The Mistrust Felt By Staff - Essay Example

Summary of Findings A key finding highlighted by both informal discussions and questionnaires was the obvious mistrust and disillusionment felt by staff. This was exhibited in many of the comments found within the survey results. This became readily apparent as repeatedly the same themes were found over a wide range of topics. To illustrate this staff did not realise that as a result of the organisational change their conditions of employment would be altered. Suddenly, when confronted with the fact that they no longer have a contract there was the feeling that they had been misled. Jabri & Pounder in discussing organisation change stated that “narrative can enable participants to comprehend the impact of change efforts on those employees in organisations who may feel victims of change.” (2001, pp. 684) Clearly from the comments made in the questionnaire and through personal discussion with staff, there was no clear communication perceived by staff or management. While discussing the change process itself many employees felt that had been excluded and had not been consulted. To further complicate the problem, staff perceived that HR was under similar pressure and feeling unsure of changes. Because of the sweeping organisational changes that had occurred, staff felt that even management was unsure of the direction that had been taken and thus further felt they had no where to turn for leadership and guidance. Another are where staff felt communication was ineffective and exhibited signs of mistrust arising from fear surrounded the role the consultants played. Jabri & Pounder stressed that the narrative approach allows the consultant to break through their own perceived notions and paradigms to enable member of the organisation to do the same thereby facilitating change. (2001) Staff were unsure why the consultants were looking over their shoulders. Further, through interviewing the consultants they placed the responsibility of lack of information flow on the management team. There appeared to be no clear lines of communication flow between any of the principles: staff, management and the consultants. Macadam stated that many of the perceptions, statements and actions exhibited by staff “resentment; depression; distrust; stress; disloyalty; and lack of productivity.” (2000, pp. 39) are outward signs of the upheaval caused the dramatic changes within the organisation. Fear feed into these feelings were further complicated by staffs perceptions of poor communication, lack of training, and feelings of not being valued enough to be part of the change. Many felt, rather they were victims of it. However, as I have noted and through discussion with staff and management perceptions are improving, staff are feeling more positive about the organisational change now that they feel they are being heard, communication lines are opening up, and staff feels as if they have a voice. As Macadam stated, the reactions brought on because of the inherent flaws were reversible and that reversal is taking place as evidenced through the developing trust between staff and management. Literature Review Having thoroughly researched the literature regarding various strategies and methods for implementing organisational change, researching the role and function of a consultant throughout all stages of the change process and how the consultant could impact the change process, researched how organisational change has an impact upon the people within the organisation, it appeared that every aspect of the change process should be easily dissected piece by piece. However, it soon became apparent that reality is never as simple as theory implies it should be. Through evaluating how the theoretical issues played out in reality yielded some surprising findings in certain instances and defined how important each phase of the organisational change is. Although it may appear, to the outside observe, that the real ‘work’ involved in the change process occurs at the implementation stage, where concrete observations can be made that ‘something is happening’. The true success or failure of the change itself occurs far before that. In reviewing the literature researched, I will draw upon and incorporate into the review examples from my organisation’s actual implementation and from feedback received from those involved with the change: staff, management, and the consultants. A recurring theme in researching the topic was the need to engage all levels of the organisation in the change process. Through doing so the resistance to change brought on most typically, by fear, is reduced. However, it is important to understand that the involvement needs to be truly across all levels. Upon researching this topic initially I perceived the exclusion, if any would be on the staff floor level. There is a divergent difference between the top level managers and the staff floor workers, those interacting directly with the consumer. White when discussing the change process and the importance of engaging all levels stated “the whole system approach utilizing several fundamental characteristics: “they encourage and support a systems perspective; allow cross organisational boundaries; recognize that ordinary people can be engaged in different issues (not dependent on elite or expert status); and include multiple perspectives and unusual mixes of people.” (2000, pp 167) When researching it appeared that if there was a failure within the organisation and its implementation it would be at this level, the failure to engage the staff level worker. Upon reviewing the results of the questionnaire it became apparent that, in fact, something had been missed. The majority of the staff surveyed mentioned to one degree or another how they had felt removed from the change process. There was almost a sense of despair in some of the comments. For instance, some employees spoke of looking for new jobs