Introduction
“Change management is a critical aspect of business growth and development” Hayes, (2007p.27). Towards this, change is inevitable for an organization that needs business success. “Change management in many occasions takes different forms and may include several change environments” Kotter (2005). According to Hayes, (2007p.31), “Organizational change management is the process of developing a planned approach to change in an organization.” Hayes, (2007p.33) further illustrates, that “typically the objective is to maximize the collective benefits for all people involved in the change and minimize the risk of failure of implementing the change.”
“The discipline of change management deals primarily with the human aspect of change.” Hayes, (2007p.34). “In this regard, it is prudent to note that, the change management process is multi-disciplinary and should encompass all aspects of organization or company” Hayes, (2007p.35). “It is also important to estimate what impact a change will likely have on employee behavior patterns, work processes, technological requirements, and motivation Hayes” (2007p.36).
In this line, the leadership in an organization should be vigilant to ensure that there is no resistance to change by ensuring that everyone in the organization is made part of the adopted change. Nilekani and Ramnarayan, (2006 p.58) highlight that “the change programs should be implemented, disseminated throughout the organization, monitored for effectiveness, and adjusted where necessary.”According to Nilakant, and Ramnarayan, (2006 p.73) “describes the change process to all people involved and explains the reasons why the changes are occurring”. “The information should be complete, unbiased, reliable, transparent, and timely” Nilakant, and Ramnarayan, (2006 p.77). This paper succinctly analyzes the aspect of change management as practiced by MyBank.
Change Models
According to ProSci, (2005 p.26) “The ADKAR model for individual change management was developed by Prosci”. ProSci, (2005 p.27) further illustrates that, “This model describes five required building blocks for change to be realized successfully on an individual level”.
According to Prosci (2005), “The building blocks of the ADKAR Model include:
- Awareness – of why the change is required
- Desire – to support and participate in the change in an organization
- Knowledge – of how to change
- Ability – to implement new skills and behaviors
- Reinforcement – to sustain the change”
Kotter (2005) “has developed out an eight-step strategy for change management in an organization”. These steps include:
- Establish a sense of urgency for change.
- Create the guiding coalition for change.
- Develop a vision and strategy for change.
- Communicate the change vision to everyone in the organization.
- Empower everyone for broad-based action.
- Generate short-term wins.
- Consolidate gains and produce more change.
- Anchor new approaches in the culture.
Source Kotter, (2010)
Change and stress – the principle of adaptation
The change process normally comes with different reactions in an organization. These reactions and responses to change are either positive or negative. Towards this, the leadership in an organization alongside another change agent should take into consideration the need to adequately address the change challenges. According to (Hayes 2007 p.147).
Our ability to accept new information and change tends to reduce as we get older. However, the world around us is changing at an ever-increasing rate. Thus we have to adapt constantly to existing and changing pressures. How we respond to the changes and whether we might experience a stress reaction depends on several factors.
Several change models refer to the chart below, which is originally based on work by Kubler-Ross when looking at the grieving process. However, when you look at reactions to change, it appears that people do seem to follow this curve to some extent.
Change Drivers in an organization
Industry evolution
Evolution normally comes up with a new way of doing things. Towards this, companies in a given industry, for instance, the banking industry must adopt changes that industry evolution has brought about. In this case, industry evolution is a force that necessitates an organization to adopt change
Business Cycle
According to Mullineux, (1984) “economic growth and development is an integral part of a healthy economy. The analysis of economy’s health requires the use of economic indicators.” Economic indicators are classified into different categories. This classification helps in the analysis of the economy in terms of the business cycle. The business cycle calls for change in the operation of a given company. In this case, the business cycle will compel MyBank to adopt a change to cope with the prevailing economic condition in the market. For instance, a recession in an economy will make an organization adopt changes which not only cut the expenses but also conform to the economic condition in the market.
Competitive Structure
Competition is a great incentive to change in an organization. In this case, completion in the market or industry will precipitate change in a company. Towards this, MyBank will have limited options but to embrace change in its operation.
Rules and procedures
Rules and procedure not only govern the operation of companies and organization in the industry but also defines what is required for a given company to be registered. These rules and procedures are changed often and it is therefore prudent for an organization to be ready to embrace change to conform to rules and regulations.
Global Economic Situation
The economic situation is always a change driver. For instance, a global credit crunch may drive an organization to adopt change which not only makes effective but also cuts on expenses to ensure that it makes a profit. These strategies may include downsizing.
