Introduction
Organizational change entails an ongoing transformation or modification of an organization’s structure, goods, or processes. The process entails bringing the system in line with the organization’s prevailing internal and external environments. The organization may evolve through various life cycles to undergo a complete change. The change may occur once a company removes a major section or practices or changes in every nature of its operations. Change has an impact on the way work is performed and has significant effects on the staff.
Organizational change can be in the organization’s structure, the structure of operations and the size of the workforce, and the working hours of practice. Organizational change may be planned or unplanned change (Schwarz & Vakola, 2021). Planned change results from deliberate decisions to alter the organization to achieve goals. The unplanned change is imposed and often unforeseen for the organization. Forces of change in an organization may be external or internal. Examples of external changes include technological changes, social and political changes, globalization, and workforce diversity. Examples of internal forces include changes in managerial personnel, a decline in effectiveness, crisis, changes in the work climate, and deficiencies in the existing system and employee expectations.
During the process of change, the event results in significant impacts on the organization. The impacts may be positive or cause challenges to the organization. The purpose of this presentation is to address these forms of impact on the organization. The change process is complex and may need leadership interventions to cope with the change. The presentation will additionally discuss how managers can assist employees in embracing change.
Potential Positive Impacts of Organizational Change
Industry trends change each day with new demands and technologies. Change helps the business stay current with the industry trends making it more attractive to potential customers and helping maintain the current customers. The ability to embrace change can help the organization to create new opportunities. The change enables the employees to gain new skills. If the employee takes up this role, they may position themselves as capable and assume additional responsibility increasing a chance for a promotion. Organizations that embrace change foster an environment suitable to encourage innovation. New changes may need the implementation of innovations (Stoutenet al., 2018). Employees may take up the role of presenting the organization with ideas and creativity, helping the business to grow. One product may make a big difference and lead to the success of a small business.
The change increases the business efficiency of the work processes, allowing for more customer and employee satisfaction. Switching to a computerized payroll may enable the employees to gain commissions sooner. A new piece of machinery makes work easier in the organization, increasing production. Change may result in a positive attitude of the employees and increase their working morale. If the change positively impacts the employees, they become more motivated to work. The positive impact on the employees generally increases their productivity levels. The brand image changes once the organization changes, such as by updating the office, storefront, or retail outlet style. The shopper’s and clients’ experience is improved, and a better first impression to the new customers.
Potential Challenges to Organizational Change
As much as change has positive impacts on the organization, it comes with a set of challenges. Without the step-by-step planning process, change may result in the organization being all apart or cause more problems. It is important to understand the exact change and how it will occur and critically plan for it. A timeline of change is an essential component, as well as planning for the downtime or difficulties experienced during the change process. In many cases, employees dislike change as it comes with a new set of responsibilities. Low morale may become a barrier to change when staff resists the change or the smooth transition, which can affect the efficiency and productivity of the organization. All management level staff needs to be on board with the change implementation and be able to deal with challenges onset. Failure of the board to corporate may affect the decision-making process.
Integrating new technology into the existing platform may become a major challenge for the organization. Getting staff up to date with the new technologies demands a lot of cooperation (Plummer et al., 2020). Ineffective communication during the change process may result in employee stress levels. Employees need to know what is happening and the negative and positive news. The feeling of uncertainty results from communication failure, which may lead to reduced productivity and cooperation.
Approaches Managers May Use to Help Employees Embrace Change
Even if the change is major or minor, the manager should be able to articulate it with transparency clearly. Statement and emphasis on the importance of change implementation, the positive impact of the change, and being open to the challenges that might come on the way but provide assurance of interventions. Gathering feedback may assist in the smooth transition and acquire the team’s buy-in. Feedback holds everyone accountable, increases involvement, and helps maintain alignment.
Acknowledgment of the feedback is more important than collecting the feedback. The process lets the team know they can be comfortable stating their emotions and recommendation, which are considered. Change may be scary to the team, and the manager must show empathy and compassion. The leader should communicate clearly, be transparent and show discipline. If challenges are faced, especially with communication, the leaders should possess communication skills and ensure they do not act on impulse or be angry.
With clear roles defined, the team will understand every person’s responsibility. Everyone is held accountable, informed, and responsible for their actions to implement the change. Setting roles ensures that attainable milestones are set and establishes a communication rhythm. Most times, training is required during the change process (Galli, 2018). Proper training reduces tension or chances for resistance to change. Some of the team members will be actively involved in the change process. The manager should publicly reward their efforts. This will increase their morale and encourage other members to work harder.
Conclusion
In conclusion, change in an organization is the modification or transformation of the way it works. Change in an organization may be planned or unplanned to meet the expectation of the prevailing external and internal factors. Change results in significant impacts on the organization that may be positive or bearing challenges. Positive impacts include embracing new industry trends, creating business opportunities, innovations, increased efficiency, and changes in the brand image. Challenges that may be faced include lack of proper planning, low morale from the team, lack of consensus, communication problems, and adapting to new challenges. Managers are responsible for finding ways to assist the employees in adopting the change for its success.
References
Galli, B. J. (2018). Change management models: A comparative analysis and concerns. IEEE Engineering Management Review, 46(3), 124-132.
Plummer, S., Hughes, M. M., & Smith, J. (2020). The challenges of classification: A research note. Social Currents, 7(1), 3-10.
Schwarz, G. M., & Vakola, M. (2021). Project forward! we know where organization change has been, but where is it headed?. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 57(4), 409-414.
Stouten, J., Rousseau, D. M., & De Cremer, D. (2018). Successful organizational change: Integrating the management practice and scholarly literatures. Academy of Management Annals, 12(2), 752-788.