Impacts of Managers Attitude and Belief on Organizational Change - Essay Example

Impacts of Manager’s Attitude and Belief on Organizational Change Introduction The business environment is exposed to a number of factors that are not static but keep changing depending on other variable in the market and in independent organisations. To keep up with the changing local and global markets, organisations must embrace change and adopt new methods of doing business in order to survive. Organizational change is the willingness, ability and the efficiency of organisations adopting new methods and approaches of conducting themselves before their customers, the market and within the organization itself1. As the world becomes more competitive and new players enter industries, the need for new approaches has become a normal part of business management. The success of ant change program determines the success of the management as change has become one of the major challenges facing human resource managers and employees in equal measures. Changes in an organization are known to affect the people in such organizations positively or negatively depending on the position of an individual in the leadership hierarchy2. Resistance to change has become part of any organization and this explains the multiple academic researchers conducted to evaluate the impacts of resistance on the success of an organization. For an organization to successfully change from its traditional approach to a new one based on market needs, a number of factors must be visible within the organization3. Their attitude and belief in the change being implemented impacts to a lager extent on the success on the plan as opposed to the dynamism of the organization and its structural willingness to adapt to new methods of conducting business. In this paper, the level by which the attitude and belief of managers and top leaders of an organization influence the change program will be evaluated relative to the impact of the dynamism of the organization to the same. Impacts of managers attitudes on change Attitude is defined as the feeling and perception that an individual develops towards a particular event or process which affects their ability to adopt a given program or idea. The attitude of managers on change impact on the change program in a similar or in a greater manner on the change process in an organization and such an attitude is easily passed to the employees that these managers are tasked to supervise. Within the psychological discourse, attitude has been shown to influence the tendency of an individual to act, feel, reason and even respond to a particular stimuli in life4. Attitude thus affects the cognition of an individual towards changes in an organization and thus affects their tendency and ability to adopt the same. Positive attitude influences the ability of individuals to understand their new environments and react in a manner that demonstrates their belief towards the same. The ability of managers to embrace change and believe in its impacts on the organization and the employees influences their willingness to work towards supporting it and ensuring it affects positively on the organization5. A number of factors influences the attitude developed by managers in an organization towards change and the understanding of these factors is essential in ensuring that the organization works towards increasing the acceptability of the idea before implementing it. Just like other employees in an organization may resist change for a number of personal and general reasons, department and middle managers may also be reluctant to accept the change for the same reasons as their juniors. These reasons affect all organizations and determine the success of the change irrespective of the dynamism of the organization or its previously exhibited ability to respond positively to change6. The threats and benefits of the change being introduced to their positions influence and dominance in the organization determines the attitude adopted the managers and this in turn influences the success of the same. When determining the extent to which the introduced change will affect them, managers evaluate their skills, abilities and experiences, which ultimately affect the likelihood that they will be part of the change or will be changed in the process. The likelihood that a change introduced will affect the job security and influence of their position, the higher the likelihood that the change will not receive a positive attitude from the managers. One of the main change agents in organisations today is the replacement of analogue approaches with digital ways of production and management7. The willingness of the managers to support such a noble initiative and develop a positive belief and attitude towards it will be influenced by their abilities to be relevant in the changed environment or how it will increase their influence in the organization. In the event that the change will produce a negative impact on their position, influence and salaries, managers are more likely to develop a negative attitude towards it and this will thus trickle down to other employees irrespective of the organization’s dynamism8. Managers play a central role in the implementation of change as they act as the liaison between the top management of the organization and the employees. This makes them integral part of any change plan, as they will be tasked with the communication and supervision role during the implementation process. However, some organization bypass managers in implementing change and this result into a situation where managers lose trust and belief in the change process, an event that affects the success of the process in a number of ways. The role of the managers in implementing change must therefore be recognized and integrated into the change before it can actually be communicated to the employees lest the disruption in command detected by employees which influences their willingness to cooperate with the organisations management9. Management roles on change and how it is affected by attitude In order to understand the extent by which the attitudes and the belief of managers impacts on change in an organization, it is essential to understand the role played by managers in implementing change in an organization. Such an understanding will provide a better understanding of how lack of cooperation from these same people will positively or negatively impact on the