Change is an inevitable part of life, and it is the only constant thing in this world. Just like seasons, life and people also change; therefore, an organization should bow to the inevitable. Ignoring such a decisive factor within the organizational strategy will probably result in it failing to maintain its competitive edge and cease to meet the needs of even its most loyal customers.
Organizational change is an approach adopted by an organization to ensure smooth and successful changes, with a view to achieving lasting benefits and sustained growth rates. Change management today is a science that applies ground rules that aim to enhance organizational development. Leadership in the workplace needs a particular combination of change skills and process to strive for excellence in the work environment. Providing a stimulating environment in the workplace will develop the employees’ ability to cope well under the pressure of change, which can stem from a number of causes, including the nature of the workforce, technological development, customers’ needs and so on. The following table illustrates some key drivers of change:
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The Importance of Change to Organizations
1. Customer needs
Customer needs remain a central issue for any organization and are becoming an ever more important factor. If the organization neglects such needs it will harm its growth over time, as well as affect its continuous improvement and bring about a decrease in consumer satisfaction in the service or in product demand. In addition the ability of the organization to maintain a high level of performance, might be affected and lead to the loss of its competitive edge. It is worth noting that no organization is immune to a crisis of confidence, whether it is a private or public entity when a lack of trust exists between customer and organization. Even monopolistic organizations cannot avoid this type of significant impact when customer satisfaction is particularly low.
2. Economy
The growth of organizational development brings prosperity to the nation, and this profitability, based on change management strategy will help the economy to flourish. Building a stable economy reinforces the job creation trend. It also provides greater resilience to fight off challenges. On the contrary a fragile economy creates serious dilemmas within the organization and makes it highly vulnerable to failure in securing employee benefits, such as salaries, benefits, allowances, etc. It may even lead to redundancy or dismissal.
3. Growth opportunities
Change here is doubly important, it allows employees to learn new skills, and organizations need to bridge the gap between current skills and the skills required to respond to growth needs. The creation of multiple channels of work provides an environment that helps them to innovate through ideas or proposals that demonstrate their growing commitment to their organization. Moreover, training staff remains one of the most important channels for accepting change and contributing to their preparation for embracing change instead of resisting it.
4. Challenging the status quo
When an organization’s excellent performance has resulted in enormous international success, it means that success didn’t come overnight, instead this result has been achieved through many factors, such as real leadership, strategic planning, community participation and employee engagement. There is no doubt that encouraging people to introduce new ideas and managing modern innovations contributes to this remarkable success. The organization benefits from change by delivering the most accessible services to customers, or by offering products that are most responsive to their needs. This will only be effective in two ways: firstly to attract top young talent with modern knowledge and new skills in order to open up new horizons for development in the workplace; secondly to provide an appropriate environment that encourages existing employees to learn and to demonstrate the best of their ability to meet the needs of the business.
In this book, the author addresses the importance of organizational change; its types; its applications; its effective strategies; the role of leadership in supporting this approach; the influence of culture in managing change; and the role of organizational structure in adopting this change in the workplace.
Some Work References
Berry, F. (2007) “Strategic Planning as a Tool for Managing Organizational Change”, International Journal of Public Administration, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 331- 346.
Burnes, B. and Coram, R. (2001) “Managing Organizational Change in the Public Sector: lessons from the privatization of the property service Agency”, The International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 94- 110.
Gilley, A. Gilley, J. and McMillan, H. (2009) “Organizational Change: Motivation, Communication, and Leadership Effectiveness”, Performance Improvement Quarterly, Vol. 21, Issue 4, pp. 75- 94.
Richards, L. (2010) “Why is Change important in an organization?” Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/change-important-organization-728.html
Stewart, J. and Krings, P. (2003) “Change Management: Strategy and Values in Six Agencies from the Australian Public Services”, Public Administrative Review, Vol. 63, No. 6, pp. 675- 688.