Contribution of Organizational Culture to Change management - Essay Example

 Role of Organizational Culture in Change Management Introduction Organizational refers to the behaviours, and in particular, those of workers that form part of an organisation. Culture in an organisation may include the values, an organisation’s vision, the language used, the established system and beliefs in an organisation’s setting. In essence, the culture embraced by an organisation plays a critical role in implementing change management. Changes are important in an organisations and organisational culture has an influence on how such changes are implemented and managed to improve performance and productivity. Managing change in an organisation is important in ensuring that such an organization remains competitive in the market. As a process, depending on how change is managed, the impact on performance can be positive or negative. In any organisation, it is imperative to reassess the strategic priorities since there are factors that may impact on the firm’s performance and its competitiveness in the market (Odagiu 2013, p.3). The strategic environment is not static and continues to change frequently. As a result, managing change should form part of a firm’s strategic plans. On the other hand, since change management is influence by the organisational culture, there is need to embrace cooperation and coordination among the personnel tasked with implementing a firm’s strategic plans. Further, Support from other employees is important to avoid conflicts that often arise as a result of the new changes implemented in an organisation (Cocks 2014, p.88). When considering the influence of culture in the change management process, certain factors often emerge that include the management or leadership style preferred by the workers. In addition, the workers may demand for an active participation in the change management process since such changes impact on their lives both at the office and at home. When effecting change in an organisation, the culture embraced by the management and employees is important in ensuring that the new plans introduced in an organisation achieve their goals (Odagiu 2013, p.6). Among the organisational culture that is often adopted during the change management process is empathy. Empathy as a process associated with the management of organisational change creates a strategic environment for improved communication. In addition, empathy improves understanding that exists between the change agent and the personnel working for the organization. The change agent further need to understand their employee’s concerns by establishing an empathetic relationship with them. This is important especially during periods of effecting changes in the organisation (Schimmel & Mutslag 2009, p.408). Developing empathetic relationships with workers assist managers to anticipate any discontent among their employees. In addition, it is the manager’s role to support their employee’s and makes them feel valued in times of making changes in an organisation. Empathy further allows the change agent to understand the employee’s needs and this helps the managers to plan for the change process. Providing support as a way of managing change also strengthens commitment and loyalty. The role of empathy in managing the organisational change means that the change agent at all levels of the organisation should provide support for each other. Building understanding between the change agent and personnel during the change process plays a role in improving organisational performance (Cocks 2014, p.95). During the periods of change, organisation’s often face certain challenges that include for example retention or moral issues and maintaining a high performance level. In addition, the productivity or performance of an organisation is also hindered. This is because most projects to be completed remain pending as a result of workers being confused or demoralized by the new systems introduced into the organisation without the employee’s prior knowledge. As such, it is important to communicate any change within an organisation to all employees. In essence, the personnel involved in implementing changes should take into consideration the important aspects of a firm’s change, this is vital in producing better results with regard to organisational change. When change is undermanaged, it tends to be stressful; however, during the process of effecting change, new opportunities arise that enable the management to deliver results. In order to deliver result, the management needs to capitalize on the organisational culture that can lead to positive results with regard to managing organisational change (Burnard & Bhamra 2011, p. 5582). Further, the change process requires the management to create awareness, instill discipline and motivate the personnel they lead. This should be in tandem with the culture that an organisation embraces. For example, communication strategies as a culture adopted by an organisation plays a critical role in ensuring efficient change management However, without proper channel of communicating organisational change, the employees are bound to resist such change. As such, it is important for the change agent to embrace an empathetic approach in effecting organisational change. This involves taking into consideration the interests of employees in an organisation (Schimmel & Mutslag 2009, p.412). The management should make sure that the changes in an organisation are communicated to every person and there is consensus regarding the new changes. When making changes within an organisation, the change agent should consider the feelings of other workers not engaged in the implementation process. In most organisations, workers often demand to be involved in the decision making process that result in the implementation of new changes. In order to understand the needs of personnel within an organisation, adopting a culture that empasises an empathetic approach plays a critical role in ensuring the employees understand and adapt to new changes. An understanding of implementing new changes by employees enhance support for the personnel implementing