required in the same. With this particular approach of the business, the number of employees or human resources working in the checkout sections of the shops will be minimized considerably. This might act as a potential factor that could result in change hypocrisy in the workplace of Tesco. In this regard, there are several aspects or causes owing to which change resistance amid the employees or the organisational structure might arise when implementing this particular concept developed by Tesco’s management. For instance, with the emergence of this particular concept in the workplace of Tesco, the employees working in the checkout sections might also get reduced, which might also result in inhibiting the workplace conditions in a negative manner. This will further result in maximum dissatisfaction amid the employees associated with the operations of the company. Therefore, issues of dissatisfaction amid the employees in the workplace of Tesco might act as a potential cause for change resistance against the change implementation concept applied by the management to develop self-service shops for the business (Daily Mail Reporter, 2010). It has also been noted that this particular change concept developed by the management of Tesco is not going well with the interests and demands of the customers. However, it is forecasted that the change will be quite beneficial for the customers, as they will not have the need to stand in queue to pay their bills or make payments for the purchase they made in the shops of Tesco. However, reports suggest that many of the customers find this approach of Tesco to raise the complexity of purchases of the customers in its retail shops. Since the concept is deemed quite new for the customers, they might find it difficult to understand while they purchase from the shops of Tesco and thus, hinder sales prospects. In this context, it is quite apparent that the dissatisfaction of the customers might also act as a potential barrier towards implementing the change in Tesco. This is a potential cause for change hypocrisy in the workplace of Tesco, where the business structure or the type of business does not totally support the change initiated or proposed by the management of the business. Another example of change in the recent times in Tesco will be restructuring of the entire business to deal with the declining performance of the company in the recent times. Notably, the overall performance of the retail giant, in the recent past, has seen a considerable decline, which has further impacted the overall reputation of the company in the global scenario. Contextually, the internal management of the company has emerged with the approach of restructuring the entire business within which, a large number of job responsibilities has been changed. The company made a comprehensive changed amid its senior management employees and middle level managers in almost more than 50 job positions. Notably, some of the top-level executives of the company such as Roger Fogg (‘Chief Executive of Tesco Mobile”) and Ian Crook (“Marketing Director for Tesco’s Club card Loyalty Scheme”) were made redundant as per the restructuring program implemented in Tesco. In this regard, certain aspects of change hypocrisy might arise in Tesco (Butler, 2013). Notably, since a large number of employees are being repositioning in their current job roles as a measure of the restructuring process, the other employees in the workplace emerge with the question on whether this change will impact them negatively in the long run (Swaim, 2011). Therefore, fear of uncertainty amid the employees is a potential cause that might act as change hypocrisy for this particular change concept of Tesco. Another aspect that must be taken into consideration in this regard is the threat to power or the influence of the employees. It is known that employees in the workplace get influenced from the approaches of the management to other organisational workers. Contextually, for this particular restructuring program, the management is deemed to make several noteworthy changes in the employees and their role in the workplace (Felsted, 2013). This aspect might hinder the determination of the employees, which might further result in change hypocrisy. Critical Evaluation of the Causes Identified From the above discussion, several potential causes have been determined with regard to the aspect of change hypocrisy that might arise against the recent changes initiated in the workplace of Tesco to deal with the constantly declining performance of the company since the recent past. Notably, the four potential identified causes include dissatisfaction of the employees, organisational structure causing friction with change, fear of the unknown amid the employees with regard to the proposed change and threat of power and influence among the existing employees in the workplace. The first potential cause, i.e. employees dissatisfaction, is directly associated with the lack of efficiency amid the management of Tesco to deal with the aspect of employee behaviour in the workplace. It is evident that employees are the most important assets of any business and therefore, business units should develop their decisions in accordance to the wellbeing and interest of the employee’s upto a certain level. However, the decision of the management of Tesco to initiate shops entirely on the basis of self–service operations might act negatively as per the interest of the employees. It is believed that with this particular change in Tesco, the need of human resource in the checkout sections of the shop will decline considerably, which might again result in decreasing employee demand in Tesco. This perception amid the employees with regard to the change might certainly result in change hypocrisy amid the employees (Prevett, 2013; Hellriegel & Slocum, 2007). This is a crucial example of individual resistance to change. Another potential cause identified illustrated that the organisational design of Tesco might act as a hindrance towards proper execution of the change proposed. Since, Tesco is a retail chain; its primary aim is to ensure high satisfaction level amid the customers. However, the approach of the company to form self-services