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CHCORG614A: Manage a service organisation

Manage changes in the organisation

Contents

Identifying trends and assessing their impact on the organisation 3

Social trends 3

Political trends 3

Policy trends 4

Economic trends 5

How would these trends affect management and work practices?5

Managing change in a childcare service 6

Identifying the need for change 6

Sharing the information 13

Failure to achieve lasting improvements 13

Prepare advice and reporting to decision makers13

References 15

2 Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCORG614A: Reader LO 9380 © NSW DET 2010

Identifying trends and assessing their impact on the organisation

Why is it important to identify trends and assess their impact on our service? Our service will continue to operate only while there is a need for this service in our location. Yet demand for our service will change over time as the community changes. It is necessary for us as managers to identify these possible trends and the effects they will have on our service so we can plan for the necessary changes and remain viable. Let’s now look at some trends of which we will need to be aware.

Social trendsSocial trends are a reflection of what a society as a collective believes about a particular issue. Unmarried mothers were segregated from society, with their children being ostracised, as late as the 1970’s yet nowadays there is very little discrimination on this issue. Society has come to accept children born out of wedlock as equal to those born within a marriage.

Social trends have also greatly influenced the children’s services industry. Services in Australia were firstly established in poor, inner-city areas at the beginning of the 20th century to help disadvantaged children and families. During World War 2 these services started to cater for the children of families whose mothers were employed while the men were away at war. Social expectation of children’s services continued to slowly rise until the 1970’s, with 'free childcare for all' a catch-cry of that era.

While many still believe that children’s services should be accessible to every child and family, the late 1980’s and 1990’s saw an emphasis on providing care for working families. As you can see, social trends can greatly influence the demand and support of a service type, and in more ways than patronage.

Political trends'In a democratic country such as Australia, governments are to some extent seen as a reflection of community values.' (Broinowski 2004,p.7) While this statement can be debatable, it is generally accepted that when a country votes to change

Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCORG614A: Reader LO 9380 3© NSW DET 2010

government it is because the people are choosing a change in the set of values and beliefs which form the basis of policy.

The federal change in 1996 from a Labor to a Liberal government saw a change in values and beliefs about children’s services. Liberal Party governments are often thought of as focusing on the family as primarily responsible for the care of children. This has seen the government shift subsidies from being paid to services to being paid to the consumer. The belief that women should have a choice to remain at home and look after the children has resulted in payments being available to families who chose this option. The Liberal government defines equality differently to Labor, with a belief that all people are equal and 'should all receive the same regardless of needs or personal resources' (Broinowski 2004,p.7). The Liberal government also believes in economic rationalism, where supply and demand will ensure that any needs and wants of the community will be provided by the marketplace.

These trends have resulted in significant changes to the industry. In the 1970’s, an operational subsidy was paid to community services based on the number of children enrolled. In the 1980’s a fee-rebate system was introduced with families receiving a subsidy based on their income, which was paid to the service. When the system was expanded to include private centres, these began to increase in number.

The majority of children’s services have for years now been privately owned and operated. Many of these services are viable due to being eligible for Child Care Benefit (CCB) (see note below), which has created a more competitive market, giving families more choice over which centre to send their child to. If policies were to change we might see another big change in the children’s services industry.

Note; Child Care Benefit is a payment made to services on behalf of individual families to reduce their fee payable to an approved child care service. CCB is ‘means tested’ which means it operates on a sliding scale depending on the individual family’s income. More information can be found on CCB from the Family Assistance Office website; www.familyassist.gov.au

Policy trends Policies are a result of social and political trends. A government may decide to implement a policy based on its philosophical beliefs, but if enough opposition is presented by society the policy may be altered or scrapped. This is relevant not only in terms of funding available but also in regard to legislation.

The NSW children’s services regulations were in draft form for many years as different interest groups lobbied the government to listen to the implications of


certain decisions for their service. Brain development research highlighted the importance of the first three years in life and how interaction in this period set up the brain wiring for life. Despite this, the much-fought-for and academically supported view that babies under two should have a 1:3 staff:child ratio was removed from the original draft proposal. Rallies were conducted in Sydney to demonstrate professional support for a lower ratio, which was by now changed to 1:4 to appease the private sector claim that it would be too costly. In the end the private sector lobbying was successful and the original 1996 regulations ratio of 1:5 remained. This was a great blow and important political lesson for all those professionals concerned with quality in children’s services. 'Childcare is inherently political and it is increasingly important for early childhood educators to be politically astute.' (Broinowski, 2004,15)

Economic trendsEconomic trends can also greatly affect the demand for your service. These can be federal, state or local economic trends. The closure of a major shopping centre near your service might mean that you lose a large proportion of your families. An increase in families’ disposable incomes through low inflation may see a greater demand for recreational care. Tough economic times or recessions can create demand if families need to return to the workforce to improve their financial situation. However high interest rates may have the opposite effect, as middle to high income families may no longer have the spare cash to send their children to a children’s service, but their level of income means they don’t qualify for high CCB rates.

