Running head: CHANGE MANAGEMENTS ROLE IN TODAYS ORGANIZATION 1

Change Managements Role in Todays Organization

Dalton W. Farmer
MGMT 370- Performance Management
Dr. Gail Southwell
October 27, 2015

CHANGE MANAGEMENTS ROLE IN TODAYS ORGANIZATION

Abstract
Change is always present, whether it is in personal lives, the economy, or in an organization. The
role of change management in an organization is crucial during the success or failure of an
organization. However, it can also determine whether an organization is going to experience
success or failure. There are numerous reasons as to why an organization may experience
change. However, in this report, the changes during the success or recession of an organization
are highlighted. It is also important to understand the importance of managing transitions and
general strategies to do so, which is why there is a special emphasis on managing transitions in
this report. In conclusion, all managers and HR personnel need not only to focus their attention
on the financial aspect of managing change but even more importantly, the human psychological
aspect of managing and implementing change. Leaders should also not only merely attempt to
manage change but rather make every effort to drive change.

CHANGE MANAGEMENTS ROLE IN TODAYS ORGANIZATION

Change Managements Role in Todays Organization

With a business environment that is continuouslyevolving and developing, change is
inevitable. In todays organization, the role of change management is crucial in the success or
failure of an organization. In fact, change management is crucial in determining the success or
failure of a company, and it is important in handling the successes or failures of an organization.
Managing change is so crucial in the business environment that there is actually a course
designed specifically for the topic of change management. This report will highlight the
importance of managing transitions as well as review the role of change management during
organizational recessions, and organizational success.
Managing the Transition
Sometimes companies change for positive reasons, and sometimes they change for
negative ones. In either situation, change can be viewed as either negative or positive, and no
matter if a company is experiencing success, or if a company is experiencing failure, it will
experience change or transition in some form or fashion. However, when change is used as a
strategy, it is always used to help the organization grow or succeed in some way. Unfortunately,
when an organization is experiencing a changed caused by failure, employees see the change as
negative. Even transitions that are caused by success can be seen as negative. Most of the anxiety
and negativity towards change derives from peoples fear of change.
Austin (2015) states that an employee who feels uncertain about a transition or change
within an organization could reduce their job satisfaction and increase motivation for the
individual to leave. Therefore, whether the transition is caused by the success or failure of an
organization, the role of change management can determine whether the transition itself is

CHANGE MANAGEMENTS ROLE IN TODAYS ORGANIZATION

successful or not. In order for a change agent to successfully manage a transition, they must be
able to communicate the change effectively, gain political support for the change, and manage
what resistance may be present.
Communication
Communication is one of the many keys to a successful business transition. Therefore,
education is a priority when handling these types of changes. Like I stated earlier when
paraphrasing Austins statement, uncertainty can cause an employee to feel anxious about a
transition. We all tend to fear most what we do not understand. Therefore, the more that someone
knows about the upcoming change and how it will affect them, the more comfortable they will be
when going through the transition.
A good plan of communication is very important when managing a transition. A great
way to communicate the transition and better inform everyone about the change is to form a
statement of expectations. Gannon (2004) expresses that leadership of the change should
communicate a clear statement of expectations to any and all that will be directly impacted by
the change. This statement should describe what the organization intends for the change to
achieve. The statement should also describe the goals of the transition, the end result, and why it
is important to implement the transition. For example, the statement can say something like, By
implementing this new performance management system, we hope to drastically increase our
productivity and communication about performance across the entire organization.
Another form of communication that could be very beneficial to those who are managing
the transition is the NewSDoG approach designed by Gannon (2004). This approach expresses to
the entire organization what is new, what is the same, what is different, and what is gone. The

CHANGE MANAGEMENTS ROLE IN TODAYS ORGANIZATION

goal of this model is to use it as a layout for communicating the changes to come. This first
concept in this model to be communicated is whats new in the organization. This could start the
communication on a positive note because people tend to view something new as improved or
even exciting. The next step is to talk about what is the same. Talking about what is the same
typically brings comfort to employees to make them feel as if the change is stress-free and easy.
The next step is to inform what will be different, and then finally inform what will be gone, or
changed permanently.
Political support
Political support is one of the most important aspects of planned changed. Whether the
change is implemented due to company success or failure, having the employees approve the
change and cooperate with the developments could be one of the largest contributing factors in
the success of the transition. This is especially important when considering the approval of top
management. Two important strategies in gaining political support for organization change are
striking first, and involving employees in designing and implementing the change.
Aguinis (2013) brought up the idea of striking first concerning the implementation of a
performance management system. However, striking first is important in all types of changes or
transitions. Striking first can spread a positive message to employees about the change before the
employees have a chance to spread any negative messages about the change (Aguinis, 2013). It
would be very important to predict any questions or concerns that may arise so that those
questions can be answered before uncertainty is felt by the employees.
Another very important tool in developing support for the change is to involve employees
in the design and implementation of the change. This method is primarily present most in change

