Organizational change is a process that seeks to improve performance in the short or long term. To ensure successful implementation of change, it is important to create a change management plan that outlines how changes will be managed. According to Gartner, the average organization has made five business changes in the past three years and 73% of organizations expect more change initiatives in the coming years. Formulating and sharing an understandable purpose, vision and goals helps employees and leaders to understand the “why” of change and is critical to the overall success of implementing change.
Organizational development work provides useful structure and guidance for conversations, and also considers one's role as an important part of the change process. Eliminating function redundancies, redefining objectives, clearly defining new roles and responsibilities, and training in technology are important parts of managing change during mergers and acquisitions. Major changes in personnel, company objectives, service offerings, and operations are considered different forms of organizational change. Change management will also help ensure that the company remains productive and profitable during this time of change. Increasing competition in the market and constantly evolving technology lead to technological change within organizations.
Typical changes that adversely affect part of the employees are wage cuts, loss of benefits, downgrading of the job, loss of employment, or relocation to another city, state or country. Compassion, frequent communication, and expeditious decision-making will help reduce the stress that an organization's employees are likely to experience during this difficult organizational change. Other changes, such as the reduction of staff or layoffs, bankruptcy, mergers and acquisitions or the closing of a business transaction, affect business units or the entire organization. However, managing change from the top down can generate resistance from employees, who feel that they are not involved in the decision-making process. Situations such as the unexpected massive shift of employees to remote work due to the appearance of a virus require efficient organizational change management skills.
The effects of not managing change effectively can be devastating and long-lasting, so it is important that people's professionals understand the problems and equip themselves with techniques to support change management initiatives. Organizations must be aware of how changes can affect their operations. To ensure successful implementation of organizational changes, it is important to create a change management plan that outlines how changes will be managed. Formulating and sharing an understandable purpose, vision and goals helps employees and leaders to understand why changes are necessary. Additionally, eliminating function redundancies, redefining objectives, clearly defining new roles and responsibilities, and training in technology are important parts of managing change during mergers and acquisitions.
Compassionate communication is also essential for reducing stress among employees during times of organizational change. Finally, people's professionals must understand the problems associated with not managing change effectively in order to equip themselves with techniques to support successful change management initiatives.
