CHANGE PROCESS

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Management – Marketing - Tourism

THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION IN ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE PROCESS

Ph.D Student Ramona Petrescu University of Craiova Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Craiova, Romania

Abstract: Change is one of the "constants" of our world, and is universal; in fact is a natural process. Therefore, the change might be seen as a necessity, and moreover, as a process with potential of adaptation and development for each person, organization, society, and one of the most important factors that differentiate a well implemented change and a bad implemented change are quality, quantity and adequacy of disclosure made.

JEL classification: M21, O33

Key words: communication, change, change process, resistance to change, change management

Introduction Understanding the need for change implies, moreover, that further knowledge

management processes with older structures in the new conditions lead inevitably, sooner or later, in situations critical to the organization.

Organizations are people within those organizations. People are giving the identity of organizations. We tried to change organization, by changing structures and processes, but in fact people had to change. With people replacement, will spend the necessary changes in structures process.

“In successful change initiatives, the first step is to make sure that a sufficient number of people acting fast enough - by adopting that strong behavior, which show interest in opportunities and problems, which gives energy fellow, who wants to say: “Let's do it”.

People engage in behavior change only when faced with a need for change. If there is an adequate degree of necessity, a change of scale may come to look like pushing a huge boulder to the top of a high mountain”26.

Resistance to change is an evasion behavior, fear and uncertainty, manifested in organizational change, which occurs when an individual is not aware of clear objectives and reasons for the transformation and when it feels threatened its status and financial rewards.

Communication is a way of reducing resistance to change. Resistance may be reduced by communicating with employees, helping them understand the need for change. This method is effective when the main cause of resistance is lack of information of individuals in the change process.

A real communication is not just a data transfer. We need to show people 26 Kotter J.P. , Cohen D.S. – Inima Schimbarii, 2008, p.25

Revista Tinerilor Economişti (The Young Economists Journal) something to shatter the anxiety, to appease their anger, to be credible in a very deep respect and give them confidence in the vision.

There are two statements that can be heard in one form or another in most change projects. Staff affected by change will say that "there was not enough communication, nobody told us anything" and the change team will says "we communicate all the time, but we can communicate only what we are ready to communicate. " Excellent communication aims to balance these two viewpoints, reaching a point where everyone is satisfied that it knows what need to know and wants to know.

Communication in change management Communication is essential for change management. It is crucial to prepare and

develop enthusiasm for progressive change, for changing how people think and act, training and preparation to ensure that staff continue to adhere to the change after the implementation of change, too.

Communication for change is a two way process and, equally, a matter of listening and gathering information, but also one of passing on key messages.

Effective communication for change starts with the use of informal and unstructured communication that happens all the time. But change communication also uses events, listening sessions formally planned.

Effective communication significantly improves the likelihood of success and reduces the risk of change.

In successful change efforts, vision and strategies are not confined in a room with team coordination. Direction of change is communicated to large numbers of people, both to be understood and to convince them to join her.

Communication in the process of change aimed at increasing interest in change (information and belief) and involvement in its realization.

American Management Association has developed a list of ten rules of effective communication:

1) the issuer need to clarify ideas before communicating them - most often communicating the vision does not give expected results for several reasons, among which the most obvious is the lack of clarity; 2) for planning communications is necessary to consult the others; 3) those who want to initiate communication must examine the true purpose of communication in order not to lose details;

4) persons involved in this process must take into account all the physical and mental elements of the context because the intended meaning is always sent more than by mere words; 5) the issuer must be careful when communicating the nuances, and the basic meaning of the message; 6) the issuer must develop the capacity for empathy; 7) during the communication, participants need to ask questions and encourage each other to express reactions, such as showing whether or not the message has been levied;

8) the issuer and the receiver must communicate in the future as well as now; 9) who communicate shall be sure on communication support - communication of a grand vision involves the transmission of messages usually honest, who come from some real people. But new technologies, such as cold and inhuman, can provide useful

Management – Marketing - Tourism channels for disseminating information. These channels include satellite broadcasts, teleconferences, broadcasts over the Internet and electronic mail;

10) the issuer and the receiver must try not only to understand but to make understood - active listening is one of the most important attributes of communication.