shops is not quite appreciated amid the customers, as it is likely to enhance the level of complexity in their purchase, which might again act negatively for the overall performance of the company in the long run (Kegan & Lahey, 2001). This might also act as a potential hindrance for the change approached in the company. Another potential cause for change hypocrisy in Tesco owes to the fear of unknown amid the employees in the workplace. Since a considerable level of restructuring is being initiated in the operations of the company, employees are not quite aware of the consequences of the same on their wellbeing. In this context, the employees have a fear of the unknown changes and consequences, which further leads to a change hypocrisy behaviour amid the workforce. Notably, the organisational restructuring process in Tesco might also develop a threat of power amid the employees, as they might develop the perception that their position in the organisation will get impacted from the change proposal of the management. This will also develop change hypocrisy behaviour amid the employees. Therefore, from the evaluation, it is apparent that change management in the organisational workplace of Tesco is one of the challenging aspects for the human resource/change management team. This can also be relevant to the survey results of the World Federation of Personal Management Association (WFPMA), where it was highlighted that 48% of the global respondents believe change management as one of the most challenging functions of contemporary HRM (WFPMA, 2006). Accomplishment of this function requires certain steps to be followed, which are highlighted in detail hereunder. Recommendations for Change Management Methodology In order to assure proper change management, certain criteria will need to be determined and executed. Firstly, the use of ADKAR change management methodology will be crucial to deal with individual reluctance in Tesco. As per the ADKAR model, the management of Tesco must need to assure awareness of the change amid the employees with regard to the change proposed. In the next step, the management of Tesco must need to ignite the desire amid the employees to participate in the change process. Besides, the change management team in Tesco must also need to assure that employees have the knowledge of the exact consequences of changes proposed through developing proper communication with them (Marker, 2014). As per the ADKAR methodology, the management at Tesco will also need to make sure that its employees are skilled as well as competent to deal with the changes proposed and make it a sustainable one in the long run. In the subsequent step, reinforcement of the change will need to be assured within the workplace culture so that the employees find it easier to comply with the change (Change Management Learning Centre, 2007). These particular approaches, as per the ADKAR model, might be effective in eliminating some of the identified causes of change hypocrisy in Tesco, which includes employee dissatisfaction with the changes and fear of the unknown amid the employees among others. The Kurt Lewis methodology of change management can also be identified as another crucial approach that might act effectively in eliminating the change hypocrisy causes in Tesco. The model works in three steps, which includes unfreezing, transition and freezing. In the first step, the management of the company needs to identify all the factors that have resulted in change hypocrisy in the workplace. Contextually, in the transition stage, the management of Tesco will need to devise its change strategy in accordance to the drivers that may lead to change reluctance in the workplace. In this stage, the management will need to develop plans of communicating the change and its probable consequences to the employees further involving them integrally with the proposed change. The change management team at Tesco will also need to analyse the compatibility of organisational design with that of the change proposed so that it can determine its subsequent approach towards the planned transition. In the final steps, i.e. freezing as per the Kurt Lewis methodology of change management, the change management team at Tesco will need to implement its devised change strategy providing due considerations to the interests of the various stakeholders of the business (Dessler & Phillips, 2007). This methodology might ensure beneficial results for Tesco in the domain of eliminating the drivers of change hypocrisy including threat of power amid the employees and incompatibility of the organisational design with the change proposed. Conclusion From the overall analysis, it can be comprehend that change is one of the most constant events associated with the operations of the modern day business units. Contextually, in order to depict a comprehensive understanding, the discussion above, portrayed the example of Tesco and its recent changes. Certain drivers were identified through analysis of Tesco’s recent changes as per which, few potential causes of probable change hypocrisy in Tesco has been depicted. Contextually, certain recommendations were also developed for the change management team of Tesco to deal with the forecasted issue of change implementation in the workplace. Hence, it can be concluded that proper change management approach is highly required to deal with the rising challenges of any change implementation process. References Briscoe, D. Schuler, R. & Tarique, I. International Human Resource Management: Policies and Practices for Multinational Enterprises. Taylor & Francis, US, 2012. Butler, S, ‘Tesco Gets Rid Of 50 Top Managers As Clarke Steps Up Pace Of Change’, The Guardian, , 2013, (accessed 30 March 2014). Hiatt, J. & Creasey, T. J. Change Management: The People Side of Change. Prosci, US, 2003. Change Management Learning Centre, ‘Change Management Methodology Overview’, Home, 2007, (accessed 30 March 2014). Dessler, G. & Phillips, J. Managing Now. Cengage Learning, US, 2007. Daily mail reporter, ‘Are the Days of the Checkout Worker Numbered? Tesco Pioneers First Ever Self-Service Only Shop’, Home, , 2010, (accessed 30 March 2014). 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