Effective Management of Change and the Achievement of Organizational Objectives - Case Study Example

Effective management of Change and the Achievement of Organizational Objectives Name Institution Date Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 2 Implication of Effective Management to Change 3 The need for proper Transition during Change Management 5 Ensuring Client Satisfaction during Change in Management 7 Time Management 9 Conclusion 10 References 11 Introduction Change management refers to steps taken by individuals or organization in order to adapt to new ideas or policies that are being put in place or have been implemented. The change management is an important process in helping the employees shift from the past mechanism of handling issues. Change management is also an organizational process that is beneficial to both the employees and the organization itself. The process can be implemented in phases to ensure full implementation. This paper critically analyses some of the reasons why effective management of change can help in accomplishment of organizational goals and objective and how the whole process can be implemented. Implication of Effective Management to Change According to Kondalkar (2008), effective management of change is beneficial to the employees in various ways. Usually in any organization when changes take place some employees are normally frazzled and most of them become anxious. The stress is mainly due to the fact that they may lose their jobs, demotions may occur or their roles will become irrelevant. Change of management may lead to anxiety among the staff members since they were used to the former managers. A combination of stress and anxiety usually leads to low productivity of the employees. This in turn leads to poor performance. However when effective change management is introduced, the employees will feel that they are still part of the organization. This in turn ensures that they continue performing their duties effectively and in turn achieve the organizational goals of the company. This is beneficial to both the employees and the organization. Resistant to change is a very common practice among staff members of various organizations. This is a very issue and a threat to organizational objectives. When the employees of an organization fail to adapt to changes then the performance also drops. This presents a challenge to organizational objectives. This is because the employees will continue acting as before although the changes have already taken place and requires different approach. This also present the managers will many challenges since they will use more time in settling displinary issues with the staff members. This will not only cause inefficiencies to the role of realizing the organizational objectives but will also cause poor performance by the employees. However when effective change management is introduced, the tendency of employees to resist changes will reduce. With the reduction in resistance then the employees will easily adapt to the changes and even take up new role assigned to them. This ensures that objectives of the organization are continually enhanced (Paton, Paton & McCalman, 2008). Effective change management also improves the morale of the staff members. Agarwal (1983) argues that when changes occur in an organization, some employees will benefit while others will lose. Those who lose will feel that they are not part of the organization and will thus end up performing poorly in their duties. Those who gain from the changes will have a tendency of looking down upon the other employees. This in turn leads to competition among the staff members which are not healthy in terms of achieving the objectives of the organization. It also interferes with the new policies that are being implemented. It makes the entire process become unreasonable and unfavorable to the staff members. This also makes the process of change quite irrelevant since only a few staff members benefit from it. However when the change management is introduced, all the issues affecting the employees are taken into account. The perceived imbalance is also taken into account and addressed .All the employees are thus made to understand the reasons for the changes. With the understanding of their roles then their morale is boosted and thus encouraging the employees to continue working hard to achieve the organizations objectives (Kondalkar, 2008). The need for proper Transition during Change Management Proper transition from the old or previous methods to operating to the new method is very important. Whenever change occurs it is advisable to have a smooth transition which will provide the staff members to cope and adapt easily. According to Paton, Paton and McCalman, (2008). Lack of a smooth transition may lead to conflicts which hinders the development of the organizations objectives. In some cases wrangles may occur between the staff members or misunderstandings that may lead to suspicions among members of the staff. Some staff members may want the change to be implemented in a certain manner while others may not be wiling to adopt the method. This lack of trust among the members will definitely affect the objectives of the organization and may lead to the collapse of the organization. However when effective management of change is introduced, smooth transition will occur. This is because the employees will be prepared on how to handle the changes that they will encounter and as such it makes them easily understand the role of the changes. With the smooth transition in place then the objectives of the organization will be achieved despite the changes taking place (Randall, 2004). Kandula (2004) argues that effective change management is also beneficial to both the staff members and the management. In most organizations the employees are usually not consulted adequately when changes are about to be made. This in turn leads to mistrust between the employees and the management. This causes difficulty in adapting to changes by the employees. This is because they were not expecting the changes to take place. In some instances they may have been expecting changes but not to a certain level or degree. This is not healthy to the entire staff members of the organization. However when effective change management is put in place, some improvement will occur. This is because the communication will improve between the management and the other employees (Randall, 2004). With improved communication, team work will always improve which encourages consultations among the staff members. The changes will therefore be easily implemented and adopted. As a result of this the objectives of the company will be achieved while the changes are being implemented. The organization also benefits from change management in different positive ways. Most of the changes do not occur spontaneously but are usually planned. Therefore the result expected is usually known to the managers and other stakeholders. Incase the change will have negative impacts to the organization it is usually known in an advanced stage. All the aspects of the changes are usually known. Change management therefore acts as a tool to the implementation of the change. It will provide a datum for assessment of the changes taking place and their impacts on the organization. Incase the impacts are projected to be negative then change management will offer a perfect solution in dealing with the negative aspects. The organization stands to benefit from this process since it will be assessing the changes, managing the changes and at the same time sticking to the objectives of the company. This way the company achieves its goals and objectives despite the changes taking place (Paton, Paton & McCalman, 2008). Ensuring Client Satisfaction during Change in Management The success of the organization will depend majorly on customer and client satisfaction despite any changes