An organization that needs to remain competitive needs to foster various changes in its culture. However, adopting the changes needs proper strategizing to ensure that the change works properly in enhancing the success of the organization. Poor management of change may be detrimental to the success of the organization. Instead of fostering success, it may lead to increased problems in the organization. There are three change models that can help the organization to enhance their management of any change taking place in the organization. These models include Lewin’s, Kotter’s 8 and McKinsey 7-S change models (Forsyth, 2012).
Lewin’s Change Model
According to Lewin, change takes three phases namely unfreezing, changing and refreezing. The unfreezing stage provides the member of the organization with the anticipated change within the organization. It seeks to create awareness concerning the change. In most case, many people will tend to resist a change within the organization. However, this is the stage that the management needs to communicate the need for the change and try to make the employees understand why the change is necessary by using the past processes and structures of the organization. It is worth noting that, this stage is the most important since it should persuade the employees to accept the change. Proper communication and explanation of the change play a role in enhancing the change adoption by the employees.
The second stage is changing whereby the management seeks to implement the change after its acceptability by the employees. It is an important stage where the management needs to guide and direct the employees to ensure that they operate within the stated goals of the change. Close monitoring and supervision of the management in ensuring that the employees familiarize themselves with the new process thus enhancing efficiency in the implementation.
The last stage is refreezing which involves reinforcing the change. Reinforcing the change plays a great role in ensuring the stability of the change within the organization. Besides, it helps the employees to get comfortably into the new processes, goals, and structures and avoid going back to their old ways of performing the job. Motivation and constant feedback to the employees are vital in ensuring the effectiveness of the change.
McKinsey 7-S change model
McKinsey’s change models seek to analyze the firm by looking at the Shared values, style, skills, structure, strategy, systems, and staff. All these internal elements are very key in managing change with the organization. The strategy is the first factor that is vital in enhancing change within the organization. A proper strategy that is workable in an organization is the one that can lead to the achievement of the planned goals of the organization. It is thus important for an organization that needs to succeed to come up a strategy that has support from its values, vision, and mission.
Secondly, the structure of an organization is another important factor that may influence its success. The management needs to develop a structure that is dynamic and flexible implying that it can be changed. The structure should also allow proper flow of information and coordination within the departments. Furthermore, organization systems are another factor in the change model that involves procedures and process that the organization utilizes in its work. The systems should be well defined and simple for the employees to follow thus promoting productivity when initiating change (Cook, 2004).
Furthermore, the model also talks about skills which happen to be the competences and abilities held by the organization staff. In initiating a change, the employees need to have the required skills. The presence of such skills leads to increased productivity within the organization. Also, style is another aspect of the change model which talks about the style that the management uses to lead its employees. During a change, the management should use a style that is friendly to its employees to enhance their satisfaction hence enhancing change acceptability.
The sixth aspect covered by the McKinsey is the staff which talks the employees. In change, the management should ensure that its employees are motivated to promote success in the change. The final factor in the change model has shared values with the organization.
Kotter’s eight change model
Kotter presents eight stages of change management within an organization. The first stage is the acceleration of change within the organization. Sometimes a change becomes unavoidable within an organization. For instance, if the organization is suffering due to the use of old structures and systems, increasing the urgency of change are very vital to embrace success. The second stage involves developing a team that is committed to ensuring the change takes place without any issue. Motivation and training are important for promoting a good team.
Development of vision to support the change is the third step in the change model. It is worth noting that a clear vision for a change enhances its success. The vision acts as a guide to the employees in enhancing implementing the change. The next stage is the communication of the aim of the change. It is important for the management to communicate the importance of the change to its employees as one way of ensuring its acceptability.
The fifth stage is empowering the employees with the capacity to change. Employees need to have required knowledge and skills to foster the change. Failure for the management to empower the employees will lead to change failure. The next stage in the Kotter’s change model is the development of short-term goals. Change can only succeed if their properly stated goals by the management. Clear goals act a guide to the employees in executing a change in the organization (Cook, 2004).
Persistence in the change is the seventh stage that calls the management to remind constantly the employees about change initiation. It helps the management to drive away old thinking that leads to failure in change implementation. The final stage as per the Kotter’s model is making a change permanent within the organization. In such scenario, conducive working environment is important for ensuring that the change is adopted fully.
References
Cook, D. A. (2004). Leading change: A model driven process approach. Carlisle Barracks, PA: U.S. Army War College.
Forsyth, P. (2012). Managing change. London: Kogan Page.
