Leading Organization Change Week 9
Jaylin001
ChangeManagementPlan.docx1
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Change Management Plan
MBA-687
Leading Organizational Change
SNHU
Terrell McGhee
10/2/2022
MBA 687 Module Two
Introduction
Implementing change in an organization can only be effective if proper planning is done to identify the key stakeholders in supporting the initiatives. When this is not done, some sections of the organization will feel not involved in the change process, and they will resist or even water down the managers' efforts. In light of this information, this report discusses the change management plan in the U.S. branch of the Singaporean software service provider.
Key Stakeholders
The VP and the employees are the two most essential stakeholders in guaranteeing the change process in the U.S.U.S. subsidiary of the Singaporean Software service provider. The Vice President of the United States branch is responsible for leading and supporting the whole branch's divisional operations and developing its strategic goals, stating its values, mission and vision. The Chief Executive Officer of the parent company has entrusted the V.P. of the United States branch with the responsibility of managing and guiding its progress. As such, the V.P is at the core of a successful change process in the U.S branch. Besides, employees are another key stakeholder in managing the change process in the U.S branch. Some problems bedeviling the U.S branch are lack of employee engagement and poor communication, resulting in feedback conflicts and a demoralized workforce. Therefore the role of employees in the change process cannot be underestimated since they are key implementers of the change initiatives.
Significance of Stakeholders
The V.P plays a critical role in managing the U.S branch and has a significant influence on driving its success. Being at the helm of the U.S branch places a premium on the importance of the Vice President's responsibilities because they manage the strategic plan that determines the path each team should take. The V.P plays a vital role in garnering buy-in, acceptance, and commitment for change across divisions of the organization. The Vice President is also responsible for assisting the top leadership in better focusing their attention on integration plans and acting upon the firm's requirements. Since the Vice President is the one who develops the overall organizational vision and mission, they have the most influence over the change process. This enables them to boost the probability of success for the change programs they are leading by obtaining the support of employees through communicating the organization's objectives to them.
Employees of the U.S branch are in direct contact with the company's customers; as such, they have some pertinent information about the company's operations (Verčič,2021). As a result of this opportunity, they are in a position to become change management agents. According to the effects of measuring employee engagement, middle managers pay attention to what the production team, the employees, have to say, facilitating communication between production and top leadership.
Strategic Goals
Aligning strategic goals to the change management plan is critical in securing an effective change management initiative (Errida & Lotfi, 2021). The employees' engagement report, leadership evaluation report, and the vision and mission statements of the company provide critical information to guide strategic-change process alignment. The effective change management plan focuses on growth, customers, talent development, marketing, and learning new skills and industry knowledge. The change management plan will align with these goals by emphasizing the business's expansion. This will be accomplished by introducing a unique work environment at the U.S subsidiary. This initiative will be benchmarked against standard operating procedures used by the parent company in Singapore. They will be able to better penetrate the market in the United States by gaining new clients, which may be accomplished through effective marketing. The employees who believe they have not received adequate on-the-job training will be impacted by the change management plan, which will focus on enriching the skills and competence of the employees through creating talent and learning opportunities.
Strategic objectives of the change management initiatives include conducting market research, creating and implementing succession leadership training at all levels, and creating a recruiting team to determine the qualities sought during the employees' hiring process. Another critical strategic goal for change management in the U.S branch is to improve communications and enhance coordination within the company.
Improvements to Organizational Systems
According to ex-employees’ exit interviews, many processes, techniques, and policies must be improved. The U.S branch personnel will be able to meet the objectives established by headquarters with the help of enhanced training guidelines and a greater understanding of the benchmark standard operating practices used by the parent company in Singapore. Leadership communication procedures also need to be improved, particularly regarding employee feedback. Employees feel ignored and unsupported, which causes which may lead to them being repugnant and unsupportive in implementing the change initiatives (Yue et al.,2019). There have also been reports of demotivated and disgruntled employees; as such enhancing engagement and motivation to perform their duties will also increase due to improved communication mechanisms. Employee attitudes at the U.S branch will also improve as a result of improving these processes, procedures, and regulations because fewer employees will be leaving their jobs. Increased job satisfaction among employees will boost workplace morale and increase productivity, benefiting the individual workers and the entire company.
Enhancing Strategies for Team Management
The top-down management approach is a primary factor in the lack of effective team collaboration in the U.S branch. They distanced the entities, Singapore and the United States, from one another rather than bringing them together (Crowley,2022). During their exit interviews, some employees who had partnered with a Singaporean company showed high satisfaction with their work ethics. However, they mentioned that there was less employee training and appraisal. Reviewing the comments in the exit interviews reveals minimal communication and clarity of the vision and coordination between the Singaporean parent company and the U.S branch. According to the discussions, there is an absence of consistency in the communication and procedures, resulting in conflicting feedback. The implementation of a strategy for team development and training on how to communicate effectively should be implemented in the company. Creating synergy between the team in the U.S branch and Singapore will be the precursor of effective collaboration among teams to assist in overall team building and successful involvement.
Embracing a management plan in which the middle-level managers lead the coordination of the company activities will enhance team collaborations and reduce conflicts in the U.S branch. This approach allows the adequate flow of information between the top-level management and the employees. To make up for the difference in training between Singapore and the United States, further training on issues such as culture and the principles of foreign languages would make productive relationships even more effective. The training helps to hire and retain highly qualified and talented individuals. Training is the key to a successful team and organization embracing and addressing the communication issues arising from cultural and language bottlenecks.
