Thesis Statement: The organizational change process benefits from flexibility, agility, a guiding coalition, and a predefined method for remediation from initial failures. When the guiding coalition of “change champions” perceives that the change is bound for failure, it has the opportunity to course correct and improve upon its initial change management framework to ensure the success of the change implementation for all stakeholders, including the employees affected, senior and executive leadership, and investors. HRM professionals pay a critical role before, during, and after the change implementation process, and identifying key KSAO’s the HRM professional should possess is a crucial initial step towards mitigating failures during the organizational change process.
The expected effects this type of change will have on the organizational employees
A number of negative physiological and psychological consequences arise in employee responses to organizational changes such as reorganization [and downsizing], adoption of new systems such as HRIS (Austin, 2015), etc.:
· Lowered Employee Morale (Manson, 2000)
· Lowered Employee Motivation (Manson, 2000)
· Lowered Employee Organization Based Self-Esteem (OBSE) (Wiesenfeld, Brockner, & Thibault, 2000)
· Lowered satisfaction among employees (https://studycorgi.com/the-psychological-effects-of-downsizing-on-employee/)
· Higher conflict among employees (https://studycorgi.com/the-psychological-effects-of-downsizing-on-employee/)
· Lowered Employee Performance (Manson, 2000)
· Lowered Employee Productivity (Manson, 2000)
· High Burnout among Employees (psychology.com)
· High Stress due to increases in work interruptions and multitasking to compensate for lost personnel (Becker, Kaltenegger, Nowak, Waigl, & Rohleder, 2022)
· Loss of attachment (https://studycorgi.com/the-psychological-effects-of-downsizing-on-employee/)
· Lack of information (https://studycorgi.com/the-psychological-effects-of-downsizing-on-employee/)
· Marred Perceptions of Management and managerial competence and effectiveness (https://studycorgi.com/the-psychological-effects-of-downsizing-on-employee/)
Other potential effects of the organizational change implementation on organizational employees include the employees’ experiences of change fatigue and resistance to change. Change fatigue arises when organizations expose or subject employees to “repetitive reorganizations,” (de Vries and de Vries, 2021). Though it appears that a prior reorganization’s successful outcome would reduce change fatigue in subsequent outcomes, that is not necessarily the case. This is because uncertainty and workload are significant mediating factors. Methods for reducing change fatigue include avoiding change or reorganization entirely, or, when such a change is unavoidable, communicating widely, loudly, and often about the nature of change, the rationale for the change, and the positive impact or implications the change will have on the future of work (de Vries and de Vries, 2021).
Change fatigue may be an outcome associated with several other constructs in the empirical literature. Some of these related concepts include Resistance to Change (RTC) and Employee Readiness for Change (ERC).
As noted by Samal and Chatterjee (2020), resistance to change is comprised of many complex layers to be analyzed when evaluating how to overcome its impact upon, and impediment to, the change implementation:
“Resistance serves as the key impediment while implementing change within
organizations (Haslam and Pennington, 2010). The traditional person-centric approach
demonizes employees who resist change (Giangreco and Peccei, 2005). Practitioners
and organization development scholars traditionally view Resistance to Change (RTC)
from the individualistic lens, i.e., resistance lies within the self of the individual.
These include factors such as fear, aggression, mistrust, personality uncertainty, and
conflict (Dent and Goldberg, 1999). In this spirit, organization development practitioners
view resistance as pathological in nature, something the change agents need to
overcome while implementing change measures (Voronov and Woodworth, 2012). In
the organizational context, resistance to change (RTC) occurs at three levels, i.e., at
the organization, group, and individual level (George, Jones, and Sharbrough, 2005).
Resistance at the organizational level is related to conflict and power, improper
functional orientation, and incompatible organizational culture (George, Jones, and
Sharbrough, 2005). Group-level resistance mostly occurs due to incompatible group
norms and groupthink (Singh, Saeed, and Bertsch, 2012). Finally, resistance at the
individual level occurs mostly because of selective perception among employees,
propensity for uncertainty avoidance, and, at times out of habit (Ansoff and McDonnell,
1990),” (Samal & Chatterjee, 2020, p.38).
Other buffers for change fatigue are noted by Rahi and Ahmad (2020), who noted that the greater the employee autonomy, perceived relatedness and perceived competency, and the better knowledge management functions and strategies employed, the more “ready” employees will be for change and change management. The actual construct identified in the empirical literature, referenced here, is that of employee readiness (Rahi & Ahmad, 2020).
