The Role of Leadership in the Change Management Process

Organisations are in a constant struggle to survive and remain relevant in the current changing market. In the field related to socio-tech, change is inevitable. Change is necessary for every organisation and requires that the employees focus on what is essential for the team to succeed and compete in the job market. The organisation has to identify the gaps within the working process that are making them inefficient. Once the niche is defined, one has to focus on writing a proposal that is intended to state the objectives of the planned change and the steps to be followed in ensuring that the modification is achieved. Few organisations can meet the demands of stakeholders, satisfy the customers, factor the workers’ remunerations and ensuring that it earns profits while adjusting to the current market changes. For an organisation to reach such a status, there is a need to have to proper planning, identify the correct tools and implement the correct method for reform. The primary objective of this review is determining the readiness of my organisation to the change process. Given that other approaches have failed to provide an above average readiness for change score sheet, it is worth examining and proposing a sociotechnical change design that will be used by my organisation as readiness for change plan.

Models of theories: The Three Models of Change

The approach postulates that in an organisation, workers will tend to work in groups. Kurt Lewin developed the philosophy and described the concept of using three stages including changing, freezing and unfreezing. According to the theorist, when the change occurs, it migrates from the solid phase to the freezing stage when the switch is done before finalising attaining normality (Tryggvi 2008, p. 54). The assessment seeks to adopt this approach in the development of the model of readiness. Unfreezing is the first phase and describes the changes that occur at the firm when change sets in. It is then followed by the moving period that represents the step that an organisation occurs in preparing to move. Lastly, the freezing stage defines the stage that the organisation is changing (Momina, et al. 2013, p. 84)

Open System Model and the Proposed Change Initiative.

Corporations are composed of parts with free activities connected to frequently changing workers. Similarly, the systems depend on the personnel and external environment. Furthermore, firms are characterised by a collection of components that interact to create independent relationships. All situations are unique and defined by the environment that they operate (Advameg 2018, p. 2).

The plan is presented to the concerned body that accesses the importance of adopting the change in the system. Once the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, the proposal can be implemented and be incorporated in the business. Many organisations are proposing changes to their operations to give room to technology that has proved to be of concern in the business process. Many companies are writing proposals with the aim of changing the manual systems of operations to move to technology and Internet-based activities. The advantage of this is fast and reliable systems of services. The paper seeks to address the external environment aspect of the open system model that prevents my organisation, a leading grocery store in the country, from attaining its goals. Similarly, the characters incorporate cultural, political and social elements including on-job training, career development, manager workers relationships, worker incentives, and worker engagement programmes.

Activities Leading to the Change

The initial step towards effective change is conduction of preliminary studies at the area of research. The second step involves the assessment of the need for change. The guiding question would be “Is there a need for conducting the survey?” The third process is developing of hypothesis to be used in research question development and subsequently objective formulation. It will be followed by the development of the methodology that would be used in answering the research questions would be the fourth step. Lastly, the evaluation of change will then follow after which the analysis will be done, and the conclusion is drawn (Shea et al. 2014, p. 7). Thus, in the assessment of the association between the change management activities and the scores, the open based model is preferred. Based on the proposed framework, every organisation comprises the technical subsystem which constitutes the equipment, technologies, knowledge, and materials while the social subsystem comprises workers and top managers and the stakeholders of the company.

The Proposed Readiness To Change.

The approach describes the tools applied in finding the means of preparing an organisation for the freezing point of change. The objective of the mechanisms of readiness application is to stabilise an organisation after the change has occurred (Kamisah & Maryati, 2012). The plan aims to determine the factors that are to be considered in readiness for organisational change. Kamisah & Maryati (2012, p.2) proposed in their model, five tools of measurement of availability of an organisation for change including attributes for change, Leadership support, internal context and characteristics of change targets (Tomi et al. 2017, p.2).

Leading Change

The change theorist argues that change is inevitable as it is critical to advance the policies in the firm. Holt et al. (2008, p.56) proposed that emotional commotion is guaranteed when changes occur whether it is planned or in situations when it is not expected. The award allocated is 55% with the rationale that the job is relatively well paying compared to other grocery store wages. Secondly, worker engagement programs have been designed recently, thus enabling workers to present their problems to the relevant authorities. The third reason is that the there is promise for career progression. Lastly, there is on job training programmes and issuance of bonuses for those who choose to work on weekends. It is recommended because the approach provides the opportunity, means and motive for the workers to excel.

Furthermore, knowledge and practice can be incorporated and applied to improve the lives of fellow workers, which results in improved productivity, effectiveness and better customer satisfaction. The primary objective aim is to enable organizations to maximise profits and customer satisfaction. The award is 51% is justified, with the rationale that the company is providing proper incentives and allowances for those working outside their regular hours.

