Introduction
It is unconceivable for a business entity to go for the entirety of its life cycle without experiencing some form of change. In this regard, the senior members of the firm should make preparations of ensuring a seamless transition during the period of change. Research has shown that over the course of various change processes, the latter parts of the 20 th Century and the 21 st century are the times when the business organizations are most likely to experience numerous instances of change (Rafferty, Jimmieson, & Armenakis, 2013). The human resource management is one sector of a business likely to encounter modifications. The potential of achieving the set goals and vision rests on the company’s ability to have an effective workforce that has the necessary skills and competencies. The human resource department is responsible for implementing appropriate hiring techniques that will help establish such a workforce. Additionally, the HRM should delegate duties appropriately according to rank and department. The following analysis of a change process will identify a real-world occurrence and the key themes evident in the program used.
Identification of Organization and Problem, Issue or Impetus for Change Program
The organization in question is an Australian corporation that had to make numerous changes in its Brisbane division. Being a local firm that is well known to its customers, the transition process is not as difficult as it would have been if the company’s location was abroad. The interviewed personnel are the HR assistant with more than 10 years of experience while undertaking a host of HRM practices including leadership development, policy development, employee relations, change management, training and development, performance management, and talent management. These factors make the assistant HR personnel one of the most qualified persons to take up a major role in the change process. One of the major problems in this change problem is filling in the role of HR manager. Despite the qualifications and experience of assistant HR, taking up a greater responsibility and particularly at this time of change could be quite challenging has all components of failure (Rafferty, Jimmieson, & Armenakis, 2013).
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The impetus for the significant implementation of the change process is the sale of the company to new owners. Following increased competition in the Brisbane area from rival firms, the owners of the company had no option but to release sell off one of their primary divisions. The sale would free-up funds for the company to undertake a different strategy in the current market. It so happened that the long-serving HR Manager also decided against staying with the company and instead moving on to explore other challenges in a different environment. In this regard, this occurrence creates a major problem for the company. A lot of change taking place at the same time leads to angst and unrest among the workforce (Schein, 2015). Even for experts in the field of change management identify mammoth task of ensuring a smooth shift in practices. New owners also make the employees feel that their jobs are at risk with a number of them opting to quit before the announcement of the new owners.
Components and Processes of the Change
One of the components of this change program in the company is the presence of a plan. The interviewee identifies that the senior executives of the company along with the owners had identified the importance of embracing a sale of the company as a measure of coping with internal and external problems. The external problems include the increased competition of the firm from its local rivals. In this case, it evident that allowing a larger business to purchase the company would enable the company to pose a major threat to local rivals (Adelman, 2012). The move would guarantee the company an increased market share of the industry. Another component of the change process is the growing uncertainty in the workforce. Though the employees were not caught by surprise on the sale of the company, the change from the old owners to the new owners was quite lengthy. The lack of clear information on the ongoing process caused further unrest among the workers (Sahin, Çubuk, & Uslu, 2014). Many of them were unsure on whether the new owners would keep them on as employees or be relieved of their duties.
Another component of this process of change was identification of skills and competencies to withstand the struggles of the procedure. The interviewee identifies a host of qualifications and experiences that he has had as in his 10 years in the field of HR management. Change management is one of the integral activities that he has overseen, making him the perfect candidate of leading the HR department in this transition (Sahin, Çubuk, & Uslu, 2014). The new owners also selected a General Manager for the division from within the company to quash employee anxiety on losing their jobs. The long tenure employees were provided with contracts to sign that guaranteed that the new owners would pay the same benefits promised earlier as an incentive to limit employee resistance (Cornelissen, & Cornelissen, 2017). It was after this event that the new local management team announced the vision of company as plans were made for bringing on-board a team of training staff not only for the management but also for the frontline workers. Streamlining the operation and processes of the business helped increase efficiency and involvement of employees at all levels of the organization significantly boosting morale.
