What is required to Manage Organization Change Effectively?

In order to meet the demands of a dynamic business environment Human Resources professionals are expected to be a key partner in managing change and assisting the leaders of the company by supporting changes to the organization.  As business partners, Human Resources professionals play an important role by assisting leadership in four key areas:

1.     Identify, evaluate and assess the rewards and risks associated with organizational change.

2.   Evaluate the current talent mix and organizational structure to determine if the current skills that the employees possess will meet the organization’s needs in the future.

3.     Educate the employee’s so that they understand what changes are needed along with communicating the timeframe and the potential outcomes.

4.  Administer an employee engagement survey to determine the success of the changes implemented and evaluate the alignment between the business, culture and the staff.

This article discusses these four areas of organizational change which can have a positive impact on the organization and its workforce or if not managed properly can be very detrimental to the organization.

Rewards and Risks

Successful transformation initiatives begin when the leaders examine the market place to determine what changes in their business may result in new challenges for their organization.  These challenges include new technology, changes in social patterns, shifts in tax policy or demographic re-alignments.  The leaders need to evaluate the risks and rewards associated with the proposed changes to the business model and develop a strategy to adapt to the new realities. 

Current Talent Mix

Successful change takes time, which can be disruptive to the organization.   Often the current talent mix is not in alignment in order to execute this new strategy.  Human Resource professional need to evaluate the employees existing skills to determine if their skills and knowledge will meet the future needs of the organization.  Until the existing staff have the necessary skills the organization will remain vulnerable.  It is important to evaluate the staff and create a performance and learning plan to ensure that all employees have a road map to success.  It is also important that HR hold all people accountable to ensure that these milestones for improvement are met and that employee development coupled with a consistent approach to learning is implemented.  If done properly the current talent mix will be aligned with the new strategy.

Educating the Employee

Frequently the decisions that are made about the organization are made at the c-suite level with the understanding  the middle management will share the changes with the rank-and-file staff.  Often time, this approach while well intended, is not communicated effectively or is unclear.  Poor communication about why the changes are being implemented and the strategy hinders the process.  To mitigate poor communication, Human Resources needs to play a key role in coaching and educating the employees and middle managers about what is changing, how it will impact their job, training opportunities to learn new skills and the eventual outcomes.

Determine Employee Engagement

Successful change starts with individuals, and failure will often occur because resistance to change is human nature.  Some managers are very skilled at change management; however, unfortunately, many managers are not adept at change management. The lack of change management skills among managers can make change initiatives difficult to achieve.  Human Resources plays a very important role by determining through an employee engagement survey where change is being embraced and where resistant is occurring.  HR can leverage those areas that are successful throughout the organization and where it is being resisted more resources and tools can be allocated to address these area’s needs.

Successfully identifying the rewards and risks association with organization change, evaluating the current talent to determine if the organization can meet the new strategy, communicating the rationale for the changes and conducting a survey to determine where there are pockets of success and/or resistance will help the Human Resources department manage organization change successfully.

To learn more about the survey process please go to our website at: www.innovative-hrsolutions.com.