Study of people and change

Change, change, change – we’re all for change. We want to see him change, her change, them change. We want to see the organisation change. We want to see everyone change. We want to see everyone else change. Yes, we’re all for change as long as we don’t have to change, but it’s a fact of life; we are all changing every day. Our environment is changing, our culture is changing, and the way we work is changing. The outside dynamics, technologies, strategies and plans are continuously changing. We are left with three options:

We can fight it and delay it, but we’ll change eventually.

We can ignore it and hope it will go away but it won’t, and we’ll be overcome by it.

We can embrace it, look forward to it, and we’ll find our trip through life much more interesting, controllable, and enjoyable. (Buchanna, 1999)

Process of Change

Source:

According to the given case study of Mybank there is also an element of change which the senior management tried to implement because of the external environment factors and the change which they tried to implement is quality management programme with the focus on cost reduction means they just formed a team of their employee and ask them to remove the inefficiencies that occurred during the process of change. As we move further we will discuss various drivers and restrainers of the Mybank, typology of the change, role of change agent, change management models and various outcomes from the learning from the case of Mybank and suitable recommendation for the better change.

Drivers and Restrainers

The forces helps organisation to move ahead with aim of implementing the change in successful manner but there are certain forces which pushes back the organisation objective of implementing the change. These forces are known as drivers and restrainers (Johnson, 2005). When any organisation plans for change they will need a drivers which facilitate their process of change but during this process the organisation can face obstacles also which are restrainers and during the implementation of change in Mybank case there were several drivers and restrainers which comes on the way of implementing the change. These drivers were the senior management who started the change by trying to present the quality improvement programme with consideration of better quality service to its customers and this was done by formation of teams of its employees which will remove the inefficiencies. Moreover, they consulted the consultants also to ease the process of change because they have more experience. But all these changes were considered by not ignoring the fact of cost Mybank was very specific and focused about the cost reduction. So when the implementation was on its way Mybank suffered with restrainers also that were the difference between the employees because everyone had different point of view regarding to change. Ego clashes between the departmental managers and regional lending managers, rejection of recommendations by senior managers, work over load for employees after the change, and the two separate lending loans section which resulted in ambiguity of data of clients. These all were the restrainers. Below Section will discuss more about the force field analysis

Force Field analysis

A force field analysis is a problem solving tool used to identify the reasons (“forces”) that support or oppose two positions to a question and the strength of each force. Kurt Lewin (1947) was the originator of the concept. Force field analysis could be used by to answer question, “What factors affect the acceptance or resistance to a particular change?” the assumption of a force field analysis is that it is easier to reduce the factors that are resistant than to increase the strength of the driving (supporting) forces. Below is the view of force field analysis.

Force Field Analysis

Source: (Stacey, 1993)

Typology of change

Tuning: It is very minute change that made by the change agents for the betterment of the organisation. It mainly focus on the customer satisfaction and this change is anticipatory change and according to the Mybank case the small change of quality for the better customer satisfaction has been implemented.

Adapting: This change occurs with respect to the external activity like competitors new form of service and customer unpredictable reaction about the product and this change is reactive. With consideration of the fact of external environment Mybank hired the outside consultant to have competitive edge and ease the process of the change.

Reorientation: This is one of the major organisational change that come on the way of process. In Mybank case the major change occurred when they got to know that they have to integrate the two lending loan section. This change is also anticipatory change.

Recreating: This change gives response to the major changes in the form of dramatic shift. This is also reactive change. (Stacey, 1993)

Change Management Models

Anticipating Change

It is the process which is having the very well defined and crystal clear model for the forces and the change in an organisation. There are two ways of doing the change i.e. planned change and unplanned change. As name suggest the planned change is the proper planning for the making the implementation of change in successful manner and this change and it is very important because the organisation do a lot of research with proper planning(Nilikant and Ramnarayan, 2006). On the other side unplanned change is the change when some mishappening occurred in the team like different member have different point of view in respect to change and it is very difficult to control the unplanned change because it comes suddenly during the process of change. Appreciating change makes the organisation aware that what is the requirement of change, what the results of the chosen change are and what are the best possible option available that help organisation with the aim of cost balancing. It comprises of 2 views i.e. Mental Models and Content Change. When we look at the case study of Mybank there were need of the change of quality and the implementation is done by making the inner teams which further remove the inefficiencies occurred during the implementation of change. (Nilikant and Ramnarayan, 2006)

