The change effort that I will be focusing on in this course is regarding employee management and motivation. In the modern business world, employees are an asset that needs to be managed well, including being motivated via steps such as better remuneration and career development and progression ( Kotter, 2005). For instance, there is a company I know (called Innovation Luggage) that has not embraced change in the manner in which it manages its employees. The staffs of this enterprise are great people, including the manager. However, there are various aspects in the organization that place it on a detrimental position in the modern competitive business world. The manager is not involved in the operations of the organizations and, often, she leaves the premises early. Moreover, she does not motivate her employees: some of them have worked in the organization for more than twenty years without any career growth, such as a promotion.
The vision statement for my change effort is that I need to present better ways that the manager can apply to ensure that employees are motivated. For instance, employees need to be paid on a commission basis to ensure that those who work harder in the company earn more. Research has shown that when employees are paid commissions for their performance, they tend to work extra harder so that they can increase their income ( Jick & Peiperl, 2010). Their focus on increased earnings means that they would seek better ways to serve the customers. Employees who do things differently for the overall good of the organizations have to be rewarded, intrinsically or monetarily. Furthermore, employees should be motivated via approaches such as promotions and training and development. In the modern business world, organizations need to diversify to various markets and products, and this is only possible if the employees have the relevant skills that would help them achieve the goals and objectives of the company ( Jick & Peiperl, 2010). Such skills can be obtained by consistently training the employees on the new trends that are emerging in the markets, such as the use of new technology and cultural training.
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Indeed, this change effort is in line with the three forces of change that we discussed in our course. In regard to innovation, the change effort is meant to encourage employees to do things differently by embracing the better approaches to doing business. When employees are motivated, they are more inclined to do things differently ( Petrou, Demerouti, & Schaufeli, 2018). For instance, when a worker is aware that if he or she does something differently for the common good of the organization, he or she would be rewarded, he or she would be willing to do so. Therefore, this change effort seeks to encourage the manager to motivate the employees so that they may become innovative in various aspects. Since the organization mainly depends on the sale of its products, commissions and bonuses would play a major role in encouraging employees to be more innovative in the manner in which they conduct their business with clients.
Moreover, the change effort relates to customer focus in various aspects. Customers are at the core of the success of any business organization. Motivated employees are most likely to serve the customers well since they are aware that the customers are the reason the organization succeeds. A motivated employee values a customer at all levels of their interactions ( Kovač, 2017). However, if an employee is unhappy with his or her job, he or she would extend his or her frustrations to the customers. Consequently, employees who are well paid, trained, and have opportunities for growth, would work hard to satisfy the needs of the customers, and that is the focus of this change.
Additionally, the highlighted change effort relates to globalization in various ways. As highlighted above, training of employees is an essential aspect in their career. Employees who are trained are motivated since they are aware that they have the relevant skills that can help them serve the organization effectively ( Yousef, 2017). For instance, the organization has to conduct cultural training to employees who would be deployed to work in foreign markets in the quest for the company to diversify its operations to foreign markets with the aim of improving its market share. Culture is a major challenge in the globalized business world. With increased interactions of cultures, there is likelihood that culture may affect the operations of a company. For example, in some countries, employees may not be motivated by monetary incentives; instead, they value intrinsic motivations, such as praise for a given achievement. As a result, it is vital for managers to be aware of such variations in cultures that influence employee behavior. One has to understand what motivates employees, or what does not. In my change effort, I focus on training of employees, which can take various approaches. Employees who have skills that can help them succeed in any business environment are motivated and willing to take any challenge even in the global arena ( Yousef, 2017). They would steer the organization to its growth and success in the industry.
Change management encompasses bridging the gap between what is already happening and what is possible. One of the ways I can be of value to my organization as an agent of change is by beating down the communication barriers or breakdown when the change is announced to the organization by the management. This involves providing explanations to fellow employees as to why the organization is moving in a particular direction and why the change is beneficial for the organization. Most employees do not want to be told that the change is good until they are able to understand it. Because of this, I will put myself at the forefront in the sharing of information as completely and plainly as possible as in the absence of factual and clear communication, people seem have a tendency to create their own information about the announced changed and quickly rumors can become facts. It is therefore important for me to explain to my fellow employees, what the change is and why it is needed as well as what are the concerns about how things are at the organization currently . My "aha" moment was realizing that most individuals are so reluctant towards accepting change by completely ignoring its beauty. Change is always the first step in bringing something positive not just in our organizations but also our lives.
Task Number One
Change is an inevitable phenomenon, and organizations have to learn on how to adapt to it to be successful in their operations. Modern organizations have to work across the clock to maintain their good performance, reduce risks, and to leverage themselves towards taking advantage of the market conditions. Therefore, they and people working in them keep on reinventing themselves to be competitive ( Jick & Peiperl, 2010). However, as much as this sounds a great strategy to succeed in the business world, organizational leaders find it difficult to come up with a vision for the future of the organization.