There are multiple ways to improve the trajectory of a change initiative that appears to be doomed by change fatigue. The most important thing that I gleaned from the empirical literature reviewed here, is that employees desire communication. It is vital and essential to keep all associates, at every level, abreast before, during and after the change implementation.
Next, it is important to provide appropriate support and autonomy for employees who wish to learn the new applications or change initiative’s various aspects. While supporting the employees’ learning and professional growth, also offering assistance, mentoring, sponsorship [i.e., perceived relatedness[, and training and development [i.e., perceived competency] would be critical mechanisms to ensure that employees have every resource they need to successfully adopt the new changed initiative and to buy into the new process as the best or more sound approach (Rahi & Ahmad, 2020).
The role of HRM in developing teams to facilitate the organizational change (Give some
thought to what types of teams will be primarily affected)
The HRM plays an integral role in developing teams to facilitate the organizational change. I recommend a well-defined strategy such as the steps listed below, that clearly outlines the methodology to be employed throughout the change process from beginning to end.
Define the urgent need for and nature of the change to be implemented throughout the organization or in specific departments or functional areas. Enlisting the support and engagement of all employees and teams during this initial phase of the organizational change is critical.
Assess employee and organizational readiness for change using a variety of metrics, including but not limited to Employee readiness for change inventories, resistance to change inventories, and change fatigue inventories. Establish organizational and employee-level baselines (de Vries and de Vries, 2021; Rahi & Ahmad, 2020; Samal and Chatterjee, 2020).
Identify a small army and guiding coalition of individuals, among the previously established teams and representing a cross-section of them, who will champion the change and evangelize the vision for the new process, system, culture or source of change to key stakeholders, such as the entire organization where warranted (Kotter, 2018).
Implement the change using an iterative (i.e., step by step) and delineated process that is clearly articulated and transparently communicated to all parties involved, including but not limited to affected employees and leaders.
Assess again the outcomes of the change initiative, not only on key organizational indicators but also upon employees in the form of stress, burnout, fatigue, exhaustion, organizational commitment, performance and productivity, morale, etc.
Monitor the change that was executed by comparing the new quarterly, monthly, or annual metrics to the baseline obtained during the first assessment period, and iterate mechanisms to refine and continuously improve upon the newly instituted change processes for better outcomes on an ongoing basis.
Evaluate the strategic implementation upon culmination of the full rollout of the change initiative or organizational intervention. Determine whether the change was a success or failure, and indicate where pitfalls occurred. Leverage any pitfalls or weaknesses as learning opportunities for growth and improvement in future such iterations.
Two major challenges that HRM will face regarding team development during organizational change include team cohesion and team productivity in the face of increased multiculturalism and diversity in the changing organizational environment. I believe the stated challenges exist because diversity often naturally breeds tension, which can sometimes lead to conflict, and this is particularly the case with implementations that change organizational structures, systems, processes, locations, reorganizations, etc. (Crebar, 2020) in global and remote environments.
Two major opportunities an HRM will face regarding team development during organizational change include creating psychologically safe atmospheres for teams to provide critical input into the thought processes behind product development and service delivery, as well as employee engagement during the organizational change that permits all organizational members to have visibility into, communication regarding, and stake in, the planning, execution, and outcomes of the organizational change implementations (Wolf, 2021).
In order to overcome the challenges identified above, I would initially form a coalition of associates whose sole mission is to communicate with and serve as facilitators of team engagement and collaborative inputs through a coaching and feedback model, using the S-S-C (Start, Stop, Continue) framework that provides anonymous feedback to each and every team member in a 360-degree feedback loop.
In this way, not only are team members receiving feedback on their performance from their peers, subordinates, and supervisors simultaneously on what they should start doing, stop doing, and continue doing (based upon their performance on a single team project), but they also receive structured coaching that the coach has been trained to deliver and facilitate through training and development exercises with scenario-based exemplars (Crebar, 2020).
An open forum such as a focus group can be used to embrace the organizational change, explore its impetus (or impetuses), and discover methods to manage the effects of the change on remaining and separated workers for a sustained period. The opportunity exists to receive employee feedback via both formalized and structured feedback mechanisms, as well as via informal mechanisms, all of which provide the opportunity to listen, engage in dialogue through question and answers, and get additional insights into the impact of the change on several key variables of employee sentiments and perceptions, including their morale, work stress, productivity, and thus overall organizational performance as a final outcome (Wolf, 2021).
Explore and apply any of the best practices you learned in order to facilitate the
organizational change
The first best practice I noted in my review of the empirical literature, is that of assembling a guiding coalition or small army of soldiers who will help facilitate the change and change management processes, and who also communicate and evangelize the strengths of the change implementation throughout the environment (Kotter, 2018).
