Leading successful changes in your business: Peakmake – A new model combining change management and change leadership

Contents

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Change Management
1.2 Change Leadership

2.0 Responses of the three levels of employees
2.1 Employee Survey Results
2.2 Manager Survey Results
2.3 Leader Survey Results
2.4 Interpreting the survey results

3.0 Is it really resistance?
3.1 Hello! Is anybody listening?????
3.2 It’s the perception, stupid!
3.3 “I don’t have a clue.”
3.4 What are we supposed to do?
3.5 Why should I?
3.6 Not everything a manager sees as resistance is really Resistance

4.0 Forming the plan
4.1 A new model: PEAKMADE
4.1.1 P. for the problem
4.1.2 E. stands for employee involvement
4.1.3 A. Awareness
4.1.4 K. stands for knowledge
4.1.5 M. – the Message
4.1.6 A. give them the Ability
4.1.7 D. = DO IT!
4.1.8 E. means to Encourage feedback and Evaluate the results

5.0 Conclusion

Sources

Appendix A

Appendix B

1 Introduction

Everybody has to deal with changes in their lives. On an individual basis, the situations forcing changes may be extremely difficult to deal with. However, once the reality of the situation is recognized, necessary changes can be decided upon and enacted in a comparatively easier fashion. For businesses, this can be a much more difficult situation due to the larger amount of people involved in the change. Most business changes occur when someone higher in the chain of command sees an issue that needs to be addressed for the business to remain or become competitive. Other changes are dictated by outside forces, such as new legislation from local, state, or even the federal government. Often, these situations require a change within the entirety of the business that impacts a large portion, if not all, of the staff. Sometimes these changes succeed. Other times the changes fail to bring about a desired result. Such change failure can have costly effects upon the business. Change failure can result in the business becoming unsuccessful or even to go bankrupt. This possibility means that the business must develop an effective change strategy to see to it that the inevitable changes are properly implemented and embraced by the employees so the business can remain (or become) competitive. This project will look at how changes are perceived to be handled within the workplace. This information will be gathered at three employee levels: 1) employee 2) manager and 3) leaders (or upper management). These results will then be recorded and compared. Based upon the information received, an actionable plan will be made to improve the change process within the company.

Changes occur frequently in business as in life. When a change is necessary in a company, it is sometimes of vital importance. There are various reasons why changes need to occur within the workplace including both internal factors and external ones. (^[1], pg. ^[124]) When a situation calls for a change within workgroups or company-wide, the goal is to achieve compliance with the changes from the employees. These changes are intended to produce a measurable end result that aims to support the organization in achieving its stated mission, vision, and goals. (^[2], pg. ^[168]) However, there are many instances where these objectives are not achieved. There are several reasons why changes can fail to produce the desired results. One is that there must be a good solution. The proposed change cannot provide a positive result if the wrong solutions are implemented in the attempt to resolve the situation. Another reason is that the employees seem to resist the change so much that the change cannot occur. Simply put, the employees must be “on-board” and comply with the changes to be successful. (^[3], pg. ^[61]) For these and other reasons, several theories have been introduced both to explain how changes happen and to assist with successfully implementing the changes. (See appendix A for a list of various change theories -note this is not a complete list but just a listing of the major theories) In general there are two ideologies that assist administration in achieving successful changes within the workplace. They are change management and change leadership.

1.1 Change Management.

One group of theories utilized to improve change success is change management. Change management refers to the tools and processes used to enact a change within a business. (^[4], pg. ^[2]) There are seven primary principles that change theories are based upon. These include: 1) senders and receivers 2) resistance and comfort 3) authority for change 4) value systems 5) incremental versus radical changes 6) the right answer is not enough and 7) change is a process. (^[5], pg. ^[15]) A brief description of each is given in the table below.

