In recent corporate history there have been large organisations that tried to change, but ultimately failed because they were unable to adapt. Organisations don’t change, but people do. It is the cumulative impact of successful individual change that makes or breaks your organisation.
Organizational change management can be very impactful on your employees. It is, therefore, important for companies to manage any organizational change effectively. Managing organizational change successfully, can increase morale among workers, drive positive teamwork and create job satisfaction.
Identifying different types of Organizational Change Management
For the purpose of this article, we will identify 4 types of organizational change management:
- Strategic Change: shifting your business priorities, expressed by your mission, vision and values.
- Structural Change: changing the company hierarchy, like management structures, acquisition or mergers.
- Process Change: focusing on the systems, processes or employee skills and training within your organisation.
- People-oriented Change: leading to improvements in performance, collaboration, and even morale of your employees.
The specific nature of your plan will depend also on the fact whether the change is part of a long-term plan or an unexpected organizational change. At the same time, the level of influence the change will have is another important factor to consider.
Tips for planning organizational change
In order to plan organizational change, these are some tips you can consider:
- Apply existing knowledge and lessons learned: applying what you have learned from previous experience at the beginning of planning change is much more effective than during or at the end of a change process.
- Ensure your company culture reflects reality: the gap between reality and fiction is a significant factor in creating a successful change plan.
- Embrace dynamic planning vs. a static plan: a plan is different from planning. An organizational culture with a planning mindset increases the chances of implementing effective organizational change.
- Take time to think: doing ineffective things quickly is less effective than taking time to think with appropriate focus and people.
Why is simple change management important?
When speaking about effective change management, it’s important to ensure it’s as simple as the ABC. What does this mean?
There should be clear communication standards for the whole organisation:
A = Alignment
B = Balance
C = Communication
Alignment
Is everything in place for the planned change?
When employees are aligned on what is expected of them during and after the change, it will be much easier for them to adopt new procedures and processes.
Balance
Are the planned steps of your change process synchronized like the music and the lyrics of a harmonic song?
Introducing change gradually can help employees to keep the overview and therefore feel balanced when adding new tasks.
Communication
Is everyone in your organisation aware of the communication that has taken place?
Proper communication is key, but even more important is to ensure that employees have received your communication so that all noses point in the right direction.
What is the impact of change management on your employees?
It’s crucial to realize what the impact of your change management will be on your employees. Only when one person at a time will start to do his or her job differently, will the change start to take place. If individuals don’t make changes to their day-to-day work, an organizational transformation effort will not deliver results.
When change management is applied effectively it can impact your employees in several positive ways by:
- Reducing employee stress levels
- Helping to limit uncertainty and forming clear ideas on how the future will look
- Reducing resistance to change
Therefore it’s important for companies to avoid employees feeling stressed about change. Because whenever an unaccounted change occurs, or whenever our habits are disrupted, our human nature is associating this with the feeling of losing something.
How can employees welcome change?
Employees can be more welcoming and open to change initiatives when these initiatives bring opportunities for personal growth and development. When change introduces new challenges that can make the job more exciting or provides opportunities to participate in shaping the future of the organisation, employees will be more willing to reduce their resistance to change.
There are 3 factors that make it easier for employees to welcome change and therefore reduce resistance altogether:
- Personal growth and development
- New challenges to existing job content
- Opportunity to help shape the future of the organisation
QRP offers courses in Change Management. Additionally there is also the Agile Change Agent Training and Certification.
Are you curious to learn more about this topic? Don’t hesitate to write to us!
Sources:
APMG International – Top Tips in Planning Organizational Change
APMG International – Effective Organisational Change Management Should be Simple ABC
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