Content of Change

Some ethics and principle means a lot to the organisation and they stick to that only. With global environment changing day by day and lot of organisation make changes according to this active and competitive environment. With respect to these changes an organisation can make a start from quality, marketing, technology and marketing(Nilikant and Ramnarayan, 2006). Technology changes frequently and it is not about only the technical side but it is more into collection knowledge, data and activities which further help organisation to achieve the desired outputs. To sustain and maintain the brand in this competitive environment is the daunting task for any organisation. There are two thing that occurred in Mybank case i.e. they focussed on the Multiskilling of the staff because they want to meet the expectations of the customers because they knew that they are only who drives any organisation and if they able to meet the expectation of the customer it means they are on the right path and if not then they have to reconsider the change(Nilikant and Ramnarayan, 2006). Now comes the element of cost which is again the difficult task for an organisation because cost balancing is very difficult to maintain and in Mybank main focused was on the cost reduction with parallel implementation of quality programme. Now the final content of change is Marketing which can be done by giving good service to the customers and exploring various distribution channels.

Mental Models

This model is well defined by the Senge and he believes that organisation is generally not aware of the mental models and their effects on the individuals’ behaviour of an organisation. Mental Model are having two form one form consists of simple straight strategy which is known as the strategic planning which consists of SWOT analysis i.e. strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Other form or mental model create a lot of impact on the organisation failure and success. Mental model helps organisation to get the best output . (Nilikant and Ramnarayan, 2006)

Mobilising Support

When Organisation decides for the change and with the help of staff only they will able to implement the change. For this, the senior level management has to convince the staff and the other people which are linked to the organisation because with the full participation, involvement, dedication, commitment of the staff they change will get successful. Mobilising support is not an easy process because to control the staff and to convince them for the change requires lot willingness and patience. According to the Mybank case the senior management tried to hire consultant which further tried to convince staff to focus on the strategies that has been advised by consultants. At the end they want the employee full dedication for the change. (Nilikant and Ramnarayan, 2006)

Executing Change

Execution phase is very critical for the organisation and most of the organisation fails while implementing the change because of improper execution change. The organisation is having different kind of resources like finance, staff which plays a very important part in implementation of the change and requirement of these resources needed when quick change occurs in environment like competitor developed new product and services and it is believed that organisation always lack these resources when sudden change occurs and an organisation needs proper strategy to overcome this problem of resources. According to the case study Mybank implemented both the top down and bottom approaches with the help of consultants to get the desired aim of achieving the quality. (Nilikant and Ramnarayan, 2006)

Building Change Capability

To built the change capability is again a daunting task for any organisation and it is said that organisation always lack this capability. Organisation always ready to invest and build the capability to move forward which helps them to fight with the change but only few of them able to overcome. If they able to achieve the building capacity change then they can quickly able to achieve their targets and aims. In a nut shell capability change is very important part that organisation has to consider. According to the case Mybank tried to multiskill their employees and trained them because by investing on employees they can eradicate the difficulties that come their way. (Nilikant and Ramnarayan, 2006)

Change Agent

Cummings and Worley (2005) define a change agent “as a person who attempts to alter some aspect of an organisation or an environment. Change agent may come from inside an organisation, in which case they are called internal consultants, or they may come from outside an organisation, in which case they are called external consultants (Stacey, 1993)

Kotter’s view of change

There are right mistakes organisation make while attempting to implement change. The eight mistakes include allowing complacency, failing to create a powerful guiding coalition, underestimating the power of vision, under communicating the vision, permitting obstacles to block

the new vision, failing to create short-term wins, declaring victory too soon, and neglecting to anchor change firmly in the corporate culture. Each of these mistakes will be discussed in more detail below.

Kotter (1996) proposes eight steps to leading organisational change and a procedure to overcome the aforementioned mistakes. Step one is to establish a sense of urgency by examining the market and competitors and identifying potential problems and major opportunities. Step two suggests leaders create a guiding coalition by assembling a team of people with sufficient power to lead the change to fruition while continuing to work as a team. Step three is to develop a vision and strategy to direct the change effort while developing solid strategies for completion. Step four is to communicate the vision to all employees and subordinate leaders. Step five involves empowering broad-based action by getting rid of obstacles, changing systems or structures as necessary, encouraging risk taking, and generating new ideas. Steps six to generate short-term wins and recognise the people who make the wins reality. Step seven is to consolidate gains and produce more change by hiring, promoting, and further developing change agents in the organisation. Finally, step eight in the change process advocates anchoring new approaches in the newly defined culture, thereby more value for the customer and employees alike. Kotter change model places significant emphasis upon the senior leaders in organisational changes efforts.

