5: Change mgmt. Flashcards
Give various reasons as to why organisations need to change
Why do organisations need to change?
- Challenges of growth, especially global markets
- Challenge of economic downturns and tougher trading conditions
- Changes in strategy
- Technological changes
- Competitive pressures, including M&A
- Customer pressure, particularly shifting markets
- Government legislation/initiatives
What are the different types of change?
Developmental
- Improvement of existing situation
Transitional change
- Implementation of a known new state; management of the interim transition state over a controlled period of time
Transformational change
- Emergence of a new state, unknown until it takes shape, out of the remains of the chaotic death of the old state; time period not easily controlled
Give examples of the different types
DEVELOPMENTAL
- Improving existing billing and reporting methods
- Updating payroll procedures
- Refocusing marketing strategies and advertising processes
TRANSITIONAL
- Experiencing corporate restructures, M&A
- Creating new products/ services
- Implementing new technology
TRANSFORMATIONAL
- Implementing major strategic and cultural changes
- Adopting radically different technologies
- Reforming product and service offerings to meet unexpected competition and dramatic reductions in revenue
What is Gleicher’s formula for successful change
Change will be successful if
D x V x K > R
Where:
D = dissatisfaction with status quo
V = Vision of future state
K = Knowledge of next steps in the process
R = Resistance to change
What are the reasons for resistance to Change
Depends on the interpretation of the change and its impact upon them
- Effect on the intrinsic nature of the work
- Effect on the amount and direction of discretion, power and autonomy
- The organisational context (trust of mgmt.)
- The perceived balance of costs and benefits
- Underlying tension (long standing disputes aired as part of change process)
- The manner in which it is introduced
What are the different steps in the Satir Model of Change
- Late status Quo: Encourage to see the need for change
- Resistance: Help people to open up, overcome the natural reaction
- Chaos: Build safe environment and provide support
- Integration: Focus on the positives and help solve problems
- New status Quo: Help people feel safe so they can practice
Why does imposing change does not work?
- Assumes people’s personal aims, wishes and needs are completely aligned with those of the organisation, or that there is no need for such alignment
- Assumes that people want, and can assimilate into their lives, given all their other priorities, the type of development of change that the organisation deems appropriate for them
Need to align the aims of the business with the needs of their people – CHALLENGING!
Caveat: sometimes it is necessary to impose change!
What are Kotter’s 8 steps to successful change?
- Create urgency (could be accomplished by discussing with them potential threats, or possible solutions)
- Create a coalition (This group manages all efforts and encourages the employees to cooperate and take a constructive approach)
- Develop a vision and strategy
- Communicate the vision (Most important step here is to create support and acceptance among employees)
- Empower action (Removing obstacles can empower the people needed to execute the vision, and can help the change move forwards)
- Get quick wins
- Leverage wins to drive change
- Embed in the culture
What are ways to deal with resistance to change
Education and Communication
- When there is a lack of information & analysis
Participation and Involvement
- Initiators do not have all the necessary info & others have power to resist
Facilitation and Support
- Where resistance largely reflects problems of adjustment
Negotiation and Agreement
- Especially where one or more powerful parties will lose from the change
Manipulation and Co-optation
- Where other factors will not work or are too expensive
Explicit and implicit coercion
- Where speed is essential and initiators have considerable power
Why do some managers fail to deliver change?
- Ineffective communication skills/practices
- Poor working relationships and interpersonal skills
- Person-job mismatch
- Failing to set clear direction
- Delegation breakdowns
- Failing to break old habits and adapt
- Inability to develop cooperation
- Lack of personal integrity
- Inability to lead/motivate
- Poor planning practices
How should HR contribute to change mgmt?
Contribution of HR in Change Management
- Understand the possible points of change
- Facilitate the information flow and understanding
- Build the capacity to change – involving line manager to build coalition
- Implementing right task, structures, processes and systems to support change
- Learning and development programmes – to adopting new behaviour and skills
