RESEARCH PAPER

MANAGING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

HR PRESPECTIVE  

PRATIBHA * VANDANA *

 

Organizational change can be thought of as stretching the goals and managing improving the way an organization thinks about and does its work.

Typically, the concept of organizational change is in regard to organization-wide change, as opposed to smaller changes such as adding a new person, modifying a program, etc. Examples of organization-wide change might include a change in mission, restructuring operations (e.g., restructuring to self-managed teams, layoffs, etc.), new technologies, mergers, major collaborations, "rightsizing", new programs such as Total Quality Management, re-engineering, etc.Organizational change is defines as change that has an impact on the way work is performed with significant effect like termination of employment. The elimination and diminution of job opportunities and job tenure etc.

Nowadays its recession thus organizations are greatly focusing on their change programs and have become increasingly demanding with regard to performance outcomes. However stressful, to employ and effect their works and quality of life, although beneficial to the organization. The key feathers are change in technology change in marketing condition social change and political change and legal change and to see how to involve people in change rather imposing on them. In context of present scenario of tough business competition there is always a need felt for star performers and outstanding personnel who have the vision to fetch the best result for organization.

      Thus these key features help to tackle the problem related to organization. As the competition among companies is at all time high companies are brazing themselves to changing situation by meeting customer demands in order to survive they have to deal with change in all its dimensions technological personal an organization to ensure success in the long run.

      Change is inevitable in every aspect of life an organization are no exception to this. Business environment is changing fast as a response to evolving conditions manager need to be tactful and resistance and push ahead.

      When business environment is changing human resources functionaries can ill afford to lag behind or remain static. Their role is getting increasingly complex, dynamics, and challenging to say the least. 

"People want change, they don't want to be changed." 

A common definition used for change management is a set of processes that is employed to ensure that significant changes are implemented in an orderly, controlled and systematic fashion to effect organizational change. One of the goals of change management is with regards to the human aspects of overcoming resistance to change in order for organizational members to buy into change and achieve the organization's goal of an orderly and effective transformation.

The ADKAR Model

Change management has been developed over a period of time and one of the models that have played an influence in change management is the ADKAR model. ADKAR was a model developed by Prosci. In this model, there are five specific stages that must be realized in order for an organization or an individual to successfully change. They include:

Awareness - An individual or organization must know why a specific change or series of changes are needed.

Desire - Either the individual or organizational members must have the motivation and desire to participate in the called for change or changes.

Knowledge - Knowing why one must change is not enough; an individual or organization must know how to change.

Ability - Every individual and organization that truly wants to change must implement new skills and behaviors to make the necessary changes happen.

Reinforcement - Individuals and organizations must be reinforced to sustain any changes making them the new behavior, if not; an individual or organization will probably revert back to their old behavior.

10 PRINCIPLES TO MANAGE CHANGE

1. Address the “human side” systematically. Any significant transformation creates “people issues.” New leaders will be asked to step up, jobs will be changed, new

skills and capabilities must be developed, and employees will be uncertain and resistant. Dealing with these issues on a reactive, case-by-case basis puts speed, morale, and results at risk.

2. Start at the top. Because change is inherently unsettling for people at all levels of an organization, when it is on the horizon, all eyes will turn to the CEO and the leadership team for strength, support, and direction. The leaders themselves must embrace the new approaches first, both to challenge and to motivate the rest of the institution.

3. Involve every layer. As transformation programs progress from defining strategy and setting targets to design and implementation, they affect different levels of the organization. Change efforts must include plans for identifying leaders throughout the company and pushing responsibility for design and implementation down, so that change “cascades” through the organization.

4. Make the formal case. Individuals are inherently rational and will question to what extent change is needed, whether the company is headed in the right direction, and whether they want to commit personally to making change happen.

5. Create ownership. Leaders of large change programs must overperform during the transformation and be the zealots who create a critical mass among the work force in favor of change. This requires more than mere buy-in or passive agreement that the direction of change is acceptable.

