The Most Important Things to Get Right in a Successful Change Process - Essay Example

Change Agent Strategies Student’s Name: ID Number: Date: Q. What do you consider are the most important things to get right in a successful change process? Introduction Change is unavoidable aspect in any forward-looking organisation. It may come as a result of improvement in management, general staff or even the organisational structure itself. Individuals view change in different perspectives (Lozano, Ceulemans, &Scarff, 2014). Some may have negative attitude towards change hence end up resisting it in an organisation. In this case, they see change as a threat to their career in an institution. On the other hand, others see change as an opportunity to advance. Such people have positive attitude towards change hence support its implementation in the company. This paper provides individual experience of change process which had direct effect on sales department at KFC. Factors to Consider in Successful Change Process The management have a duty to ensure that they prepare every employee and other stakeholders for a change. Failure to prepare them leads to unnecessary resistance which may have potential impact during implementation (Thomson, 2012). Preparation may take various forms such as employee training and development. It may take long time but it is necessary step towards execution of change (Pollack, 2012). Let every individual within the organisation get the correct information concerning the change in advance. Leaders may also seek input of employees in form of views concerning anticipated change. Employees therefore feel part of the process hence assisting in implementation. Any reasonable professional especially in management matters is always ready for change. He or she is aware that changes are there to happen due to unavoidable aspects such as consumer demand, technology and legislation among others. There are various types of change that happen in an organisation namely technological change, structural change and personnel change among others. Note that any change affects the operations of the business within the organisation hence need for effective management (Armstrong, 2012). Change management entails ensuring every stakeholder is part of the process. Manager concerned should provide the necessary leadership by incorporating every individual to ensure acceptability. When this happens, organisation is sure of successful adaptation and implementation thus positive impact on operations (Rousseau, &Barends, 2011). Interpersonal and communication skills are essential aspects in change management process and when one has them, he or she becomes of great help during execution stage. One is able to convince others why change has to happen and how to benefit from it. Such skills had essential impact on successful change process in KFC since I managed to convince my colleagues in sales on available benefits. Things to Get Right in a Successful Change Process There are several things that management should get right in a successful change process. They are aspects that should be given essential consideration before, during and after implementing the change. It requires managerial skills to analyse these things critically in order to obtain acceptability as well as sufficient support in the process. As stated earlier, there are some people in an organisation that feel threatened by the change (Armstrong, 2012). Does this mean you ignore their concerns and move on with the process? Doing so can only make matters worse since every individual is important to the change process. The management should address every underlying issue bearing in mind the need for sufficient support from every person within the organisation (Thomson, 2012). Employees form an essential part of an organisation which plays a significant role in the change process. Note that change cannot implement itself hence require people with the right knowledge. For such change to achieve its objective, organisational leadership ought to involve employees. Any resistance only works against the company and it may end up not getting benefits from the anticipated change (Brynjolfsson, Renshaw, &Alstyne, 2012). From the beginning, the managers should consider employees feelings and concerns. Downward communication is important at this stage since managers need to pass information to junior employees. Communication helps in clarifying the whole issue thus avoiding any negative aspect in their mind (Anderson, & Anderson, 2010). Unless the managers inform other employees concerning the intended process, they give room for destructive rumours. Managers may decide to form teams to discuss the change and the implementation process. In this way, employees talk openly on how they feel about the change and why. On the other hand, the managers convince them on the benefits that change has to both the workers and the organisation at large. Leaders should encourage employees to develop positive attitude towards change and to utilise opportunities it supplies. There is also a need for the employees to know effects of resistance on their career growth (Griffin, & Moorhead, 2011). As a result, they accept the change willingly hence supports its implementation and subsequent outcome. KFC sales manager tried to form teams within the department to discuss the issue thoroughly. Although sales staffs were not satisfied, at least the company managed to get them back to work pending further consultation. Another important thing to get right is appreciation of the fact that change is inevitable. No one can prevent the change from happening. As environment change, the organisation should also change to respond well to its demand (Todnem, 2005). Failure to see this fact leads to collapse of an institution since business should match the environment. Nevertheless, benefits depend on how well an organisation prepares for the change. For a successful change process, the management should be ready for anything and should develop positive attitude towards ever-changing atmosphere (Contrafatto, & Burns, 2013). Preparation for the change is part of the process and should be done in a manner that when it comes, the management is able to get its benefits. It should make the organisation better in terms of performance and manpower growth. The management should bear in mind the cost implication of the change process. The whole process requires adjustment in several areas as well as personnel preparation (Griffin, & Moorhead, 2011). It is a costly exercise which calls for advance