or spoke about low morale. There was also frequent mention that they felt their views would not be heard or considered, they were not consulted and there was never time to discuss concerns. In reviewing the questionnaires mangers and team leaders had mentioned that they felt upper management had dismissed good ideas and dictating how things would be done rather than truly engaging all levels of the organisation as White had stressed. Further, Jabri and Pounder had in discussing organisational changed stressed the importance of using the human perspective while designing the steps to implement change. This departure from more traditional top down forms of imposed change require all members at all levels of the organisation to examine their own feelings about the change and how these changes may impact member of the organisation on a personal level. It further requires interaction of all the members with one another to exchange their perceptions. Gaining this insight would have built into the implementation process solutions before a problem could occur. Understanding how the organisational change would impact all levels prior to implementation would have avoided these feelings of isolation, mistrust, and uncertainty. (2001) From the responses received during the questionnaire evaluation after the change implementation clearly staff and even managers perceived that this had not occurred. While examining the role of the upper management in the organisational change process Jabri and Pounder stated “employing narrative enables participants to become more aware of the complexity of change and the care that needs to be exercised when it comes to implementation…developing an awareness of the human complexity surrounding many of the issues facing practicing mangers is at the core of management development.” (2001, pp. 387) Not only did staff members feel that they had been left out of participating in the plan for implementing change many of the managers and team leaders shared the same perceptions. Not only were they faced with staff level mistrust, uncertainty and confusion, they themselves were feeling many of the same things. As one manager stated in response to the questionnaire they felt like they were ‘stuck in the middle’, caught between upper management and the staff members. Staff perceived that management understood what was occurring and why yet were unwilling to share information. When in reality, managers were feeling as out of touch and ‘frozen out’ as staff members were. Further they were receiving pressure from ends, top management from above and staff member from below, yet felt in many ways they had not been given the tools they need to ensure the smooth transition. Sanchez stated the importance of communication within the organisation is paramount to ensuring that organisation change will be effective. “If the culture needs to be changed, communication is the main tool to galvanize the stakeholders around the change process… Communication is the only organisational process that has the power to inform, educate and bring about cooperation and ultimately the kind of individual behaviour change that leads to powerful cultural change.” (2005, pp. 10) Communication to cultural change needs to be dramatic and cultural changing. Traditional hierarchical top to bottom one-way communication does not foster a true cultural change. Further, as Senge stated communication is not merely the speaking words it is understanding what is being conveyed. Clearly during the organisational change process there was a breakdown of communication. Upper management assumed communication had occurred because there was training and meetings were held to discuss the organisational change. However, when reviewing comments after phase one of the change plan was completed it came apparent that staff, management and the consultants all saw the lack of communication as one of the key barriers to effective change within the organisation. Interestingly, even though they all expressed concern of the lack of communication, the locations of the perceived barriers differed. Staff felt that training was incomplete and too hurried. Additionally, they felt that the focus groups were not organised properly and dealt with only one issue. The consultants blamed the lack of communication on upper management and expressed in general that poor communication existed throughout the organisation. Managers, on the other hand, felt they were not consulted in the organisational change planning and that their interactions with the Human Resources Department were often hurried and non productive. In effect, the mangers as Jabri and Pounder explained were not afforded the opportunity to ‘work the hyphen’ and “act as effective change agents by sharpening their awareness of the effects of change on the less powerful and by teasing out mangers’ personal perceptions and values associated with change.” (Jabri & Pounder, 2001, pp. 385) Through excluding mangers and team leaders with their wealth of knowledge, professional expertise and knowledge of their personnel, barriers were permitted, almost encouraged to remain in place and effective communication was not promoted during the organisation change planning processes. Schein pointed out the one of the key points a consultant must always keep in mind is that everything they do is an intervention. (1997, pp. 207) Every action or inaction affects the organisation and the client. This action can result in a positive or negative outcome. Many of the staff members were somewhat confused as to why the consultants were there. Their comments inferred that they were not sure who they consultants were as they mentioned they seemed to come and go and there were always new people there. The staff was also unsure exactly what the role of the consultant was within the context of this organisation. The was in some cases a lack of perceived worth in the functions they were performing as saw them instead as merely ‘people always on laptops’ and ‘standing over my shoulder, sometimes two or three of them, just listening to my calls.’ In this regard the constants had failed somewhat in their intended purpose of facilitating a organizational change. Werr, Stjernberg & Docherty noted that the individual consultants even when employing the same techniques used within the consultant organisation do affect how the change occurs. Each consultant is a unique individual with their own strengths and weaknesses. This variable alone will impact the change process. (1997, pp. 306 – 307) Rather than trying to engage the staff and keep one line of communication flowing it appeared that the consultants kept themselves separate for the staff with further widened the chasm that was growing. Understanding that each person within the organisation has their own unique way of viewing the change based on the culture and subcultures to which they are exposed is important to managing the organisational change. (Jabri and Pounder 2001, pp. 386) The consultants, as the experts within the process of organisational change had the responsibility to understand the unique dynamics involved in this change and to address these issues on the ‘individual level’ as discussed by Schein. Throughout the change the consultants had a responsibility to see what was happening and understand how each person within the change process views the change – their personal views, mores and assumptions (1997, pp. 205) and one again according to Schein “Go with the flow, but seize targets of opportunity” (2001) Lastly, the success of an organisation’s ability to change requires it to not look merely at the end result desired, but on the process of getting there as well and promoting an atmosphere conducive to change. “Building a capacity for change in organisations means creating environments for learning, whereby people are encouraged and able to work toward building a better organisation.” (Senge, 1994) It would appear that too often during this change process sights had been set on the outcome without proper implementation of the process to get there and the necessary steps including involvement of staff, perceived quality of training, and a shared partnership between all members of the organisation to achieve a successful transformation was lacking. Conclusions and Recommendations Upon completion of the research both theoretical and through information gained during the appraisal of the actual implementation of phase one of the organisational change, observations and recommendations in several key areas are necessary. The consultation process and the role of the consultant in general needed to be better addressed. There was a great deal of confusion as the their purpose and effectiveness. Some of the comments made in the questionnaires alluded to the generally perceived notion that they were there but not serving a worthwhile function. Upon preparing for further stages of organisational change within this particular organisation the specific role and responsibility of the consultant needs to be clearly communicated to all stake holders and any questions, concerns or suggestions regarding their purpose needs to be accomplished in the early stages of subsequent implementations. There was exhibited upon implementation a great deal of uncertainty my staff members. Although with any type of change all possible outcomes can not be guaranteed or even understood at the onset, had their been a greater attempt ensure that each member of the organisation felt included in the process there would have been less reticence on the staff to embraces the changes. This needs to be incorporated into upcoming incremental phases of change by including the staff in ‘seeing the bigger picture and sharing the vision’. This requires a change in thinking at all levels of the organisation and involves improved corporate leadership. This further demonstrates the upper management is not merely dictating that changes must occur, but rather leading by example. The last key recommendations involve communication and training. First, training is an important aspect of any change process. Future training should be considered a priority and enough time must be allotted to provide adequate coverage of all topics and allow time for clarification and follow up. Although understanding the theoretical aspects of change process is necessary the training should be more than this alone. Using buzz words, having long detailed explanations of theory will be and are viewed as useless by staff if they can not relate it into their own terms and see how it will and can positively impact them in the functional responsibilities. Bridging the gap between theoretical applications and practical application is imperative. Communication is the one area that can most impact any organisational change. It is also one of the areas that is most commonly overlooked. There was upon examination breakdowns in communications within every step of the implementation. Ensuring that there are open lines of communication, ample forums for appropriate dialogue, adequate time for questions and answers, and the inclusion of all staff must be accomplished prior to implementation of the next phase. This ability to discuss and bring into the daylight these ‘undiscussable’ issues require change as well. Through review of the questionnaires it appears that the staff and management are healing. A more positive perspective on the work environment and the changes that have taken place is beginning to occur. Dialogue is opening between staff and manager and with the new leaders within the organisation. There is however more to be accomplished. Change does not stop and start, it merely fluctuates in intensity at any given moment www.solonline.org/static/research/workingpapers/10006.html#three_aae References Adamson, I. 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