Non-Standardized Processes in MyExport Enterprises
Currently, there are two non-standardized processes used in MyExport Enterprises. The first one relates to the HR department’s area of responsibility and is their pilot project, meanwhile applied only in the head office. This project is about the methods allowing management to diagnose and deal with the unmet psychological needs of employees. This approach also results in the efficient overcoming of severe resistance to changes, as its primary reason lies in the unmet needs in terms of psychological state.
The essence of this process is in conducting annual anonymous surveys within each department, and their thorough analysis aimed to reflect the unmet psychological needs of employers and their elimination. Three main criteria are evaluated: the need for mastery, the need for feeling purposeful and significant, and the need for acceptance and respect. Based on the results of each annual survey, decisions are made on specific measures to address weaknesses.
If the weak link is the need for mastery, the company conducts the relevant training, counseling, or coaching. Moreover, efforts are directed towards getting maximum feedback and engagement of employees in helping each other. Management evaluates each employee’s skills individually to make full use of them and let them grow and develop in a professional field. Therefore, management should empower the staff to undertake responsibility for their work and demonstrate maximum professional returns.
In case of revealing gaps in the need for feeling purposeful and significant, the first steps are concentrated on the implementation of cross-training programs, job rotation, and enrichment, opportunities for advancement, and career development. Management engages the employees in meaningful incentives, expresses appreciation, and provides recognition. The employees input is continuously monitored, evaluated, and appraised. Moreover, the company is developing the working model of the suggestion program at the moment.
Finally, the infelicities in need of acceptance and respect raise quite rarely in MyExport Enterprises. The company conducts periodical conveys regarding acceptable and unacceptable behaviors, understanding of diversity advantages, and purposeful diversity pieces of training. Also, the company performs team buildings at least three times a year, rallying a team spirit both within departments and the organization in general. Thus, management uses all working methods to establish a friendly and supportive environment of open communication and to increase the cooperation importance and value.
The second non-standardized procedure in Lean Enterprises is the use of different financial accounting programs in its structural subdivision. The head office, by default, uses SAP – “Systems, Application and Products” program. Initially, this system has been used in the entire organization. Starting from 2019, several subsidiaries have implemented ePROMIS, justifying this transition by the fact that the possibilities of the latter are much more comprehensive. From a practical point of view, it has only two significant advantages over SAP. The first one is the presence of fleet management – an ability to plan, manage, and control the storage and movement of the company’s goods both within the state and on the internal market. The second one is the event management which is a tool for monitoring the status of different events in the company, for example, the training programs. Nevertheless, both procedures are to be standardized within the company to make it more efficient and structured.
Implementation of the dealing with the unmet psychological needs of employers has to be standardized and become an essential part of the corporate culture in MyExport Enterprises. Such an approach lets management and HR deeply understand the inner psychological situation, identify negative moments in the bud, and efficiently eliminate them. Moreover, motivated personnel demonstrate full commitment and strives for both the prosperity and well-being of the company and their own professional and personal growth (Reilly and Williams 264).
The responsibility for this changes implementation will be delegated to the head of HR. This department will undertake to develop the relevant survey forms, questionnaires, questionnaire collection points and assessment scale. After each survey, the results of appraisal will be presented to the Board by the head of HR. The surveys should be anonymous in order to avoid any bias or personal consideration – only an equitable treatment should be applied. A final decision regarding further actions should be endorsed by the Board, the financial department and the head of HR.
Whereas the first process is standardized, there is a sense to standardize the use of a unified accounting system, giving the preference to ePROMIS. The choice is based on the ability of the system to control corporate events. If HR’s initiative is standardized, the number of events annually will increase, respectively. The use of a unified accounting system saves the corporate funds, spent on the system’s service (Afflerbach et al. 336). The IT departments staff and the employees of the companys security service will have a remote access to each personal account in ePROMIS.
Challenges in the Implementation of the Improvements
The fear of the unknown may cause resistance to even positive changes and improvements when they are introduced. In most cases, changes make people anxious and feeling uncertain. The employees lose a sense of security, and management should take this under control. For example, during the HR department improvement implementation, the employees might give preference to the status quo during the surveys or take a defensive position and be neutral (Reilly and Williams 264). Therefore, it will be impossible to reveal the really unmet psychological needs of the staff and improve the situation before its aggravation or a deadlock. In the case of the accounting department, the main challenge will be the delivery of training programs for all the employees, which got used to working in SAP. This improvement requires spending temporary and financial resources for the purchase and installation of the related software, training the staff, synchronization, and transfer of data for previous periods from SAP.
Strategies Reducing Resistance to Change
Management shall understand and accept that resistance to any change is a normal reaction, and even the most supportive and cooperative employees might resist the improvements. The approach of managers can affect the degree of resistance. The natural resistance is reduced by the actions of management and the involvement of employees. The best scenario assumes the ability of employees to discuss the changes, provide their input to them, and have an appropriate impact on the implemented improvements.
If the change is a company-wide, the employees should feel that they can affect the changes at the level of their departments. Thus, senior managers need to collect solicited feedback from the reporting employees. It is also rational to establish a leadership team for leading the improvements. In MyExport Enterprises, the team should consist of employers from the entire company, in particular, from the offices, which have already implemented the change. If the employees get clear information about the potential benefits the improvements may bring to them from practitioners, the resistance may decrease much. Moreover, it is essential to stress all the benefits not only for the entire company but for a department, separate group, and individual employees, giving potential to their careers and jobs.
Managers should establish the environment in which the staff feels that the commitment, time, focus, and energy spent on implementing the changes will be equally compensated by any benefits. The staff’s response to the changes should never be minimized, as they have to feel that management listens to them empathetically – this is the way to empower employees contribution to the implementation of the improvements.
Works Cited
Afflerbach, Adam, et al. “An Economic Decision Model for Determining the Appropriate Level of Business Process Standardization”. Business Research. add: vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 335-375. 2016. Web.
Reilly, Peter, and Tony Williams. Global HR: Challenges Facing the Function. Routledge, 2016.