Recently we’ve seen the rise and fall (or in some cases ‘partial’ fall) of several child care conglomerates due to high vacancy rates that appear to reflect the high mortgage interest rates. We’ve also seen a record number of child care centre sales and closures. In many cases a centre has been opened in a new housing estate or development, only to find that twelve months later, several more centres have come along. The result is that they all have high vacancy rates. All these trends will have an impact on your service's viability.

How would these trends affect management and work practices?To continue to deliver a viable service, we need to identify these trends and assess what sort of impact they will have on our organisation. Once we have done these analyses we will need to consider how we can react to minimise the negatives and maximise our centre’s gains. It’s time to look at how we can implement some changes.


Managing change in a childcare service

Everyone has their own opinion of change. Some feel anxious and hesitant, others feel resistant while some embrace change with enthusiasm and optimism.

How people react to change will be based as much on their personality as on the way the change is presented and, more importantly, how it is managed.

Identifying the need for changeFor change to be effective it is important that it is not seen as a leader’s whim but is recognised as a necessary step by all those affected. The information about where we are and where we need or want to be has to be available to all stakeholders. Jorde Bloom (1994, p.32) states that 'The director is the key figure in establishing organisational norms that support or inhibit change'.

A director can promote a service climate where open communication, consultation, a sense of trust, permission to experiment, take risks and honestly evaluate performance is the norm. These attributes will greatly assist in the effectiveness of the change cycle.

In children’s services, as in many other industries, it helps to think of change as an ongoing process. Problems will be identified and solutions sought on an ongoing basis. Some of these solutions may involve minor change, such as bringing lunch forward so babies can be put to sleep as they tire, while others may require major change, such as reshuffling of staff shifts due to new legislation. It is important also to remember that change will be viewed differently by different people and that what might constitute a minor change to you could be major to others involved.


Possible solutions need to have been considered, with a consultation period in which stakeholders are welcome to contribute. The selected solution will be more effectively implemented if stakeholders feel they were consulted.

Types of changeIn her book, Leadership in Early Childhood: The pathway to professionalism (1998), Rodd describes a number of different types of organisational change:

Incremental change—these are very small changes and often you may not be aware they are happening. Put a lot of small or incremental changes together and sometimes you have a major organisational shift before you know it.

Induced change—this is a conscious decision to change some process, behaviour or structure. It may be as a result of some new learning or ideas or as a result of some crisis.

Routine change—a very common type of change, often happening on a daily basis as a response to some problem.

Crisis change—here we are responding to a sudden crisis or unexpected outcome. This is usually an authoritarian decision by the team leader on the spot.

Innovative change—this is where you try, through a variety of problem-solving techniques, to make changes to the service so that you are more effective or faster or are making a situation easier.

Transformational change—this type of change occurs usually as a last desperate measure to change the organisation or its structure. Here we will usually see radical changes or alterations.

You will come across all these types of change in your work. The main thing is to manage change in a way that causes the least disturbance to staff, children and parents and guardians. Here are some thoughts that can help.

The golden rules of change in a serviceResearch in this area shows that there are some basic principles that can help us to be successful in implementing changes.

Change is not a single event. It is achieved in stages. Do not rush. Change does not always have a precise beginning and end. It is a process. Changes that worked in one place, at a particular time, may not work

elsewhere. Innovation needs to be ‘adapted’ to fit. People are reluctant to change unless they believe the proposed change

can solve their problem and have input into how best to resolve those problems.


Change for the sake of change can be detrimental. There must be adequate and valid evidence of the need for change.

Change has a ripple effect. Small successes may provide the impetus for ongoing innovations, which is why small pilot studies are valuable.

The situation must be observed over a period of time rather—don't rush straight into change.

Concerns and issues must be discussed with all staff at an appropriate time, e.g., not individually in the playground.

Staff must be given adequate time and opportunity to consider all options.