Communication tends to be associated with what we say and hear what we write and read. The phrase "actions speak louder than words" may be old and devoid of originality, but very true. In addition, communication is more than mere words. We all send and receive information from the way we interact and various nonverbal behaviors such as tone of voice, facial expressions and body attitude. Good communication requires agreement between what is said and associated body language.

Although there is a balance between saying too much and saying too little, the principle under the organization should work is you can not say enough to the staff and they must constantly communicate. But good communication does not refer only to the good intentions of talking regularly and posts the deliberate, timely and structured messages, to achieve a final result known.

Why is communication so important? Because it allows: - managing people's expectations. Good communication brings awareness of change and support for it and even the most unpopular changes will occur more smoothly when people are ready for them; - whether the employees do the right thing;

- some changes take place. Communication can propel change by initiating a positive response; - gathering feedback on the change; - to understand the attitudes and responses to change. Managing change requires management responses. If you do not listen, you will not understand the answer that you must manage. Also, you will not understand how important it is that your staff understands the change; - some results can be implemented. The essential mechanism for practical training is communication. Communication will not happen by itself and without resources. It is a major activity of most change initiatives.

Change must be made in the interest of an organization. Unfortunately, wider and long-term interests of the organizations rarely align with those of individuals who have an interest in the organization, which also includes staff. Good communication can help prepare people for change and can mitigate any negative reaction. One of the roles of communication for staff is to sell the benefits of change, but the communication should not be used to try to convince staff that change is in its interest, if in fact it is not.

Communication begins with the formulation of objectives and continues after deployment, until the change is fully consolidated. Communication will help or determine events on plan for change and will have to occur throughout the project period.

In an effective communication process, a particular importance for analysis presents the adapting to changing curve of Everett M. Rogers (1962), a model based on the idea that certain individuals are inevitably more open to change than others.

According to this model, the communication plan will be formulated taking into account the classification of employees in the categories of personnel: - innovators (2.5%) - they will drive change in the organization and are an

Revista Tinerilor Economişti (The Young Economists Journal) important communication mechanism. They are the category of staff, by their nature, will always try new things. Chances are they to instigate change. - new arrivals (13.5%) - they will try new ideas carefully. They also must be included in the communication plan, because their influence is essential and how their resistance will advance the process of change. They are usually opinion leaders. - early majority (34%) - they are attentive, but accept change more quickly than the majority of staff. Most of the time is a bit more conservative than the newcomers. - late majority (34%) - they will change only when the majority are in favor of, or actually use the new system. This personnel change will not go along with the belief in the project, but rather from a sense that change is inevitable. We can get them into compliance over time, but not their enthusiasm. - laggards (16%) - they like to stick to old ways. It can sometimes be useful to recognize (at the beginning of a communications campaign) that there will be people who will not like the new system, but that they will be supported and assisted by a thorough preparation. However, they can not stand in the way of progress and change leader must point out that quite clear.

In conclusion, in the process of change is important to achieve effective communication with the 84% of staff who we know will fit and let laggards to adhere to change at their own pace. Shows the importance of this hypothesis based on Rogers's model, because it is pointless trying to convince all employees to take initiative for change with a quick move of mass communication.

Conclusions Given that changes are made to people and not for the sake of change, it must be

said that the human factor is decisive in the process of change, he has a complex structure, concrete steps and laws. Only clear view on this process, knowledge of factors (external and internal) of great importance for the successful implementation of change, it will allow efficient routing.

REFERENCES 1. Burdus,E., coord.;

Caprarescu, Gh., Androniceanu, A.

Managementul schimbării organizationale, Editura Economica, Bucuresti , 2008

2. Cameron, E.; Green , M. Making Sense of Change Management, Kogan Page, 2004 3. Kotter, J.P; Cohen D.S Inima schimbarii, Editura Meteor Press, Bucuresti, 2008 4. Newton , R. Managementul schimbării pas cu pas, Editura All, Bucuresti,

2009 5. * * * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations

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