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to the people who are implementing the change.... as well as those having to adapt to change.”
UNIT 3 Overview of Change Management
Change: Making things different
Planned Change: Change activities that are intentional and goal oriented
Change agents: Persons who act as catalysts and assume the responsibility for managing
change activities.
3.1Meaning and implications
Change management is the effective management of a business change such that
executive leaders, managers and front line employees work in concert to successfully
implement the needed process, technology or organizational changes.
The goal of change management is to implement these business changes quickly to:
What are the factors for
 Minimize the impact on productivity
 Avoid unnecessary turnover or loss of valued employees positive and negative
 Eliminate any adverse impact on your customers changes of a given
 Achieve the desired business outcomes as soon as possible organization?

Change management is the process, tools and techniques to manage the people-side of
change to achieve the required business outcome. Change management incorporates
the organizational tools that can be utilized to help individuals make successful
personal transitions resulting in the adoption and realization of change.
Change management is a structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and
organizations from a current state to a desired future state, to fulfill or implement a
vision and strategy. It is an organizational process aimed at empowering employees to
accept and embrace changes in their current environment. There are several different
streams of thought that have shaped the practice of change management.
Change Management: As a Systematic Process
Change management is the formal process for organizational change, including a
systematic approach and application of knowledge. Change management means
defining and adopting corporate strategies, structures, procedures, and technologies to
deal with change stemming from internal and external conditions.
Change Management: As a Means of Transitioning People
Change management is a critical part of any project that leads, manages, and enables
people to accept new processes, technologies, systems, structures, and values. It is the
set of activities that helps people transition from their present way of working to the
desired way of working.
Change Management: As a Competitive Tactic
Change management is the continuous process of aligning an organization with its
marketplace—and doing so more responsively and effectively than competitors.

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Change starts with a vision
A change effort or initiative must start with a vision. Whether change is prompted by
external (political, economic, social or technological) or internal factors (policy, systems
or structure), creating a vision will clarify the direction for the change. In addition, the
vision will assist in motivating those that are impacted to take action in the right
direction. A vision statement tells you where you are going. It paints a compelling work
of a desired future state. It can make anyone who reads it, hears it or lives it want to
support, work for, give to, or in some other way be part of your organization.
Characteristics of an Effective Vision:
• Imaginable – conveys a picture of what the future will look like
• Desirable – appeals to the long-term interests of employees, customers, stakeholders
• Feasible – comprises realistic, obtainable goals
• Focused – clear enough to provide guidance in decision making
• Flexible – General enough to allow initiative and alternative responses
• Communicable – can be fully explained in 5 minutes

The knowledge and skills for managing change that you will require come from the two
perspectives on change: the managers and the employees.

Organizational change management is the management of change from the

perspective of a manager or project team. It is the perspective of “business leadership”
from the “top” looking down into the organization. The focus is around broad change
management practices and skills that will help the organization understand, accept and
support the needed business change. The primary focus is around change management
strategies, communication plans and training programs. The involved parties include
project team members, human resources and key business leaders that sponsor the
change.

Organizational change management provides the knowledge and skills to implement a

methodology and tools for managing change throughout an organization.

Individual change management is the management of change from the perspective of

the employees. They are the ones who ultimately must implement the change. The
focus here is around the tools and techniques to help an employee transition through
the change process. The primary concerns are the coaching required helping individuals
understand their role and the decisions they make in the change process. In this arena,
you will need to provide tools that employees can use to navigate their way through the
change.

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Change can be a time of exciting opportunity for some and a time of loss, disruption or
threat for others. How such responses to change are managed can be the difference
between surviving and thriving in a work or business environment. Change is an
inherent characteristic of any organization and like it or not, all organisations whether
in the public or private sector must change to remain relevant.
Change can originate from external sources through technological advances, social,
political or economic pressures, or it can come from inside the organisation as a
management response to a range of issues such as changing client needs, costs or a
human resource or a performance issue. It can affect one small area or the entire
organization. Nevertheless, all change whether from internal or external sources, large
or small, involves adopting new mindsets, processes, policies, practices and behaviour.
Irrespective of the way the change originates, change management is the process of
taking a planned and structured approach to help align an organization with the
change.
In its most simple and effective form, change management involves working with an
organization’s stakeholder groups to help them understand what the change means for
them, helping them make and sustain the transition and working to overcome any
challenges involved. From a management perspective it involves the organizational and
behavioral adjustments that need to be made to accommodate and sustain change.

