Step 1: Sense of Urgency In the first step, for change to happen everyone in the organization should want it. Although this step may seem difficult, it is best that members of the organization have open dialogue on the change they desire to see. For example, at Cornerstone we have quarterly focus groups to address issues and opportunities that may arise. Some of the topics that were discussed at our last focus group meeting was updated technology and cross-training opportunities for employees. Being able to discuss our issues as helped streamline several projects and consider many opportunities for the credit union. Although employees offer excellent suggestions for change in an organization, management must be willing to buy into your ideas. Kotter suggests, “spend significant time and energy building urgency, before moving onto the next steps. Do not panic and jump in too fast because you don 't want to risk further short-term losses” (Mindtools, 2016).
Step 2: Building a Powerful Guiding Coalition Having a strong leadership team and reliable support system is important when guiding change. To lead change, you need to bring together a coalition, or team, of influential people whose power comes from a variety of sources, including job title, status, expertise, and political importance (Mindtools, 2016). At the credit union, we have our board of directors who are key decision makers for change at Cornerstone. We also have our vice presidents that are committed to creating
Step 2 is forming a powerful guiding coalition. Leadership will have to be on board and on the same page in regards to the change. Kotter and Cohen reveal the core problems people face when leading change. Their main findings are that the central issue concerns not structure or systems but behavior and how to alter it (Farris, 2008). The success of the changes will depend on the ability of the managers to show their commitment to change and motivate the employees to do the same. Without any process to track the implementation, the change can also fail.
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
Implementing change in an organization is complicated. It is important that a manager understands their role and responsibilities for which could very well be the success or failure of an organization. A manager should know how to handle staff resistance, and the areas that require change. There are processes that help management with assisting their staff members with adjusting to change and concentrate on the areas of importance. This process includes planning, assessment, implementation, and evaluation. The difference between a failed organization and a successful manager is when the manager has the ability to implement change with little disruption to
Leaders change systems, structures and policies that have not yet been confronted. They hire, promote and develop employees who can implement the vision for change. In addition, they revitalise the process with a new round of projects or change agents.(Cengage Learning AUS, 2015)
The more active the participants are in the planning, the less resistance there will be later (Sullivan & Decker). If staff does not trust leadership, does not share the organization's vision, does not buy into the reason for change, and aren't included in the planning, there will be no successful change, regardless of how brilliant the strategy (Goman, 2000). How people react to change is important to understand. Change takes an emotional toll on people, some more than others. It is important not to underestimate that toll and understand who will have a harder time adapting to change. Fear of change has many roots. Those roots can be a lack of trust, fear of failure, fear of loss of income or a belief that the change is unnecessary (Sullivan & Decker). By understanding the reason for the resistance a manager can help the employee overcome his or her fear and become a supporter of the change. The last two steps are to provide feedback mechanisms to keep everyone informed of the progress of change and evaluate the effectiveness of change (Sullivan & Decker). People need to be kept informed of the change process to minimize anxiety. Sometimes there are unexpected consequences to the change, and it is important to have a system in place for those consequences to be discussed and if needed more changes made in order to accommodate those consequences.
It requires a behavioral change to make any transformation successful. For example, the change is more than the structure and the functioning of an organization. It requires a behavioral change to make any transformation successful, and that is never without difficulty. John Kotter’s 8-step change model comprises eight overlapping steps. The first three are all about creating a climate for change. The next on engaging and enabling the organization. And the last, implementing and sustaining change. Kurt Lewin's curiosity in groups directed his research to concentrate on issues that affect behavioral change, and the three stages needed to make the change successful: unfreeze, move, make and
In today’s business world, one of the most important contributing factors to the overall success of an organization is the effectiveness of their leadership. Effective leaders carry with them a strong skill set along with a broad knowledge base gained from experience that allows them to effectively and efficiently manage change initiatives. An organization that possessing an effective leadership team is more likely to experience success, especially it comes to creating effective change. The leaders’ role is crucial during a change
Organizations must respond to their internal and external environment. Therefore, organizational success heavily relies on leaderships ability to manage change. Unfortunately, many leaders struggle to effectively lead change initiatives. In fact, Ashkenas (2013, para. 1) reported 60 – 70% of organizational change initiatives fail to meet their objectives.
Leadership is critical when executing a strategic change initiative. By differentiating leadership and management, leadership styles and the key factors of change we can better understand what should be done to successfully lead change. Success is not obtained through leadership alone but by developing a group of individuals from all levels of the organization who work together as a team. . (Leban and Stone, 2007)
The first step in driving the necessary change within the organization is to secure an outside consultant to serve as a change agent. The change agent will facilitate and guide the organizational development (OD) through process consultation intervention. In this process, it will be necessary to identify sources of resistance through Force field analysis. Once the sources are identified, one-on-one meetings and group meetings will be conducted to educate the employees on the changes and the reasons why change is necessary. This step will find the management team working to re-define the vision of the organization. As part of
Communication – Talk about the change vision, if people have anxieties then address these openly and honestly. Tie in the vision to all areas of the business from training to performance reviews
Management personnel must realize that there is not any one approach that works for everyone or every situation. Regardless of approach chosen, it is important to make sure that employees are aware of what is required of them and that their involvement is essential to organizational change success. Teams consisting of employees and management need to communicate and interact to adapt to and overcome obstacles that can hinder or sabotage the change process. A collective learning environment in which employees and managers can work together is beneficial to identify process errors or flaws that can present themselves during change implementation.
As defined by Katzenbach (1995), change leadership is “the process whereby individuals who lead initiatives that influence dozens to hundreds of others to perform differently—and better—by applying multiple leadership and change approaches.” Leadership alone is defined as setting a direction and developing the strategies necessary to move in that direction – that is, creating and achieving a vision – leadership is thus a process to do with change (Kotter 1999). Change leadership is critically important to the continuing success of organizations everywhere. Tennant Company understands and invests in change leadership by employing a Sr. Organization Development Manager named Annelise Larson, M.B.A. whose efforts includes setting direction, developing strategies, and leading initiatives through organizational change efforts. An interview was conducted with Annelise Larson to discuss and learn about her change leadership abilities. For the purposes of this paper, the interview questions will be shared, a summary will be provided, and five recommendations are made for Annelise Larson as a change leader.
In order to move forward and keep ahead, I believe an organization need change leaders who have capabilities to have their workforce go from change avoidance to change acceptance. “One of the most significant strengths of an effective leader is the ability to create a positive work climate where people are energized to do their best work, free of unnecessary distractions” (Cronkite, n.d.). During this part of the change process I feel the change leader would have better success if he would be tactful and harness the skills of others by working in a collaborative rather than hierarchical way. Leadership in an organization involves instilling motivation and enthusiasm in the employees. An effective leader knows how to manage and tackle difficult situations and people. Many reasons can cause a force of change in organizations but I feel it’s up to change leaders to manage these planned and unexpected changes. (Word count: 548)
However, people will not get out of their “comfort zone” without being motivated. This leads to the second error by leaders, which is not creating a powerful enough guiding coalition. Regardless of the size of the organization, the change effort should continually grow to include more and more people who believe that the changes are necessary (Kotter).