Analysis of Organization
One of the key components that the company lacks in the process of change is an assessment of its readiness for change. Before exploring the various change strategies that the firm feels are necessary, the management along with HR should analyze the culture, history, employees, sponsors, change, and organization itself. These assessments will illuminate the challenges and opportunities that the firm could experience during the transition (Washington, Sutton, & Sauser, 2014). Though the HR assistant does not clearly mention this component, the identification of a plan comes close. The interviewee indicates that though the employees knew the sale of the company, the process of handing over power took longer than necessary. Many of the workers were feeling uncertain about their future at the company. This occurrence is a clear indicator of the previous leaders’ preparation to develop an effective plan for communication. These executives should have anticipated numerous obstacles to a smooth change.
The HR Manager who was stepping down from his position would also create more chaos in the procedure of changing powers. However, the interviewee who was his assistant would step up to take the head position and become an integral sponsor of the change (Northouse, 2015). The heads of different departments also supported and actively participated in the transition. Through instruction from the new HR manager, the organization was able to open up communication channels. The appointment of the new GM from within the local division and promise to deliver the benefits of long tenure employees was a strategic measure of resistance management (Northouse, 2015). The organization took note of the growing unrest in the workforce and took action that would ensure the elimination of employee doubts of the future. However, the announcement of the new owner was very late as it occurred nearly 18 months after the first news of the sale. This component of the process of change may have fueled dwindling morale and angst among the workers as the organization seems to lack stability (Adelman, 2012).
Evaluation & Recommendation
The process of change is not an easy task to undertake and requires the respective personnel to undertake their duties effectively. In this case, development of a decisive change and communication plan is integral to the success of the transitioning from the old owners to the new ones. This plan incorporates an accurate assessment of all factors affected by the change (Oreg, Vakola, & Armenakis, 2011). The assessment identifies the various obstacles that will come up during the transition in aspects like company culture, employee attitude, or sponsors’ involvement. These three areas could damage any hope of ensuring a successful change campaign. The key participants in the procedure will develop intervention measures that will effectively enable the organization to cope with the challenges.
In the above scenario, it is evident that communication is an important factor that the organization has not fully implemented. There seems to be gaps in communication between the top level and lowest levels of the company. The process of changing ownership of the firm illuminates this occurrence. It could be that the previous owners did not understand the impact that selling the company would have on the employees. Alternatively, this event is evidence of the organization’s lack of preparation for the transition. Appropriate assessment of the organization would have presented the discomfort employees had during the transition (Stevens, 2013). The change of numerous key leaders also affects the workers and the attitude they portray while performing their objectives. The best practice in this case is keep open communication channels between the senior executives and the front-line workers. The implementation of this practice in the new administration shows its importance and impact on overall performance.
References
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Cornelissen, J., & Cornelissen, J. P. (2017). Corporate communication: A guide to theory and practice . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Northouse, P. G. (2015). Leadership: Theory and practice (7 th Ed.) . Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.
Oreg, S., Vakola, M., & Armenakis, A. (2011). Change recipients’ reactions to organizational change: A 60-year review of quantitative studies. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science , 47(4), 461-524.
Rafferty, A. E., Jimmieson, N. L., & Armenakis, A. A. (2013). Change readiness: A multilevel review. Journal of Management , 39(1), 110-135.
Sahin, D. R., Çubuk, D., & Uslu, T. (2014). The effect of organizational support, transformational leadership, personnel empowerment, work engagement, performance and demographical variables on the factors of psychological capital. Emerging Markets Journal , 3(3): 1-17.
Schein, E. H. (2015). Dialogic organization development: The theory and practice of transformational change . Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Stevens, G. W. (2013). Toward a process-based approach of conceptualizing change readiness. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science , 49(3), 333-360.
Washington, R. R., Sutton, C. D., & Sauser Jr, W. I. (2014). How distinct is servant leadership theory? Empirical comparisons with competing theories. Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics , 11(1): 11-25.