3.2 Forces for Organizational Change

The key to success is to work with the grain of human nature rather than against it. Like a master
of martial arts, you must turn opposing forces to your advantage instead of meeting them head
on. To do this, you need to understand and address the 5 Forces of Change – forces that drive
human behavior and which come under threat during major organizational change:

1. Certainty. An immediate consequence of change is uncertainty. At worst, people fear for their
jobs and at the very least they can become unclear about what the future holds and their role
within it. This causes anxiety and a drop in performance. The antidote to uncertainty is trust, and
the key ingredient of trust is communication. Openness about what is going on and why it’s
going on builds trust, so too does treating people with the respect they deserve. Don’t hide things
from them, least of all bad news; rather engage with them about why the change is vital so they
can reach the same conclusions as you have. Remember also that the change begins with you –
nothing will kill a new initiative faster than a leader who lacks confidence in it.

2. Purpose. As an organization changes course, things can become foggy. People’s sense of
direction is diminished and they become less confident about what they are doing. In turbulent
times we look for leaders with a clear and unequivocal sense of purpose. Great leaders spell out
an inspiring vision and remain steadfast in the face of adversity. Whilst this is an enormous

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challenge, it is unambiguous and appeals to values that transcend day to day work, giving people
a crystal clear purpose and a reason to persevere despite inevitable difficulties.

3. Control. Change can lead to strong feelings of unease as people sense that they have lost
power over their working lives and become victims to outside forces. This can cause people to
rebel against change or to quietly opt out of it.

4. Connection. We all form strong attachments to people and things. We identify ourselves with
the job we do and the way we do it. We value our relationships with colleagues, customers and
suppliers. We become attached to our organization, our team, or even our desk. When things
change, we need to break these connections and form new ones. Merely exhorting people to join
you in the new world is not enough. You need to celebrate the past – its successes and failures –
and mourn its passing before people can let go of old practices and travel happily into the future.
When two banks recently merged they threw a huge party to celebrate the demise of two old
organizations and the birth of a new one.

5. Success. Anyone who has introduced change at work knows that performance often gets
worse before it gets better. Just ask people who travelled through Terminal 5 at Heathrow when
it opened! In uncertain times, when people already feel vulnerable, they find themselves
grappling with new ways of working. No wonder there is a strong temptation to revert back to
tried and trusted methods. To combat this problem, leaders must nurture success. They must
spell out expectations and train people to succeed. But that’s not the end of it. Crucially, they
must support people as they put new methods into practice, especially those who find their
performance gets worse before it gets better. Finally, it about celebrating each triumph and
building up support to tip the balance in favor of change. By harnessing the 5 Forces of Change
you can become one of those rare leaders who are able to bring about lasting organizational
change with a minimum of fuss.

Besides to the above, the following table illustrates some forces to change and their example.

Force Examples

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Nature of the More cultural diversity

workforce Aging population
Increased immigration and outsourcing
Technology Faster, cheaper, and more mobile computers and handheld devices
Emergence and growth of social networking sites

Economic Rise and fall of global housing market

shocks Financial sector collapse
Global recession
Competition Global competitors
Mergers and consolidations
Increased government regulation of commerce
Social trends Increased environmental awareness
Liberalization of attitudes toward gay, lesbian, and transgender employees

World Negative social attitudes toward business and executives

Politics Opening of markets in China

Forces FOR change

External forces Internal forces
􀂄Marketplace competition 􀂄Strategy modifications
􀂄Government laws and regulations 􀂄New equipment􀂄New processes
􀂄New technologies 􀂄Workforce composition
􀂄Labor market shifts 􀂄Restructured jobs
􀂄Cycles in the economy 􀂄Compensation and benefits
􀂄Social change 􀂄Labor surpluses and shortages
􀂄Employee attitudes

3.3Process of organizational change

Whether you're considering a small change to one or two processes, or a system wide
change to an organization, it's common to feel uneasy and intimidated by the scale of
the challenge. You know that the change needs to happen, but you don't really know
how to go about delivering it. Where do you start? Whom do you involve? How do you
see it through to the end?