change process. As individuals in the top management position of an organization, managers are viewed as the main agents of change in an organization thus influencing its success in a significant manner10. As the overall supervisor of events in an organization, the manager is tasked with the role of overseeing the change process and ensuring that the employees accept the change and work towards its success. This is achieved through a number of approaches, which depend on the belief of the manager on the entire change process that determines his determination to implement it. As most change decision is made at the top hierarchy of the organization leadership structure, such decision must reach the employees below in a structured and well-coordinated manner. The departmental managers are responsible for employees within their department and are therefore tasked with the responsibility of passing such communication to them and ensuring that the intention of the program is achieved11. Communication is therefore a central role of the managers during the implementation of change in an organization and this depends on the belief of the managers on the change being implemented. Once a manger believes in the program being implemented, he will develop the passion on it and find it easier and much possible to explain to the employees the benefits of the change to the organization and even how they as the employees stand to benefit12. As the conduit of the information, their attitude and belief on it will directly affect how they will pass it to the employees and the input that they will put to ensure that his employees accept it. From this explanation, it is possible to understand how the dynamism of an organization can be ignored and the feeling of the managers towards the change allowed taking centre stage on whether it will be accepted or not. The acceptance will only work if the manager takes the initiative of capitalizing on the dynamism and developing the right attitude on the change and passing this same spirit to the employees below him who are tasked with the change implementation13. Apart from communicating the decision to the employees, the role of the manager continues as he is the advocate of the program who should ensure that all employees accept and adopt the decision. Advocating for any idea requires your initial acceptance and belief in it as any attitude towards an idea will cloud your ability to convince others to accept leading to its failure. The role of the managers as the advocate of change makes their attitude and belief towards the same very critical on the success and the willingness of the employees under the same mangers to accept and adopt the change in the first place14. Employees in any organization will always look upon their supervisors and managers to evaluate the extent of implementation of the change that he initially communicated to them. This cannot be achieved in situations where manager apathy towards the same has been openly demonstrated, as this will easily be detected by the employees and thus impede the success of the program in the first place. The employees who expect him to show enthusiasm on the same to ensure it succeeds will easily detect any signs of resistance of the change from the managers or a lukewarm reception15. For any change in an organization to therefore succeed, managers and supervisors as the advocate of change must adopt the idea, understand its implication to the organization and then finally own the change process. Once this has occurred, any negative or doubting attitudes towards the same will affect the process of implementing the change despite the presence of a dynamic culture in the organization. Apart from acting as the advocate and the communicator of the change, managers acts as the coach to employees as they directs them towards ensuring that the change benefits the organization and the employees alike. A coach, just like in any sport, believes in his ideas and approaches, work towards ensuring that his team understands him, and develop a positive attitude towards his ideas. This is replicated in organisations where managers are the agent coaches and are tasked with the role of ensuring that every employee understands and develops the right skills essential for the success of the program being implemented in the organization16. As the coach for the change being introduced by the organization, the managers plays the role of creating awareness of the change program and the reason why the organization need to implement the change in the first place. This depends highly on his attitude and belief towards the idea as it will influence his determination towards ensuring that the employees understand the idea in totality17. A desire on the employees can only work if a desire on the managers have been exhibited through their attitude, belief and input towards the success of the same. Implementation of change in organization is done through teams created by the management and overseen by the managers themselves who act as the liaison between the top management of the organization and the employees. Managers as liaison officers are tasked with the role of providing information on the progress and the response of the employees to the people directly above him. Such a report can only be accurate and representative of the actual events if the manager beliefs and works towards the success of the program, something that can only occur if he believe in the change in itself18. The management of any change in an organization must be cognizant of the resistance that will come from the employees themselves and how this will ultimately influence the success of the program. As officials directly close to the employees at the lowest level, managers are tasked with developing working approaches of managing any form of resistance from the employees and reporting the same to the top leadership. An individual fights for something he believes in and one that he has developed a positive attitude towards ensuring that it ultimately succeeds and benefits the organization19. Therefore, managers that have developed a negative attitude and do not believe in any change approach are ill equipped to be able to manage the resistance from other employees and ensure that the idea succeeds as required by the organization. Organizational change resistance is a phenomenon that is quite common, predictable by organizational managers, and executive. The success of