Managing the Workforce and Organizational Change - Essay Example

MANAGING THE WORKFORCE AND ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE ASSIGNMENT Question: Seeking qualifications which are well beyond the immediate requirement of the jobs can be advantageous as the organisation will not have to spend as much on staff development in future. INTRODUCTION Organisational change has become something that is taking place in most if not all organisations across the globe is embarking on. In modern terms, when talking of organizational change, one is not just talking about the small changes that organizations do undergo - like adding a new staff to a department, or changing the process of program of a section of the organization. Organisational change as will be discussed here refers to an overall change that takes place in an organization. Whenever there is that reason for any organisation to embark on any form of organizational change, there is bound to be cases where the organisation will either have to layoff some workers or/and employ newer staffs. Since most organizational changes are aimed at improving the overall improvement in the products and services offered by an organisation, it therefore means that most employment or hiring carried out during organizational change is normally for skilled and appropriately qualified individuals. The question that should be asked is "Is it advantageous to seek qualifications that are well beyond the immediate requirements of the jobs, so that the organisation will not have to spend much on staff development future" The purpose of this essay is to discuss in support of this notion and to buttress the discussion with supporting evidences. In attempting to discuss this issue, other supporting and relevant sub topics will also be discussed. WHAT IS ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE Before delving into the subject matter, it won't be out of place to first of all take a brief look at what organisation change is and what its components entail. As earlier said, overall organisational change as used here is more than the smaller change that occurs in an organisation. In most cases, it affects all aspects of the organisation. Some of these changes include change in mission and vision of the organisation, restructuring operations - like laying off some workers and employing some, adopting of new technologies, mergers, franchising, "rightsizing", complete new programs, re-engineering, etc. Organisational change can also be said to mean organisatonal transformation as it has to do with the transformation of the organisation. Organisational change in most cases is aimed at the overall development of the company. It therefore means that organisational change and organizational development are closely related. REASONS FOR ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE Organisational change does not just happen for the sake of change, in most cases; it is done as a result of some factors like funding, government rules, market-related issues etc. For instance, there might be the need for a particular kind of product in the market. An organisation, on sensing the potentials that the market has to offer, may then decide to re-enact their mission and tilt towards the direction of tapping into the potentials the market has to offer. This can be done by way of producing or importing the much sought after goods. MANAGING ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE: When changes are to be done There are some difficulties that may be encountered. For instance people may be afraid of the unknown, some may be cynical; and also there may some organisational conflicts when change is about to occur. Certain strategies may be against the long termed known norms of those involved in an organisation. These things have to be taken into consideration and ways of handling them should be thought of. Edgar F. Huse and Thomas G. Gummings in their book Organization Development and Change talked of three steps of Lewin's Change Model. These are: 1. Unfreezing: This first step involves the factors that maintains he organization's present state. This can be achieved by introducing information that contradicts the ones presently adhered to, but which are desired by organizational members. 2. Moving: This involves shifting the norms and behaviours of the organisation to a new level. 3. Refreezing: This has to do with stabilising the organisation. These three steps provide a framework of understanding organisational change. WHO TO EMPLOY DURING ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE: As said earlier, there may be cases that an organisation decides to embark on changes due to some driving forces like people, technology of funding. If an organisation is interested in employing newer members, it is always important to seek for people with qualifications which are well beyond the immediate requirements of the jobs. There are lots of advantages this has. Some argue that there are disadvantageous. This is true, as there is nothing that has advantages, which does not have disadvantages. But from whatever angle it may be looked at, the advantages of seeking qualifications beyond the immediate requirements outweigh the disadvantages. In this essay, the advantages with supporting instances/evidences will be talked about. Also to be talked about will be the reason why it is important to scrutinise among other things the qualifications that prospective employers have. WHO IS A QUALIFIED WORKER Before attempting to