Organizational Development and Change - Essay Example

Organizational Development and Change Change is a vital and a beneficial part of life and it is inevitable. Though beneficial, change is not easy to handle, and it comes with huge responsibility and stress of handling it; hence the need for skills in change management1. How well change in an organization is managed determines the state and the well being of the organization in relation to the change2. For change to have occurred, the organization must be seen to have shifted from a certain position to a better or to a planned for or desired position. If the attained position is a desired one, then this means that it does not just happen by chance or by fate, but it is planned for and worked towards. In other words, organizational change is a deliberate effort3. Today, no organization can survive the market if it does not plan for change and manage the change well. Globalization is a reality, and every organization has to work towards having competitive advantage and sustainability in the global market. Also, advancements in technology all over the world make it inevitable for organizations to strive to change and adapt to the changing technological trends4. Change in an organization can be minor or major. Minor changes can be such as installing new software in the organization’s computer systems. Major changes can involve the organization in changing its whole framework of policies, management and even strategy. Change is mainly influenced by internal and external circumstances of the organization. Change influenced internally is mainly fueled by managers, who put extra pressure on their employees to change in a specific direction5. External influence mainly happens because of the competition in the market, changes in technology, economic changes in the market and legislative, environmental, or legal expectations from the organization6. However, looking at change from an optimistic point of view, change is not mainly caused by problem or trouble factors; opportunity is the fuel that drives change in an organization7. Organizational change is a challenge, and it is because of this awareness that most people approach it in the wrong way and handle it in the wrong way. This results in many failures in organizations8. Therefore, most managers in organizations are seeking to learn change management skills for the betterment of their organizations. This essay will discuss organizational change and development. The traits of organizational change agents will be reflected upon, and the options that these change agents have in diagnosing and involving members of the organization will also be evaluated. The main challenges that these change agents face in managing change will also be reflected upon9. Every organization has its history when it comes to the changes it has ever undergone before and currently10. External factors mentioned above are ever-changing, and in most cases, organizations find themselves in the need for constant and continuous change. As mentioned earlier, change is a deliberate effort and a process11. However, it is very unfortunate to know that an organization can enter into a process of change and still fail to attain the results it expected to get at the end of the change process and effort. Many factors can cause failure in a change process; poor knowhow in planning and implementing the change process, resistance from within and without the organization, unplanned for changes in the influencing external factors mentioned earlier, and shortage of the organization in the resources needed for the change to occur effectively12. Because of this, one major party is very important in organizational change and change management; a change agent. A change agent can generally be defined as a person who ensures higher output in an organization by working on the organization’s capacity and capability13. A change agent is one who sees the change through from its initial stages to its final stages, and he does not begin the process of change without visualizing how the end result will be like14. For a change agent to be effective in their work or efforts there must be some traits present in him (Harigopal 125). First, a change agent is one who walks in the future. The change agent sees the organization as it should be, and they do not rest until efforts are made in the right direction15. What the organization should be is what keeps him ticking, and he does not start a change process based on motivation or necessity; he simply begins a change process because knows that that is where the organization should be headed. A change agent is also very passionate about the change they desire. Because of the great passion in them, they influence all around them in the organization to desire that change and to see it as it should be16. In other words, he is so passionate that he causes those around him to own the change and to become passionate about it as well. As stated earlier, change is a deliberate effort and a process that is not very easy. Therefore, passion is the only way through which change can be attained and though which the desired results in an organization can be seen17. Self motivation is also another trait that a change agent must posses. In as much as a change agent has the capacity to influence those around him to also become passionate about the change, it is not always guaranteed that every person will appreciate the effort of change or see it as it should be; there will be many instances of resistance to change18. Therefore a change agent should be one who has self motivation as a trait and as a handy tool when faced with resistance. A change agent should be someone who has the guts to go ahead with implementing a change process in the presence of the majority who are against the change; he believes in letting the results speak for themselves, and he knows that when the results are out, even those who are in opposition will appreciate the change effort and outcome of the process19. However, being self motivated does not mean that a change agent should always do things his way as long as he fells or thinks it is right. He should also be in a good position to understand those he works with in any change process20. No change effort or process in an organization can be possible or successful if it is devoid of people, and the change agent therefore has to have the capacity to accommodate