Change Management Model
The A.D.K.A.R. model is the most effective change model to use in addressing and implementing change in the United States branch of the Singaporean software service provider. The United States branch has several important issues: inconsistent feedback, which has increased staff dissatisfaction and contributed to low morale. According to the employee surveys, the communication challenges that have been occurring in the U.S branch have been brought on by unsatisfactory employee engagement. Implementing the A.D.K.A.R. transformational approach will be essential to enhance and build employees' participation in changing the U.S branch. According to Wong et al. (2019), the A.D.K.A.R. approach raises employees' awareness of the need to execute change and stimulates their willingness to do so. This method works by focusing on five key areas to create a more proactive process of managing organizational change. It first creates awareness and desire in the team members about the change initiatives. This process is essential in the U.S.U branch to bring the demoralized employees to support the change process. Besides, the A.D.K.A.R. change management model develops knowledge, creates ability, and reinforces the change process to guarantee its success. A.D.K.A.R. is an outcome-oriented change management approach with the primary objective of minimizing resistance to organizational changes. According to the approach, awareness and desire focus on moving individuals from the status quo and instilling in them the need for change. On the other hand, knowledge and capability are acquired throughout the process of change or transition, whereas reinforcement targets future issues during the change process.
According to the results of the surveys, what is required is a message that is both clear and straightforward, which will be produced by this model. This communication will be evidence-based, and as a result, it will directly address the company and the required changes. This strategy will also allow time to adequately support and teach the teams about the necessary change and guarantee that all members are equipped with the required abilities. The participants in this process will all be held accountable for the changes, ensuring they are implementing the new method. In this context, the A.D.K.A.R. change model promotes change within the company by first establishing distinct objectives and goals for change and creates awareness and desire in individuals through the process of including them in the change process initiatives (Wong et al.,2019). The model also concentrates on motivating people to support change by expanding their knowledge and skill, which is crucial for the success of the change process in the U.S branch. This strategy will allow time to adequately support and teach the teams about the necessary change and guarantee that all members are equipped with the required abilities. This procedure will help ensure that everyone is reinforcing the new way of doing things and holding every employee accountable for the change programs of the U.S branch. While the same information is being conveyed to the team, this will make it possible for an increase in trust and a better understanding of the culture and goal of the organization.
Implementation Steps of the Change Model
Communication is one of the key elements contributing to the failure or success of many change programs. It is of the utmost importance to communicate clearly with the team and create awareness and desire to be the agents of change in the organization. Many organizations utilize a communication strategy to guarantee that information is efficiently distributed across all levels of the organization. In addition, the top management should be able to clarify issues affecting the organization during the meeting, construct the structure, reinforce the plan, and celebrate even the most minor victories (Verčič,2021). By applying the A.D.K.A.R. change management plan, the resistance and roadblocks to effective change management in the U.S.U.S. branch will be reduced and eliminated. The framework of this approach focuses on employees' engagement through creating awareness and desire for change. This approach is essential in galvanizing the employees of the U.S branch to come on board and support the change. The senior leaders, whether transactional or transformative, are another integral component of the process (Crowley, 2022). Training is provided for middle-level management and executives to comprehend the disparities better. They used their self-evaluations before and after the training to determine whether or not there was a need for change in certain areas. However, connecting to the overall business strategy creates possible obstacles at the staff level. Employees may be performing in a manner that is consistent with the firm's plan; however, they have indicated on the engagement surveys that they are uncertain due to the absence of communication and trust. Communication can be strengthened, and the organization's mission, vision, and values can be communicated more effectively by utilizing employee meetings and positive feedback from senior leadership.
The A.D.K.A.R. change model will effectively deal with the impacts of planned and unplanned changes and contingencies. Since this model is outcome-oriented and involves the employees in the change process, they will be willing to share information with the leadership, thus creating valuable reviews of the actions taken (Galli,2018). Effective communication and engagement will identify and address potential risks and contingencies before they become detrimental to the change process.
The Employee Engagement survey, Leader Self Assessments, and employees’ engagement surveys were used to monitor and track the success of the change. These are also used as milestones in the process of measuring the success of the change. The progression of the A.D.K.A.R. change model is used to measure the achievement of particular milestones through creating awareness, desire, knowledge, and ability and reinforcing the change process. The process allows employees to make their way through each phase toward the implementation stage due to changes brought about by enhanced engagement.
Conclusion
Addressing the myriad of issues in the U.S branch will successfully create a strong synergy between the holding company and the U.S branch. This will be enabled by enhancing communication through employee engagement and support. Through effective communication, the organization's strategic goals will be interlinked to the broad vision, mission, and values, thus avoiding confusion and conflicting interests within the organization. Adopting the A.D.K.A.R. change management model will also increase the awareness and desire to implement change in the organization.
References
Crowley, M. C. (2022). Lead from the heart: Transformational leadership for the 21st century. Hay House, Inc.
Errida, A., & Lotfi, B. (2021). The determinants of organizational change management success: Literature review and case study. International Journal of Engineering Business Management, p. 13, 18479790211016273.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/18479790211016273
Galli, B. J. (2018). Change management models: A comparative analysis and concerns. IEEE Engineering Management Review, 46(3), 124–132.
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8486843/
Yue, C. A., Men, L. R., & Ferguson, M. A. (2019). The mediating role of trust is bridging transformational leadership, transparent communication, and employee openness to change. Public relations review, 45(3), 101779.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0363811119300360
Verčič, A. T. (2021). The impact of employee engagement, organizational support, and employer branding on internal communication satisfaction. Public Relations Review, 47(1), 102009.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0363811121000011
Wong, Q., Lacombe, M., Keller, R., Joyce, T., & O'Malley, K. (2019). Leading change with A.D.K.A.R. Nursing Management, 50(4), 28–35.
https://journals.lww.com/nursingmanagement/FullText/2019/04000/Leading_change_with_ADKAR.8.aspx
