How can organisations manage change successfully

Provide effective training. Implement a support structure. Measure the change process. An employee… Contact Fionnuala. PulseLearning announces executive management changes as part of business integration. Load More. First Name. Email Address. Company Name. Last Name. Phone Number. Job Title. Where did you hear about us? How can we help? Please describe. By submitting this form, you will also be added to our Newsletter subscription list.

Please fill in the form below to retrieve the download link. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. However you may visit Cookie Settings to provide a controlled consent. Adjust or Set New Performance Objectives Organizations need to translate changes into performance appraisal, assessment, compensation, and promotion cycles quickly.

Jane Collen November 29, at pm Log in to Reply. Taylor Bishop August 16, at pm Log in to Reply. Judy Lindenberger January 18, at am Log in to Reply. Leave A Comment Cancel reply You must be logged in to post a comment. The service provided by Lindenberger Group is an invaluable resource to ensure staff retention and fiscal responsibility. Trust the professionals who will get the job done with the accuracy one needs when running an organization.

While working with Judy over this past year, she has exhibited great expertise while assisting us with various projects. She is extremely knowledgeable about HR laws and regulations. She also shows dedication to her work and always keeps us promptly informed of any legal changes. They are very easy to work with, they listen well, and they are marvelous collaborators. We look forward to a long, fruitful relationship with Lindenberger Group. My most recent experience with Lindenberger Group exhibited, once again, first class delivery of consulting services which included design of the entire project, telephone interviews with several hard to reach executives, a synopsis which included results of those interviews and on-point observations with recommendations, and finally an articulate, easy to follow listing of next steps.

Thanks again for all your help! I contracted with Judy to serve as an executive coach for senior business leaders for more than eight years. I consistently heard that her coaching was insightful, targeted, and practical.

Her actions resulting in improved performance for everyone she coached. Judy and her team have taken over our HR functions with amazing results. It is important to use the early successes as a foundation for larger challenges and to revise all systems, structures and policies that do not fit the change vision.

HR can consolidate gains by hiring, promoting and developing employees who can implement the transformation vision. Additionally, the change process can be reinvigorated with new project themes and change agents. A large global retailer uses this model to increase the speed and impact of change initiatives while reducing the downturn of performance, thereby achieving desired outcomes quicker.

Organizations can have a clear vision for changes and a technically and structurally sound foundation for making changes, but the initiatives can still flounder due to obstacles that arise.

Employee resistance and communication breakdown are common obstacles faced during major organizational change. Successful change starts with individuals, and failure often occurs because of human nature and reluctance to change. Employees may also lack the specific behavioral traits needed to adapt easily to changing circumstances, which could decrease employee engagement and effectiveness and put organizational productivity at risk.

How organizations treat workers during a change initiative determines how successful the change—and the organization—will be. There are six states of change readiness: indifference, rejection, doubt, neutrality, experimentation and commitment. Organizations about to embark on a transformation should evaluate workforce readiness with assessment instruments and leader self-evaluations to identify the areas in which the most work is needed.

Leaders should have a solid strategy for dealing with change resistance. Some actions to build employee change readiness include:. Sometimes decisions about major organizational changes are made at the top management level and then trickle down to employees.

As a result, why and how the company is changing may be unclear. According to a Robert Half Management Resources survey, poor communication commonly hinders organizational change-management efforts, with 65 percent of managers surveyed indicating that clear and frequent communication is the most important aspect when leading through change. To avoid this problem, HR should be involved in change planning early to help motivate employees to participate. Effective communication promotes awareness and understanding of why the changes are necessary.

Employers should communicate change-related information to employees in multiple forms e. To avoid communication breakdowns, change leaders and HR professionals should be aware of five change communication methodologies—from those that provide the greatest amount of information to those that provide the least:.

Experts estimate that effective communication strategies can double employees' acceptance of change. However, often companies focus solely on tactics such as channels, messages and timing while failing to do a contextual analysis and consider the audience. Some of the specific communication pitfalls and possible remedies for them are the following:. Executive leaders and HR professionals must be great communicators during change.

They should roll out a clear, universal, consistent message to everyone in the organization at the same time, even across multiple sites and locations. Managers should then meet both with their teams and one on one with each team member. See Say What?! Honing Communication Skills at the Top. Leaders should explain the change and why it is needed, be truthful about its benefits and challenges, listen and respond to employees' reactions and implications, and then ask for and work to achieve individuals' commitment.

Employee resistance and communication breakdowns are not the only barriers that stand in the way of successful change efforts. Other common obstacles include:. Change management experts have suggested that unsuccessful change initiatives are often characterized by the following:.