The second best practice I noted in Anand (2022) is that the change agent must ensure that leadership is committed to the organizational change implementation, whether it is small or a massive undertaking. Though on the surface such a procedure of aligning leadership’s action and verbiage to exemplify commitment to the organizational change implementation appears to be perfunctory in nature, it actually serves to bolster the organization’s culture and change readiness by initiating and maintaining authentic alignment between the stated vision, mission, and values of the organization and its actions for which leadership is held accountable.
Finally, the best practice that stood out to me as critical was that the HRM Professional must develop a compelling change rationale (Anand, 2022). Doing so must be well articulated during the initial phases of the change implementation and not after, as the process of garnering support from organizational members would be neglected if a well-defined and compelling rationale were omitted at the start-up of the change implementation.
Creating a culture that embraces change is not only challenging, but necessary in today’s highly VUCA (i.e., volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) environment. Some suggestions identified by https://innovationmanagement.se/2018/02/28/5-ways-to-create-a-culture-that-embraces-and-adapts-to-change/ include:
· Seek Feedback and Employee Engagement. ...[ throughout the implementation and management of the change]
· Recognize All Reactions to Change. ...[by gathering feedback and responding to employees who provide qualitative insights]
· Lead Employees by Example. ...[leadership should lead by example by aligning the ultimate vision with their own actions and verbiage]
· Maintain a Sense of Community. ...[the sense of community among employees is vital so that no one feels left behind or left out and all employees feel a sense of belonging to the organization and feel that they are part of the ultimate vision and can share in the successes of the change initiatives’ outcomes]
· Train Employees Appropriately. ...[provide adequate ongoing training for new skill development and refresher courses to ensure that all employees adapt appropriately to the newly instituted processes and approaches]
Also from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leading-through-change-5-strategies-build-culture-embraces-steve-cox are five methods to be used to create a culture that embraces change: 1. Give meaning to the change; 2. Create a set of team values; 3. Recognize and address pain points; 4. Take a shoulder-to-shoulder approach; 5. Reward and affirm great work.
The purpose of creating a culture that embraces change is notable: “the goal is to build a culture of resilience, agility, and understanding of small recurring changes as the new norm,” (Mac, 2020).
Mac (2020) also notes that “clarity and visibility [i.e., transparency] are keys to managing expectations, building confidence and promoting the adoption of new tools and processes. Organizations and change initiatives need to develop a comprehensive communication strategy spanning all stages of the transformation – and a reinforcement strategy to ensure continued sustainment,” (Mac, 2020).
Such efforts are also often coupled with agile and streamlined organizational processes and strategies, particularly in the HRM department. Such agile processes aid the HRM in dealing with VUCA (i.e., volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) and allow for the adoption of new processes in a flexible manner and at a faster pace (Mac, 2020).
Upgrading HR Professionals is the creation of top-performing, agile HR professionals whose own systems and processes adapt to the needs of the organization, demands of the current situation, and pivot for the time period in order to achieve objectives. The capacity of HR Professionals to constantly learn and improve upon their previous efforts is an integral part in the management of organizational change because change management requires data analysis and assessment, as well as a continuous improvement process that maximizes growth and makes the change itself a more efficient and effective implementation (Anastasiu, Gavris, & Maier, 2020).
Based upon what you learned about future trends of an HRM in facilitating organizational
change, recommend a practice (trend) that would contribute to the organization’s success over the next 5 years
1. Be flexible to the needs of the Dynamic Economic Environment (Dubey, 2020) is a key predictor of the success of an organizational change implementation because the organization must know when and how to pivot to survive. In instances where a reorganization, restructuring, or downsizing is necessary, the ability of the HRM and other organizational leadership to stay abreast of and attuned to economic indicators will have a substantial impact on change implementation outcomes, including its utility, efficiency, and effectiveness as measured by key performance indicators.
2. Beware of VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) Management and foster Flexible Adaptation (Ulrich, 2020) to enable stability and strength even in the midst of adverse and turbulent circumstances in the dynamic ecosystemic environment (Dubey, 2020).
3. Understand the connection between organizational culture and business outcomes: “An organization's culture defines the proper way to behave within the organization. This culture consists of shared beliefs and values established by leaders and then communicated and reinforced through various methods, ultimately shaping employee perceptions, behaviors and understanding. Organizational culture sets the context for everything an enterprise does. Because industries and situations vary significantly, there is not a one-size-fits-all culture template that meets the needs of all organizations.