Finishing the Job

When employees are mistreated, they are more likely to reduce their job performance ratings. The concept happens mostly when the employer appears to be unsupportive. The unhappy worker is not much reliable (Palettie 2006, p.39). The grade awarded is 50%, because the group is successful in ensuring that the workers’ morale is high. With the provision of a good working environment and proper remuneration, the workers will be useful in providing that the work is done to the best way possible (Boye Kuranchie-Mensah et al. 2016, p. 255).

Anchoring Change

The readiness to change involves assessing and discovering a problem or a risk and control the emotions of the workers. The approach ensures that the company thrives even in tough economic times. The organisation’s systems have to be flexible enough to change with evolving financial times. Some of the tools used for measuring readiness for change include the company structures and programme that is used to initiate it. The award is 40. Although the company is trying to institute measures to warrant market their survival, there are gaps between the workers and top management that is yet to be addressed.

Monitoring Progress

The concept of monitoring entails the use of an organisation’s internal functions where each worker progress is monitored to ensure that productivity is high. The award of 45% follows. It implies that even though the organisation is trying its best to provide favourable conditions, the company is judged by its history. It is significant in cases where some members have worked at the same company long.

Mobilising Commitment.

When treated appropriately, the workers will be determined, and they will translate it to obligation and collective implementation of company policy. Considering the award of 50%, it follows that the organisation encourages workers to work together at all times. They have structured worker engagement programmes as one of the measures.

Sharing a Vision.

The idea of a common vision between workers and the top management can be crucial in ensuring that there is a focus on the business objectives. When the plans are incorporated well in a flexible manner, it will save the firm the extra expense of spending money on research.

Recommendation

I recommend that the change in the communication system should be implemented and incorporated in the company. The justification is that it will improve the communication efficiency in the organisation and reduce costs in the firm. Moreover, the change should be adopted by every employee in the company to improve the working of the enterprise. Although, some customers may embrace the change and others may not appreciate it, the company should ensure that the clients feel encouraged. They should look for methods of maintaining the customers before they adapt to the change.

Conclusion

The current business environment is dynamic and is highly competitive hence the need for the use of adaptive approaches when implementing a change process. Many firms have to be in a position to adjust to the prevailing conditions of they risk being eliminated from the market. A primary intervention would be conducting a practical analysis of the social and economic theories as it is vital in understanding the change that is expected to be implemented. It is also critical that companies invest in the functional analysis to determine the model that is best factoring the resources at stake.

Most importantly, investing in workers can prevent challenges associated with workforce resistance. When workers’ needs are addressed promptly, it translates to positivity and better productivity. Nevertheless, scientific models work differently in different organisations. Successful companies have plans to enable them to adapt when facing financial challenges. The organisational culture of a business and its treatment of its workers play a vital role in the adaptability factor. It is thus suggested that a model for change readiness should follow the open system method and integrate the relevant approaches to warrant continued productivity.

Reference List

Advameg, I., 2018. Organization theory. Reference for business. Available at: https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/small/Op-Qu/Organization-Theory.html.

Boye Kuranchie-Mensah, E., Amponsah-Tawiah, K. & Amponsah-Tawiah, K., 2016. Employee motivation and work performance: A comparative study of mining companies in Ghana. Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management, 9(2), p.255.

Holt, D. T., Helfrich, C. D., Hall, C. G. & Weiner, B. J., 2008. Are You Ready? How Health Professionals Can comprehensively Conceptualize Readiness for Change, The research initiative, pp. 50-55.

Kamisah, A. A. & Maryati, M. Y., 2012. Measuring organizational Readiness in information system Adoption. AIS Electronic Library, pp. 1-9.

Momina, R., Novitskaya, A. & Vladmir, V., 2013. Role Organizational culture in creating for change project. Umea University, pp. 1-87.

Palettie, V., 2006. Organization Self-Assessment to Determine the Readiness and Risk for a Planned Change. Organization Development Journal, 24(4), pp. 38-43.

Shea, C.M. et al., 2014. Organizational readiness for implementing change: a psychometric assessment of a new measure. Implementation science : IS, 9(1), p.7.

Tomi, D., Päivi , H. & Newman, M., 2017. A Longitudinal Study on the Perceived Roles of IT and the Corporate IT Function with Influences on CIOs’ Work Equilibria in a Media Company. Research Gate.

Tryggvi , H., 2008. Organizational change and change readiness: Employees’ attitudes during times of proposed merger. Universitetet I Troms, pp. 1-98.