Organization Change Strategy
Organizational change is when an organization moves from one structural state to another. This process can happen in any number of forms and can involve corporate structure, strategy, processes, technology used, or culture, among others. Change can be small and incremental, or it can radically change the way an organization works, from the ground up.
Other People Are Reading
-
Why Do Organizations Change?
-
Organizations change due to internal or external factors. Examples of external environmental factors include workplace demographics, or what employees look for in benefits or bonuses; what technology is available to do the job more efficiently; and what the customer base is interested in buying and for how much. Internal environmental factors might include organizational growth, for example, becoming too large for former organizational structures, or poor performance.
Resistance to Change
-
Individuals will each react to change in their own way, from active resistance to active support. Active resistance is the most disruptive to change, although by listening to the points of people who oppose the change, you can learn valid problems with your change strategy and your end goal. Some of a company's most committed employees might be the most vocal opponents of a change effort.
Some of the primary reasons for active resistance include disrupted habits, having a personality that is change-resistant, being uncertain about the person's place in the company after the change takes place, having too much change recently, or being deprived of power.
-
Unfreezing
-
The first step for effective organizational change is known as unfreezing. Make clear the vision for change, communicate it to your employees and create a sense of urgency that the change is actually needed. From here, you can garner support and build a sense of community behind the change and get employees to feel like they had input in the change as well.
Executing
-
Executing change is the actual process of the change itself. As the change happens, continue providing support for your employees who are experiencing the change, and point out small successes as they happen to keep spirits up about the change. As obstacles arise, eliminate them to prevent them from building up and increasing resistance to the change that is already in progress.
Refreezing
-
Once the change has occurred, refreeze organizational culture. You should show to your employees how you've succeeded by executing the change, as well as showing where more change might be beneficial. Use this to create a culture of change instead of a staid one, which will allow future changes to be implemented that much more easily. However, also make clear that policies might be here to stay and that there will be benefits to them.
-
References
- Photo Credit Change image by Yuriy Rozanov from Fotolia.com
