Organizational change involves introducing new means of operation within an organization or department. This change is achieved through changing the operational methods, strategies, technologies, structure, or its corporate culture. The change can be a continuous process extending over long periods while it can also occur for a specified short period. Organization change can be a radical process that alters the way an organization operates while on the other hand, it may be in a series of gradual increments whereby it slowly changes the way things undergo execution. Either way, irrespective of the type, change entails of getting rid of old habits and adopting and adjusting to new ones. In my department of work pensions, the difference is switching to records digitization since the current way leads to the production of numerous documents that almost fill the little available registry space that in turn, leads to a lot of hassle while retrieving a needed record. The change will digitize the records of the work pensions department making every file to be available in softcopy whereby it will be uploaded onto the document management system. For any future reference, any record will be retrievable with only the click of a button.
Factors that Contribute to the Need for a Change
From the analysis of the work pensions department using the SWOT tool, one can quickly note that the department needs a radical change in its record management. The external factors that have contributed to the need for the change include technology[1]. The change has been partly been a result of the rapid developments in technology where we choose to move with advances in technology and not remain in the past. Technology should be embraced as it leads to more opportunities and making work easier along its way. Another external factor is the legal environment where the government is continuing to be stricter to work pensions hence the need to have the excellent management of records so that they can easily be accessible any time in future and while in the right condition. Security has been a continuous threat in the department, and the current security measures within the paper-based system have not satisfied our safety needs. Nevertheless, with the records digitization, the records will be in secured environments such as databases, encryption, and servers where only the authorized users can access them.
The internal factors include poor performance in the records sector where a lot of time is wasted searching for documents from the file cabinets. Now, this will be a thing of the past were through the digital document system, records will be located in just a few seconds through the built-in options. The work pensions department also has the strategy of improved customer service whereby records digitization has proved to be one of the ways we can improve our customer service. Here, the system of digital document management will help our users to access any needed files faster and with high specificity, hence improving the customer service. Another factor is increased costs, and with the records digitization, there will be substantial cost savings. This is due to less cost on paper, printing, photocopying, binding, and all the associated accessories. Additionally, records digitization will reduce the work-power cost incurred on files arrangement, transportation and so on.
Types of Organizational Changes
Organizational-wide change. This large-scale transformation usually affects the overall structure of an organization[2]. The change typically comprises resizing, restructuring or collaboration, processes that tend to change the nature of an organization. Regardless of the type of change, the organizational culture is affected which ultimately affects the behavior patterns of the employees.
Transformational change. It is vital for organizations to assess its underlying strategies continuously. An organization must be in touch with the environment around it which includes cultural trends, social climate as well as technological advancements. The move towards records digitization is a transformational change whereby the department is seeking to solve the problem of record management with digital technology.
Personnel change. It is where an organization undergoes through massing sackings or hiring. Personnel change calls for a shift in the organization processes and culture.
Unplanned change. In the course of dealing with endless planned strategies, a company can go through several unanticipated changes, some of which may be more drastic than those scheduled. Such changes may be introduced in a manner that is not planned in response to a change in the company’s demographic composition, that is, lack of social equality or diversity. Uncontrollable factors such as changes in government regulations and economic uncertainties, frequently make organizations to make unplanned changes.
Remedial change. These are changes that an organization is compelled to make due to poor performance or a general sense of insufficiency. As a result, a company takes corrective actions with the aim of improving its performance or reviewing particular strategies that seem to be pulling back the company.
Organization Change Benefits
There are various benefits arising from the digitization of the work and pension department. To start with, it will allow multi-access of a record as opposed to the current paper-based system whereby one person only accesses a document at a particular time. Through the implementation of digitization, multiple people will have the ability to view a single file in different locations through the use of the internet unlike before where one person would use a document and pass it to the others. Another benefit includes records back up that will add on to the security of the documents. The current paper-based system is risky where the most of the files only exist in hard copy. In case of any disaster such as fire or flooding, it the records cannot be recovered leading to massive losses or damage of the records. Digitization allows cloud backup which will store the records safely since they will always be there. Even without the cloud backup, records recovery will be faster and easier compared to paper documents.