Successful change management must be well-planned, well-timed and well-integrated. Other critical success factors include a structured, proactive approach that encompasses communication, a road map for the sponsors of the change, training programs that go along with the overall project and a plan for dealing with resistance. Change leaders need to be active and visible in sponsoring the change, not only at the beginning but also throughout the process.

Turning their attention to something else can send employees the wrong message—that leaders are no longer interested. Organizational change comes in many forms. It may focus on creating new systems and procedures; introducing new technologies; or adding, eliminating or rebranding products and services.

Other transformations stem from the appointment of a new leader or major staffing changes. Still other changes, such as downsizing or layoffs, bankruptcy, mergers and acquisitions, or closing a business operation, affect business units or the entire organization. Some changes are internal to the HR function. In addition to the general framework for managing change, change leaders and HR professionals should also be aware of considerations relating to the particular type of change being made.

The subsections below highlight some of the special issues and HR challenges. A merger is generally defined as the joining of two or more organizations under one common ownership and management structure. An acquisition is the process of one corporate entity acquiring control of another by purchase, stock swap or some other method. This rate of failure is often attributed to HR-related factors, such as incompatible cultures, management styles, poor motivation, loss of key talent, lack of communication, diminished trust and uncertainty of long-term goals.

Successfully implementing a layoff or reduction in force RIF is one of the more difficult change initiatives an HR professional may face. Tasks HR professionals will need to undertake include:. Filing for a business bankruptcy and successfully emerging from the process is generally a complex and difficult time for all parties.

HR may have to cut staff, reduce benefits, change work rules or employ a combination of such actions. A major strategic concern during a Chapter 11 bankruptcy is retaining key personnel. Compassion, frequent communication and expeditious decision-making will help reduce the stress an organization's employees are likely to experience during this difficult organizational change.

Showing genuine respect for people and treating them with honesty, dignity and fairness—even as difficult decisions are being made about pay, benefits and job reductions—will drive the success or failure of an organization post-bankruptcy. Businesses make the difficult decision to close all or part of their operations for many reasons, including economic recession, market decline, bankruptcy, sale, a realignment of operations, downsizing, reorganization, outsourcing or loss of contracts.

HR professionals will play an integral role during such business closures, from developing the plan for the closure through the final stages of shutdown. Some of HR's major responsibilities during this type of organizational change are listed below:. For several reasons, including cost savings and freeing staff to focus on more strategic efforts, an organization may decide to outsource HR or other business functions.

Outsourcing is a contractual agreement between an employer and a third-party provider whereby the employer transfers the management of and responsibility for certain organizational functions to the external provider.

Many types of outsourcing options are available to employers, from outsourcing one aspect of a single function to outsourcing an entire functional department. This change can have a similar impact on employees as downsizing or closing a department.

When deciding whether to outsource, an organization should carefully consider questions about its needs in a particular functional area, current processes, business plan and outsourcing options, including:. During an HR outsourcing process, HR professionals may be asked to identify solutions to guide organizations through vendor selection and management of the outsourcing relationship.

See Outsourcing the HR Function. HR professionals frequently help other parts of the organization respond to change, but what happens when the HR department becomes the epicenter of change? These kinds of transformations, such as moving to a shared services model, integrating with another HR function following a merger or delivering new services to new clients, can be more difficult for HR professionals to manage than other types of organizational changes.

In addition to managing the "people side" of organizational change initiatives, HR professionals should keep leadership informed of any applicable employment laws and the potential legal implications of various types of change. Typically, HR will be responsible, in consultation with legal counsel, for ensuring compliance with pertinent federal, state, local and international employment laws and regulations.

Legal compliance requirements may vary considerably based on the nature of the change initiative, the location s and size of the organization, whether the employer is unionized, and other factors. Federal laws that may apply to particular organizational change initiatives include:.

See Federal Statutes, Regulations and Guidance. HR professionals may also be responsible for negotiating contracts with unions, service providers or vendors. In such cases, they need to be familiar with key contract terms and issues and be able to represent the organization's interests effectively in contract negotiations and management. And so she created a platform for collaboration that brings together nearly partner organizations through conferences, working groups, and networking.

Today Kin10 is ahead of schedule to meet its goal. Surviving victory. Often the most dangerous part of any transformation effort is when the initial goals have been met. But because its employees embraced the lean manufacturing methods, the company was able to keep moving forward. In much the same way, if Experian had been satisfied with merely shifting to a new technology infrastructure, little would have been gained. In some cases, the benefits of a successful transformation can last for decades.

You have 1 free article s left this month. You are reading your last free article for this month. Subscribe for unlimited access. Create an account to read 2 more. Business management. Start with a trusted group of early adopters.