Effective change management involves the integration of the common strategies in an organization to create a model that is universal for managing the changes. The concept of changes in an organization has no clear procedures and processes in the organizational strategies. Inefficient management of change affects the performance in an organization by altering the productivity of the workers either positively or negatively. This paper explores this issue by discussing organizational communication, participation and involvement of employees in change management and gauging the effectiveness of each of these strategies.
Communication Efficiency
Communication is a key ingredient in the success of any organization. According to Waddell et al (2016), communication channels should be tailored in a way that they allow exchange of meaningful information between the employees and the managers of a company. Communication should be direct allowing the employees to give ideas and feedback to the management on issues intended for in a change. Most employees in organizations are phobic to organizational changes in that they fear the consequences that may arise from a change on the off-chance that they are negative. This form of direct communication allows the deliberation process and the employees in an organization feel involved in running their organization. This enhances employee satisfaction and cases of resigning reduce drastically. Although most organizations acknowledge the importance of communication in delivering a change, there is scarcity of study data on the effects of internal communication to the process of change in an organization. Enterprise Social Networks (ESN) are among the communication strategies that have come with technology. They acts as tools for enhancing internal communication in organizations between top-level managers and managers at the middle levels of the hierarchy (Waddell et al., 2016).
According to In Bhamra, (2015), an open communication strategy helps water-down the employees’ resistance to a change. This is because the dialogue that arises in mutual communication allows management and employees to deliberate on the concerns and issues that may arise prior to a change and after a change. A study by Mullins, (2016) found out that organizations that allowed free sharing of suggestions and information regarding a change were more successful than those which had a one-way nature of communication. One-way communication creates an impression of dictatorship in an organization where the employees have to heed to the decisions of the top managers without questioning. This subject-object relationship causes resistance and when the employees cannot bear any longer, they resign. Mutual communication can be enhanced by conducting workshops and seminars where the employees will be fully enlightened on the predisposing factors to a change and the expected results from the change.
With reference to Mullins (2016), the gap between the employees and managers in an organization can only be reduced through effective communication. Effective communication invokes human feelings such as trust and loyalty in an organization. Managers should not play omniscient, they should consult their employees on impending changes and ask them of their honest opinions. The organization can be treated as body with its managers and employees as the arms. An organization bound to succeed have all its arms working in unison towards a common goal. Problems and difficulties are addressed in time preventing escalation of the problems to heights such as those causing employee resignation and neglect of duties. Efficient communication causes strength in implementing changes in the uncertain world of business.
Unity in an organization is founded on communication. Through communication employee exchange their beliefs, perception and feelings towards the organization they work for. Incase negative perceptions and hard feelings are shared, employee productivity declines and cases of resignation increase. The oneness created causes better understanding of the organizational objectives and employees work towards achieving the goals. The feel of inclusion end clarity of duties causes a renewed impetus in the employees to meet their individual onuses (In Bhamra, 2015). Effective communication also causes motivation. When employees and management contribute to change ideas, all have a chance of seeking clarity since both parties contribute in a dialoguing manner. Timely dissipation of information enhances morale and initiative to work towards success.
Participation and involvement
Human beings have different reactions towards a situation. The reaction that they have correspondingly affects their perception and attitudes (Waddell et al., 2016). To have positive attitudes in the employees, an organization ought to involve them in the running of the organizational activities. Particularly when implementing a change, it must be made clear to all human resource in an organization the reasons for change and the expected results from the change. The decision to administer a change should be arrived at in a democratic manner where the supporters state their reasons while those who oppose are also allowed to air their concerns. This reduces dictation and enables a positive energy to thrive. Cases of incitement to boycott changes will thus be rare enhancing the transition of a change into the normative organizational procedures and processes.
In Bhamra, (2015) conducted a study on the effect that participation and involvement had in managing organizational change. The respondents involved in the study were all employees in the public sector and revealed the vital role that participation had to their workplace morale. Changes in technology and uncertainty in the business world are the major factors that cause changes in an organization. In case a change involves a new process or procedure that will alter the previous working pattern of an employee, the management ought to explain the change to the employee prior to the actual change to psychologically prepare them for the impending shift in working condition. In case there involves an all new process or technological device, the management should train their employees on what the new process calls thus empowering the employees with skills and knowledge. Empowered employees will be more competitive in accomplishing their tasks and the resultant feel of participation ignites the development of loyalty to an organization. Participation and involvement is thus vital in managing organizational change and may be the difference between failure and success of an organization. However, participation has some demerits too, in case a change is outright and urgent to end continuity of adversity such as end a loss, participation may cause delays in implementing the change. Participation has also been argued to cause disrespect between the employees and management due to the deliberation making the managers inferior and less authoritative in an organization.
Effective communication, participation and involvement are the major factors in managing organizational change. The numerous benefits from these courses of action causes success in implementing a change in an organization. The few demerits associated with them are outweighed by benefits. All organizations should employ these strategies in managing changes to guarantee success and achievement of organizational objective in the long-run.
References
In Bhamra, R. (2015). Organizational resilience: Concepts, integration and practice. Boca Raton: CRC Press
Mullins, L. J. (2016). Management and organizational behavior. New York: Pearson Pub
Waddell, D., Creed, A., Cummings, T. G., & Worley, C. G. (2016). Organizational change: Development and transformation. South Melbourne, Vic: Cengage Learning