Another benefit is the easy retrieval of documents that will in turn save time. The manual system used in the department does not provide an opportunity for all to view a single document simultaneously but provides that each person views the document separately and will have to spend quality time searching through the files to locate the required information. Same time is used while undoing the process to return the record in the appropriate data. Nevertheless, with the digitized records file indexing will be used to retrieve files instantly with high specificity. There will also be easier movement when the department needs to re-locate and easy sharing of documents between several locations such other departments. Documents will easily be scanned and stored electronically getting rid of costs involved in saving paper copies. The documents will also be accessible from anywhere especially from the cloud.
1. Key Stakeholders
Theories and Processes to Refer to When Managing Change
Any type of change is not an easy task and hence the need to take into account the existing theories and processes that help in managing change. These processes and theories allow the change process to be successful without having to relapse to the old ways along the way. While there are numerous change management models, I would prefer the following:
Lewin’s Model of Change Management
This model of change management assumes that most employees have the desire to operate and have a preference for comfort zones with illusory safety[3]. As a result, the Lewin’s Change Management Model has three phases of change: Unfreeze, Transition, and Refreeze. Unfreeze stage is where people make a constant effort of resisting change. The model suggests the implementation of unfreezing through motivation to overcome the resistance to a substantial level. Transition stage comes in after the change has been initiated. At this stage, sufficient reassurance and leadership is vital for the transition to take place successfully. Refreeze is the final stage which comes in after change acceptance and successful implementation. Here, the organization stabilizes again and the people refreeze as they carry out their activities under the change.
Skills Needed To Guide, People through Organization Change
Many skills will be very vital in the change process, and these include teamwork, communication, providing feedback and performance management. Communication marks an essential aspect in the department in that it will ensure that all participants within the company are aware of the progress made and new policies introduced. The information will significantly enhance feedback and promote adjustments to the areas that raise adverse reactions among the members. Working as a team forms a significant component of the change process where various professionals will offer their input based on the skills possessed and the experience gained in the course of service delivery. The whole time will have an opportunity to provide their information making the task easy and ensure that there is collective responsibility among the members which reduces disagreements and offers solutions to the conflicts that may arise.
Providing feedback is essential in that it builds trust between the manager and the employees in the department and acts as an indication that the information provided was assessed and that action taken. Feedback needs to be delivered through some ways that include the use of memo, sending emails and also calling for meetings among the staff members to communicate the intended course of action. Performance management provides strong grounds for achieving successful change within the organization. Employee performance has to be enhanced through motivation and appraisal programs which will reduce the incidences of industrial action, go slow and turn-over during the change process.
Reasons for Resisting Change
Introduction of change within the organization receives resistance among the employees within the company. Additionally, some members of the management team will have the feeling that the change process could have some adverse effects on the positions that they hold within the organization. There are various reasons that such reactions will arise within the organization. Loss of status or location within the organization leads to resistance where the multiple heads fear that their junior will take their positions in the course of the promotion. Additionally, there are those that will fear to lose their jobs due to poor performance. Mistrust can arise where the employees have the feeling that the change process does not entail various rewards concerning promotion or increment in the salaries. Some feel that they have served the organization long enough to deserve promotions and salary increments. They may also think that the manager has personal interests while introducing the change and will tend to differ. Fear of the change outcomes leads to resistance in that there is no certainty on the possible results from the implementation of the change. Some of the employees will feel that they are not aware of the possible outcomes of the change process. This could arise from members that do not comprehensively understand the change process.
Peer pressure could arise in the organization where incitement among the members takes place affecting the change process. Employees could come up with a plan aimed at rejecting the whole process where any steps in the process will undergo rejection. They will remain in their work groups and will embark on protecting them at all times. The group effects have very negative impacts on the process and will hinder the outcomes. Organizational politics are prevalent and could be a cause for resistance. The employees could view it as a political strategy that is wrong for corporate progress. The power that some people have within the organization will be lost in the change process and hence will poke holes in the change process and ensure that it is destined to fail. Approach for implementing the change could have a negative impact on the employees regardless of the change being favorable to the organization. Introducing the change through dictatorship leads to resistance. Additionally, the introduction of a change at a time when the organization does not have resources to finance it causes resistance.