Kotter’s Eight Stages Model

Source: (Stacey, 1993)

People and Change

William Bridge’s transition model is concerned with how change affects individuals. It examines the psychological transitions that people go through when they are exposed to change and pattern that these transition follow. Because organisations change when people in them change, it is important to understand the pattern of psychological changes within individuals undergoing an organisational change. According to the bridges, these are the phases people go through as part of a significant change. The phases are (1) letting go and ending phase, in which people need time to grapple with losing something that has become familiar and safe;(2) neutral zone, during which people need time to comprehend what the new order will be like once the change is implemented and how they can fit into it and be productive; and (3) new beginning, where people begin to behave in the new ways that are required by the change (Stacey, 1993). Bridges claims that one of the biggest challenges of leading change occurs because the leader knows about the change long before others in the organisation. Therefore, he or she spent time in the first two phases, at least, before the change is announced to most employees. Forgetting that they themselves took time to go through the phases, leaders see employees who are just beginning the letting phase as rigid or even hostile to the change. Another main point here in Bridges Model is that at any time people who are higher in management have had more time to learn about the deal of the change-so they are farther along on the psychological transitions path. Because it is hard for them to remember how it felt to be in previous stage, they see people in the earlier stages as hostile to the change when they are actually just in the earlier stages of the processing it and its effect on themselves.

Bridges Model of Transition

Source: (Johnson, 2005)

Learning

Single Loop and Double Loop learning

When something goes wrong, many people look for another strategy that will address and work within the governing variables. In other words, given or chosen goals, values, plans, and rules are operationalised rather than questioned. This is single loop learning. An alternative response is to question the governing variables themselves and to subject them to critical scrutiny. This is described as double loop learning. Such learning may then lead to an alteration in the governing variables and thus a shift in the way in which strategies and consequences are framed. This is how Argyris and Schon (1978) describe the process in the context of organisational learning.

Single loop learning is like a thermostat that learns when it is too hot or too cold and turns the heat on or off. The thermostat can perform this task because it can receive room temperature information and take corrective action. Double loop learning occurs when errors are detected and corrected in ways that involve the modification of an organisation’s underlying norms, principles, policies, and objectives. (Nilikant and Ramnarayan, 2006)

Single and Double Loop Learning

Source: (Johnson, 2005)

Recommendations for Mybank

Four Core managerial competencies

Decision-Making: This includes intuition and vision, the ability together and utilise information, understanding the practical and political consequences of decisions, the ability to overcome resistance, the skill to understand and synthesise conflicting views and to be able to empathise with different groups.

Coalition-building: This comprises the skills necessary to gain the support and resources necessary to implement decisions. These include checking the feasibility of ideas, gaining supporters, bargaining with other stakeholders and presenting new ideas and concepts in a way that wins support.

Achieving Action: This includes handling opposition, motivating people, providing support and building self esteem. (Stacey, 1993)

Maintaining momentum and effort: This involves team building, generating ownership, sharing information and problems, providing feedback, trusting people and energising staff.

An effective change Team

It is necessary for the management to identify a team of people who will be responsible for promoting the changes required through commitment, communication and the provision of resources.

Communicate the need for change

Organisation and staff have a natural resistance to change as it challenges the organisation’s culture and often means additional work. It is therefore essential that the need to change is communicated clearly and convincingly in order to break down resistance.

Employee commitment and involvement

It is essential to ensure that the new way of working becomes integrated into organisation’s culture. The main way of gaining commitment to change is by involving staff in the development of potential changes and then in their subsequent introduction.

Induction of change at the appropriate level

Very few changes affect the entire organisation and when considering what needs to be different, it is important that managers identify exactly what and who needs to change. This is to ensure that proposed change will bring about the desired outcome.

Sufficient Resources

The introduction of change needs to be supported by the appropriate resources, such as money, staff training and staff time. Although money is important, allowing adequate staff time to develop and implement the change is even more so.

Rewards and Recognition

If you change the process and want to change individual behaviour patterns, you need to change the way you reward and recognise your staff. If you reward the people in the old way, they’ll behave in the same old way.

Considering Options

The 5Cs of decision-making is a useful reminder of the process ahead of implementation:

Consider -clarify the nature of the project, time and other constraints

-identify the objectives

Consult -gather the maximum amount of information available

-call a meeting of those involved or their representatives.

-decide at which point the consultation will stop

Crunch – review all the options and take decision

-write down implementation plan.

Communicate – provide briefings on what will happen, why, and who the decision affects

-make sure that everyone understands when decision is implemented