any planned change can only be achieved if the management plans for the possibility of any revolt and adopt the best strategies to help mitigate any problems that may arise from change. The management of true value food processor should therefore adopt a number of strategies in implementing this change program to reduce any possibility of resistance from among its employees. A number of management gurus who have tested their ability to make organizational change an easy and smooth process recognize these strategies20. Resistance to organizational change has been shown to originate from the managers who have a negative attitude and does not believe on the effectiveness of a given program. Once the executive fails to convince the managers to adopt the idea and make it theirs, it become difficult for the same managers to work towards the success of the same idea by ensuring that other employees support it. Resistance by low-level employees occurs when the managers who are immediately above them fail to provide logical reasons as to how the plan being implemented by the organization stands to benefit them. These results into a situation where the employees gang up against the management and these results into a situation where the management lacks the basis for implementing the change forcing them back to the drawing board21. Influence of middle managers attitude other employees Middle managers in any organization are in an immediate position before the general employees and are considered to play an influential role on the attitude of the employees on any organizational policy. Apart from the departmental managers who may be involved in the formulation of the change, the middle managers are in a position where their information trickles down from the departmental manager. Change in the organization has a significant impact on their position, influence and role of the middle managers and this makes their attitude towards it essential in the ultimate success of the same22. In the event of implementing a change program aimed at downsizing the organizations workforce to streamline its operations, the middle managers have their position under the radar, as they are the first executives to be affected. This naturally affects and influences their attitudes and beliefs in the changes that an organization plans to implement at any given point in time23. Middle managers are considered as the change agent in any organization and this makes their attitude towards the process an important aspect for success of failure. Any decisions they make influences the decision of the other employees as they act as the role models to these employees and interact regularly with them. The overall attitude of the middle managers to change will thus determine the overall participation of other employees and the success of the programs being implemented. This demonstrates how individual’s cognitive abilities and process plays a determining factor in the change program in any organization. The inspiration of the middle level managers, one that is guided by their attitude and belief on an aspect of change, has positive impacts on the employees. Overall impacts of attitudes and beliefs on organizational change Attitude determines the ability and willingness of an individual to understand the benefits of a plan on their careers and to the growth and development of the organization. Developing a negative attitude on program by the employees and the staff of an organisation has the potential of jeopardizing the entire process and impacting negatively on the plan to succeed in the organization. However, the attitude developed by the other employees in an organization is most of the time not developed in isolation but in response to the poor reception of the idea by the managers. In most organisations, boardroom meetings, discussions and resolutions are considered confidential and the information can only reach the employees once the deliberations have agreed so and through a well-defined channel. This occurs to avoid strategic decisions and plans by the organization being leaked to competing organisations and other market players that may affect the effectiveness of the plans. However, in the event that the ideas being discussed and formulated by the organization are not favoured by some managers within the executive, the information discussed and the change floated can actually reach other employees through the grapevine channels of communication. Grapevine is one of the common unofficial channels of communication in most organisations that serve to increase organizational resistance to change as it provides a room for the employees and the managers to discuss the benefits of the plan to them24. As a result, employees develop perception, attitudes and beliefs on the program even before the management of the organization officially communicates it. Such incidences have occurred in a number of organization and created change resistance environment that is difficult to control due to the fact it is fanned by the managers behind the scenes25. Conclusion Attitude can move even the biggest of mountains is a phrase that has been used severally to demonstrate the strength of the feeling and belief of people in an idea. When an individual develops a positive attitude towards an idea, such an individual is considered a step away from achieving that same dream and this is applied to management in organisations. As people who are charged with the role of interacting with the employees at the base of the pyramid, managers have the power over the willingness of the employees to adopt an idea and own it. This is reflected in the efforts that the employees put in place to ensure that the idea succeeds and work towards benefiting the members of the organization26. Every organization that plans to implement change within its ranks must thus appreciate the role of the middle level managers in ensuring the success of the plan in the organization. Thus, managers should not just be involved in the implementation but also in the formulation stage to enable them own the idea, be part of it and understand the benefits of the same to the organization and to themselves. The same attitude that such managers will adopt can easily be passed to the employees below them, which will increase the chances of success for the plan27. Bibliography Alvesson, M. Understanding Organizational Culture. (Sage, 2002). 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