that takes place. When the customers are not satisfied then the organization will not only loose their market share but will also fail to achieve its main objectives. In most cases when the company implements change, the employees may respond to the changes negatively or respond slowly. Some of the employees may even fail to adapt to the changes effectively. This response is usually passed down to the consumers who generally the customers and clients. They may not be satisfied with the quality of the services being offered to them. The main objective of most organization is the delivery of quality services to the clients. When this is not done then the organization loses its main objectives and the clients may not understand the changes taking place. However the organization will benefit from effective change management. This is because the employees will have a high morale and serve the customers effectively despite the changes taking place. This is beneficial to the organization since it will maintain its public image and at the same time implement the changes. In this way the company will achieve its objectives (Agarwal, 1983). Cost management is very important to any organization. When changes occur it brings about extra costs. This cost may be very high if the changes are not managed effectively. The extra cost may be due to the new items or assets purchased to implement the changes. However the cost increase can be fueled by the employees. This is because some of them will take long to adapt to the changes and in turn end up delivering poor results. Such performances may require reviews fro m time to time and to some extent complete overhaul. This increases the costs of operations as most of the reviews had not be planed for. Despite the increase in the cost, the reviews have to be done in order to satisfy the clients. Firing of such employees at such a time will not be useful. This is because it will create another crisis for the organization. Therefore the only way of dealing with the situation is change management. The employees will easily adapt to the changes and cope with them. This will ensure that the employees are performing their tasks effectively. As a result the company will benefit and achieve the main objective which includes profit making (Morrison, 1998). Blazey (2009) notes that change is usually associated with risks and uncertainties within the organization. The risks involved can lead to collapse of the organization or failure to achieve the objectives. When changes occur within an organization, there is bound to be a reaction from stakeholders and other business associates. They will react to the changes depending on how it is being implemented and the effect it has to their interests. Shenkar, (1991) argues that some important associates may decide to quite while other stakeholders may decide to withdraw partially or totally their support. This not only presents a risk to the objectives of the organization but also to the entire organization. When change management is introduced, the organization will handle the challenges with confidence. This will be useful in countering any negative impacts that may lead to risks. Business associates and other stakeholders will thus continue to support the organization. The risks are therefore eliminated and the company continues to benefit. The change management strategy in this case ensures that the organization continues to focus on its objectives (Cohen, Eimicke & Heikkila, 2008). Organizations usually carry out specific tasks at certain times to ensure that they meet their objectives. Such changes may include renovations or measures that will strengthen the performance of the organization. Change management requires planning so that it may fully succeed. In the process of planning how change management will be implemented, then an opportunity to include other activities is presented. It will be relevant to carry out such activities since the employees are already trained on change management. They will therefore tolerate other different activities not necessarily related to change at the time. This will benefit the organization since it will be able to carry out extra activities that will benefit the organization. The company will thus be able to continue focusing on its objectives and achieving the set out goals. This is despite the changes going on and the other activities included in the programme. Change management is thus a useful tool for the organization in realizing all of its objectives (Kandula, 2004). Time Management Time wastage is a major concern whenever changes occur within an organization. This involves the time taken by all the employees to resume full productivity. The longer it takes, the more the objectives of the organization are slowed d down. The time wasted could have been used for other productive activities that benefit an organization. This in most cases is as a result of employee’s failure to acknowledge the changes that are taking place. In most case it leads to wastage of time in trying to settle down issues and challenges arising from the employees. However, when change management is introduced, the employees will fully be aware of what is required of them and will easily acknowledge the changes. The employees will thus waste minimum or no time in adapting to the changes. They will instead focus their attention to achieving the organizations objectives. Change management is therefore useful in ensuring the organization achieves its main objectives while changes are going on (Shenkar, 1991). Change management also creates the chances of having a good team. Best practices can be achieved through change management. These practices include proper management, team work and innovations. This is because change management brings all the employees together since they will all have to deal with the changes. This togetherness will encourage teamwork and good leadership. The reason for this being that in most cases their will be discussions held freely which encourages the staff members to interact more often and thus better understanding of one another. The good leadership and the teamwork spirit will help the staff members to work together without suspicions despite the changes taking place. It will therefore be easy to focus on the organizations objectives which also benefit the organization (Blazey, 2009). Conclusion According to the discussion above, it is quite evident that change management is important to the employees and beneficial to the organization. It helps the employees cope with the changes while at the same time achieve the organizations objectives. Therefore it is important for organizations to adapt change management strategies. It is important for the organization to follow the right procedures and ensure that change is adapted without any form of inconveniences being created. References Kondalkar, T. (2008). Organization Effectiveness and Change Management. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. Paton R. A. Paton R. McCalman J. (2008). Change Management: A Guide to Effective Implementation. SAGE Publications Ltd. Blazey, M. L. (2009). Insights to Performance Excellence 2009-2010: An Inside Look at the 2009-2010 Baldrige Award Criteria. Sydney: ASQ Quality Press. Shenkar O. (1991). Organization and management in China, 1979-1990. New Delhi: M.E. Sharpe. Agarwal R.D. (1983). Organization and management. New Jersey: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Kandula, S. R. (2004). Human Resource Management in Practice: With 300 Models, Techniques and Tools. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.. Cohen S. Eimicke W. & Heikkila T. (2008). The Effective Public Manager: Achieving Success in a Changing Government. John Wiley and Sons. Randall J. (2004). Managing change, changing managers. London: Routledge. Morrison K. R. B. (1998). Management theories for educational change. London: SAGE. Read More