There are many theories about how to "do" change. Many originate with leadership and
change management guru, John Kotter. A professor at Harvard Business School and

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world-renowned change expert, Kotter introduced his eight-step change process in his
1995 book, "Leading Change." We look at his eight steps for leading change below.

Step 1: Create Urgency: For change to happen, it helps if the whole company really
wants it. Develop a sense of urgency around the need for change. This may help you
spark the initial motivation to get things moving.

This isn't simply a matter of showing people poor sales statistics or talking about
increased competition. Open an honest and convincing dialogue about what's
happening in the marketplace and with your competition. If many people start talking
about the change you propose, the urgency can build and feed on itself.

What you can do:

 Identify potential threats , and develop scenarios showing what could happen
in the future.
 Examine opportunities that should be, or could be, exploited.
 Start honest discussions, and give dynamic and convincing reasons to get people
talking and thinking.
 Request support from customers, outside stakeholders and industry people to
strengthen your argument.

Note: Kotter suggests that for change to be successful, 75 percent of a company's

management needs to "buy into" the change. In other words, you have to work really
hard on Step 1, and spend significant time and energy building urgency, before moving
onto the next steps. Don't panic and jump in too fast because you don't want to risk
further short-term losses – if you act without proper preparation, you could be in for a
very bumpy ride.

Step 2: Form a Powerful Coalition: Convince people that change is necessary. This
often takes strong leadership and visible support from key people within your
organization. Managing change isn't enough – you have to lead it.

You can find effective change leaders throughout your organization – they don't
necessarily follow the traditional company hierarchy. To lead change, you need to bring
together a coalition, or team, of influential people whose power comes from a variety of
sources, including job title, status, expertise, and political importance. Once formed,
your "change coalition" needs to work as a team, continuing to build urgency and
momentum around the need for change. What you can do:

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 Identify the true leaders in your organization, as well as your key stakeholders.
 Ask for an emotional commitment from these key people.
 Work on team building within your change coalition.
 Check your team for weak areas, and ensure that you have a good mix of people
from different departments and different levels within your company.

Step 3: Create a Vision for Change: When you first start thinking about change, there
will probably be many great ideas and solutions floating around. Link these concepts to
an overall vision that people can grasp easily and remember.

A clear vision can help everyone understand why you're asking them to do something.
When people see for themselves what you're trying to achieve, then the directives
they're given tend to make more sense. What you can do:

 Determine the values that are central to the change.

 Develop a short summary (one or two sentences) that captures what you "see" as
the future of your organization.
 Create a strategy to execute that vision.
 Ensure that your change coalition can describe the vision in five minutes or less.
 Practice your "vision speech" often.

Step 4: Communicate the Vision: What you do with your vision after you create it will
determine your success. Your message will probably have strong competition from
other day-to-day communications within the company, so you need to communicate it
frequently and powerfully, and embed it within everything that you do.

Don't just call special meetings to communicate your vision. Instead, talk about it every
chance you get. Use the vision daily to make decisions and solve problems. When you
keep it fresh on everyone's minds, they'll remember it and respond to it.

It's also important to "walk the talk." What you do is far more important – and
believable – than what you say. Demonstrate the kind of behavior that you want from
others. What you can do:

 Talk often about your change vision.

 Address peoples' concerns and anxieties, openly and honestly.
 Apply your vision to all aspects of operations – from training to performance
reviews. Tie everything back to the vision.

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Step 5: Remove Obstacles: If you follow these steps and reach this point in the change
process, you've been talking about your vision and building buy-in from all levels of the
organization. Hopefully, your staff wants to get busy and achieve the benefits that
you've been promoting.

But is anyone resisting the change? And are there processes or structures that are
getting in its way? Put in place the structure for change, and continually check for
barriers to it. Removing obstacles can empower the people you need to execute your
vision, and it can help the change move forward. What you can do:

 Identify, or hire, change leaders whose main roles are to deliver the change.
 Look at your organizational structure, job descriptions, and performance and
compensation systems to ensure they're in line with your vision.
 Recognize and reward people for making change happen.
 Identify people who are resisting the change, and help them see what's needed.
 Take action to quickly remove barriers (human or otherwise).

