Change Management
Change management has been defined as ‘the process of continually renewing an organization’s direction, structure, and capabilities to serve the ever-changing needs of external and internal customers. Change is an ever-present feature of organizational life, both at an operational and strategic level. Change in the organizational structure and strategies has become an essential part in the prevailing business environment plus the competition. Therefore, there should be no doubt regarding the importance to any organization of its ability to identify where it needs to be in the future, and how to manage the changes required getting there (Todnem, 2005).
Role of Human Resource in Change Management
Many researchers have discussed about the importance of Change Management factor with related to Human Resource of an organization. So, they believe that it is not sufficient anymore to act classically to a certain threat, but human resources professionals must be proactive rather than reactive to handle today’s world (Dirani, et al., 2019). The intention of Human Resource change management is to implement change management strategies to control change and to help people adopt to changes. Change management strategies include a structured process for requesting a change and mechanisms to respond and follow up on requests (Hee & Shanmugam, 2019).
HR has always encountered many challenges in recruiting right talents and more importantly, to retain them at a high level of understanding. Since, technology has been involved so much in the way we think, operate, communicate and react, thus in terms of people interaction, tools like the social media have improved the workplace in many different ways (Zafar, et al., 2014).
Levels of change
Change occurs in organizations on three main levels: Individual level, Team level and Organizational level.
Individual level
The external world is dynamic and continuously changing. Since the individuals are also part of this changing environment, they need to adopt themselves according to the change.
Team Level
In organizations there are different types of working groups who are involved in the process of change namely, work teams, self-managed teams, project teams, networked teams, management teams etc. However, teams playing an essential part of organizational change as they are the one who initiate, create and implement the change.
Organizational level
Organizations have to be changed quickly for the development and survival of the organization in the changing world. Generally, Organization change classified in to three main approaches. First one is classical management theory and that focuses on the empirical facts and practical results. The second approach is sociological approach and that analyzed the sociology of organizations by focusing on the various identities and classes which create conflicts with the basis of socio-economic differences. The third approach is psychological approach and which focus on the individual and their psychological conditions in the process of change (Dirani, et al., 2019).
Resistant to change
Any attitude or behavior indicating No willingness to support to change is called as Resistant to change. Though the change proposal is a very successful or administratively perfect individuals in organization break the change due to representing a form of influence. In other words, resistant to change is resistance to loss of the known by moving to unknown. Some people resist the implementation of change that is accepted as a universal truth (Yilmaz & Kilicoglu, 2013).
To overcome the Resistant to change
- Educate and communicate – Educate and communicate about the change before implementing.
- Participation and Involvement – Allow individuals to plan, design and implement the change.
- Facilitation and support – Helping to deal with resistance by emotional and material help.
- Negotiation and agreement – offered negotiations and agreed to offer benefits.
- Manipulation and Co-optation – When all tactics do not work changed to manipulation and co-optation.
- Explicit and implicit coercion- This method is used for when speed is essential like crisis situations but it should be alarmed to poor performance and dissatisfaction (Yilmaz & Kilicoglu, 2013).
Change is inevitable and unavoidable. It includes internal as well as external factors and it can give both positive and negative factors to the organization. In changing environment, it is very important to manage resistance to change in an effective manner in order to deal smoothly with the process of implementation and achieve the desired target through the change.
References
Dirani, A. E., Hussein, M. & Hejase, H. J., 2019. The Role of Human Resources in Change Management : An Exploratory Study in Lebanon. The Journal of Middle East and North Africa Sciences 2019, 5(6), pp. 1-10.
Hee, O. C. & Shanmugam, N., 2019. A Review of Human Resource Change Management Strategies in the Digital Era. International Journal of Acedemic Research in Business and Social Science, 9(3), pp. 521-535.
Todnem, R., 2005. Organisational Change Management: A Critical Review. Journal of Change Management, 5(4), pp. 369-380.
Yilmaz , D. & Kilicoglu, G., 2013. Resistance to change and ways of reducing resistance in educational organizations. Europian journal of reserch on education , 1(1), pp. 14-21.
Zafar, F., Iqbal, Y., Azad, M. T. & Aftar, R. J., 2014. Human Resource Role in Change Management during Cross Border Mergers. Journal of Business and Management , 16(1), pp. 54-61.
Thank you for the article Wathsala,
ReplyDelete"Change" is the only constant in the world but mostly it is for good. You have nicely and neatly described three types of changes in an organization and methods to overcome. I would like to put more emphasis on "Communication" part as communication is one of the most important factor for a successful change management.
Thank you for the comment Fayaz
DeleteA good article with wide range of view.
ReplyDeleteThe extent to which organizations alter their behaviors and implement new processes has a significant impact on the initiative. This is why the soft side of change can be the more difficult side of change. Fortunately, taking a systematic approach to managing the human side of change can have a significant impact on the overall success of the organization.Thanks for sharing..
Thank you for the comment Umesh
DeleteWhenever an organization changes anything significant, it faces a significant period of transition as workers and managers adjust to their new responsibilities or work environments. Change management is a system of planning, analysis and execution that attempts to minimize both short- and long-term disruption to make the transition as seamless as possible...
ReplyDeleteAppreciate your comment Mihirani
DeleteStudies suggest that job autonomy, participation in decision-making, and teamwork positively correlated with proactivity and vitality and hence facilitate the employees to cope with the change.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comment Rukmali
DeleteVery useful Article!Change management takes consistent communication, from announcing a change to providing feedback throughout the process. To help alleviate stress and anxiety about a change, it is important for HR personnel to describe how changes will ultimately impact or benefit staff members as well as the company overall.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comment Janarthan
DeleteVery informative topic ! Change management is a precise way to deal with managing the transition or transformation of an organization's goals, processes or technologies. The reason for change management is to execute systems for effecting change, controlling change and assisting individuals with adjusting to change. Such techniques incorporate having an organized system for mentioning a change, just as mechanisms for reacting to solicitations and following them up.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comment Mihirani
ReplyDeleteThe way organization changes its behavior and implements new processes has a major impact on the plan. This is why the initiation of change may be the hardest side of change. Fortunately, adopting a systematic approach to managing the human factors of change can have a major impact on the overall success of an organization. Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteVery well written article wathsala! As it’s said change is the only constant in the world & as such it is extremely important for any organization to make sure that they adopt well to change & not fall back behind it. Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteChange management helps organizations manage major organizational change. The severity of these negative effects depends on the scale of the change. If not carefully considered, change can impact worker workflows, morale, product quality, and even customer loss. HR professionals must assess the human impact of change in order to facilitate a smooth transition to new job responsibilities.
ReplyDeleteChange is inevitable and managing the change is very important. Due to volatile environment every organization has to undergo a change it maybe in the form of system upgrade, infrastructure upgrade, changes in the management and so on. Being able to adjust to the change is the challenge. As a norm, employees have a fear and reluctant for change and that can be costly and time consuming initially. Upon successful implementation of the change its a matter of sustaining the smooth operation of the same. Thank you
ReplyDelete