Change Management

Organisational change is a structured approach in an organisation to ensure that changes are smoothly and successfully implemented to achieve lasting benefits. In the modern business environment, organisations face rapid change like never before. Globalisation and the constant innovation of technology result in a constantly evolving business environment. Phenomena such as social media and mobile adaptability have revolutionised business, and the effect of this is an ever-increasing need for change and, therefore, change management. The growth in technology also has a secondary effect of increasing the availability and, therefore, accountability of knowledge. Easily accessible information has resulted in unprecedented scrutiny from stockholders and the media. Prying eyes and listening ears raise the stakes for failed business endeavours and increase the pressure on struggling executives. With the business environment experiencing so much change, organizations must then learn to become comfortable with change as well. Therefore, the ability to manage and adapt to organisational change is an essential ability required in the workplace today.

Due to the growth of technology, modern organisational change is largely motivated by exterior innovations rather than internal moves. When these developments occur, the organisations that adapt quickest create a competitive advantage for themselves, while the companies that refuse to change get left behind. This can result in drastic profit and/or market share losses.

Organisational change directly affects all departments, from entry-level employees to senior management. The entire company must learn how to handle changes in the organisation.

When determining which of the latest techniques or innovations to adopt, there are four major factors to be considered:

1. Levels, goals, and strategies
2. Measurement system
3. Sequence of steps
4. Implementation and organisational change

Regardless of the many types of organisational change, the critical aspect is a company’s ability to win the buy-in of their organisation’s employees on the change. Effectively managing organisational change is a four-step process:

1. recognising the changes in the broader business environment.
2. developing the necessary adjustments for their company’s needs.
3. training their employees on the appropriate changes.
4. winning the support of the employees with the persuasiveness of the appropriate adjustments.

As a multidisciplinary practice that has evolved as a result of scholarly research, Organisational Change Management should begin with a systematic diagnosis of the current situation in order to determine both the need for change and the capability to change. The objectives, content, and process of change should all be specified as part of a Change Management plan.

Change Management processes may include creative marketing to enable communication between changing audiences, as well as a deep social understanding of leadership styles and group dynamics. As a visible track on transformation projects, Organisational Change Management aligns groups’ expectations, communicates, integrates teams and manages people training. It makes use of performance metrics, such as financial results, operational efficiency, leadership commitment, communication effectiveness, and the perceived need for change, to design appropriate strategies in order to avoid change failures or resolve troubled change projects.

Successful change management is more likely to occur if the following are included:

1. Benefits management and realisation to define measurable stakeholder aims, create a business case for their achievement (which should be continuously updated), and monitor assumptions, risks, dependencies, costs, return on investment, dis-benefits and cultural issues affecting the progress of the associated work.
2. Effective Communications that informs various stakeholders of the reasons for the change (why?), the benefits of successful implementation (what is in it for us, and you) as well as the details of the change (when? where? who is involved? how much will it cost? etc.).
3. Devise an effective education, training and/or skills upgrading scheme for the organisation.
4. Counter resistance from the employees of companies and align them to the overall strategic direction of the organisation.
5. Provide personal counselling (if required) to alleviate any change-related fears.
6. Monitoring of the implementation and fine-tuning as required.