Approaches to Effective Change Management - Essay Example

Topic Lecturer: Presentation: Article Approaches to Effective Change Management Change management is a multifaceted aspect of organizations that involves identifying and inspiring the adoption of new values, approaches, standards and conduct in business, which are significant for performance improvement and flexibility that allows positive change to take place. It is important for change managers to be open for new ideas that may be significant in the change process, which encourages all the stakeholders involved to participate and own the organizational objectives, thereby making it possible for the change managers to accomplish their tasks (Ivancevich et al. 2007). Kotter (1996) observes that change management also requires that the important decisions be defended from denunciation by other players who might not be informed or whose interest might only be focused on resisting change irrationally. If change managers allow new ideas to be dismissed in such a manner, there can be no progress. However, while defending the ideas against criticism, it is important to consider the suggestions of others who might have a different perspective in regard to approaching change. For example, technical personnel who understand the organizational systems better can offer essential advice regarding the necessary changes that are beneficial. Flexibility in decision making is important for change to be accomplished. In other words, change managers need to disregard the manner in which they have always approached matters related with decision making. They need to allow flexible practices that broaden their scope of thinking, which allows them to identify new opportunities and methods of working. Rigidity in decision making hampers innovativeness in organizations since they do not open up to change (Szamosi & Duxbury, 2002). In other words, organizational culture is important in determining the success of the change process. It may hinder or promote change and therefore change managers should be keen on maintaining a culture of flexibility in organizational decision making. Promotion of flexible working is also important to ensure that the employees are aware that the typical procedures followed in the workplace can be changed at the realization of any opportunity for improvement, which is significant in avoiding resistance to change among the organizational staff (Lines, 2004). According to Ivancevich et al. (2007), successful change management involves learning from past experiences. The change managers can use examples of situations where they failed in the past and apply the knowledge to avoid undesirable occurrences in the change process. In choosing the approach towards implementing new ideas, it is important to keep focused on the positive aspects instead of looking at the possibilities of encountering difficulties in the implementation process. Focusing on potential difficulties leads to undesirable pessimism that may hamper progress. Risks also need to be shared by forming strong partnerships that are also significant in developing new ideas (Szamosi & Duxbury, 2002). Bennett & Durkin (2000) observes that the information obtained in the change management needs to be analyzed and sorted out to distinguish between the vital information from the irrelevant. Failure of the change managers to make out the difference in such information leads to the presence of surplus data that makes the tasks even more difficult. Such situations cause exhaustion and low morale in implementing the organizational activities, and the change process may be abandoned before the change management goals are accomplished (Mourier & Smith, 2001). On the other hand, Lines (2004) observes that there is a tendency for managers and data collection staff to make assumptions that they collect all the information that can be accessed while they do not. In other words, improper judgment regarding the information received by the change managers leaves substantial information that might be useful to the management unexploited. The change managers can not exploit the full potential of the information that is obtainable. Failures occurring from the inability of the organizational processes to provide the necessary information required for evaluation and assessment is therefore a major issue facing change management in organizations. A major issue that affects the success of change management is the management and the staffs’ understanding of the situation that necessitates change in the organization. In other words, sometimes changes are implemented without a clear knowledge of the reasons why they are needed in the organization. Bridges (2003) observes that organizational strategies need to be focused on specialized needs to transform the organization from the status quo to a better state in future. It is therefore pointless when the change management is not based on a particular need, meaning that the resources sacrificed for change may as well have been reserved for future needs. On the other hand, visionary leaders are sometimes faced with drawbacks in convincing the stakeholders that the change is essential. When analyzing the need for change, failure to involve them leads to misunderstanding since they tend to view it afterwards as a process imposed on them by the management. It generates a negative perception regarding the change process, which may lead to failures in the accomplishment of the overall goal (Chew & Choo, 2008). According