Memo Explaining The Importance Of Innovation In The Workplace

Innovation may be linked to positive changes in efficiency, productivity, quality and competitiveness, among other factors. Benefits of innovation could be the improvement in the workforce. By improving the workforce an organisation will benefit from increased productivity and improved morale and lower staff turnover. Employees will feel more valued which therefore increases motivation. This is beneficial to employers because it provides the organisation with knowledgeable, reliable staff who will have a more positive contribution to the needs of the organisation. Staff are a valuable source of innovation, even if it is not expected as a major part of their job. An innovative work environment means being creative and try new techniques. As Albert Einstein said “if you always do what you’ve always done, you will get what you’ve always got.”

Why is it that when organizations announce upcoming changes to their employees they are rarely excited about it? You do not see them jovially discussing what is going to happen next, and/or how these changes are going to make their organization better. No, none of this is happening. Most of them are worried and wondering how these changes will affect them, and what their roles are going to be. This mindset makes organizational change difficult. Society in general just does not like change, nor are they comfortable with it.

In order to successfully and effectively implement change all of the employees should have a good understanding of how the changes will benefit the organization, their positions, and how it might impact their routines. To many employees the implementation of change is not always properly communicated, and the process of change on paper as it is being implemented can be threatening as well as confusing. Also, the people behind the scenes making the changes may not have taken specific details into consideration regarding effective changes that perhaps the employees

Some many organizational change efforts fail to reach their intention, but the high-ranking sponsors often blame the disappointment on the employees and manager struggle to change at times. They really don’t know how difficult it is to lead and implement change effectively (Robbins, 2011). A good change does require good people skills. Employees resist change because employees can be very unsure about the loss of status or job security within the organization. This would mean the employees and there manager as well as their peers will resist technological changes. The employees will also endure fear of failure that could cause employees to doubt their ability to do the job/ or their duty. Those type of change employees are resisting because the employees are too worried about learning the new requirements. Peer pressure can be endured as well for employees when the employees start to resist change to protect their co-worker, and so will the manager to protect their work group. The human resources roles are planning and implementation, planning would be evaluation of

Some people find changes to be stressful because they fear about job status. That`s why constant and clear communication with team members is vital. By keeping them informed about the change and expectations they will be prepared

Organizational change is a very critical and yet very inevitable process ofan organization’s structure. It can create a lot of pressure from the workers as well as management as a result of fear of the unknown.

2. Disidentification - They may feel as though their identity is being threatened by the change. Rather than focus on the changed procedures, they may try to cling onto a past procedure in order to make themselves feel secure. Managers can try active listening to try and engage employees in the change and show that they are fully supportive of the employee's concerns.

Another change could be mergers and take-overs which can sometimes leave employees feeling uncertain about their future with the company, loss of trust and experience staff leaving.

The Change Curve model describes four stages most people go through as they adjust to change (MindTools, n.d.). It is mostly accredited to psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, but changes have been made to the model over the years. The employees first reaction to the change was surprise, which has been identified as stage one of the Change Curve. When the realization of the change set in, there was a tendency to react negatively, which is the transition point into stage two of the Change Curve. It is in the best interest of those in stage two to move on into stage three because that is “where pessimism and resistance give way to some optimism and acceptance” (MindTools, n.d.). In the final stage of the Change Curve, individuals are able to accept the change and embrace them. It is at this point that the organization will truly begin to reap the benefits of

Week 3, the lecture on Managing Change describes organizational changes that occur when a company makes a shift from its current state to some preferred future state. Managing organizational change is the process of planning and implementing change in organizations in such a way as to decrease employee resistance and cost to the organization while concurrently expanding the effectiveness of the change effort. Today's business environment requires companies to undergo changes almost constantly if they are to remain competitive. Students of organizational change identify areas of change in order to analyze them. A manager trying to implement a change, no matter how small, should expect to encounter some resistance from within the organization.

Change will always produce stress, especially when it’s not well managed. As you discussed in your thread, a change is affected by external and internal factors. Resistant to change is escribed by Kinicki & Fugate (2016) as any thought, emotion, or behavior that does not align with real or potential change to existing routines (p.574). As you mentioned, when an organization expands there are many changes to consider. As humans, we resist change and change will be easily managed when the idea of change itself can be “sold” to the affected employees. As you mentioned Lewin’s change model teaches us how the process of change will progress. According to your thread, technology has been one of the factors in the change in the organization which

Introducing organisational change is often hard, the main reasons for that can be variation in perceptions of the employees, fear of disruption or failure and underlining the right approach to apply change. Then even if the change in a specific organisation is projected successfully there is still lot to be done to manage it in an appropriate way (Oakland, 2007).

Certainly, there are several reasons why people don’t like to undergo a change situation. Firstly, some people are more concerned about the implications of change to themselves rather than thinking of the benefits it could bring for the company for example, I feel more comfortable working where there is more interaction with customers rather than working inside the office. Secondly, it somewhat also depends on the individual’s level of tolerance to change; some people feel more secured and satisfied with current working environment. Furthermore, there might be inadequate information about the benefits a change can bring in to them and the organization. Therefore employees are usually hesitant of undergoing a change situation. However, chapter 6 of Organizational Change looks into how we can minimise resistance to change in an organization which is described as Kotter’s theory. Kotter suggested six strategies for overcoming resistance to change:

Changing situations throughout the world affect all organizations in business today. Therefore, most organizations acknowledge the need to experience change and transformation in order to survive. The key challenges companies face are due to the advancements in technology, the social environment caused by globalization, the pace of competition, and the demands regarding customer expectations. It is difficult to overcome the obstacles involved with change despite all the articles, books, and publications devoted to the topic. People are naturally resistant to fundamental changes and often intimidated by the process; the old traditional patterns and methods are no longer effective.

Time and communication are the two keys to success for the changes to occur. People need time to understand the changes and they also need to feel highly connected to the organization throughout the transition period. When you are managing change, this can require a great deal of time and effort and hands-on management is usually the best approach.