CHANGE MANAGEMENTS ROLE IN TODAYS ORGANIZATION

of technology or performance management systems. However, it could very well work for any
other type of transition as well. Wright (2015) proclaims that it is not enough for employees to
just be educated about the change. Rather, it can prove to be more beneficial for the company
and the employee if they get their input about the change and make the employee feel as if it is
involved with the change. Sometimes just the feeling of being involved and having some sort of
control can reduce the anxiety that employees may have.
Managing resistance
Similar to what was stated earlier, change is not always viewed as positive, in fact it may
seem to be viewed as negative more often than positive, and sometimes it is impossible to gain
all of the political support that is needs. Gannon (2004) expresses a lot of strategies and models
that can be used to help manage the transition. One model is the 20/50/30 model. This model
states that twenty percent of all employees will be totally excepting of the change. Fifty percent
of the employees will be totally undecided about whether or not they approve of the change, and
thirty percent of the employees will be totally unaccepting of the change. It is very important to
understand this model to form strategies on how to influence the majority of the workers. For
example, developing a strategy that gains support of the majority of the fence riders could create
enough leverage to gain support from the rest of the fence riders, and even from some who are
totally resistant.
Another important model is the Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. This model is a diagram of
a pyramid that has five levels within the diagram. The bottom level is the physiological level
(with focuses on aspects such as food, water, and reproduction). The next level is the safety level,
which concerns security of body and employment. The two levels after that are the Love an
Belonging level (friendship, family), and the Esteem level (confidence, acheivement). The final

CHANGE MANAGEMENTS ROLE IN TODAYS ORGANIZATION

level is Self- Actualization which deals with the need for helping others. Everyone is within a
certain level of this diagram an is always working their way up towards Self-Actualization.
However, sometimes events can cause people to move up and down the pyramid. It is important
as a change agent or manager to understand what type of effect this change will have on the
needs of the employees, and how it will effect their hierarchy level.
Lastly, it is important to understand the transitional timeline, which is similar in structure
to the stages of grief. This model is a timeline that describes what an individual will experience
when going through change. A brief description of this model (in order of how the individual
typically moves through the timeline) looks like this: Denial, resistance, sabotage, suffering,
exploration, acceptance, making decisions, and then achievement. However, people tend to move
through the stages at different rates and even different orders. The goal is to lessen the negative
impact and to shorten the time period. Leaders must understand that the quicker people accept
the change, the smoother it will be to carry out the change.
Managing Organizational Recessions
Recessions and organizational defeats are never pleasant to work around. However, there
is a method to managing the madness. Knowing how to properly manage a company during
economic or organizational recessions can determine if and how well a company can bounce
back from the setback. The role of Change Management is essential in the acquisation or
restoration of the company.
Managing Acquisitions
Aquisitions and liquidations are two completely different concepts. Howbeit, employees
sometimes seem to react to both events similarly. Liquidations are when companies decide to

CHANGE MANAGEMENTS ROLE IN TODAYS ORGANIZATION

terminate their business completely, and aquisations are when companies get bought out by other
companies. Both events make can make an employee feel as if their career has changed
completely.
Just recently, the organization that I work for was acquired by another company. The
initial news was very startling for everyone who was working at the organization. This
experience leads me to understand the value of communication during changes. The initial
announcement about the acquisition was almost a week after everyone at the firm was informed
about it. Ali and Ivanov (2015) stress that facilitating positive and open communication from
leaders to subordinates can make employees feel secure about the change of the organization,
and even have a positive outlook about the direction in which the company is headed.
Stabilizing the productivity of the company is crucial while managing an acquisition. The
role of HRM during an acquisition can also involve keeping the team together as a whole. An
acquisition is a strategy in which the success thereof can be determined by the amount of
valuable HR that is remaining from the targe firm (Kiessling & Harvey, 2006). Therefore,
retaining these individuals could determine the performance after the acquisition.
Restructuring
Restructuring a company can be a great tool in remaining competitive. Sometimes
restructuring can involve moving locations, re-evaluating staff, or even just redesigning the
strategy. Restructuring should always be properly handled no matter the magnitude of the redesign.
An example of restructuring is downsizing. The majority of opinions on downsizing are
going to be negative. However, downsizing employees should be a last resort. Pudlowski (2009)