A strong culture is a common denominator among the most successful companies. All have consensus at the top regarding cultural priorities, and those values focus not on individuals but on the organization and its goals. Leaders in successful companies live their cultures every day and go out of their way to communicate their cultural identities to employees as well as prospective new hires. They are clear about their values and how those values define their organizations and determine how the organizations run,” (https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/pages/understandinganddevelopingorganizationalculture.aspx).
Establishing a strong cultural underpinning in an organization is critical to the sustained progress of an organizational change implementation, because it is upon the cultural values that the organization and its members must stand when, during the organizational change process, all else around them appears to be unpredictable, inconsistent and shifting.
4. Ability to connect business purpose to the needs of the broader community and society-at-large (Alexander, 2016): “There is mounting pressure for companies to go beyond a basic standard of “doing well by doing good” to operating with an explicit purpose: to make positive contributions to society. At the same time, individuals are increasingly looking for meaning in their lives and, given the amount of time spent at work, it makes sense to look to the workplace as a source of meaning. Purpose in business is a growing trend that might actually shift our way of thinking about employee engagement,” (Alexander, 2016). Alexander’s (2016) study, presented at the Academy of Management Convention in 2016, revealed that organizations with a clearly articulated purpose-driven mission are more likely to experience better employee engagement by creating a sense of meaning at work. Without a meaningful connection between business purpose and the needs of the broader community and society-at-large, the organizational change implementations are doomed to fail for lack of clear and well-articulated vision.
5. Attention to DEIJB-relevant organizational dimensions through representation, appreciation, and accountability for diversity, equity, inclusion, justice and belonging in the environment (Ng & Sears, 2020). The impact of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice and Belonging issues on work are prevalent and documented moreso now than they ever have been in previous time periods. The shift towards inclusive leadership, accurate and authentic representation in workforce demographics, appreciation for unique cultural differences and nuances through intercultural competencies, and accountability for achieving target metrics with respect to these and other core variables in organizations, has become the norm in modern organizations. These transitions profoundly impact the HRM’s ability to facilitate meaningful and lasting change in organizations.
6. Create a “parachute” plan, which identifies trends in the labor market, economy, and other social indicators of emergent trends towards lasting change. The parachute plan would establish what the organization’s response to the change should be, how the organization will pivot in light of the changing environmental circumstance, and the outcomes that will be assessed to determine the organization’s long-term sustainability and profitability in light of the emergent change.
7. Identify the root source of issues that arise before they become huge problems. By creating what is known as a Fishbone Diagram, the HRM can identify not only the symptoms of problems that arise in the organizational environment, but also their root causes in order to weed the problems out at their core. Problems that are small at first can become snowballs that evolve into huge hurdles when they are ignored.
8. Define and establish an uplifting, employee-centric, growth-enabled culture that is sustainable. By first crafting a vision and mission statement that are inclusive, and then underscoring the vision and mission with substantive identification and/or modification of current or new processes, procedures, and systems that will enable the long-term progress of the mission and vision not only in word but also in everyday practice, the organizational culture can be perpetually conducive to the organization’s progress. Further, the alignment of the culture with leadership behaviors and actions is an essential element of strong culture that goes beyond verbiage and stated values into principled and accountable demonstrative action.
9. Allow employee input into establishing and monitoring purpose-driven organizational initiatives, such as corporate social responsibility efforts, employee volunteering, environmental, social and governance causes, and community-facing programs. This will ensure that the employees garner a sense of purpose and fulfill shared meaning in the work that they so each day, and are thus more engaged and likely to thrive at work.
While there are several best practices companies can institute to modernize the workforce, I believe those most related to diversity, equity, inclusion, justice and belonging (Early, Ang & Tan, 2005) are the most likely to better engage workers and contribute to operational efficiencies, thus boosting the organization’s long-term bottom line success indicators.
These include the following trends to embed into the current organization:
· Pronouns indicated on all employee profiles and email messages
· Gender inclusive lavatories.
· Multi-lingual translations on all company communications
· Accessible technology and building infrastructure
· Adjustable height chairs and desks
· Wider walkways and hallways
· Christian and other major holiday observations as Paid Time Off
· Lactation rooms
· Paid [parental or family] leave for mothers, fathers, adoptive parents, foster parents, and caregivers
The rationale and justification for creating inclusion that is as ubiquitously applicable and beneficial as possible is that demographics in our modern workplaces are constantly evolving and reflect diverse people and backgrounds now more than they ever did before. The ability of the modern organization to fully capture an inclusive atmosphere for its employees will ultimately determine its success as measured by retention and turnover rates, employee satisfaction, employee morale, efficiency (Abrahamson, 2004), thriving at work, and many other predictors of productivity, organizational commitment and citizenship behaviors, and employee or organizational performance.