to Ivancevich et al. (2007), for change to be accomplished, the interest of the people in the entire organization is important regardless of whether the change affects them directly or indirectly. In other words, it does not help when some people deliberately fail to take note of the changes taking place due to the view that it does not concern them, with the perception that if their work continues as usual, there is no point to participate. The junior employees are usually affected by lack of concern regarding such changes. In essence, they lack ownership of the organizational strategies and view the managers as a completely different group from them. It is the lack of essential knowledge regarding the organizational objectives that makes employees to lack interest in the change process (Kesler, 2002). For example, if the employees are not convinced that their personal development is among the organizational objectives, they only work for remuneration and may not cooperate in the change process. References Bennett, H. & Durkin, M. 2000. The effects of organizational change on employee psychological attachment. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 15, 1, pp 126-147 Bridges, W. 2003. Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change, 2nd edition Da Capo Press. Chew, Y. T. & Choo, S. M. 2008. A study of change management and challenges in a bank, Research and Practice in Human Resource Management, 16, 2, pp 100-118. Ivancevich, J., Konopaske, R. & Matteson, M. (2007). Organizational Behavior and Management, McGraw-Hill/Irwin Kesler, G. C. (2002), “Why the leaders never get deeper: Ten insights about executive talent development”, Human Resource Planning, Vol. 25(1), p 32. Kotter, J. P. 1996. Leading Change, 1st edition, Harvard Business Press. Lines, R. 2004. Influence of participation in strategic change: resistance, organizational commitment and change goal achievement. Journal of Change Management, 4, 3, pp 193-377 Mourier, P. & Smith, M. R. 2001. Conquering Organizational Change: How to Succeed Where Most Companies Fail, Project Management Institute Szamosi, L. T. & Duxbury, L. 2002. Development of a measure to assess organizational change, Journal of Organizational Change Management, 15, 2, pp 184-201 Article 2: Avoiding Barriers to Change Management Organizations in the contemporary operating environment are more often than not faced with change management issues related with the efforts of the managers to define and integrate corporate approaches, frameworks, processes and tools that can be useful in trying to cope with the constant transformation in the business environment, which originate from external forces. Uncertainty is one of the major issues that affect organizations whenever they make considerations of embracing change. Ivancevich et al. (2007) argues that the fact that the change mainly involves moving from an assured position to the unknown while expecting improvements may at times cause doubts to people. In many situations, employees usually prefer straightforward processes that are likely to convince them that the organization protects their interests. They are usually unable to endure the ambiguity involved especially if a project is expected to take long. Rewards are significant motivators for the directive drive to achieve particular change objectives. Nevertheless, external rewards may backfire if employees feel that they are compelled to act in a particular way for the sake of an external source rather than self satisfaction thereby disregarding self determination and eventual backfiring of the change process. Herzebergs’ hygiene factors of motivation such as good working environment and a positive organizational culture therefore come in hardy in promoting change (Herzberg, 2008). According to Mourier & Smith (2001), when people are unable to visualize the benefits that may be derived from the change, they may not be interested in it. In other words, everyone needs to understand how the change affects the workplace routine. Uncertainty mainly affects the laggards in organizations as they tend to wait and see what the change does to others for them to embrace it. For example, change managers may be focusing on introducing new organizational systems that are meant to improve the interactions between employees and clients. They may be in form of modern communication systems that may require some induction training. When uncertainty takes over the employees, their performance may be lowered as they may be worried about the impact of the changes on their work (Chew & Choo, 2008). Some employees may even fear losing their jobs due to changes. Under such situations, the change managers may not accomplish their objectives, which may slow down the organization’s growth. Apart from the employees lacking understanding in regard to the vision of the change managers, issues in organizations also arise as a result of the differences in the information possessed by the change managers and the technical staff (Lines, 2004). For example, the computer specialists may possess the understanding regarding changes that are necessary in the organizational systems, which is information that the change managers may not possess. Lack of proper communication between staff and the change managers is usually a major issue that leads to the loss of opportunities to bring change to organizations. The information acquired from research and development may not be useful if there are no measures to ensure that every person