Step 6: Create Short-Term Wins: Nothing motivates more than success. Give your
company a taste of victory early in the change process. Within a short time frame (this
could be a month or a year, depending on the type of change), you'll want to have some
"quick wins" that your staff can see. Without this, critics and negative thinkers might
hurt your progress.

Create short-term targets – not just one long-term goal. You want each smaller target to
be achievable, with little room for failure. Your change team may have to work very
hard to come up with these targets, but each "win" that you produce can further
motivate the entire staff. What you can do:

 Look for sure-fire projects that you can implement without help from any strong
critics of the change.
 Don't choose early targets that are expensive. You want to be able to justify the
investment in each project.
 Thoroughly analyze the potential pros and cons of your targets. If you don't
succeed with an early goal, it can hurt your entire change initiative.
 Reward the people who help you meet the targets.

Step 7: Build on the Change: Kotter argues that many change projects fail because
victory is declared too early. Real change runs deep. Quick wins are only the beginning
of what needs to be done to achieve long-term change.

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Launching one new product using a new system is great. But if you can launch 10
products, that means the new system is working. To reach that 10th success, you need
to keep looking for improvements. Each success provides an opportunity to build on
what went right and identify what you can improve. What you can do:

 After every win, analyze what went right, and what needs improving.
 Set goals to continue building on the momentum you've achieved.
 Learn about kaizen , the idea of continuous improvement.
 Keep ideas fresh by bringing in new change agents and leaders for your change
coalition.

Step 8: Anchor the Changes in Corporate Culture: Finally, to make any change stick, it
should become part of the core of your organization. Your corporate culture often
determines what gets done, so the values behind your vision must show in day-to-day
work. Make continuous efforts to ensure that the change is seen in every aspect of your
organization. This will help give that change a solid place in your organization's
culture. It's also important that your company's leaders continue to support the change.
This includes existing staff and new leaders who are brought in. If you lose the support
of these people, you might end up back where you started. What you can do:

 Talk about progress every chance you get. Tell success stories about the change
process, and repeat other stories that you hear.
 Include the change ideals and values when hiring and training new staff.
 Publicly recognize key members of your original change coalition, and make sure
the rest of the staff – new and old – remembers their contributions.

 Create plans to replace key leaders of change as they move on. This will help
ensure that their legacy is not lost or forgotten.
"Think of managing change as an adventure. It tests your skills and
3.4Resistance to Change abilities. It brings forth talent that may have been dormant."
Resistance can be defined as: Charles E. Rice
• Withstanding, striving against, or opposing
• Withstanding the action or effect of
• Acting or making efforts in opposition
Resistance is the push-back one experience when trying to change or improve a process
or system. Why do employees resist change?
Inertia Different assessments
Self-interest/fear Management tactics/mistrust
Misunderstanding

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Primarily because they fear the unknown. That is, they feel anxiety about how the
change will affect them, their job performance, and their relationship with other
employees, and other job related factors. In fact, psychologists say that fear of the
unknown is a rational, rather than an irrational response to change. A small amount of
uneasiness is to be expected from most people when the status quo shifts, simply
because people need time to adjust their thinking, their job performance, and their
social relationships to any changes made.
Thus, resistance to change is inevitable, and managers must allow for some resistance
when they are planning to implement change. Indeed, some resistance to change may
even be positive because it slows down the speed with which innovation might
otherwise proceed and allows time for people to adjust to it
Reasons for Resistance
Lack of awareness Comfort with status quo
Organizational Restructuring Too little time
Lack of training/expertise Communication
Behaviors we need to discourage (end-users)
Talk one way in public Avoid using the new work processes or
Stop performing their current tools
responsibilities Talk negatively
Ignore or block progress or sabotage the Take advantage of problems
process
Behaviors we need to discourage (managers/supervisors)
Talk badly about project or any other new change
Meet with staff and minimize the change “The world hates change yet that is the only thing
Prevent staff from participation that has brought progress.” Charles Kettering

Refuse necessary resource

3.5Managing Resistance to Change

Meeting milestones is not the primary determinant of the success of a change project.
Successful change also involves ensuring employees’ capacity to adapt to and work
effectively and efficiently in the new environment.
The underlying basis of change management is that people’s capacity to change can be
influenced by how change is presented to them. Their capacity to adapt to change can
shrink if they misunderstand or resist the change, causing barriers and ongoing issues.