6. Communicate the message. Too often, change leaders make the mistake of believing that others understand the issues, feel the need to change, and see the new direction as clearly as they do. The best change programs reinforce core messages through regular, timely advice that is both inspirational and practicable.

7. Assess the cultural landscape. Successful change programs pick up speed and intensity as they cascade down, making it critically important that leaders understand and account for culture and behaviors at each level of the organization.

8. Address culture explicitly. Once the culture is understood, it should be addressed as thoroughly as any other area in a change program. Leaders should be explicit about the culture and underlying behaviors that will best support the new way of doing business, and find opportunities to model and reward those behaviors.

9. Prepare for the unexpected. No change program goes completely according to plan. People react in unexpected ways; areas of anticipated resistance fall away; and the external environment shifts. Effectively managing change requires continual reassessment of its impact and the organization's willingness and ability to adopt the next wave of transformation.

10. Speak to the individual. Change is both an institutional journey and a very personal one. People spend many hours each week at work; many think of their colleagues as a second family. Individuals (or teams of individuals) need to know how their work will change, what is expected of them during and after the change program, how they will be measured, and what success or failure will mean for them and those around them.

DEALING WITH ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

Individuals can reduce the impact of change and resulting stress by focusing on the value to be gained. The following are some ways to help approach change with a positive attitude:

Keep an open mind. Do not assume that the results of change will be negative. Chang may be the best thing that ever happened to you.

Stay flexible. Be ready to let go of the old and try the new. Talking with colleagues can help allay stress and foster a supportive environment.

Be supportive of colleagues. It is important that people recognize each other's contributions on a regular basis and show appreciation for one another.

Take an active role in the change process. Learn new skills, offer suggestions, set goals for yourself.

Give change a chance to work. Be patient; change takes time.  

Ignore rumors. Instead, focus on gathering as many facts as you can about change. Talk with your supervisor when you have questions.

Pay attention to yourself. It is important to learn to manage stress. People who feel good mentally and physically are better able to handle change. Eat a nutritious diet, get enough sleep, exercise, limit alcohol use and utilize relaxation/stress management techniques (e.g., deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation), so your body and mind are able to deal with change.

CHANGE STRATEGIES

These can be considered as the different strategies and procedures that are used to categories the change environment. The relevance of different change strategies is that they build upon different assumptions about human motivation and hence willingness to engage in change at a particular point in time. Four differing views are presented below. These strategies are not intended to be mutually exclusive. Rather they may each be appropriate at a different stage of a particular change

process. Once the environment is identified, an effective implementation plan can be composed.

Normative-re-educative strategy

This approach believes that changing the norms, attitudes and values of individuals will lead to changes in their behaviors. (As such this strategy is the reverse of the model Beer et al propose above.) It is based upon core beliefs, values and attitudes. So change will occur as individuals change their attitudes and this leads them to want to behave differently.

Rational-empirical strategy

This strategy is based on persuasion, and assumes that individuals are rational and as such they will follow their own self-interest once this is made clear to them. The benefits of a change therefore need to be highlighted and sold to the individuals as being of personal benefit to them.

Power-coercive strategy

This strategy is based on the application of power, with the belief that most people are compliant to those who have greater power. A potential issue with this process is that once the power is removed, individuals may revert to previous behaviors.

Action-centered strategy

This focuses on problem solving, looking at problems and focussing on remedial actions.

WHY IS CHANGE MANAGEMENT RELEVANT

Change management is relevant as though the research finds that change is taking place at an ever-increasing pace, the evidence suggests that most change initiatives fail. For example, recent CIPD research suggested that less than 60% of re-organizations met their stated objectives which are usually bottom line improvement. This is consistent with other published research.

The impact of failures to introduce effective change can also be high: loss of market position, removal of senior management, loss of stakeholder credibility, loss of key employees.

Finally, one organizational response to change is that organizational forms are themselves evolving. Therefore, the change management response will have to be adaptive. For example, the increased competitive challenges and the need to be responsive to the changing environment are resulting in emerging organizational

models. Traditional organizational models following functional or matrix lines are being supplemented by new models. These might rely on project teams, on networks and on virtual structures.