changes which, in turn, improve organization’s performance (Burnard & Bhamra 2011, p.5589). In understanding the role of organisational culture in the management of organisational change, it should be noted that the process of change is a people’s process and their input in that process is critical. In this sense, change that involves people requires cooperation and coordination at all levels of an organisation. This means that, employing strategies such as empathy, as part of implementing change management fosters understanding among the various personnel implementing change. This is because empathy plays a role in ensuring that the change agent listens and understands the views and needs of the other employees (Mohrman & Lawler 2012, p.41). To enhance the understanding, it is important for the organisation to establish proper channels of communicating the organisation’s strategy. Where communication between the various levels in an organisation is smooth, it is easier to implement changes. This is because the various persons charged with implementing change understand each other. In addition, this understanding involves awareness of each employee’s needs and how the new changes will affect their performance. The change agent when implementing changes need to put themselves in their employee’s shoes. This is important in understanding the needs and aspiration of employees with regard to the work environment. The change within an organisation has to take into consideration other aspect of the employee’s life and how the changes affect their life other than office work (Burnard & Bhamra 2011, p.5592). Performance and success of an organisation depends on the working environment and in terms of being conducive or unbearable for the employees. Creating a strategic environment within an organisation depends on the approach taken to make organisational changes. Where the changes are made based on understanding each other’s needs, and then the performance of an organisation can improve in regard to the strategic plans. It is often difficult for an organisation to meet its strategic priorities when employees are demoralized as result of the new changes that did not consider their concerns. For a strategic plan to work effectively, the employees need to participate in the process from the beginning. As a result of the employees being part of the change process, the change agent can adopt various approaches for consensus building with employees regarding how to implement new changes. Being ignorant of the employee’s feelings regarding the implementation of new changes can impact negatively on an organisation’s activities (Haffar, Al-Karaghouli & Ghoneim 2013, p.694). In essence, the strategies adopted by an organisation play a significant role in improving performance. This is because the approaches identified by the employees in an organisation for effecting changes ensures that their views are not sidelined by the change agent. As such, arriving at a consensus with employees after understanding where they come from help to improve performance. This is because they feel as part of the new change and have a role to play in implementing the new strategies meant to improve organisation’s performance. Without the change agent understanding the views and needs of employees who are affected by the changes, may lead to confusion in implementing new strategies. This is because lack of support for the new changes results in conflicts and delays in effecting changes necessary to improve an organisation’s performance and competitiveness in the business market (Haffar, Al-Karaghouli & Ghoneim 2013, p.698). Many factors are associated with success or failure to meet an organisation’s strategic objectives. In this sense, the belief systems or values adopted by an organisation’s workforce should not be ignored in the management of organisational change. The change agent needs to engage its personnel in understanding their views regarding the established priorities to improve the organisation’s performance. As a communication strategy, understanding employee’s views regarding new changes assist the change agent to focus on the strategies that resonates with the majority in the organisation. As a result, incidents of resistance to new strategies to effect change in the organisation is reduced because every person is aware of the new changes (Savolainen 2013, p.54). On another note, organisational culture when associated with change management results in a good working alliance. For example, embracing cooperation between the management and other workers in ensuring newly introduced plans meet their objectives. The management and the staff can develop a mutual understanding with regard to the changes to implement the plans of the organisation. Performance in an organisation depends on how the various levels within an organisation relate with one another. In addition, the working relationship within the organisation and with regard to new changes depends on cooperation and coordination in implementing the change process. In essence, everyone in the organisation has to agree with the strategies adopted to effect change. Consensus by everyone is important in making sure that the organisation meets its objectives. Other than organisational culture playing a role in improving change strategies such as communication, support and consensus within an organisation, it ensures employees are not affected negatively by new changes (Haffar, Al-Karaghouli & Ghoneim 2013, pp.702-704). Change is something that happens in any organisation and the changes are influenced by the trends in the market. Various reasons are often raised concerning change management, however; the main reason for effecting changes in an organisation is to improve performance. Performance in any organisation can only improve with properly implemented plans. Such plans need to consider the input of everyone to come up with an agreeable formula to improve an organisation’s performance. In this context, a number of issues often arise during the change process that can impact negatively on an organisation if not dealt with. For example, a change in an organisation without the