Kubler-Ross is one of the theorists that sought to understand the feelings that arise as a result of introducing change in the organization. Various reactions arise among the employees such as shock, denial, anger, resignation, anger, acceptance and commitment. The people will be shocked due to the uncertainty of the outcomes of the change. The denial follows where the members will have various feelings on the change process but have some acceptance of the change being part of their daily operations. Anger sets in when the employees realize that the change process is part of the company and it is there to stay and that there are no possibilities for the change to be eliminated or avoided altogether. Resignation can also arise with the change process though there are limited incidences where employees will will to leave their job. Experimentation of the change takes place, and this is an indication that the employees have accepted the difference and are ready to test whether there will be positive outcomes from the changes introduced. Acceptance will involve anxiety and uncertainty of the results from the change. Commitment then becomes the norm for all employees where they accept the move as part of their daily program. They will dedicate all their time and resources to ensure that the program has been successful.
Role of Organizational Culture in Change Management
Culture is rated as a softer instrument that the management uses in executing its mandate upon the employees and is usually viewed to be milder in achieving better outcomes for every organization. Culture positively impacts on the organization even though some people might see it as a luxurious.
Various organizations have assumed the impact created by culture on organizational change and have ended up failing in the process. A research study conducted in 2013 indicates that the operating models in every company are guided by the culture that is exhibited within the organization and that they heavily rely on the structures set by management in promoting positive change outcomes[4]. The strategies set by the management heavily rely on the organizational culture. Based on the importance of religion in strategic planning, consideration will be put in place for better outcomes within the change process.
Corporate culture has received minimal attention from the management than it should in that it greatly leads to creating a better image for the organization. Impacting this culture to the employees will make them adopt better behavior that will be directed towards achieving positive outcomes for the organization. The corporate culture involves a set code of conduct the employees should embrace while dealing with each other and other employees. This type of culture creates positive outcomes if the change has been introduced and that the employees will have a favorable view of the project and enhances productivity through acceptance. The acceptance rate reduces the taken for change implementation creating earlier results that are measured against the expected outcomes providing an opportunity for adjustments and correction of any defaults noted in the change.
Culture management may prove challenging for the administration to address and in this case, employees form the main basis for culture implementation. By embracing the organizational culture, management tactics can be employed in ensuring that employees are able to efficiently and effectively cope with the change after acceptance. Proper management promotes better outcomes within the company and promotes the success of the amendment introduced.
People working within various sets o organizational culture will experience success in their daily working programs since they have the organization at heart. They also work hard in maintaining the lifestyle so that the incidences of distortion are reduced for better outcomes within the organization. Through such programs, the management is assured of favorable results in that any attempt to interfere with the existing culture meets resistance. Further to this, the management ensures that the change introduced does not have any negative impacts on the organizational culture since employees are much concerned about protecting it.
There are incidences where the culture is seen as a source of hindrance to change in the organization and most of the managers disregard it while implementing the selected processes for change. However, the correct approach to the culture will promote digitization, lowering of costs and hastening the product development process. When the change processes are in line with the organizational culture, there will be minimal failure[5].
Bibliography
Abolhassan, Ferri. "The Change Management Process Implemented at IDS Scheer." Business Process Change Management, 2013, 15-22. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-24703-6_2.
Dann, Alan O. "Evaluating and diffusing an organizational change effort." NSPI Journal 18, no. 5 (2015), 14-16. doi:10.1002/pfi.4180180510.
Handcock, Philip. "Organizational change." The Routledge Companion to Organizational Change, 2015. doi:10.4324/9780203810279.ch36.
Jaffe, William J., and Robert H. Guest. "Organization Change: The Effect of Successful Leadership." Technology and Culture 4, no. 2 (2014), 234. doi:10.2307/3100936.
[1]
Ferri Abolhassan, "The Change Management Process Implemented at IDS Scheer," Business Process Change Management, 2013, xx, doi:10.1007/978-3-540-24703-6_2.
[2]
Alan O. Dann, "Evaluating and diffusing an organizational change effort," NSPI Journal
18, no. 5 (2015)
[3]
Philip Handcock, "Organizational change," The Routledge Companion to Organizational Change, 2015, xx, doi:10.4324/9780203810279.ch36.
[4]
William J. Jaffe and Robert H. Guest, "Organization Change: The Effect of Successful Leadership," Technology and Culture 4, no. 2 (2014): xx, doi:10.2307/3100936.
[5]
William J. Jaffe and Robert H. Guest, "Organization Change: The Effect of Successful Leadership," Technology and Culture 4, no. 2 (2014): xx, doi:10.2307/3100936.
