ORGANIC CHANGE 1
Course Name
In the current world, change process is an important component forbusiness growth and profitability. To ensure rapid and successfulchange process, employee engagement in the most critical factor.However, most leaders tend to concentrate more on setting theprocedure but forget to consider the employees, who are the ones thatdictate the success and the pace of the change process. Theleadership must learn how to steer employees towards the new vision,how to transform their culture, how to encourage learning and goodcommunication.
Tactics of Engaging Employees in a Change Process
The first way is the involvement of employees in decision-makingwhere the leadership has to collect their views and opinions and finda way of incorporating them in the change process without interferingwith the objectives of the new vision. This idea, according toKandathil (2015) will influence employees to feel more respected andvalued that in turn will encourage them to embrace the changeprocess. Secondly, constant communication during the change processis important to keep employees more comfortable. Constantcommunication will eliminate the possibility of confusion that maycause disorientation (Luo et al. 2016). Thirdly, the top leaders inthe organization must lead by example to show junior employees whythe change process is important. In this regard, as Bommer, Rich, andRubin (2005) suggest, top leaders must demonstrate their commitmentin driving the change process to stimulate junior employees toperform better. They add that since the process of change mostlyinvolves a psychological transition as employees learn new things, itis important for the leadership to continue reinforcing and remindingthem. This will influence safe and rapid transition that will supportthe new vision effectively (Herold et al. 2008). The other method isthe establishment of an effective system of accountability to monitorthe change process. Fernandez and Rainey (2006) mentioned thatfailure to enforce the new approaches or procedures might influenceemployees to continue adhering to the old methods that appear morefamiliar to them. Accountability occurs mostly through reports andmetrics but the leadership must crisscross in with workers frequentlywhen introducing the novel initiatives.
The other method is the invitation of employees’ feedback throughthe establishment of the most appropriate channel to offer theirfeedback. Accomplishment of this may also be through employeesuggestion box, surveys at major checkpoints, town meetings toencourage, respond and record employee feedback as well as through anopen door policy by the top leaders. This will reduce complains,enhance support and commitment to the change process (Kandathil,2015). The other major method of engaging employees in a changeprocess is measuring and celebrating success and progress with them.This will enable them to see the significance of their efforts,create a sense of teamwork, and eliminate rumors as well asspeculations. In addition, it will enable the organization to renewthe employees’ morale and reward them appropriately. Finally, theother way is to focus on the results, emphasize the positives, anddiscourage the negatives. Fernandez and Rainey (2006) hinted that thefocus on outcomes and benefits would help employees to think beyondthe challenges present during the change process.
Benchmarks and Change Process
Benchmarking refers to the idea of putting measurements of anorganization’s landscape in which the dimensions are not currentlyvisible. Therefore, benchmarks are important tools for discoveringthe best performance during the change process (Mento, Jones &Dirndorfer, 2002). Benchmarks assist the organization to identify thegaps in the entire change process and take the most appropriateremedial action. Firstly, internal benchmarks enable the leadershipto draw a good comparison between the new operation and the oldoperation, which facilitates the evaluation of the change process andits overall effect on the organization. Worren, Ruddle and Moore(1999) hinted that these benchmarks facilitate research andimplementation of the new vision. Secondly, competitive benchmarksenable the organization to compare the change process with theoperations adopted by other similar organizations in the industry.Similarly, this will help the leadership to acquire a true picture ofthe effectiveness of the change process and the way it is going toinfluence the operations in the future. Thirdly, functionalbenchmarks enable a comparison of the change process with othersimilar processes within the same industry (Demertzidis et al. 2015).It enables the organization to select the best approach from a widerange of approaches available to successfully, drive the changeprocess. Finally, generic benchmarks enable the leadership to comparethe change process with other unrelated processes in otherindustries, which will enable the importation of new capabilities andmethods that will provide support.
Conclusion
Engagement of employees in a change process is crucial to ensure thatthey understand and support it. The best ways of engaging them is byinvolving them in decision-making, constant communication, leading byexample, accountability, inviting their feedback, measuring andcelebrating progress with them, and focusing on results. In addition,benchmarks are crucial in a change process as they facilitate theevaluation of the entire process, identifying gaps and acquiring newcapabilities that will support the change process.
References
Bommer, W. H., Rich, G. A., & Rubin, R. S. (2005). Changingattitudes about change: Longitudinal effects of transformationalleader behavior on employee cynicism about organizational change.Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26(7), 733-753.
Demertzidis, N., Tsalis, T. A., Loupa, G., & Nikolaou, I. E.(2015). A benchmarking framework to evaluate business climate changerisks: A practical tool suitable for investors decision-makingprocess. Climate Risk Management, 10(4), 95-105.
Fernandez, S., & Rainey, H. G. (2006). Managing successfulorganizational change in the public sector. Public administrationreview, 66(2), 168-176.
Herold, D. M., Fedor, D. B., Caldwell, S., & Liu, Y. (2008). Theeffects of transformational and change leadership on employees`commitment to a change: a multilevel study. Journal of AppliedPsychology, 93(2), 346.
Kandathil, G. (2015). Contradictions of Employee Involvement inOrganizational Change : The Transformation Efforts in NCJM, an IndianIndustrial Cooperative. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books.
Luo, W., Song, L. J., Gebert, D. R., Zhang, K., & Feng, Y.(2016). How does leader communication style promote employees’commitment at times of change?. Journal Of Organizational ChangeManagement, 29(2), 242.
Mento, A., Jones, R., & Dirndorfer, W. (2002). A changemanagement process: Grounded in both theory and practice. Journalof Change Management, 3(1), 45-59.
Worren, N. A., Ruddle, K., & Moore, K. (1999). FromOrganizational Development to Change Management The Emergence of aNew Profession. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science,35(3), 273-286.