Description of Change Process - Essay Example

?Change Management Table of Contents Introduction 3 of Change Process 3 Strength and Weakness of Bridge’s Transition Model 4 Strengths and Weakness of ADKAR Model 4 Identification and Description of Models used in Change Management 5 ADKAR Model of Change in Planning 5 Bridge’s Transition Model in Actual Change Process 6 Theories of Change Management 10 ADKAR Model 10 Bridge’s Transition Model 12 Conclusion 14 References 15 Introduction Change is a prominent occurrence for an organisation in order to survive in demanding and changing business environment. Regardless of size every organisation needs to deal with change at certain point of time. However, in order to gain success, change needs to be managed effectively. Focusing on this aspect, the essay describes the method of change management in a public organisation namely Children and Young People Service. The organisation is undergoing change in the management structure in order to acquire better efficiency. The organisation was unable to reach the target population and was also incapable of reaching the desired target. Thus, a change has been proposed which can help to make significant differences in operational system. The objective of the essay is to describe the change procedure of Children and Young People Service by using different change management models and theories. Description of Change Process The change process of Children and Young People Service has occurred through three phases. The first phase involves understanding the reasons for restructuring in the organisation. In this phase, a proposal has been made and justification for change has been developed. In the second phase, management team has been developed and change management models have been selected. The management team evaluated the present operational structure and established new operational structure on the basis of proposed objectives. Ultimately, in the third phase, new job structure has been prepared and schedule for the accomplishment of change has been developed. In order to analyse the change process incorporated by Children and Young People Service, two methods have been selected namely Bridge’s Transition Model and ADKAR model. The strengths and weaknesses of these models are as follows: Strength and Weakness of Bridge’s Transition Model The key strength of this model is that it concentrates on alteration, rather than change. While changes occur to individuals’ jobs, and at times they disagree with the change, alteration is internal in nature and it occurs in the mind of individuals during the change process. Thus, it helps to deal with the sentiments of individuals throughout the change process (Bridges & Mitchell, 2012). A weakness of the model is that it cannot be considered as a substitute for other approaches for change management. Moreover, the model cannot be regarded as an independent model for change management (Bridges & Mitchell, 2012). Strengths and Weakness of ADKAR Model The key strength of this model is that it delivers valuable management specifications which directly deal with people related aspects of change. Besides, this model permits for concentrating on those functions which are useful for accomplishing the desired outcome (Hiatt, 2006). However, one significant weakness of this model is that it fails to differentiate between the roles of leadership and management; it simply ignores the requirement of leadership and concentrates on managing the change (Hiatt, 2006). Identification and Description of Models used in Change Management ADKAR Model of Change in Planning In the change management of Children and Young People Service, it can be recognised that ADKAR model of change has been followed within the planning process. ADKAR model states that in order to plan any kind of change, at first, there is a need for generating the desire for change among the members of organisation. Without proper desire the organisational members will be unable to participate in the change process and the change will become a failure. Awareness about change can only be accomplished when an individual becomes aware and realises the characteristics of change i.e. the reasons for change and the risks for not changing the operational procedure. The core reason for change that has been identified by analysing the case study is the efficient and effective use of resources without compromising the services of Children and Young People Service. It has been expected that the economic downturn would impact the level of funding to the organisation. Thus, in order to provide constant services to the children and to ascertain that the organisation stays in a position of accomplishing the organisational objectives, changes in leadership structure are needed. The existing management structure of Children and Young People Service permits one centre head and one centre manager which seems to be ineffective as the organisation expanded from 12 Children centres to 20 Children centres. Thus, a change proposal has been made which can result in the minimisation of number of posts and reduction of administrative roles which not only will increase the rapidity of services but also will lead to considerable cost saving. Bridge’s Transition Model in Actual Change Process In the actual change process, Bridge’s Transition model has been followed. According to Bridge, individuals go through three phases during change which are ending, neutral zone and new beginning. In change management of Children and Young People Service, the actual change process has followed these three phases. Any successful change requires better understanding about the reason for change in the organisation. As Bridge stated that inspiration of change should be produced before the actual change happens. The actual change begins with unfreezing ending phase. Ending The first phase of change includes making the organisation to admit that the change is needed. Ending involves breaking down of existing state of affairs before establishing a new method of operations. Key to change management in this phase is the development of persuasive message to demonstrate why the current ways of conducting organisational activities cannot sustain (Bridges & Mitchell, 2012). In case of Children and Young People Service, the change activity started with admitting the requirement of change. In Children and Young People Service, the management decided to end the existing operational model by introducing a new model where every child can be reinforced by robust