This is a response to Layla’s original post, who is responding to Palak’s post leader post found here:
Changes in organization is complex and rarely work out the way it is planned. Just as Layla had eluded to in her post, organizational change is more about people than plans, strategies, or policies (Hughes, Beatty & Dinwoodie, 2014). People are complex and different people have different agendas and goals when working for an organization. While some people strive to climb the corporate ladder and wanting the promotions, others are comfortable to continue what they are doing and not to be bothered. With this point in mind, I have to agree with Palak in her original post (https://create.twu.ca/psonvane/2018/11/20/competencies-at-work/), where she suggests that it is “impractical to determine what stage of the change process the employee is in and what amount of motivation does he [or she] needs”.
Between 2013-2015 , my department has undergone a major change management initiative, a systems transformation project where the information systems for Health Protection will be upgraded to a more modern and user-friendly inspection program. The scope of this project included the complete redesign of business workflows and new methods of inputting data to the system. Prior to implementation, our project team was responsible for delivering training to approximately 150 Health Protection staff members that spanned over 25 days of in-class training sessions. The outcome of the project implementation was a success, but not without its challenges along the way. This project required significant change management strategy and just Palak has mentioned, the evaluation of five levels of change-readiness as suggested by Lepsinger (2010) is just not a feasible option because there are not enough resources to create specific actions plans for each individual just like if we are treating addicts. However, I do feel it is important to evaluate the change-readiness of the staff, but instead of on a individual basis, I would suggest to evaluate as a whole to determine the percentage of staff who falls in each of the five stages. I believe having these larger numbers will facilitate the strategic planning of what the most beneficial next steps would be. In the example of my project, there are some staff who falls in what Lepsinger (2010) describes as Level 1, with zero intention to change, where these individuals have decided that they new system is not for them and so they took an early retirement!
While we can draw some inspiration on what addicts can teach us about change management, we have to caution in attempting to over simplify a highly complex initiative with many variables and possible outcomes.
References:
Hughes, R. L., Beatty, K., & Dinwoodie, D. L. (2014). Becoming a strategic leader: Your role in your organization’s enduring success. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Lepsinger, R. (2010). Closing the execution gap: How great leaders and their companies get results. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.