in the organization is informed regarding the outcome of the research. In essence, this communication breakdown is a major issue since as Bridges (2003) observes, there can be no success when members of an organization function as individuals rather than as a group. Teamwork is significant in the accomplishment of organizational goals, and it also helps in developing strategies that accommodate the views of every person in the organization. The viewpoint of the organizational employees and other stakeholders regarding change is significant in the success of change management. It is one of the major issues that change managers encounter in implementing their plans. Kotter (1996) observes that some people may be excited about changes in the organization, especially if they fully understand how the processes take place. For example, the automation of banking services was a major improvement for many financial institutions as they were able to serve a large number of people over a short time and at their convenience. This was a major marketing tool for customers chose the services of the fully automated bank. Mourier & Smith (2001) argue that in case the change managers are dealing with situations whereby it is easy to realize the benefits, the change process is likely to be successful. With people who are enthusiastic in regard to the change process, any breakdowns can easily be detected. However, organizations are frequently dealing with people who care less regarding the change process. Such people usually care less about the changes and may not make contributions or criticism to the change. There are people who may hamper the change process if not given a chance to air their views to the change managers. They mainly focus on the gains that they are likely to realize from the change, and usually have certain targets that they would like to accomplish if their views are considered (Lines, 2004). If managers ignore their demands, such employees may take an unnecessarily long time before accommodating the changes, which may delay success in the organization. In addition, resistance to organizational changes is a major issue that is associated with a negative attitude among members of an organization. Resistance may be passive whereby the employees fail to acknowledge the use of the new procedures and systems without the knowledge of the change managers. On the other hand, it may be active whereby the employees refuse to use the new procedures openly with various reasons that they perceive to have a negative impact (Sherman & Garland, 2007). In other words, they consider the benefits that they can derive from the changes and the negative aspects, thereby resisting the changes. The change process can not be accomplished with such drawbacks. The views of the change managers regarding the change process may also act as barriers to the accomplishment of change. Bridges (2003) argues that managers make the mistake of forcing the changes to give the results that they expect, rather than allowing the change to yield even the unexpected. In other words, if the process does not result in what the managers would like to see, it is thought to be a failure. This prevents the management from exploring new opportunities presented by the changes. Moreover, when a problem arises, there is usually a problem trying to make out the fundamental cause of the problem mainly because the change managers are concerned with a restricted extent of analyzing the problem based on their expectations. With such kind of approach to problems, the managers tend to lean on one side of the problem thereby ignoring some of the important aspects; hence the organizational goals can not be accomplished (Bennett & Durkin, 2000). Failure to use different approaches towards problem solving leaves some of them concealed, making them permanent in the change process. References Bennett, H. & Durkin, M. 2000. The effects of organizational change on employee psychological attachment. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 15, 1, pp 126-147 Bridges, W. 2003. Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change, 2nd edition Da Capo Press. Chew, Y. T. & Choo, S. M. 2008. A study of change management and challenges in a bank, Research and Practice in Human Resource Management, 16, 2, pp 100-118. Herzberg, F. 2008. One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees? Harvard Business Press Ivancevich, J., Konopaske, R. & Matteson, M. (2007). Organizational Behavior and Management, McGraw-Hill/Irwin Kotter, J. P. 1996. Leading Change, 1st edition, Harvard Business Press. Lines, R. 2004. Influence of participation in strategic change: resistance, organizational commitment and change goal achievement. Journal of Change Management, 4, 3, pp 193-377 Mourier, P. & Smith, M. R. 2001. Conquering Organizational Change: How to Succeed Where Most Companies Fail, Project Management Institute Sherman, W. &. Garland, G. E. 2007. Where to bury the survivors? Exploring possible ex post effects of resistance to change, Sam Advanced Management Journal, Vol. 72, 1 pp 52-62 Reflective Practice Experience An analysis of the various approaches to change management as well as ways of avoiding barriers to change management provided a new viewpoint with regards to change management. Change management was presented as a multifaceted aspect that has greater meaning than just a simple occurrence that affects an organization’s way of operation. It is evident that organizational change is inevitable in