The Change Process - Assignment Example

Introduction
Change is necessary for all, be it from an organizational or individual perspective. It is important for one to adapt well to change for a successful transition that will bring long-lasting benefits. Such changes are prompted by the constant changes in technological applications and globalization. Individuals and organizations have to adapt to these changes if they are to survive in this competitive world. Technological developments such as the use of social media and the presence of new ideas and information are adopted by flexible organizations making them thrive. This paper is aimed at discussing the change process in an organization, including Health Safety and Environment change model and its application.
The change process
There are various models of the change process available today. Examples of models of change include the HSE; Kotters’ eight-step change model; Kurt Lewin’s model; Meta model among others. Kotter's eight-step model is a general organization-wide change management model where management initiates change (Beckhard 1969). It starts with increasing the urgency and building a guiding team. One must have the right vision and ensure you appeal to as many people as possible. Also, one must ensure that all obstacles against that vision are removed, maintain persistence, and make the change last. Kurt Lewin’s model is based on the three processes of unfreezing, changing, and then freezing. Lewin’s theory, though appearing impractical, is still relevant and has been adopted by most modern change process models (Almaraz 1994). The Meta change model, on the other hand, is based on the provision of understanding of the principles of the change process that is better than the other models. It achieves this by ensuring the identification of the common themes in a broader perspective, ranging from individual to organization-based changes (George & Jones 2000). First, one needs to study the patterns of change, which enables him or her to get the stimulus for adapting to the change. The next step involves the rationalization of the necessity for change, preparing and adjusting to change that now becomes normal. The Meta change model is renowned for its coverage of a broader range of fields thus diversifying the perspectives of the change process
The rationale for the change model selected.
The selected change model is HSE, which is the Health Safety and Environment change model. It is used in managing safety, health, and environmental impact issues. The approach applied in the HSE model includes a combination of project management and organizational development. This is essential as it facilitates the implementation of discipline and structure to the change process (Kotter 2011). The HSE change model was used over more detailed change processes for instance the Kotters' eight-step change model because the staff at the radiology department initiated the need for change. This eliminated the need for increasing the urgency as the radiology staff already wanted a better system. In addition to this, successful transition and adaptation to the change process require interaction and good relations between parties involved, in this case, the hospital staff and patients (Bradford & Burke 2005). The HSE model is a preferable choice as it encourages the recognition of people involved in the change process and this promotes a successful transition (George & Jones 2000). HSE thus promotes teamwork, which is paramount to changing the process. Being a healthcare change (IHE), the HSE change model was the most suitable as it is geared more toward managing change in the healthcare provider which is driven more by the staff and patient needs at the radiology department. The IHE implementation change is taking place only at the radiology department and given the need for change originating from radiology staff, the HSE change model was chosen as more suitable for the healthcare change.
Conclusion
For an organizational change to occur, the culture of the employees in the organization must change too. To effect change at the organizational level, it starts with change at the individual level. These include changes in their communication skills and their teamwork activities. The various change models are applied in different situations and not all of them can be applied in all situations. There exist components that are necessary if a successful change process is anything to go by. These components include the leadership and management skills of personnel and the vision and plan of operation of the organization. The availability of adequate resources and the interaction between the workers and sponsors are the other components of a successful change process. Read More