universal services. The changed model is intended to satisfy additional requirements of children at the initial phases and to obtain secure, well-coordinated and combined services which are locally available. In order to commence change, Children and Young People Service ended the existing state of affairs by creating a multi-agency Locality Partnership Board in five areas for supporting the universal services for children. The social care teams have been organised across different localities and training program has been started to deal with the changing requirements which can help different children service centres to perform cooperatively within their areas. The changed working structure aimed to provide combined services to the children and young people and there are strong collaborations between work and other core offers which are supported by the new comprehensive service team. It has been demonstrated that certain functions of the organisation which are presently undertaken by existing organisational structure reflect an obsolete view of service delivery, where every service type had its individual support officer. Furthermore, it was also apparent that economic downturn would impact the level of funding. Due to these reasons, the organisation required improving efficiencies all through the services and to make sure that it remains in a condition to govern the resources according to requirements for accomplishing the anticipated outcome. The current management structure is believed to be ineffective to deal with the future challenges of organisation. Thus, it can be stated that by forcing the organisation to reconsider its core functions, it had effectively facilitated to develop a strong motivation in order to search for a new model of operations. Without this motivation, it would be impossible to buy-in the level of involvement necessary to implement any kind of expressive changes in the organisation. The Neutral Zone After motivation created in the ending phase, in the neutral phase, organisations start to decide the new methods of conducting the operational activities. In the neutral phase, organisational members start to trust and act in such manners which support the new way. The shift from ending to neutral does not occur suddenly, rather it occurs by following a random procedure of pursuing new solutions to the identified problems (Bridges & Mitchell, 2012). In Children and Young People Service, three children centres have been established in the first phase of change procedure. The organisation planned to commence appraisal by considering specific inputs in order to deliver quality services across the region. In case of any change to become successful in neutral phase, time and communication are considered as two important aspects. People require time in order to comprehend the changes and they also necessitate the feeling of being highly associated to the organisation within the neutral period. Effective change management requires a great deal of efforts along with practical supervision. In this context, it can be stated in change process of Children and Young People Service, scope of the appraisal has been planned to be developed through discussion with every children centre. Proposals for change have been set forth which include improvement and efficiency strategy for the organisation. Every service area within the council had been asked by the Chief Executive of Children and Young People Service to contemplate about the method of providing effective services though accomplishing more efficiency. In order to accept the change and enhance the involvement of people, there is a need to make people understand regarding how the changes will help them. A successful change concentrates on specific matters of individual shifts in the changing environment. Not every individual would fall parallel only because change is essential and will provide benefit to the organisation. Hence, feedback has been gained from the trade union on the subject of change. Every matter which has been raised concerning the change has been communicated directly to the individuals who are anxious about the change. The responses have also been sent to the unions on the aspects of changed environment in the best interests of the employees who are mostly affected by the transformation. New Beginning When individuals in organisations embrace a new way of operations, it generates new beginning in work system. The apparent indication of new beginning is the development of a stable organisational chart and consistent job description. The refreeze step requires the individuals and the organisation to institutionalise the change process. This denotes ensuring that changes are incorporated into the operational structure (Bridges & Mitchell, 2012). In case of Children and Young People Service, the details about the final structure concerning different roles have been dispensed in the consultation document. Details about new job descriptions have been included in the document. Every new job role in the changed organisational structure was assessed and comparison had been made with the old job structure. Every employee has been referred regarding the restructure proposal and this discussion continued throughout every phase of change procedure by arranging meeting with staff as well as the trade unions. Following the change procedure, employees who are directly impacted by the change have been provided with a message describing about individual circumstances and the consequences of change on their job position. The organisation has put every effort in order to reduce the doubts and concerns for every employee. Support has also been planned for individuals who require assistance in implementing a framework for reorganisation purposes. Theories of Change Management There are several theories which can be used in the change management initiative. Two major theories of change management that has been applied in the review have been described below: ADKAR Model ADKAR model is a popular theory of change management which focuses on goals. This model permits management teams to concentrate on the activities of accomplishing precise change consequences. The model arrived from supporting change management activities to ascertain a specified outcome. It outlines five structures of a successful change namely awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement (Hiatt, 2006). Awareness: Awareness is the first phase of change according to ADKAR model. Awareness can be accomplished when individuals recognise