All staff must be encouraged to participate in the process. Parents should always be consulted and involved. For further improvements, feedback and suggestions should be sought on

an ongoing basis. Start in a small way, slowly.

The change cycle

The change cycle

Identify the problemAs you can see, the change cycle is similar to our planning cycle. We firstly need to identify the problem. Just as when we deal with conflict, we need to ensure that our identification of the problem is not only based on our own perception. The situation needs to be evaluated and the difference between the perceived (or real) conditions and the desired conditions must be clearly identified. We then


need to assess this discrepancy to see if the desired conditions are achievable, worthwhile and realistic. As discussed earlier, this 'we' is a collaborative group of stakeholders.

It might sound simple to identify a problem but often what we do is identify symptoms. Staff talking among themselves and not supervising efficiently outdoors may be identified as a problem originally, but is it a symptom instead? Such behaviour is usually symptomatic of a problem, rather than the problem itself. Even so, it is important to note this behaviour as it will be the starting point as we search for the underlying problem.

With further investigation we may discover that staff need training in outdoor activities and programs as they feel it is unnecessary to contribute to children’s outdoor play, viewing it as children’s 'free play'. This may signal a problem with staff’s philosophy of their role. Or you may discover that staff expect but do not get an afternoon tea break and they view 'outdoor time' as 'staff afternoon tea time'. This information will be important in identifying the problem accurately.

Gather dataOnce the problem has been identified accurately, we will need to gather data to form a clear picture and understand underlying causes. As discussed under 'Using tools', the data collection is crucial to creating and maintaining high-quality services and should be conducted on a regular basis.

It is important for respondents to feel they can be honest about their feedback without fearing repercussions. This is why confidentiality and anonymity should be assured to all that provide data unless they choose to identify themselves.

Analyse the situationYou will now need to collate all the data collected and analyse the situation. A mind map or other tool which will allow you to set out all the information gathered may be helpful. We now need to identify what is working and what is not working. We also need to identify helping forces, that is forces that will facilitate change (such as staff’s motivation to provide a high-quality service in the scenario above) and hindering forces, that is those factors that work against change (such as budgetary constraints in providing an afternoon tea break, historical support as 'it has always been done this way'). Once we have identified these forces we can use the information to assist us in generating possible solutions—solutions that reduce the hindering forces and strengthen the facilitating forces.


Generate possible solutionsWe now brainstorm possible solutions and then, in collaboration, determine the viability and impact of each solution. When we start we do not consider the possible merits of each possible solution, but rather put up all ideas. Then for each solution we will need to consider the resources needed and anticipate the probable consequences. We will arrive at a series of trade-offs between resources, consequences and desired outcomes. An action plan is written once a particular solution has been identified as the most viable.

Develop an action planAn action plan is similar to a work plan in that a task is divided into its components. An action plan also lists the objectives, action steps, who will be responsible, timeframe, resources needed and an evaluation checklist which will be used to ensure the centre stays on track and the objectives are achieved.

Sample action plan

What Who How When

Implement the action planYou would think implementing the action plan would be easy now that we have done all this work. Not quite! While arriving at the action plan has taken a lot of analysis, going through the plan successfully is what will bring about substantiated change. The objectives in the action plan will be viewed by those involved as achievable if we have effectively collaborated. As a director we will need to continue to manage the provision of resources (including time, training, tools) and provide the support and recognition that those involved will need during this change process. We will need now to reiterate the idea that change is not a one-off event but a continuous quality-assurance process.

Evaluate progressThe final step is evaluation, which will connect back to the beginning. The evaluation should collect a great deal of information and it could come from:

minutes of meetings surveys and questionnaires observations of children and staff checklists feedback from stakeholders service forms and record


accreditation processes staff reflections independent reports.

It is very important to have as much of this information as possible in written form for record keeping. You can then collate the data. This allows everyone who’s been involved to get a clear understanding of the effects of the new practices. It also allows the information to be shared and allows a true evaluation of the effectiveness of the new practice.

Some of the factors you could use when evaluating the effectiveness of any change are:

economic considerations—this would include the initial costs (such as capital investments) and then ongoing costs (supplies and maintenance)

social approval—those involved, as well as those not directly involved, showing acceptance of the change

degree of difficulty—the innovation is seen as understandable and, if necessary, further explanation or training is acceptable to those involved

efficiency—it is seen to add to the smooth running of the service in the long run; initial problems in start-up are accepted

improvements are visible—the more everyone can see that the change is effective, the more acceptable the overall innovation will be

compatibility with practices—the innovation is seen as fitting in with the service’s overall philosophy and values.

