Paper Example on Create Change Management Plan to Ensure Successful Change Initiatives

Before changes are made, a change management plan must be established to support a smooth evolution and guarantee that parts of the organisation, primarily the workers, are guided through the change process.

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Most change initiatives fail due to unhelpful staff behaviour and attitudes. Ronnenberg, Graham, and Mahmoodi (2011) argue that unproductive management behaviour also affects the change journey, and to increase chances of success, there are specific steps that every organisation needs to take when implementing change. According to Bourne (2018), budgetary and economic restraints are among the endogenous factors of organizational management change. Therefore, it can be concluded that whatever is the reason for the organisational change, organisational culture plays a fundamental role in organisational management changes.

Change ManagementAccording to Abdallah, Denis, and Langley (2011) and Aljohani (2016), change management is crucial to an organisation, as it ensures the implementation of programs to support the attainment of organisational targets. The change enables the organisation to become more efficient by structuring the organisation.

In the process perspective, change management is an established step followed by a leader or staff on a particular project. In a transformational effort, change management is the plan and policy dedicated to moving individuals through change, and it entails the three critical main phases; formulating, controlling, and bolstering change (Hayes, 2011). Change management is not training or communication and also not just managing resistance, and if it is not considered keenly in the organization, it will affect the organization's performance. Hence, change management obeys an organised process and utilizes a complete set of tools to drive successful organizational and employees to change.

For a company attempting to effect change management, commitment to the following five principles is not a choice but an imperative.

Changing for a ReasonIndividuals or organisations undertake change mainly in an attempt to achieve a future state that encompasses a particular desired result (Brunsson, and Olsen, 2018). However, the reasons for pursuing change vary, ranging from improving customer satisfaction to reducing operational costs. The need for pursuing important change is most often motivated by a crisis to be solved or by an opportunity to be grasped (King, 2012). In analysing the change required by the organisation, it is crucial to review the organisational objectives and ensure that the change will carry the business in the correct path ethically, strategically, and financially (Dunphy, Benn and Griffiths, 2014).

This stage assists in determining the value of change, which will, in turn, inform the management of the inputs and structure it needs to put in place.

Changing to Obtain Desired Outcomes and BenefitsThe primary objective of change management is to drive and support the attainment of the desired future state and the achievement of the anticipated outcomes. Effective management of change is crucial in ensuring the flow of activities is not interrupted within an organisation.

Changing to Aid the Management of PeopleThe norm of resisting change characterises many organisations but is prevalent mainly in organisations that are established in change-saturated environments. Being able to manage people going through changes is essential, mainly because it leads to faster adoption of change and generally improved efficiency (Cao, Clarke, and Lehaney, 2003).

Once the organisation identifies the changes it wants to make, it has to determine the effect that this transformation will have at various levels of the organisation. The impacts on every business unit must be addressed, and it should be understood how the change cascades through the organisational structures before it finally reaches a given unit. This information on the impacts of change is crucial, as it notifies the organisation of the support and training that should be initiated to mitigate the effects of change.

According to Griffin, Phillips, and Gully (2015), most business managers approached change management anxiously and are worried about having to convince reluctant staff to adapt to new changes implemented in the organization. Effective changes, such as adapting Kotter's eight-step and McKinsey's 7S model, lead to the efficient management of employees in the organisation. This can be realized through the cooperation of junior employees and senior management, and it will lead to the success of the organisations. Managing employees through change entails motivating employees to work together on making and planning changes and providing a team leader with defined roles and clear goals for the organization to succeed.

According to Giuclea, Nastase, and Bold (2012), to have successful change management, the organization management should engage people at all levels of the organization through participation in the design of the implementation strategy to be adopted in the organizations. Managers should actively engage the employees most influenced by the change in its implementation. This approach of engaging employees will aid to ensure that proposed changes are embraced at all levels in the organization.

According to McCauley and Lombardo (1990), the organisation implements changes strategies to will aid its employees due to several reasons such as new law policies, new technological advancement, and waning market interest. In the process of implementation of these changes in the organisation, some weaknesses are experienced, such as the technological illiteracy of employees and resistance of employees towards the adoption of new changes hence hindering its implementations. Another weakness is that the organisation management cannot predict future outcomes.

Organisational Results Are the Collective Outcomes of Individual ChangeThe claim that change is experienced differently by each individual is undeniable. Consequently, human factors must be considered because it implies that the more an organisation's employees adopt change, the nearer the organisation moves to realising its intended outcomes (Al-Haddad, and Kotnour, 2015). Organizations require an integrated technique to drive systematic, constructive, and mitigate the destructive barriers to change and describe the consequences of adopting the change. This enables organizations staff and employees to understand and adapt easily to the changes introduced in the organizations. In case of any barriers that hinder the implementations, it can be easily identified and correct accordingly.

All staff should be guided through the transformation journey, which requires the establishment of communication channels. Means of communication that are effective with all staff must be determined. Furthermore, the strategy adopted must follow the timeline for the change process, and it must present the key messages and the media that will be used to communicate them (Heckmann et al., 2016). This step covers two fundamental questions: how the change will be communicated and how feedback will be managed.

Organizations are required to be able to adapt to emerging changing demands, environment since change for change's sake does not automatically lead to more efficient outcomes (Lehman, Greener, & Simpson, 2002). Implementation of technologies that are irrelevant to the culture of the organization is likely to be counterproductive since it is likely to face staff resistance; hence it will hinder changes. To achieve change management in the organization, practical strategies and relevant technology should be implemented, which will motivate individuals to adapt to Kotter's eight-step and McKinsey's 7S framework introduced in the organization.

Organizational Change Demands Individual Change

Current processes and tools may not be adequate for attaining organisational change. Hence, it is critical to involve individuals in the organisation, mainly by encouraging them to adopt new values and to start working in the latest ways (Griffith, 2001). Moreover, it is essential to note that changes occur at the following levels, individual level, project level, and management level or enterprise level, as illustrated in figure 1 above. The first level is the individual level, which means the organisation can foster success by supporting personal change. At this level, change is considered successful only after every employee has attained the five milestones of change: knowledge, desire, reinforcement, ability, and awareness (Cameron and Green, 2011).

The project level is the second level of change management and improves results by initiating the adoption and usage of the introduced changes. The last change management level is the organisation level. This level supports employees in adopting changes in their daily duties

(Ronnenberg, Graham and Mahmoodi, 2011).In summary, it is the obligation of change management not only to define change but also to help organisations deploy discipline across all departmental levels. Everyone is expected to be aware of their duties and to fulfil the change mandates across the full range of a given initiative or project. Consequently, the prevalence of such initiatives across several functions and projects within an organisation will automatically drive the organisation towards change management maturity.

According to Kerzner (2019), integration management is a crucial core competency in the organisation. The implementation of McKinsey's 7S model and Kotter's eight-step entails all levels of management in moving the organisation towards realizing its vision and mission. Hence, the management maturity seeks to develop a fit between the organisation and implemented changes which aid in achieving the set goals and objective of the organization.

The McKinsey 7s Change ModelTom Peters and Robert Waterman created the McKinsey 7S model early in the 1980s (Gokdeniz et al., 2017). The model's name is derived from the name of the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. The McKinsey 7S model is a fundamental tool applied in assessing and analysing the changes in the internal state of an organisation.

According to Zincir and Tunc (2017), the Mckinsey 7S model provides a complete approach that an organisation can use to implement strategic changes. The model offers seven factors that the management of an organisation may use to implement a strategy successfully: the strategy, staff, shared values, structure, style, systems, and skills. These factors are mutually inclusive, and thus the failure to achieve one means failure in achieving the ultimate objectives....