How Change Is Inevitable?

Change is an ongoing and never-ending process of organizational life. The intensity of organizational change can range from the nominal to the radical. As Clark, Gioia, Ketchen, and Thomas (2010) mentioned, three degrees of change intensity are distinguished according to the amount of

Change is a constant in today’s organisations. In a Recent CIPD survey it found more than half of all employees said that their organisation has been going through some kind of major change during the last year. Most organisations more than ten years old look nothing like they did even five years ago. And it is likely that in the next year or two organisations will not look as they do today. Below are 6 factors that drive and influence change In any organisation.

Change is inevitable within every organization. The amount of change could be small or it could be large. However big the change, resistance can be minimal or massive. The organization should look inwards toward the potential obstacles to that change. These obstacles may include resistance to two sources: individuals and the organizational structure. Both sources need careful consideration and planning. Haphazard change can be disastrous to an organization. Planned changed is always the best course.

By any objective measure, the amount of important, frequently distressing, change in organizations has grown enormously over the last two decades (Kotter, 1996). Jeffrey M. Hiatt, CEO of Prosci Inc., (as cited by Gibson, Ivancevich, Donnelly & Konopaske, 2009, p. 481) explained, “thirty years ago, a fortune 100 probably had one or two enterprise wide change initiatives going on; today that number is probably between 20 and 25.” The speed of global, economic, and technological development makes change an inevitable element of organizational life. Change is a pervasive, persistent, and permanent condition for all organizations (Gibson, et al., 2009).

Many companies do not know how to properly implement change this is shown by Balogun and Hope Hailey in 2004 that about 70 percent of all change programs that were initiated resulted in (as cited by Todnem, 2005). Some of the major reasons can be due to poor planning by the corporation, untrained personnel, and employee resistance. If the personnel in charge of implementing the changes are not properly trained then the success rate of the program is unfavorable. Change saturation can also occur if there are too many changes especially if it is implemented incorrectly. Change saturation occurs when there is more change happening in a group or organization than the group or organization can handle (Avoiding change saturation, n.d.). Poorly implemented change can lead to issues with employees such as frustration, disengagement, confusion, cynicism, and resistance to change (avoiding change saturation, n.d.). It is only natural for an employee to resist changes, especially if they feel that the changes are unnecessary. This resistance stems from the fact that most people fear the unknown which then generates anxiety and stress (Managing resistance, b.d.). All of this anxiety and stress creates an employee who is both unhappy and inefficient.

Saying change is inevitable is passive, like we have no control over it. We must embrace change. Change brings a new opportunity for rejuvenation, rebirth, or to even redefine and refocus an organization. Change in an organization can come in the form of procedures, systems, structures, or policies. Once a change has been made, management must focus on the behaviors and the production of its employees. The change must be carried out from CEOs to district managers, to store managers, and even supervisors. A united front will help championing change while stopping any kind of resistance.

Today 's business surroundings require companies to undergo changes almost frequently if they are to remain competitive. UK academic Burnes (1996) reflects that controlling organizational change is the process of planning and implementing change in organizations in such a way as to minimize employee resistance and cost to the organization while simultaneously maximizing the effectiveness of the modify attempt. This is about propelling from one state to another, particularly from the complicated position to the settle position (figure 8). Critics argue that massive uncertainty associated with this method is recognition of staff, employee, and stakeholders (Jung, 2001).

For the purpose of this paper organizational change is defined as a company or organization going through a transformation. Organization change occurs when business strategies or major sections of an organization are altered and or involves reorganization, restructuring and turnaround (Business Dictionary). Organizational change is about reviewing and transforming management structures and business processes. To stay ahead of our competition the Charter School System it is imperative that our organization look for ways to do things more efficiently and economically. There is no reason that we should fear change. We should embrace change as a means of setting the foundation for continuing success (Basu, C., 2014).

Change is an ever present feature in the life of an organization. Change can happen in any forms and sizes, with the aim that it will positively benefit an organization.

The word "Change" is generally defined as the act or instance of making or becoming different. However, our current interest lies with change happening on the scale of an organization. Different characterizations have been proposed over the years for organizational change, due to the fact that a clear definition was needed to distinguish it from the simple study of organizations. Such a definition would indicate that organizational change is a shift from a present state of organization to a future state over a given period of time (Beckhard and Harris, 1987). It would also include the size and magnitude of change that occurred (Dunphy and Stace, 1990) and also whether the change has taken place through a single radical metamorphosis or

Organizations today have to constantly change and adapt in order to survive in the current dynamic market. To this end, all businesses have to be prepared to deal with change appropriately, with the help of managers who are responsible for preparing the company for change and the employees who have to cope with the changes. All organizations experience a certain degree of change on a daily basis, however large scale changes cannot be adopted into daily routines as easily (Kotter & Cohen, 2012). Hence, the success of any organization when faced with change entirely depends on how the leadership of the company presents the new vision for change which can either lead to successful transitions or can end in failure. This means that the management plays a crucial role in ensuring that all employees of a business are made aware of the importance of the changes taking place and the implementation plan. Moreover, managers and leaders have to be prepared to overcome any resistance from employees who are unwilling to adapt to the required changes (Leavy, 2014).

An organizational change is a process that manifests itself in all organizations in greater or lesser scale. It refers to the adaptive capacity of these organizations to the transformations of the environment in which they operate. Change involves a transition from the current situation to a different one, assuming a change of values, attitudes and behaviors. These changes will involve employees and managers to unlearn models and behaviors in order to learn new ones. The leader of the organization may encounter resistance and opposition from these groups and will have to deal with them using effective methods. For this reason, the leader must be aware of what causes resistance to change in an organization, this could be fear of the unknown, uncertainty, resistance to new experiences, changes in relationships, limited flexibility, or fear of failure. Effective communication reduces the interrogations and unfounded fears. The leader can provide all the necessary information and alternatives to the team so they will be allowed to gradually get used to the

As organizations face change they may have to deal with resistance from employees. Change is often resisted by employees, the reasons typically are fearful of the unfamiliar, fear of loss or fear of disaster, as well as behavior and political reasons. Therefore, it is vital that managers mitigate employee frustration to ensure a business remains effective in its task or duties. Managers must learn the necessary skills to make the change easier by using employee participation, organizational communication, workplace empathy and support.

In the modern workplace, organizational change has become a common aspect that sometimes causes significant psychological stress within a workforce that is concerned about its quality of life. This kind of change tends to occur when an organization makes transition from its existing state to some anticipated future state. Due to its frequency, managing organizational change has become an important aspect that involves planning and implementing the change while lessening employee resistance and costs associated with the change. The successful implementation of organizational change also requires maximizing the efficiency of the change initiatives.

Organizational change is one of the things that most organizations pass through as they develop over time. At times, the process of introducing change in the organizations is not always received well by most of the employees working in the organization (Poole & Van, 2004). As such, this paper will look at some of the best entry points for organizational change, a summary of the similarities of the models used in carrying out he change process and reasons why implementing change is difficult. The paper will also address of the main reasons why people are resistant to change as well as the proper means of overcoming these obstacles.