planning. For the change process to be successful, the organisation needs to take proactive steps that minimise the cost. For example, it may opt to prepare employees early enough to curb resistance. This allows utilisation of benefits that come along with the change as well as prevent unnecessary expenses in the course of handling resistance. Management should ensure it uses minimum funds possible in implementing the change process (Anderson, & Anderson, 2010). Failure to have a plan on this issue may lead to wastage of resources in the process which may even collapse the business. Implementation of change is a gradual process that requires time and patience. It does not happen within a short period. There must be a gradual process whereby the management implements the change step by step until it is fully adopted (Armstrong, 2012). Failure to this leads to employees’ frustration which causes resistance when the process is on course. In this case, organisation loses a lot of resources while getting no return from the change process. To avoid this unfortunate case, the management starts by having the change go through trial phase first. After trial, the organisation begins the actual implementation in some areas and then spread it gradually to the entire system (Contrafatto, & Burns, 2013). Eventually, the changes takes effect with minimum resistance and the organisation gains maximum benefits. Successful change process calls for teamwork in an organisation (Griffin, & Moorhead, 2011). No single person within an organisation is able to carry out the change process successfully. There must be assistance from other people through co-operation. Effective inter-personal skills are essential especially on the side of the managers to ensure successful process (Contrafatto, & Burns, 2013). There must be coordination of events and manpower before one realises success in this issue. Bringing every stakeholder on board is not an easy task. It starts by creating good relationship with those you need and particularly employees. It also entails team building to help the people work together for the common goal (Pollack, 2012). The management should consider this aspect of teamwork in any successful change process in an organisation. Personal Strengths and Weaknesses in Managing Change However, the process becomes a challenging task when dealing with issues of organisational structure as well as change in legislation. Change in organisational structure comes as a result of decision of top management which may not necessary have any benefit to individual employees. Convincing them to accept such change is not an easy task since i may not even have proper understanding of board’s motive. In KFC, this was a challenging moment since top management sought to change the reward and remuneration system. The aim was to reduce allowances for sales staff as a way of cutting company expenses. Dealing with such matter was difficult on my part. In this case, departmental manager assumed the role of change agent by providing proper leadership to the entire sales team. He demonstrated positive attitude towards the idea by convincing the team on benefits that may come along when the organisation becomes financially stable. In any change process, there are either direct or indirect benefits to the people affected by it. The major role of a leader as a change agent is to demonstrate how the process benefits employees (Brynjolfsson, Renshaw, &Alstyne, 2012). Some may come as a positive challenge such as need for career upgrading. The approach is also applicable in student’s professional life. They should get proper information about change in advance so that they develop positive attitude towards the process. Students would also become aware of benefits of change process in their professional career. Such advance preparation enhances personal growth which produces professional competence (Griffin, & Moorhead, 2011). Change agent has the responsibility of compensating staff weaknesses in the change process. Where the change concerns main tasks in the line of duty, change agent may offer necessary assistance to ensure the staff members are able to complete the task without delay. The process may take the form of internal training thus enabling the employees to appreciate change and utilise it to achieve organisational goals. Summary and Conclusion At this point, it is clear that change is an aspect that is bound to happen. Technology does change hence demanding a subsequent change in human skills to work with that technology. In the same way, legal framework change hence forcing significant adjustment in business to comply with the new order. The idea in this case is that when the external factors change, the internal factors of any organisation change as a response to it. Such phenomenon is common in every environment throughout the world. Failure to cope with change is quite destructive in terms of business survival and the economy at large. For successful implementation of change and utilisation of benefits underneath, there is a need to upgrade personnel skills and knowledge. It calls for constant improvement through formal and informal learning. One may opt to go for further learning to know how to work with certain technology thus able to benefit from it. An individual may also decide to adjust his/her lifestyle to cope with changes such as legal provisions. The change in legal framework requires a response from the management especially in the area of operation and handling of personnel. Changes in Legislation also require a response from HR Practitioners in terms of new policies and procedures as well as training and development. To utilise benefits from such change, individuals have the responsibility to obtain the right information from reliable sources. As a change agent, it is important to strike the balance between the employees’ feelings and need for the organisation to change. The main task here is to demonstrate how an individual can tap the benefits that come along with any change. Taking pro-active approach in managing change is the best way of ensuring smooth process. In respect of this element, effective communication is the key factor for change agent. As a management professional, communication and inter-personal skills have instrumental in ensuring successful change process. Reference Anderson, D., & Anderson, L. A. (2010).Beyond change management: How to achieve breakthrough results through conscious change leadership. John Wiley & Sons. Armstrong, M. 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