Step 5: Empower Action

16 April 2019

Building the Team Strategies for Change

According to Kotter and Cohen, the second stage of change; an organization should build a guiding team to bring the right mastermind people with desired characters on board to effect change within an organization (Hughes, 2016). All employers working in a given organization have different characters with different perception and ideas about change about a specific issue. This stage allows leaders to integrate the minds of all workers and create a team that will foster change and leads it within the organization.

Building a team to address change

There are some ways through which leaders can build their teams in preparation for a change in an organization. First, employers should ensure that there is clarity of issues to the team members team will readily embrace a change when they all understand why, how, when, what and where the change is expected. Also clarifying to the members that the change is likely to affect the organization, employees, chains as well as the customers will make them desire to work in line to effect the change as expected by the management (Harrison, 2017). Clarity is very critical in building teamwork as it addresses “what if” situations enabling the team to plan well as act effectively towards a change. Also, it allows team members to analyze the risks and potential outcomes form a clear line of thoughts and take a perfect path in making the anticipated change a reality. Secondly, in building teams, leaders should embrace thoughts from different members to cultivate the diversity of thinking and acting through innovation. The collaboration of ideas creates an environment where people can connect, share and analyze situations concerning the desired and anticipated change with an entity. Thirdly, the management should encourage critical and strategic thinking in the run to achieving or effecting change. Critical thinking builds strategies since ideas are embraced (Hughes, 2016). The courageous aspect of thinking allows team members to see opportunities in various fields critically, anticipate for the unexpected risks, unleash the hidden excellence pursuit, and work with the motive of charitable purposes thus bringing the managerial change desired by many(Harrison, 2017). Additionally, employers should know the right composition of a team and the aggressiveness of the members of the coalition team.

Showing enthusiasm and commitment to team members

Building a guiding coalition in bringing change to an organization requires a high degree of enthusiasm and commitment. To show enthusiasm and commitment leaders should first consider the level of an organization and the weight if the change anticipated. Through this, leaders may decide to choose a group of 10, 20, or more members to a guiding coalition. The team is called a guiding coalition since the members are selected from various department and ideas are embraced form each member with the aim of effecting the desired change. A larger team with the right people in it acts as a working engine as skills and ideas are collaborated to make change happen in an organization. Skills such as leadership skills among the team members stimulate high levels of urgency to make things right in line with the coming change. Also choosing guiding coalition members with different levels of expertise from different fields or departments within an organization will bring competitively and diversity of ideas thus bringing moving power in bringing and adopting new change ( Hughes,2016)... Commitment will also enable an employer to bring the right people together by identifying their passion, desire, commitment as well as their experience in a specific area at the workplace which is a very critical step in bringing change.

Modeling trust and teamwork

Modeling trust and teamwork in fostering change in organizations call for leaders to lead as an example by demonstrating that they can trust other employees or their boss. Team members learn cues from their leaders if there is no trust they will also not cultivate trust to you and other employees (Ryan, 2018). Also, as a leader, you need to communicate openly and with clarity in an honest and meaningful way. Find strategies to influence your team members also, to be honest, and open when communicating change with other colleagues. Leaders should consider building a working charter that defines the role of each team members present it to the team and allow them to ask questions and comment on their expectations. Thirdly, organize and strategically plan for team building events which will help team members to break ice and share freely with the bosses or amongst themselves (Ryan, 2018). Another way of creating trust is by ensuring that you know your team members at a personal level. Also, creating an environment that will allow o team members to share freely with other colleagues about their lives families and hobbies will create a trust bond and social life within the guiding coalition.

Structuring the team and ejecting energy

I will put my team into a functional structure which is based on the team member’s functionality or expertise area. For instance, I will group the team members into IT, marketing, planning, finance and any other area of specialty (Harrison, 2017)... This structure will enable members from a similar specialty to share experience and skills thus coming up with ideas that will foster or embrace change. This structure will have top management linked to small groups of specialty as communication is effected from one department to the other. Injecting energy into the team members will involve motivating the team, giving them credit wherever they do a commendable job, go easy on dress code (suggest one day within a week for casual wear) as well as recommend days for social impact with the organization.

Walmart Inc. is expected to implement proper changes to their business operations. To compete with other companies in the retail space and market, Walmart should invest in e-commerce and improve the overall shopping experience. Currently, the shopping experience is insufficient and the employees lack proper motivation. To make the changes, Walmart Inc. reported actions to bring about substantial changes including investing in e-commerce and expanding he overall shopping experience in the company. Making drastic changes is important in increasing e-commerce presence is effective (Hickman, & Silva, 2018). Walmart is expected to form proper strategic partnerships to enhance the digital retail sales and overall operations. For example, the company is expected to form renovation into the shopping experience and the streaming of the retail stores. Therefore, the strategies for implementing change is important in promoting sales growth and long-term performance.