In theory, certain of these newer models, for example virtual and project-based structures, allow increased flexibility to respond to change. However such models are not always introduced uniformly, and in practice often introduce other issues that also impact upon change management, for example ability to share knowledge and to operate efficiently. These may also impact effectiveness of communication or employee commitment, which themselves have implications for change effectiveness.

Recent CIPD research Managing across boundaries highlights how the move towards network-based organizations means that HR managers must now consider issues that exist across and outside the boundaries of the firm: they need to address the concerns of cross-boundary human resource management. This requires the development of a series of boundary spanning HRM practices which involve the extension of practices which are traditionally used only for employees (that is, individuals contracted to the organization) to these important people who are outside the boundaries of the organization (that is, individuals contracted to a different organization or self-employed but who deliver services within the organization).

some CHANGE STYLES that may be appropriate:

Collaborative - The target population are engaged in the change process, typically through cascading workshops or meetings. They will be kept up to date on the issues. Their views will be actively sought and acted upon. Feedback will demonstrate how their input has been acted upon.

Consultative - The target population is informed about the changes and their views are sought.

Directive - The workforce is informed about the changes and why those changes are important.

Coercive - The workforce is told that they must obey the new instructions.

GOOD AND BAD IMPACT ON EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOUR

EIGHT STEPS TO TACKLE CHANGE:

Establish a sense of urgency-Identifying and discussing crises, potential crises or major opportunities.

Forming a powerful guiding coalition-Assembling a group with enough power to lead the change effort. Encouraging the group to work together as a team.

Creating a vision-Creating a vision to help guide the change effort. Communicating the vision-Using every vehicle possible to convey the

vision to all people. Empowering others to act on the vision-Getting rid of obstacles to change

like the structure. Planning for and creating short term wins-Rewarding employees and

recognizing them. Consolidating improvements Institutionalizing new approaches

 

CHANGE MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGY

MANAGEMENT’S ROLE IN THE ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

In most cases, management's first responsibility is to identify processes or behaviors that are not proficient and come up with new behaviors, processes, etc that are more effective within an organization. Once changes are identified, it is important for managers to estimate the impact that they will have to the organization and individual employee on many levels including technology, employee behavior, work processes, etc.

At this point management should assess the employee's reaction to an implemented change and try to understand the reaction to it. In many cases, change can be extremely beneficial with lots of positives; however certain changes do sometimes produce a tremendous amount of resistance. It is the job of management to help support workers through the process of these changes, which are at times very difficult. The end result is that management must help employees accept change and help them become well adjusted and effective once these changes have been implemented.

HR’s role in change management

People management and development professionals have significant role to play in any change management process. Arising from CIPD research, HR’s involvement in certain areas was identified as sometimes being the difference between successful and less successful projects:

Involvement at the initial stage in the project team.

Advising project leaders in skills available within the organization- identifying any skills gaps, training needs, new posts, new working practices etc.

Balancing out the narrow/short-term goals with broader strategic needs.

Assessing the impact of change in one area/department/site on another part of the organization.

Being used to negotiating and engaging across various stakeholders.

Understanding stakeholder concerns to anticipate problems.

Understanding the appropriate medium of communication to reach various groups.

Helping people cope with change, performance management and motivation.

EXAMPLE: HCL Case -

IT services firm HCL technologies has asked 450 employees at its Delhi and Bangalore officers to quit. A majority of those axed were on the bench an HCL technologies officials said that the company has sacked 400 people in Delhi and another 50 in Bangalore in the last 1- 2 month. He said the firm had earlier asked those on the bench – the buffer of employees kept for ramp – ups and new project to face the prospects of being asked to leave the firm. Actually this move was linked to the performance of employees. HCL follows a systematic process of performance review at development, and the expectation of the organization is for employees to meat the stringent performance standard.

* Hindustan institute of management and computer studies, Agra.