a rapidly changing environment. The discussions concerning the behaviourist and the cognitive approach enhanced my understanding with regards to how different individuals respond to change. Application of both approaches in the development of a change programme was a significant source of experience regarding effective change management in organizations. Evaluation of the rewards and punishments applied by organizations as motivators for change provided a learning opportunity with regards to their effectiveness in changing the behaviour of individuals. Reflective observation From the group discussions, I and fellow course mates realized that there are many motivating factors that organizations can use to motivate employees to embrace change other than monetary rewards and punishments. External rewards may not accomplish their intended purpose for change to be accomplished depending on how they affect the intrinsic motivation of employees. Many of us in the discussion agreed with Ivancevich et al. assertion that the extent to which people consider their behavior to be self determined rather than being influenced by other people to a great extent affects their intrinsic motivation. I therefore consider Herzberg’s hygiene factors valid in the implementation of change within an organization. However, Different people have different motivators that can improve their participation in organizational change. Some employees are motivated by job security; others are motivated by opportunities for career development while others are concerned about the nature of their work and self actualization. Reflecting on theory McGregor’s X and theory Y, I do not really agree with the straightforwardness in generalizing people’s behavior with regards to change. Rather, I believe that organizational culture requires effort to change especially due to the fact that most of the aspects are entrenched in the organization and are viewed by some people as the basis for success while others blame it for failure. It is necessary for an organization to maintain flexibility in its operations to allow new inventions and positive change. Some organizations have deep rooted cultures that are not easy to change and any change is met with resistance. I agree with Kesler’s recognition of the role played by leadership in shaping organizational change and development. This statement emphasizes the need for leaders to have clear value base for change to be accomplished. I and others in class agreed that employees should be ready to embrace change for it to take place. A closer analysis of employees’ resistance to change reveals that their feelings are often overlooked in planning for change, which leads to resentment and non-compliance. I realized the significance of adequately informing everyone involved to prepare for change, which can only be accomplished through extensive research to ensure that change generates value. Learning The main things I have concluded from change management lessons are that; Change is a complex aspect of organizations that is associated with basic and radical transformations in the manner in which an they operate Flexibility in decision making is important for change to be accomplished Conflict of interest in regard to organizational change may hamper the change process if members of the organization do not agree on how to deal with the change Lack of proper communication between staff and the change managers is usually a major issue that leads to the loss of opportunities to bring change to organizations Resistance to organizational change is a major issue that is associated with a negative attitude among members. Some people may hamper the change process if not given a chance to air their views to the change managers. The views of the change managers regarding the change process may also act as barriers to the accomplishment of change. To overcome barriers to change, it is important for change managers to be open for new ideas that may be significant in the change process, which encourages all the stakeholders involved to participate and own the organizational objectives, thereby making it possible for change to be accomplished Rewards are not the only source of motivation for employees to embrace change I have the strength to analyze the best approaches to change management and strategies to overcome barriers to change but on the basis of practical application in organizations, I understand change management better when discussing with fellow course mates. Planning/trying out (Action Plan) In my career path, I am going to be an effective change manager through continuous application of the theories that I have learnt where relevant. I will ensure that I understand the organizational culture of any organization I work for before establishing strategies to influence change. I intend to conduct a research regarding the different motivators for different people and how they affect change management in the organizations where they work. I also want to study the effectiveness of various extrinsic and intrinsic motivators that can promote organizational change. These undertakings will be significant in evaluating the conclusions I made as a result of my reflection with regards to change management. I will continue participating in class discussions regarding organizational change so as to learn from others and also to present my ideas to them. This will help me to deal with personal weaknesses while helping others through my strengths in this subject. Read More