CHANGE MANAGEMENTS ROLE IN TODAYS ORGANIZATION

states that the Focus should first be on cost-saving, especially that do not disrupt an employee,s
understanding of their benefits. Sometimes these change efforts can be less focused on the
human aspect of downsizing and lean more towards the financial aspect.
The best way to make these changes is to do so without the majority truly being effected
by the changes. However, sometimes changing benefits plans can still rattle employees. This is
when it is important to make sure that the employees understand the importance of these
changes. Nevertheless, it is important to do so without creating fear that layoffs or any other
means of downsizing may occur.
Organizational Success
Change during success is the most positive form of change there is. Be that is it may, it is
still essential to properly manage change during company success. It is easy to think that if
something is going well, then there is no need for change. However, change is always going to
be present, especially in an economy that is constantly developing. The role of change
management is very important during the presence of organizational success, primarily in
innovation, and technology.
Managing Innovation
Innovation is a form of change in something established to make it new or improved. Ali
and Ivanov (2015) mention in their report that it is important to constantly improve systems of
production and service. Being able to make improvements prior to issues arising can save the
corporation a lot of resources. Continuous improvement is the key point of innovation. It is
important to constantly improve and develop because the world around the company is doing the
same

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Change agents or HR managers are not the only individuals that should stress innovation. All
types of leaders impact this form of change, and the ability to drive innovation is a very desirable
trait in a leader. In fact, around ninety-four percent of business leaders believe that innovation is
vital to company success (Meinert, 2015). Meinert also states that it is important to understand
that innovation can not be tied to one individual or even one class of individuals. Instead, it takes
a diverse team of creative minded employees to influence the positive change that is innovation.
Technology
Having a last technology can bring a great advantage to a firm, which is why it may be
important to spend gains from successful periods on new technology. Technology is a form of
innovation. Therefore, it should also be handled in the way that a leader or any HR professional
would handle any other form of change.
One of the biggest issues with technology how the employees may reject the new technology.
Even though new technology can be seen as a positive change, some employees reject new
technology out of fear that they might not be able to keep of with the demands. It is important
that those employees that are going to use the new technology have been directly engaged with
the implementation of the new system (Wright, 2015). This is important so that the employees
feel more comfortable about that change and can give appropriate feedback.
Conclusion
It is apparent that change is inevitable. Therefore, the role of change management within
an organization is vital to company success. Whether the firm is experiencing success, or if the
organization is experiencing a recession, it is crucial for the HR managers or the leaders of the
company to be able to successfully handle the transition. It is very important to consider human

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emotions when implementing change. It is also very important to consider the costs and future of
the company. Someone who is able to balance and successfully manage both aspects of change
can prove to be very valuable within any organizational framework. In result, managers and HR
personnel should not only be able to successfully manage change, but also successfully drive
change.

CHANGE MANAGEMENTS ROLE IN TODAYS ORGANIZATION

References
Aguinis, H. (2013). Performance Management (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Education, Inc.
Ali, A., & Ivanov, S. (2015). CHANGE MANAGEMENT ISSUES IN A LARGE
MULTINATIONAL CORPORATION: A STUDY OF PEOPLE AND
SYSTEMS. International Journal Of Organizational Innovation, 8(1), 24-30.
Austin, J. (2015). Leading Effective Change: A Primer for the HR Professional (pp. 1-24).
Alexandria, Virginia: The SHRM Foundation.
Gannon, T. (Producer & Director). (2004). Managing change watchIT.com (videorecording).
United States: WatchIT.com.
Kiessling, T., & Harvey, M. (2006). The human resource management issues during an
acquisition: the target firm's top management team and key managers. International
Journal Of Human Resource Management, 17(7), 1307-1320.
Meinert, D. (2015, May 1). How Leaders Drive Innovation. HR Magazine.
Pudlowski, E. M. (2009). Managing Human Resource Cost in a Declining Economic
Environment. Benefits Quarterly,25(4), 37-43.
Wright, A. D. (2015, September 22). How to Drive Successful HR Technology Transformation.
Retrieved from http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/technology/articles/pages/how-todrive-successful-hr-technology-transformation.aspx.

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