Change Management Process

An organizational chanage management process includes techniques such as:

• Creating a change management strategy
• Engaging senior managers as change leaders
• Building awareness of the need to change
• Developing skills and knowledge to support the change
• Helping employees move through the transition
• Practicing methods to sustain the change

It has becoming increasingly important for managers to act not only in their traditional roles as managers, but also as transformational leaders which is a role that focuses on guiding people through the changes.

Managers should check that people affected by the change agree with, or at least understand, the need for change, have a chance to decide on how the change will be managed, and to be involved in the planning and implementation of the change. Conducting work-shops, staff-surveys and face-to-face communications will be practical techniques to handle sensitive aspects of organizational change management. Therefore it is important to focus on management training; empathy and facilitative capability as the most priority areas.

To make a change successful in the basic level each and every individual should support to the change. Therefore they should posses following characteristics:

• Awareness of the need for change
• Desire to participate and support the change
• Knowledge on how to change
• Ability to implement required skills and behaviours
• Reinforcement to sustain the change

Many research have found out that well trained employees who are enriched with positive attitudes and most importantly organizations’ successful transformational leaders will make organizations successful on their change.

Why organizations need Change Management?

Organizational Change Management is a process of aligning the organization's people and culture with the changes in business strategy, structure, technology and business processes.

At the most basic level it says all change involves some degree of loss. Even it is a loss of stability, expertise, relationships or understanding people often try to avoid loss by resisting change. Resistance can be recognised as the biggest barrier to change. Resistance may come in different forms. It can be expressed with different emotions such as anger, frustration and fear which may carry negative impact on productivity of an individual.

Many technology implementations which may cause redesigning of business processes may become fail on delivering project expected benefits by ignoring the impact that change will have on the people. If organizations ignore the importance of organizational change management could end up experiencing the following risks:

• Increased resistance to new technology
• Decreased quality and customer service
• High turnover and absenteeism
• Difficulties in recruiting and retaining high performers
• Damaged internal and external brand names

However, if organizations focus on managing IT-driven organizational changes by following people focused change management process along with their IT implementation process they will experience the successful management of their organizational change and end up with following benefits such as:

• Realization of the project’s anticipated benefits
• Higher return on technology investments
• Retention of high performers
• Maintained and improved productivity
• Improved employee satisfaction and morale