Table 1.1

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Several change management theories have been developed to assist managers to successfully implement changes within their businesses. These are change methodologies developed and used to make the changes occur on a procedural level. (^[5], pg. ^[10]) These include, but are not limited to: 1) unfreeze, change, and re-freeze 2) dissatisfaction, vision, and first-steps 3) internal transition versus external change. Each of these theories describes a method of how to enact changes within the workplace at a process level. Change management is important. The chart below shows several effects that can occur both when change management occurs appropriately and when it does not

Table 1.2

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The chart above shows just some of the results that can occur from proper change management. It also shows some effects that can occur when change is not managed appropriately and, thus, fails to achieve its goals. (^[6], pg.^[3]) These results emphasize the need for proper change management in order to achieve a successful change within the workplace. However, change management alone is not sufficient to achieve adequate results. In fact, some sources show about 75% of the popular change management programs tend to fail. (^[7], pg. ^[181]) Obviously something else is needed to increase the chance of a change to become successful.

1.2 Change Leadership.

The second major group of change theories is called change leadership. This group of theories is more interested in the human side of changes as opposed to the change process as seen in change management. (^[8], pg. ^[3]) Some examples of change leadership theories are: 1) Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing 2) I don’t get it, I don’t like it, I don’t like you and 3) Kotter’s Leading Change (an eight step process designed to produce behavior responses from employees that will result in change success). Each of these theories describes ways in which the employees can be involved or how they react to the change process. The main idea behind these theories is to get the employees to transform the way they work into the new methodologies dictated by the change. In short, these theories describe the psychological push the employees need to achieve a successful change within the workplace and how the “change leader” might accomplish this task. (^[8], pg. ^[4]) As with the change management theories, change leadership can produce several results depending upon if it is carried out successfully or not. These are listed in the chart below.

Table 1.3

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It is easy to observe that these effects are quite similar to the change management outcomes. Again, this shows the importance of change leadership within a company. Having good change leadership increases the potential of change success. Comparatively, lacking good change leadership increases the likelihood of change failure. The fact is that individual employees are the ones that have to implement these changes. (^[5], pg. ^[10]) Unless the employees adopt whatever new measures are set forth, no change has a chance to succeed. Change leadership has become a method to produce these behavioral changes needed within employees.

2. Responses of the three levels of employees.

As stated in the opening paragraph, this project is designed to look at the practical, real-world effects within a workplace. To this end, a survey was distributed to employees, managers, and leaders within the organization. Each of these surveys was formulated to receive comparable results from each of the three levels polled. (Blank versions of each of the surveys can be seen in appendix B.) There were 135 employees, 18 managers, and 4 leaders (or upper management) who responded to the surveys. In each case the respondent was asked to rate their response to each question in the following manner: 1= Strongly agree, 2= Agree, 3= Neutral, 4= Disagree, and 5= Strongly Disagree along with one section which asked the respondent to rate, in order, which factors affect the ability to successfully make a change in the workplace. Some of the comments were paraphrased for brevity.

2.1 Employee Survey Results

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Some of the employees provided comments as well. Some of them are listed here.

Change must be reasonable and not seem disingenuous.

The further removed from a staff position (time & level) manager seems less concerned with employee.

Changes are made without input from those with direct-care positions; their input is ignored or pacified; profit and good patient satisfaction survey results are the bottom line.

Our lack of insurance options is a good example of how change occurs here.

Nurses on committees are more acceptable of changes because they are aware of the reason for the changes.

I trust my direct supervisor, but not those in levels above that supervisor.

Each manager is different; some are good to work with. Other managers have too high of an opinion of themselves and answer the same question differently to other employees.

2.2 Manager Survey Results

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Do you use any particular change theory when changes occur? If so, what?

Unfreeze, transition, re-freeze.

Please provide any other comments about how you feel employees deal with changes when they occur.

Change must be discussed; questions answered; allow staff to vent; then get some willing to try the change.

Need valid reason for change, info share, & willingness to change with the process.

Some employees embrace changes while others will fight any change.

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