knowledge of other employees may impact negatively on work and productivity. This is because the employees have not been contacted for their opinions regarding the new changes. As such, it might be difficult to implement new plans in an environment that does not accommodate the new changes. In this regard, identifying the beliefs or values embraced in an organisation enable the change agent understand their employee’s world view and include such views in the change process (Savolainen 2013, p.56). Considering organisational culture further plays a role in understanding the type of the change desired by the organisation as a whole. Taking into consideration what other people want and not being subjective helps in coming up with a more stable strategic plan. Through an approach that identifies a set of beliefs in an organisation, the change agent can explore the potential consequences that may arise as a result of making organisational change prior to announcing such changes. In addition, such consideration in change management improves feedback from major stakeholders and others outside the organisation. In essence, their thoughts and feelings in regard to change management is important in setting out an organisation’s priorities. Since organisational change result in the movement of workers from one department to another, taking an approach that fosters understanding plays a role in handling the process sensitively (Chidiac 2013, p.465). Within the context of organisational culture, leadership also plays a critical role in ensuring the success of change management process in an organisation. The employees of an organisation when adapting to new changes are often accommodative to the new changes depending on the type of leadership that the management use to effect new changes. This is because lack of good leadership from the management result in a demoralized workforce. It is important for the management of organisations to exhibit good leadership that resonates with the employees, this helps in improving morale and performance in organisations. Major factors that contribute to employees leaving an organisation includes; the management’s lack of interest in the employee’s needs, employing autocratic leadership, not involving the employee’s in the organisation’s decision-making process, lack of recognizing employee’s skills and denying employees autonomy in the work environment(Oshagbemi 2008, p.1902). While it is important for the management of an organisation to take charge in terms of leading their subordinates during the change management process, showing good leadership is vital in retaining skilled and experienced workforce. Further, employee turnover rate is a pertinent issue in organisations and it is important to look at the factors that promote low employee turnover within the organisational culture. In this regard, the leadership behavior adopted in organisations is one of the key factors that influence employee turnover rate in organisations (Atkinson 2013, p.11). In addition, while there are different leadership behaviours that the management of an organisation can utilize during the change management process, a leadership behaviour that fosters democracy in the work environment is ideal in retaining skilled and experienced employees who, are critical in ensuring success with new changes in an organisation. In essence, changing organisational situation in most cases requires participative or democratic leadership behaviour. This type of leadership places value on teamwork; however, the responsibility of the final decision making rests with the leader of the team. This leadership is important in organisation with vibrant workforce in the sense that it helps to improve employee’s morale. In addition, this leadership behaviour is ideal in times of change management process (Sorensen & Holman 2014, p.72). With regard to participative leadership concepts, an ideal leadership behavior to use in the change management process entails considering the input of others in the organisation. As a culture embraced in most organisations, a leader is required to promote participation and employee contribution by working in teams. Further, a participative model of leadership require the leader to assist employees feel as part of the organisation by engaging in the decision making process. However, while the leader allows contributions from other employees, this model gives the leader the mandate to make the final decision, but through a consultative process with other employees. This model further involves the leader maintaining the role of a facilitator and not issuing orders to employees in regard to daily work assignments. The business environment is not static and change from time to time and this require the management of organisations to assess their leadership skills and how they resonate with the needs of employees (Pihlak & Alas 2012, p.46). Further, a participative leadership as a strategy used during change management process is ideal in the sense that, the leadership style allows for autonomy of employees in the work environment. This does not mean that the leader takes hands off approach, but remains in the background to observe other employee’s initiative. In a competitive business world, a participative model creates a type of leadership behaviour that allows employees to engage actively in their work. This is important because ideal leadership in the contemporary business world should provide employees with the freedom to plan and implement their own initiatives. However, it is important to note that while a democratic leadership style fosters teamwork, the leaders in the participative group need to be skilled and experienced than other members. This suits the leader as a facilitator who helps to polish the ideas or opinions suggested by other employees. In this tradition, the leader needs to show an example by leading from the front (Atkinson 2013, p.13). In conclusion, organisational culture is critical during change management because, the set of beliefs in an organisation has a significant influence when it comes to effecting new changes. 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