the requirements of change. Therefore, establishing awareness is considered as the first phase of allowing change. In Children and Young People Service, awareness has been developed by generating the requirement of change in the organisation for enhancing the organisational effectiveness and also for minimising the expenses in economic downturn condition (Hiatt, 2006). Desire: Desire is the second component of ADKAR’s change theory. It signifies the inspiration and eventual choice in order to enhance support and involvement in the change procedure. For any organisation, creating the desire for change is a difficult task. Unlike the establishment of awareness, where organisations can take numerous activities to create awareness about the requirement of change, establishing desire for change stays subtle and it is not under the control of an organisation. Thus, in order to establish the desire for change, Children and Young People Service had developed communication strategies by involving the individuals who will be affected by the change. The organisation had taken responses from individual employees as well as trade union members in order to justify every issue raised on behalf of the change. These activities helped to enhance the participation of individuals to the change management procedure. Knowledge: Knowledge is the third important component of the change procedure in ADKAR theory. It characterises the method of applying change throughout an organisation. Knowledge in change process comprises training and education about the required talents and activities, detailed information regarding new procedures along with the comprehension of new roles and job duties which are related with the change (Hiatt, 2006). In this context, it can be stated that in Children and Young People Service, knowledge has been provided by issuing consultation document which describes the changed roles of individuals in the organisation. The consultation document has been prepared by matching the individual skills with the job roles and also the individual employees have been consulted along with the trade unions in order to minimise confusions later. Besides, the employees are also provided with detailed information about the outcomes of the reorganisation on their job position. From time to time, meeting has been planned to reduce the concern of employees about change. Ability: Ability is the fourth aspect of change which denotes the actual procedure of change. Thus, in order to implement change in Children and Young People Service, a timetable has been developed for accomplishing different phases of restructure. Every job role has been evaluated and it has been compared with the existing job roles. On the basis of the comparison, description had been made on substantive duties (Hiatt, 2006). Reinforcement: Reinforcement signifies the methods and strategies for sustenance of change. In order to reinforce the change, support and assistance have been planned at every level of change (Hiatt, 2006). Bridge’s Transition Model Bridge’s transition model is the other prevalent theory of change management which concentrates on alteration. This theory focuses on three phases of alteration in organisations namely: Ending: Individuals enter in this phase when they first face change in the organisation. This phase is usually characterised by resistance and sensitive disturbance because individuals are being enforced to ‘let go’ certain job aspects that they are comfortable with. Thus, in order to encounter the resistance during the entire change procedure, it is vital for organisations to guide individuals through this phase by conversation (Bridges & Mitchell, 2012). Therefore, it can be observed that in Children and Young People Service, the management had arranged several conferences and meetings in order to establish communication with individuals and trade unions and describe about the consequences of change on their job. Individuals often fear when they do not understand about the executed change initiatives. Thus, the organisation has communicated about how their abilities can help to deal with the existing problem. The Neutral Zone: According to Bridge’s transition model, neutral zone is the second phase of change in organisation. This phase is characterised by misperception, ambiguity and impatience. Depending on how well an organisation manages the change, the experiences of individuals can vary. In this phase, people can experience low self-esteem, apprehension and doubt. Thus, managing individuals in this phase necessitates taking frequent feedbacks with respect to change. Hence, it can be observed that Children and Young People Service had obtained feedbacks from trade union and employees on issues relating to the change. This process helped to boost the employee morale and to enhance the involvement of people in the change (Bridges & Mitchell, 2012). The New Beginning: This is the final phase of change which denotes the approval of individuals to accept the change initiatives. As individuals started to adopt the change, it becomes vital for organisations to make the change sustainable. Thus, in order to sustain the change process, Children and Young People Service had developed a final implementation plan through the reconfiguration of existing job structure. Final plan includes the schedule for different tasks, explanation of job roles and thorough provisions of support and assistance of individuals (Bridges & Mitchell, 2012). Conclusion Managing organisational change becomes successful, if an organisation follows the proper principles. In case of Children and Young People Services, the change management occurs through proper planning and delicate implementation along with most importantly a thorough consultation and participation of individuals who are impacted by the change. It is worth mentioning that any kind of forceful activities regarding change can result in resistance against change which is considered as one of the most vital hindrances of change. Successful change starts with understanding the reason for change, recognising the people who will be impacted by the change and assisting them accordingly. References Bridges, W. & Mitchell, S., 2012. Leading Transition: A New Model for Change. Eaton & Associates Ltd. [Online] Available at: http://world.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/WilliamBridgesTransitionandChangeModel_000.pdf [Accessed May 21, 2013]. Hiatt, J., 2006. Adkar: A Model for Change in Business, Government and Our Community. Prosci. Read More