Introduction
Today, companies and organizations need to undergo changes relentlessly for them to retain their competitiveness in the business arena. Notably, this follows an influence of diverse factors like globalization and technological innovations to which an organization is forced to respond to. Consequently, organizational change takes place when an organization experiences an alteration in its major sectors. In this case, organizations make a conversion from its existing state to some desired future state (Cawsey, 2012). Change may however be propelled by problems faced by an organization or the drive of enlightened managers who seek to exploit the most suitable opportunities. Most importantly, organizational change occurs in dissimilar ways and areas within an organization. This change can also face the threats of resistance and hence need to be properly managed. This paper therefore explores on the areas in which organizational change can take place, how to deal with resistance to change and ways of effectively managing the change in an organization.
Areas of organizational change
Initially, it is important for an organization to introduce changes in all sectors when they try to institute a change in one area. This is because of the important interrelations of dissimilar sectors in an organization. One of the areas of change is in the organization’s strategy which can be done on either large or small scale. While making changes in this area however, the organization needs to identify the shortfalls of their current strategy, formulate a vision for the organizations future direction and implement the change by setting up systems of support (Cawsey, 2012). The organization’s technology is another area in which changes could occur. Changes in technology in most cases are instituted as parts of the broader strategic change. For an organization to realize success in this area, it needs to incorporate changes in technology into the overall system. Similarly, an organization needs to create effective management structures which will offer support to these changes (Cawsey, 2012). Lastly, an organization can experience changes in the human resource area. Personnel changes in an organization can become essential following other changes that have taken place. In other cases, it may be necessary to change the workers’ attitudes and behavior in the organization (Cawsey, 2012). In most cases however, this appears to be a complicated area to institute changes in an organization. It is also costly since it requires efficient education and training as well as career planning (Senior & Swailes, 2010).
Resistance to organizational change
When introducing changes in an organization, resistance from within the organization should always be expected. This is because workers in the organization tend to be accustomed to certain habits and are in most cases comfortable with the status quo. Remarkably, organization managers have the capability of either minimizing such resistance or actually arousing them. In order to minimize resistance from within the organization, it is imperative to motivate people to shed their old practices. This should however be done in stages as opposed to abruptly, in order for the workers to realize the benefits of the changes (Senior & Swailes, 2010). Additionally, resistance to change can be minimized through education and effective communication. This is done by ensuring that the workers are availed with the details of the change including its importance, prior to it being introduced. Furthermore, resistance to organizational change can be minimized by encouraging worker’s participation in both the design and the implementation process of the change (Senior & Swailes, 2010). This will encourage a positive sense of ownership of the change process among employees in the organization. Other options for dealing with change resistance include negotiations and rewards. In such cases, employees’ cooperation is usually won by use of incentives. Some organizations also route to manipulation and coercion in order to deal with resistance especially when faced with time constraints (Senior & Swailes, 2010).
Techniques for effective organizational change management
Effective change management entails moving an organization from its existing condition to a future admired condition at a low cost to the organization (Cawsey, 2012). For this process to take place effectively, it requires a proper sequence of activities. Initially, the existing state of the organization needs to be understood. This entails the identification of the challenges and problems faced by the organization as well as the changes required to address each of them. Next, the admired future condition of the organization should be envisioned and laid out laid out clearly. This entails picturing the ultimate situation for the organization after the change is implemented, communicating this vision to all the stakeholders involved in the change process, and formulating a mode of transition to the new state (Senior & Swailes, 2010). Additionally, the change needs to be introduced in an orderly way to enhance effective transition. In order to realize this, it is vital for the organization to develop a plan, distribute resources and assigns a key employee to direct the process of change (Cawsey, 2012). Lastly, it is important to incorporate all the involved employees in the process of initiating changes in the organization. This will promote future adaptability to various issues that the organization might experience as a result of the change process.
References
Cawsey, T. F., Deszca, G., Ingols, C., & Cawsey, T. F. (2012). Organizational change: An
action-oriented toolkit. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE Publications.’
Senior, B., & Swailes, S. (2010). Organizational change. Harlow, Essex, England: Pearson
Education.