Recommend the type of HR professionals you would hire to ensure the success in facilitating the organization’s change
HR professionals hired to facilitate organizational change should possess the following Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Other Characteristics:
1.) Knowledge of Feedback Mechanisms, including data collection methodologies to gather both Quantitative and Qualitative insights: Provide ample opportunity for and adequate formal and informal mechanisms to solicit feedback from employees at each stage, before, during, and after, both from those who remain in the organization and from those who are laid off in the restructuring through exit interview analyses (Nkando, 2021).
2.) Knowledge of psychological safety and mechanisms for enabling it in the dynamic organizational environment: Complete the above-listed task using psychologically safe methods for soliciting feedback so that doing so does not render any harm to employees who respond with unconventional ideas or who diverge from the status quo, so that there are no repercussions or consequences for providing the solicited feedback.
3.) Knowledge of organizational cultural characteristics and components that impact organizational change positively and/or negatively: Be aware of power distance challenges and provide transparency regarding senior executives compensation and benefits packages throughout the layoffs and restructuring processes (Nkando, 2021).
4.) Knowledge of mechanisms that provide ample employee engagement opportunities and the ability to continually engage employees throughout the organizational change implementation: Provide opportunities for employees to engage and be a part of the planning (i.e., early on), execution (i.e., during the implementation), monitoring and evaluation (i.e., involve people often and after the implementation has occurred) phases of the change initiatives. This ensures that employees buy in to the change process and are key stakeholders in its successful outcomes (Aujla & McLarney, 2020).
5.) Knowledge of mechanisms that increase employee commitment to the organization, including equitable incentive and pay structures, value/action alignment, etc.: Increase employee commitment by providing transparency and accountability mechanisms for the leaders of the change process (i.e., HRM, executive leaders, finance team, etc.) (Aujla & McLarney, 2020). Employees’ commitment to their organization has been defined as employees’ sense of belonging to their whole organization, a positive relationship that can also refer to managers or departments of the organization (Augla & McLarney, 2020, p. 9).
6.) Knowledge of training and development procedures that will improve organizational and individual level competencies: “Invest in training, align salaries to performance, and gain trust,” (Aujla & McLarney, 2020, p. 9)
7.) Knowledge of organizational restructuring, reorganizing, and change procedures and their potential impact upon employees, including separation, termination, Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) plans, etc.: Ensure fair and equitable distribution of resources during the layoff. This includes severance packages, voluntary early retirement (VER) benefits and packages, and reduction in force incentives or other resources that are distributed during the change.
8.) Knowledge of Employee Assistance Programs (EAP’s): Provide employee assistance programs (EAP) or therapeutic counseling for all who are affected by the change, both those who remain and those who are forced out of the company during the layoffs (Augla & McLarney, 2020).
9.) Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing: Craft communications well in advance and provide dignified, respectful exit or termination conversations with those who are affected by the layoffs (Augla & McLarney, 2020). Provide severance pay immediately and be ready to diffuse arguments about the amount.
10.) Ability to implement adult-learner oriented training, learning and development initiatives for employees to receive aggregate training on new policies, systems, and procedures: Provide adequate training and support for those who will remain in the organization after the downsizing and restructuring have been completed (Augla & McLarney, 2020).
11.) Knowledge of and passion for career and professional development for employees to receive adequate access to advancement opportunities throughout their careers: Provide career and professional development opportunities that help employees self-actualize to their full potential while balancing work with their personal lives (Augla & McLarney, 2020).
In your conclusion (summary), write at least 3-4 sentences on your personal thoughts
regarding what you learned as a result of writing this signature assignment.
Conclusion
Organizational change processes, procedures and outcomes vary depending upon the organization involved in the implementation, the employees’ preparedness and readiness for change, the dynamic ecosystemic environment in which the organization is embedded, and the ability of the change facilitator to effectively mitigate potential failures that arise before, during, and after the change has been instituted.
This paper examined organizational change processes using a case analysis (Austin, 2015) designed to explore the potential pitfalls of change, and how to rebound from those pitfalls to ensure the sustained success of an organizational change implementation. In so doing, we examined the HR professional’s role during facilitation of the organizational change implementation vis a vis team development, identification and utilization of best practices, knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics the successful change agent (i.e., HR Professional) should possess in order to carry out the change process efficiently and effectively, and the ability to pivot, thereby demonstrating flexibility and agility in the event the change process does not go according to plan the first time it is implemented.