enumerate the advantages of seeking workers with higher qualifications, and also looking at the disadvantages of hiring workers that have just the basic required qualifications, it will not be out of place to critically examine who a qualified worker is. A qualified worker is one who meets the proper standards and requirements and training for a particular kind of job. This qualification may be in terms of evidence of educational attainment or in terms of years of experience on the job and related ones. In some cases, it is the combination of both that ascertains ones level of qualification. Before workers are hired in an organisation, certain things have to first of all be worked out. This involves; thinking of or planning out the kind of job that will be assigned to the prospective hired worker. And after knowing what jobs that the would - be worker will be entrusted with, the next step is to then seek for the person(s) with the appropriate qualifications. In most cases, a prospective employee with the basic required qualification will do. But there are other situations where employers seek for one with qualifications well beyond the immediate requirements. This later step is advantageous and the advantages are to be looked here. ADVANTAGES OF SEEKING QUALIFICATIONS BEYOND PRESENT REQUIRED: As said earlier, whatever way that it might be looked at, hiring of workers with qualifications beyond the immediate requirements of the organisation is advantageous: 1. Cost Saving: When staffs that have qualifications beyond the present requirements are employed into an organisation, resources spent on training and staff development in future will be greatly minimized. This is due to the fact that the employed staffs will have already had the expected training or experience. And also, even when there is the need for further staff development, resources spent on a higher qualified worker is usually a better investment. This being the fact that the more qualified staffs are career focused, and also exhibits a higher level of commitment and loyalty. 2. Experience: Staffs that have more qualifications tend to be more experienced also. This is a big factor for any organisation. Experienced qualified staffs tend to be more stable on the job, and there can be issues of transferring already known skills to their new organisations. They are confident on the job - mostly not scared of taking on challenges. They can be quick in solving problems and also are creative. 3. Lower accident rate: Staffs with higher qualifications tend to have statically better accident and attendance records. They are dependable and responsible. This is mostly due to the fact that they know and have an idea about circumstances surrounding particular situations. 4. Time Saving: This has to do with the issue of the time that will be saved when staffs or qualifications are employed. This is because whenever there is that need for the staffs to be trained on a new program or idea introduced into an organisation. They may have probably known of what the organisation's new programmes and ideas entails. This can be explained by way of thinking of a situation where an organisation that uses Microsoft Access software for manipulating their database system. If in attempt to employ a Microsoft Access database administrator, they decide to seek for one with a qualification that supports the prospective employee of having an in-depth knowledge of SQL or Oracle database administration. If at any point in time, the organisation decides to switch from the use of MSAccess database system to that of SQL or oracle, there is time and cost saving as there is already someone handy to take up the responsibility. 5. Team Skills: Higher qualified staffs are known to be excellent at taking direction and tend to work with their supervisors and co-workers in a conducive manner. They have good communication skills and do have a greater ability to solve interpersonal problems compared to the less qualified. They are also known to be better in stress and anger management. CONCLUSION Having examined the above circumstances and giving the above reasons, we have discovered that in whichever way that it is to viewed, seeking for qualifications that are well beyond the immediate requirements of the jobs can be advantageous as the organisation will not have to spend so much on staff development in future. REFERENCES: Carnall, C. A. Managing Change In Organizations. UK: Prentice Hall Int. Ltd, 1990 Chan, T. American Institutes for Research: Recruiting and Retraining Professional Staffs in VR Agencies: Some Preliminary Findings from the RSA Evaluation Study 10 Oct 2003 < http://www.rehabeducators.org/docs/rsa_evaluation_study.doc> Chaudron,D. Re-Engineering and TQM:Approaches to Organizational Change told as "Tale of Three Villages" 14 April 2006 < http://www.organizedchange.com/village.htm> Experienced Workers Program: Advantages of Hiring 14 April 2006 < http://www.tcet.com/ewp/forEmployers.aspx> Huse, E. F and Cummings, T.G. Organization Development and Change,3rd Edition. Minnesota: West Publishing Co., 1985 Kanter, R.M. et al The challenge of Organizational Change. New York: The Free Press, 1992. Learning the work ethic 15 April 2006 http://www.hero.ac.uk/uk/business/archives/2005/learning_the_work_ethic.cfm Virtual Community Resource Centre Forty-Five Plus the experienced Worker 13 April, 2006< http://www.yorkregion-vcrc.com/fortyfive_plus.htm#3> Workforce Training Center. Qualified Worker Retraining 13 April, 2006. Offshoring Read More