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The rationale is that if people understand the benefits of change, they are more likely to
participate in the change and see that it is successfully carried out, which in turn means
minimal disruption to the organization.
Factors common to successful change management
While each public sector organization needs to consider the best way to approach
change based on their particular cultural and stakeholder perspectives, factors common
to successful change management (in both the private and public sector) involve:
Planning: developing and documenting the objectives to be achieved by the change and
the means to achieve it.
Defined governance: establishing appropriate organizational structures, roles, and
responsibilities for the change that engage stakeholders and support the change effort.
Committed Leadership: ongoing commitment at the top and across the organization to
guide organizational behavior, and lead by example
Informed stakeholders: encouraging stakeholder participation and commitment to the
change, by employing open and consultative communication approaches to create
awareness and understanding of the change throughout the organization.
Aligned workforce: identifying the human impacts of the change, and developing
plans to align the workforce to support the changing organization.

Five tips for: Managing resistance

1. Do change management right the first time - effective change management can eliminate
many of causes of resistance before it occurs
2. Expect it - do not be surprised by resistance, expect it and plan for it
3. Address it formally - incorporate resistance management planning in all phases of your
change management strategy and plan development
4. Identify the root causes - make sure that you aren't simply responding to the symptom, but
really addressing what is causing the resistance
5. Engage the "right" resistance managers - senior leaders, managers and supervisors are the
"right" people in the organization to manage resistance

3.6Planned Change

Once managers and an organization commit to planned change, they need to create a logical
step‐by step approach in order to accomplish the objectives. Planned change requires managers
to follow an eight‐step process for successful implementations, which is illustrated in Figure 1.

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1. Recognize the need for change. Recognition of the need for change may occur at
the top management level or in peripheral parts of the organization. The change
may be due to either internal or external forces.
2. Develop the goals of the change. Remember that before any action is taken, it is
necessary to determine why the change is necessary. Both problems and
opportunities must be evaluated. Then it is important to define the needed
changes in terms of products, technology, structure, and culture.
3. Select a change agent. The change agent is the person who takes leadership
responsibility to implement planned change. The change agent must be alert to
things that need revamping, open to good ideas, and supportive of the
implementation of those ideas into actual practice.
4. Diagnose the current climate. In this step, the change agent sets about gathering
data about the climate of the organization in order to help employees prepare for
change. Preparing people for change requires direct and forceful feedback about
the negatives of the present situation, as compared to the desired future state, and
sensitizing people to the forces of change that exist in their environment.
5. Select an implementation method. This step requires a decision on the best way
to bring about the change. Managers can make themselves more sensitive to

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pressures for change by using networks of people and organizations with different
perspectives and views, visiting other organizations exposed to new ideas, and
using external standards of performance, such as competitor's progress.
6. Develop a plan. This step involves actually putting together the plan, or the
“what” information. This phase also determines the when, where, and how of the
plan. The plan is like a road map. It notes specific events and activities that must
be timed and integrated to produce the change. It also delegates responsibility for
each of the goals and objectives.
7. Implement the plan. After all the questions have been answered, the plan is put
into operation. Once a change has begun, initial excitement can dissipate in the
face of everyday problems. Managers can maintain the momentum for change by
providing resources, developing new competencies and skills, reinforcing new
behaviors, and building a support system for those initiating the change.
8. Follow the plan and evaluate it. During this step, managers must compare the
actual results to the goals established in Step 4. It is important to determine
whether the goals were met; a complete follow‐up and evaluation of the results
aids this determination. Change should produce positive results and not be
undertaken for its own sake.

