The Theory and Practice of Change Management - Coursework Example

Name Instructor Class Date Management of Change The following essay aims at discussing chapter 21 on Training and Development in the field of management of change. The chapter focuses on how training and development can help in managing change within the organization. It seeks to discuss how training and development can support re-alignment of competencies of employees and other elements of the organization such as structure and task. After reading the essay, I have understood and learnt numerous issues including training needs, design and delivery of training, and assessment of training. Change in an organization is associated with a certain level of individual change (Hayes 350). Such individual change is part of a natural and informal process of learning and development. This is the main reason that managers decide to offer specific training and development interventions to employees. Such interventions are aimed at developing new behaviors, skills, attitudes, and knowledge. The first element I understood from this chapter is the training needs. Basically, training and development interventions are focused on two main set of individuals or employees in the organization. The first type of members is associated with managing the process of change (Hayes 350). Such members can include managers, supervisors, or team leaders. The other members are those who are required to behave differently when change occurs (Hayes 350). Such members are the most important when it comes to effective management of change. This is because at times employees will already have all the required competencies to achieve new performance values (Hayes 351). However, such employees only require training to help them perform in new manners, which is information on the reviewed performance standards that they are required to accomplish. In other cases, employees may not have the needed competencies they need to accomplish performance standards after change has occurred. Hayes indicates that in such situations managers have numerous options including redesigning tasks to reflect current abilities of employees, substitute the current employees with other equipped with desired competencies, or assist the current employees to obtain the needed new abilities. In this case, the last option is most effective and involves training and development. However, the best approach to determining the best option to use is through a training needs analysis. Hayes states that “a training heeds analysis involves three steps: systems-level review, task analysis and personal analysis” (351). The first step of a system-level review helps to define how the planned change will influence an organization’s objectives, goals, and tasks. I have come to understand that different types of changes influence organizational departments differently in terms of competencies required and tasks performed. The second step of task analysis involves evaluating specific roles to determine how changes to tasks will influence performance that will be required from employees of the organization or department (351). The task analysis seeks to identify the new abilities that members are required to possessed in order to meet the required performance levels. For instance, a company changing to using computers may require employees to have some computer skills in order to meet the new performance levels. The task analysis is linked to the last step of person analysis. This is because the new competencies identified in the task analysis are used to evaluate the current competencies that employees already possess. This step ensures that the organization can identify inconsistencies in terms of competencies, thus enabling managers to determine members of groups that require training and development (Hayes 351). Moreover, this step also helps to identify what employees require to know and how they are expected to behave. The training needs analysis is an effective approach in determining members to be trained and what they should be trained. Moreover, this is an effective method of ensuring that change within the organization is successful. The second main issues I have learnt and understood from this chapter is design and delivery of training. Training may be ineffective if not designed and delivered in the appropriate manner. Hayes relies on previous literature to explain the numerous training methods. These methods are categorized under numerous methods including on-the-job training, in-house courses, external courses, planned experience outside the organization, and planned organization experience (Hayes 352). The criteria used to determine the best method to use in different situation is based on compatibility with training goals, approximated probability of transfer of learning to tasks or work duties, availability of resources (time, money, and skilled trainers), and trainee-related aspects (Hayes 352). Managers tasked with managing change can easily rely on the training objectives to determine the best training methods. Training objectives can differ based on the required change (Hayes 352). The need to determine training objectives is important in selecting a suitable training method. Another criteria used in selecting the best training method is transfer of learning. Methods such as in-house training are effective in terms of transfer of learning where the employees are required to use new abilities once change has already occurred. Transfer of learning is aimed at determining how quickly or the duration employees are required to acquire new competencies in order to meet performance standards once change has been implemented (Hayes 353). I have also learnt that resources are significant in determining the appropriate training method. Different training methods may require increased resources than others. Resources such as time may be important if the change being implemented is required immediately in a short period (Hayes 353). Moreover, some training methods such as in-house courses may require external training consultants who come at a certain fee. Therefore issues of resources are paramount to ensure that training is effective, thus guaranteeing successful change. Last but not least are the trainee-related aspects. These aspects help in determining if the trainees are in a position to undertake different training methods based on their individual issues such as duties or domestic responsibilities (Hayes 353). Not many managers in charge of implementing change are aware of such training methods and criteria. However, this chapter has enabled me to understand the different training methods and factors that determine the best method to apply based on different situations. The third issue I learnt in this chapter is evaluation of training effectiveness. Training employees does not guarantee that it is effective or successful in terms of implementing change. Numerous metrics should be used to determine the overall effectiveness of training and development. This can be achieved through a four-level method of training evaluation. The first level determines how trainees reacted to the training (Hayes 354). From what I have learnt this can be achieved through interviewing or conducting a trainee survey to understand their response to the training. The second level aims at assessing what the trainees or employees have learned (Hayes 354). Training may not guarantee that trainees have acquired new skills, thus it must be evaluated to ensure it’s effective. Additionally, behavior is also used to evaluate the training effectiveness (Hayes 354). At this level it is important to evaluate how well employees behave in the real work situation based on their training. This is because training does not always involve real work situations, thus after training employees may be under pressure to behave based on their training or revert to outdated behaviors. Lastly, evaluation of results based on employee behaviors should help in determining the overall training effectiveness (Hayes 354). Employees may react positively and behave as required, but their behaviors may not yield the expected performance standards. This is very important to ensure that the training is effective and just not a waste of resources and energy. Therefore, evaluation of training effectiveness is an important aspect in management of change. The chapter also offers previous research literature on training and development in Australia. From the research illustrated, I have learnt that not many organizations are keen to evaluate training effectiveness (Hayes 354). Most organizations do not understand the concept of training and development as part of managing change. Moreover, training and development is not considered an important aspect in the process of change. Nonetheless, previous research highlighted in this chapter illustrates growing trends in training and development. The first trend I have learnt is based on an increase in ensuring that business strategies are linked to training and development. Moreover, most Australian companies are focusing on training at an individual performance level rather than uniform training for all employees (Hayes 356). This illustrates a growing understanding and appreciation of training and development in terms of managing change in organizations. Moreover, there is increased focus on behavioral skills rather than technical skills (Hayes 356). This means that organizations now understand that training and development is paramount in implementing successful change both from a behavioral and technical perspective. In conclusion, I have learnt three main issues from this chapter including training needs, design and delivery of training, and assessment of training. It is important to conduct an analysis to determine the need for training to effectively implement change. Again, training should be developed or designed and delivered based on identified criteria or factors to ensure effectiveness. Lastly, training interventions should be evaluated based on different levels to determine the overall effectiveness of change implementation. Work Cited Hayes, John. The Theory and Practice of Change Management. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. Print. Read More