people and help them be useful resources in the change. He has to bring the people to a point where they can embrace the change for what it is; otherwise the change will not last21. Organizational change has for major areas in which the organization and its members need to be involved in causing the change. The four major areas include change in organizational and marketing strategy, change in technology, change in organizational structure and change in human resource or people22. Though these areas are tackled separately, none is separable from the rest, and this means that any change process should be distributed evenly through all of these four areas. Changes in strategy mainly happen on large scale, and it is usually very hard to find small scale changes when it comes to strategy. However, this does not mean that there are no small scale changes in strategy23. For instance, when an organization works on its lines of production to ensure more efficiency in production and low costs of production, this is a small scale change24. However, if an organization makes a total change and shift of its resources (human resource and other tangible and intangible resources) into a new line of production, then this change is large scale. For the change agent to be effective in influencing and implementing strategic change, there are some options and steps they have to take; first, the change agent must have full knowledge of the current strategy the organization uses, and must come to the realization that this strategy is no longer viable25. The second step is to see the future position the organization desires to be in, and therefore design the organization’s future. When this is done, the third step involves the actual change process and implementation in order to achieve a certain goal for the organization26. Changes in technology are inevitable, and they are sometimes automatic. However, it is better if such changes are deliberate as opposed to being automatic. Before any change in technology is made, the change agent has to know the people or parties likely to be affected positively or negatively by the change. Technological change should also be implemented evenly through out the organization’s structure, and the people within the organization have to embrace the technological change coming in. Changes in people or the human resource of an organization is inevitable. Changes in the other areas automatically translate to a change in the people involved27. However, a change in people can be seen even when all the other areas of change are constant. As mentioned earlier, change is a deliberate effort, and it is therefore possible to deliberately change the people even when there is no intention to directly change the other areas of change in an organization28. For instance, the management of an organization (or its change agent) can decide to change the way its human resource thinks or looks at things in the organization. Positive changes in the people result to more efficiency and effectiveness in the organization’s production and delivery of services29. Change agents face a lot of challenges when implementing change processes and when dealing with the recipients of the change. Most of the times most of the resistance the change agent experiences is usually from within the organization itself. People within an organization are usually used to a certain way of doing things in the organization, and the usually feel uncomfortable when what they are used to is threatened by change. Nobody likes adjusting to a new concept or way of doing things especially if they were comfortable in the previous way30. Also, resistance can come from the management, especially if the change either challenges them to relate better with their employees or the change requires a lot of financial input for it to be successful. Either way, the change agent has to see to it that the change is embraced across the whole organization31. Most of the time, resistance to change is usually because of the tendency of people to becoming acquainted to a certain way of doing things, making them to be resistant or afraid of doing things differently. Also, people can at times resist change out of reflex32. It is normal for people to try and become protective over themselves, and most of the time people will resist change what the change is about. However, when the people embrace the change and see it for what it is, it then becomes easier to deal with them33. Change has to be managed effectively to ensure the success of an organization. For the process to be effective, the first thing that needs to be done is diagnosis of the present standing of the organization relative to many factors. When diagnosis is done, there then needs to be designed a picture of the future organization as it is desired to be. The people and the change agent need to see the organization as it ought to be or as it can be when the change process is complete and successful. Awn should be put into implementation. For organizational change and development to be successful, there has to be patience, energy, effective communication, energy, the right timing, the right resources and the wisdom to blend all these factors into a successful outcome. Works Cited Anderson, D Organizational Development: The Process of Leading Organizational Change. SAGE Publishers, New York, 2011. Blokdijk, G Change Management 100 Success Secrets: The Complete Guide to Process, Tools, Software and Training in Organizational Change Management. Lulu.com, Chicago, 2008. Buono, A & Jamieson, D Consultation for Organizational Change. IAP, New York, 2010. Cameron E & Green, M Making Sense of Change Management: a complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers, London, 2009. Cummings T & Worley, C Organizational Development and Change. Cengage Learning, London, 2008. Daft, R Organizational Theory and Design. Cengage Learning, London, 2009. Deiser, R & Abram, C Designing the Smart Organization: How Breakthrough Corporate Learning Initiatives Drive Strategic Change and Innovation. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 2009. Harigopal, K Management of Organizational Change: leveraging transformation. SAGE Publishers, New York, 2006 Sengupta N & Bhattacharya, M Managing Change in Organizations. PHI Learning Pvt., London, 2006 Yeager T & Sorensen, P Strategic Organizational Development: managing change for success. IAP, New York, 2009. Read More