Keep in mind that a comprehensive model of planned change includes a set of activities
that managers must engage in to manage the change process effectively. They must
recognize the need for change, motivate change, create a vision, develop political
support, manage the transition, and sustain momentum during the change. Effective
team leaders acknowledge and understand that it is a basic human instinct to react to
change with resistance, even though staff may fully comprehend the reasons why
changes in the organization are vital to its existence and growth.

3.7Strategies for Planned Organizational Change

Strategic planning is a change strategy that is very carefully planned and deliberate.
With this in mind, strategic planning may be defined as the process of formulating,
implementing, and evaluating decisions that enable the organization to achieve its
goals. The process of strategic planning typically follows nine steps: (a) develop a
mission, (b1) conduct a critical analysis of the internal environment, (b2) conduct a
critical analysis of the external environment, (c) prepare planning assumptions, (d)
develop a strategy, (e) communicate the strategy, (f) develop evaluation procedures, (g)
implement the strategy, and (h) evaluate the results. Although these steps are not

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always followed in the exact order specified, they do describe the way most
organizations go about planning change strategically.

6 Management Strategies to Avert Resistance

1. A clear outline - Discomfort and insecurity arises when staffs are not made aware of
the policies, principles, guidelines and structure of intended changes. Every employee
needs to know how his/her position will be affected and what his/her role requires.
2. Commitment -Implementation of organizational changes will not occur smoothly if
everyone - from the CEO to the office clerk - is not committed to the project and its
successful outcome.
3. Advocacy - Each member of an organization who may be affected by the impending
changes must be given the opportunity to express his/her opinion.
4. Responsibility - It is the role of the team leader to ensure that each employee who is
responsible for a component of the change strategy is held accountable for his/her
actions in implementing the changes required.
5. Acknowledgement - Evaluation and acknowledgement of the success of the change
strategy at regular intervals ensures its smooth implementation.
6. Flexibility - Management needs to adopt a flexible approach to each stage of
development of a change strategy so that unforeseen contingencies can be
implemented, if and where necessary.

It only takes one irresolute employee to destabilize an entire workforce, so periods of

internal change within an organization require management to stay vigilant for any
signs of rumblings or disapproval.

Long-standing employees can feel betrayed and rejected when changes are announced
by management. They often experience a sense of loss, confusion, frustration and job
insecurity. The plan for job advancement they have often calculated appears to be shot
to pieces. So they react with denial and resistance to the imminent changes.

Management's ability to recognize these patterns of behavior and work to overcome

any resistance establishes how well they will accomplish organizational changes. Their
willingness to invest in the support and training necessary is an integral factor in
achieving a positive outcome. Employees aren't the only ones who have to adapt to
changes within the organization.

Top level managers generally bear the brunt of discontented staff from the ground up.
Senior managers who have been instrumental in bringing about the changes within the

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organization often underestimate the impact those changes will have on their
employees.

Unrealistic expectations of how their staff will react (or over-react!) often causes top
level managers to retreat and isolate themselves from the problem when the impact of
their proposed changes filter back to them. However, they tend to lay the blame at the
feet of middle management if employees resist or complain about the changes.

Middle management tend to carry the most stress during times of organizational
change. They feel "trapped", unless they have exceptional leadership skills; besieged by
resistant employees who look to them for guidance yet often denied direction and focus
by top level management.

Those in middle management often find themselves acting as the arbiter during times of
organizational upheaval. However, organizational changes within a business often
prove to be a suitable testing ground for leadership qualities; from the employees all the
way through to top level management.

Those who possess the qualities that define a good leader often emerge during the
stressful environment that usually accompanies change. This creates an ideal
opportunity for potential leaders to display those qualities and be recognized
accordingly.

After you have read this sample handout and other related materials, ask yourself
on the following learning objective of the chapter:

 Have an understanding of the meaning and implications change

Management
 Identify factors of organizational change
 Understand the relevant process of organizational change
 Explaining the reason why employees resist to change and ways of managing
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employee’s resistance.
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 Understand what is meant by panned change and strategies for planned
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change
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Leadership and change management 15 chapter 3

 “Effective change leadership happens when leaders of change provide direction, guidance and support
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to the people who are implementing the change.... as well as those having to adapt to change.”
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Leadership and change management 16 chapter 3