Activity 1

Identify the problem. All stakeholders need to be consulted, including staff, parents and even children, to see if all identify the same problem. It seems that the program is currently not meeting children’s needs. Too much emphasis seems to be placed on completing routines on time

Gather data. You could note observations of the staff and children during different times of the day. You could send a survey home to gain parents' perspectives on the issue. Inviting staff from other rooms or centre’s might provide you with the 'new set of eyes' needed to clearly see the data before you.

Analyse the situation. Once all the information or data has been collected from the different stakeholders, you need to analyse the situation. This would be best done at a meeting where all interested parties could attend and express their views. In this case you might find out that staff are used to programming with strict blocks of time, and that the idea of a free indoor–outdoor environment is scary to most staff, and that staff have conflicting views on the meaning and aim of programming.

Generate possible solutions. After analysing the situation for possible causes, generate and explore possible causes. You may want to trial a new flexible


indoor–outdoor program but will the staff feel confident to implement this? You may all decide that it is important for all staff to work together on the meaning of programming and the type of curriculum the service wants to provide.

Develop the action plan. Your action plan might have looked something like this:

Action plan

What Who How When

Organise a training session on planning and curriculum.

Director to explore possible in-services to be held at the centre after hours during a staff meeting.

Agreed that three training sessions over three months would be most effective. This way we could discuss how we are feeling about the changes we are making.

Director will start investigating possible training providers by calling around. Agreed training sessions should start at the beginning of next month.

Review our programming policy.

All staff and parents

Director to organise paperwork

Survey will be sent home for family comments.

Draft policy will be displayed at centre and sent home for family feedback.

Next week

6 weeks time

Alter centre’s program

All staff and parents

Director to organise all paperwork

Using newly developed programming policy and knowledge gained through our in-service, we will implement a new program.

Eight weeks time, reviewed formatively every week, summative evaluation in 12 weeks time

Implement an action plan. Having developed an action plan, it would now need to be implemented. The action plan could be amended as needed, eg if no training can be secured to start next month the plan might need to be reviewed to be completed in six weeks.

Evaluate progress. You may undertake some formative assessments while the action plan is in progress. Have the training sessions affected the program provided? At the end of the agreed 12 weeks you would also need to conduct a summative assessment, evaluating any improvements in the service’s program.


Sharing the informationActivity 2

A note on ethical issuesYou must be honest in explaining the purpose to the participants when collecting information and data. You must also maintain ethical standards by ensuring that you:

seek consent from those from whom you are collecting information keep information confidential and only use it on a need-to-know basis share data only with those involved in the evaluation process.

The information gathered is a valuable part of the ongoing process of change. It helps us to be clear about why we are undergoing change, how we are doing it, who is involved and its overall effectiveness. We can then continue the process of developing a better service and so fulfil our philosophy of delivering quality care.

Failure to achieve lasting improvementsParkay and Damico (1989) (cited in Jorde-Bloom (1994)) reviewed research and identified two key reasons why organisational change did not result in lasting improvements. The result of a lack of staff involvement is that the goals of proposed change do not match the needs and beliefs of staff, and thus the change proves ineffective. The second key reason for lack of success has been identified as not considering the political, social, economic and demographic trends affecting the service. Having covered both of these points extensively in this module, let’s hope none of you make these mistakes!

Prepare advice and reporting to decision makers Through this unit we have explored the trends that may affect our service and how we can effectively implement change to remain a quality and viable service. We will now look at how we would need to inform and involve our management.


Reporting and advice We have a responsibility to inform all stakeholders of the challenges faced by our service and of the changes implemented by the service to face these. This is important not only so we can achieve a collaborative effort but also as part of our advocacy role.

Once we have gathered all information and assessed suitable responses, we would need to advice management of the process we are undertaking. This will probably be part of our regular reporting system. As director we are responsible for keeping all stakeholders informed of all issues affecting the service and for promoting debate and discussion of issues.

We also have a responsibility to advocate for our service and industry. Major challenges faced by the service should be highlighted to decision makers. As covered in this unit, children’s services is a highly political area and it is up to every practitioner to continue to highlight the important work conducted.


References

Jorde Bloom P, Sheerer M and Britz J (1991) Blueprint for Action: Achieving centre-based change through staff development, Gryphon House, Mt Rainer, Maryland, USA


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