Market Needs
Market demand is one of the change drivers in an organization. Companies and organizations normally respond to the requirement of the market. Towards this, change is inevitable to ensure that the company remains viable in the market.
Change restrainers
Employee bad attitude towards change
A bad attitude towards change is a restrainer to the change process in an organization. This calls for education among the employees to equip them with a good attitude towards change in an organization.
How to force –field Diagram function
The Force-Field Diagram works by first identifying points for and against the argument and then organizing and displaying them visually in a diagram, as below. Each argument is shown as an arrow, ‘pushing’ either in the ‘for’ or ‘against’ direction. Each of these arguments may also have a different weight – for example, the fact that an old machine keeps breaking down may be more important than the reports that it is easy to fix. This is highlighted by using longer arrows for more important points.
Change Typology
This refers to the kind of change and people in an organization.
Incremental and Transformation change
Change process and type of change being adopted in an organization is very important and towards this, an organization may choose the either incremental or transformational type of change based on the desired objective of the organization.
Incremental change
This is where the change process is introduced in bits and incorporated into the origination. It is a very viable way of introducing change in an organization since it attracts less rejection. MyBank adopted an incremental type f change in its change process in the bank. This was precipitated by the need to allow every employee to adapt to the change process in the bank. It is very easy to adapt to this kind of change in an organization (Walton, Nadler and Shaw 1995 p.133).
Transformational
This type of change normally overhauls the whole operation in an organization. It is good when an organization is adopting a completely different operational procedure in the company. Towards this, My bank has opted to incorporate both incremental and transformational types of change in the bank system of operation.
- The Professional – According to Hayes, (2007 p. 132),
“Built a career on being good at what he does, can’t throw it all away, difficult to convince, especially if close to retirement and enjoying running the show subset – professional executive.”
These people should be convinced patiently to embrace the changes process
- The Old School – According to Hayes, (2007 p. 133),
“Had his moment of innovation in the past, introduced technology or associated with some other success. However, can sometimes spot the same pattern in new changes and be a solid ally.”
- The Visionary – According to Hayes, (2007 p. 133),
excited about new stuff, has far-reaching ideas about how things will be or should be. Older visionary verges on obsession with the one idea that they have been pondering elaborating for years. Seemingly best ally but often lets down on execution predictably but also surprisingly on flexibility and curiosity. If still young, the zeal can be harnessed and help to get others on board.
These kinds of people are quite easy to work within the adoption of change.
- The Maverick – According to Hayes, (2007 p. 134),
Holed up somewhere where he can do things his way, created a bubble where his ways are accepted/tolerated. Depending on the power available to him can be either a grouchy skeptic watching from the sidelines with little or no power or a true ally doing what he can executive position. The latter is a rare breed as not many companies have true mavericks in executive positions.
Employees of this type are fairly easy to work within the adoption of the change in an organization.
Appreciating change
Change is a vital process in an organization (Nilakant and Ramnarayan, 2006 p.289). In this, everyone must be made aware not only of the change process but also of the benefits of the change. In this case, the employees will appreciate and find it easy to embrace change. In MyBank, the management has put all the relevant strategies to ensure that all the employees of the bank appreciate change. These strategies include; education of everyone on the need and benefit of change in the bank and the use of change agents in the change implementation process.
Support for change / mobilizing
Change implementation requires a lot of support from everyone in the bank. To ensure that the change process is adequately mobilized and supported, the management of My bank came out aggressively in educating all the employees in their department on the need to embrace change in the operation of the bank.
Role and contribution of Management
Managing Director
The managing director is one of the chief change agents in MyBank, organized for leadership speeches that not only mobilize the employees towards change but also motivated the employee towards growth and development.
Senior executives
A senior executive of MyBank was actively involved in the mobilization of all employees towards the need to embrace change in the bank.
Managers
Managers are important to change agents in MyBank.This is because they make sure that all the employees in their department are well educated not only on the need for change in the bank but also the need to appreciate and embrace change in the bank.
Some employees
Several employees volunteered to offer education to their fellow employees on the need to embrace change in the bank. This helps in change mobilization in the bank.
Outside consultant
Outside consultants were called into the bank to offer technical skills needed in the implementation of change. They also offered technical training on leadership, motivation, and the benefits of change in the bank.
Outside accounting firm
MyBank hired the services of an outside accounting firm to ensure that the bank accounts are well managed during the change process. This is necessary for the accuracy of the accounting system in the bank.
