Evaluation Strategies for Organizational Change Plan - Coursework Example

Part III: Evaluation Strategies for Organizational Change Plan Introduction Organizational change cycle has a number of steps, ly Identification of problem, (2) Diagnosis and possible solutions, (3) Determination of the exact solution, (4) Preparing the organizational change plan, (5) Implementation, (6) Monitoring, (7) Evaluation, (8) Conducting needs assessment for possible problems requiring organizational change. The previous two plans have discussed the organizational change required for implementation and the monitoring and communication techniques necessary for the effective implementation of the organizational change. This part aims to address three issues, namely: (1) the possible way to measure the degree of effectiveness of the organizational change plan once it has been implemented in the organization, (2) Analysis of the potential outcome measurement techniques that can help in the assessment of the organizational change processes, and (3) Analysis of the methods of assessing the quality, time and satisfaction derived from the organizational change in the healthcare organization. In order to achieve these objectives, the paper will provide brief summaries of the previous parts of the organizational change plan and then move forward to provide analysis of the three objectives laid above. Summary of Part I of Organizational Change Plan Organizations require change when there is increased amount of complaints and dissatisfied customers. In most of the cases, the customers provide negative feedback in regard to decrease in the quality levels of the product or service that acts as a signal to the organization that there is a problem. The organization tasks the relevant team to detect the problem and its main source of occurrence. The root cause is then identified and eliminated in totality afterwards the organization looks for post-implementation effects on the product quality and effectiveness of the organizational services. These aspects are considered a part of the organizational change cycle where the organization identifies, develops, implement and monitor the change brought in the organization to improve the service or product quality. Likewise, it was identified that the nursing staff is falling behind their original benchmarks and their quality services have deteriorated over time. As a result, it was proposed that the nursing staff’s educational requirements should be met in order to improve their understanding, knowledge and comprehension of the up-to-date diseases, their diagnosis, provision of emergency first aids and relevant treatment techniques. The organization identified that in order to implement this new education program the organization requires a total organizational change to incorporate a new aspect of privileges to the nursing staff in terms of their education enhancement and career development. The organizational change plan was required and it was proposed that the organization requires to implement the plan in a systematic and encouraging way. Possible limitations, drawbacks and obstacles were identified that can hinder the effective implementation of the proposed organizational change plan. Furthermore, a number of recommendations were proposed that can help resolve the future issues that may arise when the monitoring and evaluation period occurs. Summary of Part II of Organizational Change Plan This part of the plan focused on the numerous ways the organizational plan can be monitored in the pre and post implementation period. It was proposed that there are two methods of monitoring the implementation of the plan, namely: (1) Observation and (2) Quantifying the performance of the nursing staff after 5 months of the implementation of the organizational change plan. The foremost method of monitoring allows the organization to monitor the performance, receptiveness and acceptance of the nursing staff of the new curriculum, and change in their duties. The latter method allows the organization to evaluate and measure the performance of the nursing staff who has become a part of the education program and have spent 5 months in the program at least. This method will ensure that the organizational resources are not gone to waste and in case, any such event occurs, the organization can immediately enforce proper mechanisms to control the situation. This part also shed light on the relationship of the organizational processes, its systems and respective roles of the nursing staff in the proper and effective implementation of the organizational change plan. The study showed that there is a direct relationship of organizational activities with that of the organizational change plan. In case any of the variable changes, it directly affects the implementation of the organizational change plan in the same way. Another important aspect that part II addressed was the various communication techniques required to improve the organizational change plan. It provided that organization can use simple language, focus on the content of the message and little noise in the communication process. Objective 1: Effectiveness Assessment Strategies The measurement of the outcomes of the proposed organizational change can be done based on numerous standards or benchmarks. The Compassion Capital Fund National Resource Center undertook a study to