A vision is an important element towards the success of an organization. It provides the roadmap, which the organization and its staff have to follow. However, with the changing nature of organizations in the modern competitive business world, it becomes impossible to have a long-term vision for an organization. This is because such organizations have to keep changing from time-to-time in their quest to remain relevant in the market. Consequently, they cannot keep focusing on a vision that has become irrelevant ( Jick & Peiperl, 2010). For instance, during the inception of a company, it is possible that marketing was mainly via print media. Therefore, the leaders of the company had a vision that was centered on advertising the company’s products on such media only. However, over time, other platforms for product promotion have come up, and the enterprise needs to embrace them to reach their clientele. If the leadership of the company fails to adopt and embrace social media in their product promotion, other organizations may take their customers.
Consequently, modern organizations are mandated to be witty when creating a vision for the future of an organization. The changing nature of organizations necessitates that organizational leaders create a vision for the future that is flexible. This is important because the organizations needs to change often, and a flexible vision would enable it to reinvent itself without creating any unnecessary disruptions. A rigid vision would make it difficult for the organization to change itself to suit the changing nature of the market ( Jick & Peiperl, 2010). For instance, the vision of a company may be to be a market leader in providing high-quality products. Within a short while its competitors acquire sophisticated technology that would ensure that they produce better products than the company. Then it means that the vision of the company has to change to include the use of modern technology in its production and other processes. However, this should not be done arbitrarily; leaders have to consider the possible outcomes and costs involved in this process.
Moreover, the creation of a vision for the future of organization has been affected since the future is uncertain. Consequently, creating a future vision for an organization entails creating a short-term vision ( Jick & Peiperl, 2010). This is critical since an organization would be in a position to evaluate itself from time-to-time to ensure that the vision is relevant to the prevailing business conditions. Since change is all about self- modification, the vision has to promote an environment that is positive at all times, that is, a vision that can be changed often to ensure that the company is flexible. As a result, short-term visions are ideal for flexible organizations since they enable them to re-focus their attention towards what is relevant at a specific time. For example, a company may have a vision that it follows for a year. This means that the leadership of the corporation would review its mission every year to access whether it is still relevant in the current business environment or not ( Jick & Peiperl, 2010). If there have been changes in the external environment that may necessitate an overhaul of the vision, the leadership considers doing so for the overall good of the enterprise.
In a nutshell, change leaders should be aware of the important role played by a vision in the future success of an organization. However, the most critical element in creating a vision for the future of an organization is in relation to remaining competitive amidst constant changes in the business environment. At some point, a vision that was relevant at some point may become irrelevant at some point. As such, organizational leaders need to be aware of the strategies that they can put in place to ensure that the vision in place would help the company to remain competitive in the current turbulent business world ( Jick & Peiperl, 2010). A vision for the future has to be flexible and short-term to ensure that it suits the needs of the organization at all times.
Task Number 3
Last year, I was leading a change initiative in a given organization as a consultant, which became a big success. There are various factors that I can associate with the success. First, there was a high level of engagement. The leaders and subordinates in the company were fully involved towards the change process. This led to increased vigor and energy in the implementation of the change (Bommer, Rich, & Rubin, 2005). Secondly, there was a high level of trust. This was as a result of the collaboration between the company leaders and me, as a consultant. This helped create a bond, with everyone feeling that the team is truly on their side. Lastly, I was a good listener. I can attest to the fact that I did not ignore anyone who approached me. At all times I gave attention to people who had issues that they wanted me to address (Bommer, Rich, & Rubin, 2005). This enabled everyone feel that his or her input was valued .
References
Bommer, W. H., Rich, G. A., & Rubin, R. S. (2005). Changing attitudes about change: Longitudinal effects of transformational leader behavior on employee cynicism about organizational change. Journal of Organizational Behavior , 26 (7), 733-753.
Jick, T., & Peiperl, M. (2010). Managing change: Cases and concepts (3 rd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill/Irwin. ISBN 978-0073102740.
Kotter, J. (2005). Our iceberg is melting . New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press. ISBN 978-0312361983.
Kovač, J. (2017). Dimensions of organizational change. Management: journal of contemporary management issues , 5 (1), 73-81.
Petrou, P., Demerouti, E., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2018). Crafting the change: The role of employee job crafting behaviors for successful organizational change. Journal of Management , 44 (5), 1766-1792.
Yousef, D. A. (2017). Organizational commitment, job satisfaction and attitudes toward organizational change: a study in the local government. International Journal of Public Administration , 40 (1), 77-88.