Strategies for Change-Making Sense of Urgency

There are different strategies to implement proper changes in the organization to increase the overall retail sales. Taking advantage of the market opportunities is important to enhance retail sales. One of the strategies is understanding customer-interfacing employees effectively. Service employees are critical in improving the customer reactions and encouraging the managers to work effectively. Proper treatment of the employees and responding to urgent questions is critical in ensuring that the company is prepared for proper changes to the adoption of e-commerce sites (Elnaga, &Shammari, 2016). The organizational leaders should take proper actions to understand the needs of the stakeholders. The leaders should also understand the need for making proper changes to support long-term online sales growth.

Some of the critical steps and actions for implementing sense of urgency includes understanding severity of leadership commitment to implementing proper changes, reviewing the bad news of poor retail sales, demanding managers and employees to respond directly to the unhappy customers, and other stakeholders, sharing information to support change, and ascertaining that the management actions are aligned with the change communications to enhance online ecommerce sales. It is impossible to implement urgency without proper and effective communication with the work teams and employees. The leaders demand clear communications that is critical in promoting change efforts and programs. Understanding sense of urgency is important in overcoming the status quo to improve change and future productivity.

It is also recommendable for the managers of Walmart to identify the specific tasks and reduce the potential confusion. Sense of urgency is critical in making proper judgments about the understanding the motivation of the employees. Clarification of the organizational tasks is critical in promoting communications for forming quality leader-follower relationship. Clarifying the issues related to e-commerce presence of Walmart is effective in understand the capabilities of the employees effectively. The clarifying of the potential consequences of e-commerce change is also important. It is necessary for the teams to understand the actual consequences of poor productivity and performance of Walmart Inc. Effective organizational leaders should understand the effects of challenges that impacts on the productivity of the organization. Understanding the need for e-commerce change is good to promote long-term actions and plans.

Most importantly, it is vital to set proper conditions and guidelines for the work teams to ensure that they respond to the urgent needs of the organization. The guidelines for the implementation of online retail strategy for Walmart are valuable to the long-term performance of the company. The recognition of the employees is vital in responding to the sense of urgency is important (Hickman, & Silva, 2018).Changing the online sales strategy is critical in promoting success and recognizing the teams effectively. The mastering of these online strategies is critical in implementing proper changes to Walmart’s proper actions.

It is recommendable for Walmart to support a blended shopping experience and program to improve the implementation of the e-commerce program. However, the company is making effort to enhance the digital and the traditional shopping experiences for Walmart. The integration of these retail shopping experiences is important in improving the performance of the retail firms to enhance the long-term sales expansion. For example, Walmart Inc. should integrate relevant pickup discounts for specific products purchased online (Elnaga, &Shammari, 2016).Some of the online stores gives the customers the opportunity to purchase the grocery products online. The empowerment of the employees is critical to promote long-term online earnings.

Creating a Vision

The ability to influence change is one of the greatest qualities a leader must possess. Such ability enables leaders to enhance changes in their employees with improvements achieved in their values, behavior, beliefs, and attitudes (Hao & Yazdanifard, 2015). Poor leadership fails to influence these and rather create conflicts that affect the achievement of the objectives of the organization. An effective leader looks at change through the vision of the organization as the driving force through which the employees work to achieve the objectives. In the following stage, the creation and implementation of a vision for Walmart is executed as a necessity considering it provides the organization with the driving force through which change is possible and attainable.

The vision of Change Desired

The vision employed by Walmart is focused on saving consumers money to enhance their living. The company seeks to achieve this through providing the consumers with a wide range of products through which it meets its needs and enables consumers to attain their quest in the market. Attaining the vision relates with the improvement of services offered and products to ensure enhanced satisfaction of the consumers. The company focuses on implementation of the emerging technologies in their products and services as a means of developing and maintaining their competitive advantage in the field (Rowland, 2019, February 13). The company also focuses only on those markets it is in a position to attain a positive contribution influencing the lifestyles of its consumers and generating customer satisfaction in all aspects of its products. The company, therefore, desires to be the face of the retail industry and provide highly innovative products and services providing satisfaction not only today but also in the future.