Multi-directional influences on strategic HRM and Change
HRM has got immense influence in an organization. This has been possible because HRM practitioners use multi-directional strategies.HRM apply several skills such as persuasion skills, research skills among others to help them achieve their goal. According to McNamara, (2008 p. 47),
Social psychologists have studied the psychological processes involved in persuasion, conformity, and other forms of social influence, but they have rarely modeled the ways influence processes play out when multiple sources and multiple targets of influence interact over time.
Change Implementation
“The implementation of change is the most crucial part in the change process in a company or organization” McNamara, (2008 p. 57). Towards this, an organization should put all the available resources to ensure that this process is done effectively.
Building change capability
Employees and all other staff need appropriate training to ensure that they embrace change that is being adopted in the company. This will reduce the number of stress employees normally when they are not adequately prepared for the change.
Motivation and Change
“Motivation plays a critical role in human life” (Goncalves, 2007 p.34). In this regard, the same concept of motivation must be applied in the workplace. This will go a long way in fulfilling job satisfaction in a company. Job satisfaction refers to the feeling or the state of mind that one has regarding their nature of work. It can be influenced by a variety of factors such as workplace wellness programs within the workplace, employee relationship with top management and supervisors, ability to achieve their work targets, the quality of the physical environment in which one works.
Work has for centuries remained one of the most fundamentals tasks in the life of a human being. Research focusing on the biopsychosocial impacts of work satisfaction and dissatisfaction on the modern worker suggests that “one’s level of satisfaction with one’s work impacts upon one’s mental and physical health and overall satisfaction with life” (Ozaki, 1992 p.72). The philosophy is that in exchange for offering their services, employees are entitled to more than their pay, benefits, and healthy and safe systems of work. Employees should also be entitled to consideration as human beings, especially when one considers that majority of their problems arise in the context of the work and are hence best dealt with there to achieve job high job satisfaction levels.
According to (Ozaki, 1992 p.57) “the employee’s worries and resulting stress may well arise from their work and their concerns about security, money, health, and relationships with others”. These form the general factors that determine and define job satisfaction.
Impact that organizational socialization on job satisfaction and change
In the realization that people form the most prized asset of any organization, there is a need to attach the greatest value to their well being for the best overall organizational performance organizational socialization refers to “A process where employees learn about and adapt to new jobs, roles and the culture of the workplace (Deszca, and Cawsey, 2007p.51) “The impact of socialization on job satisfaction cannot be undermined because the level and quality of organizational socialization is directly correlated to the levels of job satisfaction” (Deszca, and Cawsey, 2007p.56)
Change Management in MyBank
Reinforcing change
“Change reinforcement is important and inevitable in an organization” (Bush 2003 p.48).In the implementation of change, there is a need for an introduction of strategies that not only help in the creation of awareness on the change being adopted but also reinforce it to ensure its ultimate success. In an endeavor to reinforce change, communication is crucial at all levels of the change process (McCalman and Paton 2008 p.174)
Change process evaluation
According to Kotter, (2010 p.47), “before closing the change it is necessary to carry out an evaluation.”
Change agent: Deterministic vs Voluntarism view
According to Deszca, and Cawsey, (2007p.167),
Determinism holds that each state of affairs is necessitated (determined) by all the states of affairs that came before it. In other words, what happens next is completely fixed by what came before. Indeterminism holds that some states of affairs contain elements that were not necessitated by the previous states of affairs. In other words, what happens next is not completely fixed by what came before.
“Deterministic perspectives change agents have been common amongst commentators on communication technologies” (McCalman, and Paton, 2008). “Theorists who have argued that changes in communication technologies have had an important cultural impact have tended either to regard such changes as limited to social and institutional practices” (Goncalves, M., 2007 p.45)
“Voluntarist stances can be somewhat naive in overlooking the issue of unpredicted, unintended consequences” (Ozaki, 1992 p.31). A voluntarism change agent is however good but deterministic is appropriate when change is urgently needed in an organization.
The role of Change Agent in the MyBank
Change agents are the change catalyst in an organization. They create awareness of the change program as well as educating employees on the benefits which come with the adoption of the change process in the organization. In the process of adoption of change, Mybank benefited much from the dedication of management and some employees who perfected their role as a change agent in the bank.
- Change agents mobilize employees to embrace change in the bank
- They carried out education and training to the employees on the requirement of change in the bank
- They motivated employees in the bank through motivational speeches, financial and non-financial rewards in their quest to make everyone embrace change in the bank.
