Change Management

Introduction:

Change management is an activity that is meant to reduce the adverse effects caused by change. The process of change can adversely affect an organization and change management comes in to play the role of a cushion. For a learning organisation or organisations that follow the learning organisation philosophy, change management is about making the right choices about which customers concentrate efforts on, the products to offer them and the activities to perform to maintain them. The process should be ongoing and dynamic in nature. Entirely, change management is about managing implemented changes that came up as consequences after strategies have been laid down.

Discussion:

The process and actions to follow for change management are unique to every organization where they are implemented. The change management strategies that are implemented to particular organizations depend on the unique requirements of the organization. As is the case, each organization has different resources, circumstances, clients and business relationships. In addition, different organisations have different aims, ambitions and objectives. All these factors matter in the process of change management. Though these strategies are unique, an organization that is aimed at managing change can tap into resources like case studies of other companies who have done the same, planning models of other companies and after this not necessarily copy but to draw inspiration from them (Gilley & Maycunich, 2000).

The learning organisation concept refers to a situation where the management participates in the duties of the firm. The policy of the firm lays emphasis and importance on knowledge and skills and both of these are seen as important factors that determine organisational success. Therefore, if the organization focuses on the learning process, it improves. The learning process however, has no definite pattern and is determined through trial and error. Goals are set and the feedback that is received is used to make decisions.

For success in the change management process is for a firm using the learning organization philosophy, some of the following approaches have to be followed. There has to be effective communication. This communication is meant to inform various stakeholders of the reasons for the organizational change. The communication is meant to answer the question why. The communication shall also explain to the stakeholders the benefits of successful implementation. It shall explain to them what is in it for both them and the management. Finally, the communication shall explain the details of the change like when it shall take place, where it shall take place, who shall be involved, how much it shall cost and so on.

The management shall also have to devise an effective scheme or system to educate, train, nurture, and upgrade the skills of the organization. This shall help in improving the professionalism of the firm and improve the working conditions and production levels. The management shall also have to work on ways to counter the expected resistance from the employees and formalise ways to align them to the new course that the organisation is to follow. The company shall also be required to offer personal psychological support where necessary to be able to counter any fears that might arise due to the changes. The company shall also keep a close eye on the implementation process. This is to run hand-in-hand with the fine-tuning process since the implementation process shall take a long period (Kondalkar, 2008).

Conclusion:

A learning organisation that experiences change and follows the above procedures shall have an easy time changing over and is less likely to encounter resistance from the employees as is common in such times. The concept of a learning organization in itself is an advantage in the change process. This is because the management believes in experiencing what its employees are experiencing and thus the staff shall not feel left out.

References:

Gilley, J. W. & Maycunich, A. (2000). Beyond the learning organization: creating a culture of continuous growth and development through state-of-the-art human resource practices. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Kondalkar. (2008). Organization Effectiveness and Change Management.New Delhi, India: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.