Current Situation

Currently, Walmart remains one of the most competitive company in the UK retail industry with products dominant in the market. The company has attained dominance from the quality of its products and services also creating customer loyalty through constant satisfaction of the needs of the consumers. However, Walmart seeks to create future dominance and continue providing products that ensure customer satisfaction. The company seeks to create corporate sustainability and lasting competitive advantage. The future of the company and the influence that constant changes in technology will have on it is the focus of the current change procedures implemented. Research and continued investment in innovation is part of the processes favored that will contribute towards the management of the change process to ensure the vision of Walmart remains within sight. However, the implementation of these changes is viewed differently by employees and the outside world.

Views from Outsiders

The views from outsides are based on the nature of impact the organization has in society and the level of customer satisfaction attained. Organizations that fail to impress in customer service and product quality are normally looked at as failed with increasing difficulties in attracting customers. Such companies are characterized by low sales and higher customer turnover rates with reduced levels of customer loyalty. The process of creating change, however, is measured by the possibility of the impact the change process has on the organization with improvement in processes and customer service. The ability of the organization and its employees to work towards customer satisfaction is viewed as a positive influence of change. Such changes attract a growing number of consumers and increased levels of customer loyalty. Positive changes also increase the social status of the company brand contributing to an enhanced market position.

Views from Employees and Team Members

The implementation of changes attracts varied opinions and views from employees and work teams. To start with, the support offered through the process by the employees and teams is essential to determine the views after the implementation of change. Also, the nature of the impact that employees see with the change process is vital in determining their attitude towards the change process. In cases where the change registered does not provide sufficient improvement in the organizational processes, the employees see a failure in change and develop further resistance. According to Lawrence (1969, January 1), a display of resistance to change may include behavior changes in the employees with a reduction in output. An increase in the labor turnover is also recorded as part of the resistance to change with some employees requesting transfers from departments and other areas of the organization. Conflicts in the workplace are also a sign of resistance to change in addition to increased hostility. However, success in attaining the change process will lead to content in the employees with an increased level of confidence in the process and participation. Positive reaction after completion of change, therefore, indicates confidence and contentment with the process while negative reactions including defiance is a sign of the failure of the change process and lack of support.

Indexes Useful in Measuring and Quantifying Change

Measuring change management and quantifying the results enables an organization to identify the progress registered. However, this process is challenging with many organizations failing in measuring the change in place. A number of approaches are identified that may help in measuring change. These include performance improvements. In some change situations, the target objective of the organization is to register an improvement in performance. If the problem in the organization is the turnover of employees, measuring the performance of the organization by reviewing the turnover rate after instituting change measures reveals progress. Project KPI is also known to provide a means of measuring and quantifying changes the organization achieves. The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) may include improvement in sales comparing the previous year with the current year (Prosci Change Management, n.d.). Other indexes for measuring and quantifying changes include the improved adherence to timelines by employees, enhanced speed of execution of procedures and processes, realization of benefits and associated Return on Investments and adherence to the project plan established. In addition to the above, measuring individual performance is also part of the process with each employee assessed differently on their contribution towards change. Approaches such as adoption metrics, adherence, and compliance reports, employee feedbacks, proficiency measures, errors log and proficiency measures may help identify changes and improvements in the employees of Walmart.

Communication Strategy

Communication is very important in the change process. Communication ensures that all team members and stakeholders understand the reason for the change and what should be expected of them. It ensures there is clarity of what changes will be done in an organization. It provides an opportunity for stakeholders to give their views on how the change will affect them as well as the organization. Stakeholder communication strengthens mutual trust and benefits thus improving the operations of an organization. Stakeholders can be consulted either in ongoing bases or on project based. Their view must be considered and take care of in the change process (Wright & Robertson, 2016).

Communicate for Buy-In Walmart Inc. will take various actions to communicate the change to all stakeholders. The first step is clarifying WIIFN to all stakeholders. The management may be aware of the changes that the organization needs to undergo. But all stakeholders may not be aware of them. This allows the stakeholders to give their view and ideas. They could offer important insight that can be used in the change process to make it even better. It also shows that the organization respects and cares for the stakeholders. This strengthens the relationship between the management and the stakeholders improving the operations of the organization.

The team will select credible leaders to deliver the message to stakeholders. The people delivering the message should have understood the change process very well and should have credibility with the stakeholders. If a certain leader is considered toxic by the people to receive the message then he may not be the right person to deliver the message (Yehya & Coombs, 2017). This message should be delivered by someone who interacts freely by the stakeholders and is perceived to be friendly. The person delivering the change message will also be fully informed and committed to the change. He/she should also be thoroughly prepared for the presentation.