Nilakant and Ramnarayan Change model
According to Koter, (1996 p.112) “This change model is built around the core principle of the change process which includes; Appreciating change, mobilizing support for change, Executing change and Building change capability.”
“The authors present a new model of change management which identifies four core tasks that are crucial to the success of any change initiative in organizations” (Hayes, 2007 p.47). “These core tasks are: appreciating change, mobilizing support for change, executing change, and building change capability (Koter, 1996 p.78). They contend that failures of change initiatives result from failure to manage one or more of these tasks effectively
Appreciating change
According to Nilakant and Ramnarayan, (2006, p.289), “change management requires the active appreciation for the initiated change.”Towards this, My bank will require that all the employees are made to appreciate the need that has changed in the bank. In this regard, people will not only embrace change but also be part of the change program. This will affect positively the operation of the bank.
Mobilizing support for change
In the implementation of change in an organization, Nilakant, and Ramnarayan, (2006, p.219), illustrate that “there is need for support mobilization for change intervention in an organization.”This calls for the preparation of people for change before change program implementation. This is necessary for everyone to be part of the change and embrace it fully. In this line, MyBank will have to carry out mobilization for change before its implementation in the bank.
Executing change
Implementation is the core to the success of change in an organization. This spells out the need for execution of change after a complete preparation for it in an organization.
Executing change is one of the most important aspects of change management. At this particular stage Nilakant and Ramnarayan,( 2006,p.292), notes that an organization should be prepared to execute change after carrying out the first and second tasks which are; appreciating change, mobilizing support for change. Execution involves the actual implementation of change programs. In this line, MyBank should execute change only after the success of the first and the second tasks above.
Building change capability
Effective change management requires an appropriate change capability (Nilakant and Ramnarayan, 2006, p.296).In this case, MyBank has developed the capability to embrace change by training its employee with the skills relevant to the requirement of change in the bank.
People and change
Bridges model of transition
According to Bridges, (1991 p.23),
Transition is about letting go of the past and taking up new behaviors or ways of thinking. Planned change is about physically moving the office, or installing new equipment, or restructuring. Transition lags behind planned change because it is more complex and harder to achieve. Change is situational and can be planned, whereas transition is psychological and less easy to manage.
Beginning
Change should have a clear beginning in an organization. This will help in the smooth implementation of the change program.
Neutral zone
Bridges, (1991 p.23) further illustrates that,
In the neutral zone, people feel disoriented. Motivation falls and anxiety rises. Consensus may break down as attitudes become polarized. It can also be quite a creative time. The manager’s job is to ensure that people recognize the neutral zone and treat it as part of the process. Temporary structures may be needed – possibly task forces and smaller teams. The manager needs to find a way of taking the pulse of the organization regularly.
Endings
The change implementation process should have and an end. At this point, change agents should evaluate the progress of the change being implemented.
Learning from change
“Learning is quite important in an individual personal and interpersonal development” (Hayes, 2007 p.13). Towards these employees should be able to learn from the change all the time in an organization.
Leadership and Change process
“Leadership is one of the central foundations of change in an organization” (Hayes, 2007 p.17).In this regard, MyBank’s top management was very vigilant of the kind of leadership style they followed. The management followed a bottom-top leadership style. This kind of leadership model appreciated the role of everyone in the bank. This made it quite easy for the implementation and adoption of the change process in the bank.
Cognitive tuner –The prevailing mindset that change brings benefit to an organization is quite necessary and towards this, Mybank ensured that the benefits that the change will bring were on everyone’s lips in the bank.
- People catalyser-People are great catalyzers of change and this made MyBank use people in the process of change in the bank.
- Efficacy Builder – Confidence is inevitable for the success of change in an organization. The bank boosted the confidence of its employees in all the aspects of change in the bank.
- Systems Architect-MyBank allowed for system Architect through training and teamwork spirit in the bank. This enhanced the need for collaboration and togetherness in the operation of the bank.
Recommendation to MyBank
The bank should enhance its communication to ensure that there is free communication between the clients, customers, and employees. This will go a long way in improving the bank’s relationship with customers in the market.
The credit crunch and economic recession have impacted negatively on most banks across the globe. In this regard, banks have adopted several change processes to ensure that they come out of the economic quagmire.
Conclusion
Business enterprises need continuous change management to ensure that they grow and develop. This aspect of change is precipitated by the dynamic nature of the business world as well as the uncertainty of the economic situation. Technological development comes up with new ways and strategies of operation which companies and organizations need to adapt to ensure that they effectively compete in the business.
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