identify the various measurement outcomes that can be used by the organizations in order to determine whether their organizational change has been effective or not. They highlighted that there are four standards against which the organizational change can be assessed, namely: (1) Utility, (2) Feasibility, (3) Propriety and (4) Accuracy (Measuring, 2012). The organization highlighted that the first standard determines that whether the information that has been generated or disseminated through the organizational change was actually of worth and use to the intended participants or users. In case this is not the case, then the organizational plan was ineffective. Second standard focuses on the processes that have been involved in the organizational change. The standard measures each process against the criterion of realistic, frugal, diplomatic and prudent approach. The process will be considered ineffective in case it is weak on any of the criterion. The third standard highlights the importance of the evaluation team who has to evaluate the organizational change plan. The standard will check that the evaluators have worked for the benefit of the intended participants or not. The last standard will determine the accuracy of the technical information that has been disseminated to the intended participants. Objective 2: Analysis of Outcome Measurement Techniques The first method of measuring the effectiveness of an organizational change is through appreciative inquiry. This method is effective for assisting the organizations to identify its major strengths through quantitative methods. However, it lacks the qualitative side of the strengths of an organizational change plan which actually provides the qualitative aspects of the situation. The appreciative inquiry searches the achievements of the organizational change plan till the present and appreciating it, building the existing strengths and generating new ideas to improve them (Greenan & Mairesse, 2001). The second method is to use balanced scorecard. This technique provides quantitative data based on Baldrige criteria but can lead to exhaustion and inaccuracy (Methodologies, 2007). The balanced scorecard actually helps the organizations with the provision of various tools that are based on the various factors like financial, customer, business process and learning and growth of the organization. It helps the organization to determine its vision and then align its goals with it in an effective manner. The third method is to use Baldridge National Quality Program for Education. Under this program, the performance of the organizational change plan is measured through the achievement of personal learning and organizational learning, enhancement of the organizational capabilities and higher stability of the organization and stakeholders (Methodologies, 2007). It uses the quantitative data to create a global picture. Objective 3: Assessing Quality, Cost and Satisfaction The organizational change leading to the provision of higher education to the nursing staff has a cost associated with it. It is important to assess the costs in order to determine the effectiveness of the entire organizational change plan that was proposed to rectify the problem. One way of assessing the costs of the entire organizational change plan is to consider each receipt and voucher associated with the implementation of the plan. The receipts and payment vouchers will provide comprehensive details about the payments made in relation to the infrastructure development, hiring of new staff and other miscellaneous expenses. The next issue relates to the assessment of the quality of the proposed organizational change. This can be achieved through the provision of external and internal feedback system (Chemuturi, 2012). The employees should be assessed in terms of their feedback regarding the performance of their colleagues who have undergone education trainings and the customers should be requested to provide comprehensive feedback regarding the quality and satisfaction of the nursing services. This way the quality and satisfaction assessment will be done to determine the effectiveness of the organizational change. In conclusion, the organizational change plan can be assessed in terms of its effectiveness by using appreciative inquiry, balanced scorecard method. The cost of the plan can be assessed through recording of receipt and payment vouchers and the external and internal feedback can be used to assess the quality and satisfaction levels of the customer. References Chemuturi, M., (2012). How to measure customer satisfaction. Retrieved 6 August 2012 from http://www.chemuturi.com/Measuring%20Customer%20Satisfaction-CMK.pdf Greenan, N., & Mairesse, J.M., (2001). Trying to measure organizational change: A first look at a matched employer-employee survey for French manufacturing. Nelson and Winter Conference. Retrieved 6 August 2012 from http://www.druid.dk/conferences/nw/paper1/greenan.pdf Measuring, (2012). Measuring Outcomes. Compassion Capital Fund National Resource Center. Retrieved 6 August 2012 from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ocs/ccf/ccf_resources/measuring_outcomes.pdf Methodologies, (2007). Methodologies to measure organizational effectiveness. NCCI. Retrieved 6 August 2012 from http://www.ncci-cu.org/files/MethodologiestoMeasureOrganizationalEffectivenessNCC IMaster51008.pdf Read More