The team will make the communication face to face. This is an efficient form of communication compared to other platforms such as email, twitter or broadcast announcements. This message is so powerful that it needs face to face communication. Facial expressions, body language and voice inflection play a significant role in passing the message. It helps the stakeholders to ask question which can be responded immediately clearing the air and keeping rumors away. This also builds a strong relationship between the change team and the stakeholders. Using phones or emails wouldn’t provide an opportunity for the development of good relationships (Melewar et al., 2017).

Communication will be in cascade down and feedback up loop. All communication delivered to the stakeholders will be consistent. Providing inconsistent information could raise questions about the credibility of the change. The first message delivered in the first meeting will be supported by information delivered to various departments and consequent meeting in the department. All questions raised and other arising issues will be fully addresses in the implementation phase. The feedback loop will be used to communicate upwards about things that are working and those that need adjustments for them to work effectively. This will help the team to gain trust and support of the stakeholders.

The team will keep communicating from the start of the change process to the end. People don’t always accept change at once. Some may accept and then get influenced by others and change in the middle of the process. It is therefore important to keep communicating to them to ensure that you are moving together. Constant communication helps coordinate and sustain efforts to make the change sustainable.

Stakeholders need to know the process is ongoing and that they need to continue putting on their efforts to achieve the vision of the change. Keep reminding them about the importance of the change. The team will emphasize to the stakeholders that the change is inevitable. Stakeholders need to be reminded that due to various factors change is part of life. People change, regulations change and technology change.

The organization must change some of its operations to align in the industry’s new changes. The team will remind the stakeholders how change in the past was rolled out and how effective and beneficial it was to the organization. This will create hope for the employees and all other stakeholders. The person delivering the message must be articulate and have convincing power to put more emphasis on the change (Steyn, 2018).

The team will also explain to the stakeholders that the change will be experienced incrementally. This will take away any doubts that the stakeholders may have on the change. It is important for them to understand that the change does not take place at once. The team will emphasize that the change will be rolled out gradually and no one will be negatively affected. The stakeholders will therefore be given enough time to adjust themselves along the way. This allows everyone to build trust and understand the change better. Implemented change in a very short period of time may have adverse effects on the stakeholders and therefore the change must consider their welfare.

Another action that the team will take is maintaining a sense of urgency. Change in organizations often encounters enormous resistance. Part of this is because is implemented without the right momentum. To overcome this resistance you need to create the right momentum. Remind the stakeholders that the change is not a choice the only thing they can do is decide how they react to it. It becomes much easier to adjust the team once they have gained the required momentum.

The team needs a lot of cooperating to begin the change process. In that process you also inform them how success looks like. The team will easily buy in the change idea once you provide a clear score card for success.

Questionnaire

Conclusion

In summary, Walmart Inc. should increase the sense of urgency through the changing the traditional sales environment to an e-commerce platform that promotes sales growth and performance. The implementation of these change strategies will be effective in promoting the long-term online sales performance. For instance, the blending of shopping experience is necessary to enhance sales performance as well as the e-commerce program and initiatives. The implementation of the shopping experience is useful in ensuring the integration of the digital and traditional shopping experiences to improve sales growth. Most importantly, effective communication between the leaders and the work teams is also necessary. The collaboration between the leaders and the work teams will help in promoting the long-term performance of the company. Walmart will rely on the sense of urgency strategies to implement a comprehensive ecommerce strategy.

The vision of a company acts as its driving force and sense of direction. The intentions of Walmart in attaining its vision have seen the implementation of change strategies that contribute towards customer satisfaction. Processes internally focused on providing employees with a favorable environment have reduced resistance to change allowing improvement in the quality of services and products offered by the company. The end result of these includes enhanced customer satisfaction and developed brand loyalty that has maintained Walmart at the helm of the retail industry for years. The attainment of future progress and competitive advantage is part of the vision of the company currently. The focus is on building an environment that ensures continued innovation.

References

Elnaga, A. A., &Shammari, F. H. A. (2016). The impact of e-commerce on business strategy: a literature review approach. Journal of American Science, 12(5), 68-79.

Harrison, P. (2017). Communicating Change. In Exploring Internal Communication (pp. 79-86). Routledge.

Hickman, C. R., & Silva, M. A. (2018). Creating excellence: Managing corporate culture, strategy, and change in the new age. London, UK: Routledge.

Hughes, M. (2016). Leading changes: Why transformation explanations fail. Leadership, 12(4), 449-469.