Risk Watch with Alberta QUARCOOPOME: What are the effects of organizational change in your workplace (2)?

 “The path to success is to take massive, determined action.” – Anthony Robbins

 Last week, I examined how the banking landscape in Ghana has evolved during mergers, acquisitions and consolidations resulting in massive organizational changes.  I also looked at the effect of these changes with particular reference to the People Factor. Organizational change in the workplace can bring both positive and negative effects. It often improves competitiveness and innovation, but it can also increase stress, reduce job satisfaction, and disrupt employee performance if not managed well. The impact depends heavily on how leaders communicate, support, and involve employees during the transition.

Let us relook at more key effects of organizational change

Employee Performance

• Poorly managed change can lower motivation and job satisfaction, leading to reduced productivity.
• Effective change management strategies can boost performance and reduce turnover by aligning employees with new goals.

2. Mental Health

• Change often increases psychosocial risks such as stress, anxiety, and burnout.
• Employees may feel uncertain about their roles, leading to decreased well-being.

3. Engagement

• Success depends on employees’ enthusiasm and willingness to support change.
• Factors like psychological safety, self-efficacy, and meaningful work strongly influence engagement.
• The Change Process

Organizational change does not have to be a complex process.  Kurt Lewin developed a change model involving three steps. He described the three stages of organizational change as unfreezing, changing and refreezing.

Before you can cook a meal that has been frozen, you need to defrost or thaw it out. The same can be said of change. Before a change can be implemented, it must go through the initial step of unfreezing. Because many people will naturally resist change, the goal during the unfreezing stage is to create an awareness of how the status quo, or current level of acceptability, is hindering the organization in some way. According to Lewin, old behaviour, ways of thinking, processes, people and organizational structures must all be carefully examined to show employees how necessary a change is for the organization to create or maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. To add to Lewin, I will also say that this period should be effectively used for a diagnostic study to know the origin and root causes of the organization’s problems, what their strengths are and how best fit people can be managed to ensure a smooth transition and not a “copy and paste” solution. Communication is especially important during the unfreezing stage so that employees can become informed about the imminent change, the logic behind it and how it will benefit each employee. It is believed that the more they know about a change and the more they feel it is necessary and urgent, the more motivated they will be to accept the change.

Now that the people are ‘unfrozen’ they can begin to move. Lewin recognized that change is a process where the organization must transition or move into this new state of being. This changing step, also referred to as ‘transitioning’ or ‘moving,’ is marked by the implementation of the change. This is when the change becomes real and many people struggle with the new reality. This is a period of the fear of the unknown and therefore difficult to implement. During the changing step people begin to learn the new behaviour, processes and ways of thinking. The more prepared they are for this step, the easier it is to complete. For this reason, education, communication, support and time are critical for employees as they become familiar with the change. Again, change is a process that must be carefully planned and executed. Throughout this process, employees should be reminded of the reasons for the change and how it will benefit them once fully implemented. The concentration should be on the benefits of change not on the problems of the past. No finger pointing and threats of reprisal.

Refreezing

Lewin called the final stage of his change model freezing, but many refer to it as refreezing to symbolize the act of re-enforcing, stabilizing and solidifying the new state after the change. The changes made to organizational processes, goals, structure, offerings or people are accepted and refrozen as the new norm or status quo. Lewin realized that if this is not done, people are likely to revert to their old ways of thinking or doing things, prior to the implementation of the change. Efforts must be made to guarantee the change is not lost; rather it needs to be cemented into the organization’s culture and maintained as the acceptable way of thinking or doing things. Positive rewards and acknowledgment of individualized efforts are often used to reinforce the new state because it is believed that positively reinforced behavior will likely be repeated. There is a note of caution here, the stage of refreezing is not absolute because there is still an element of change going on. However, the main function and features of the newly changed organization should be cemented.

Change Agents

Who is responsible for managing the planned change activities? The answer is Change Agents. These change agents can be managers or non-managers, employees of organization or outside consultants. There are three categories of change agents:

• External Change Agents, who are outside consultants who are temporary employed in the organization to remain engaged only for the duration of the change process.
• Internal Change Agents

These are employees who have knowledge about the organizations’ problems and have experience of improving the situation. Such persons are usually assigned a responsibility of facilitating the change through mentoring and leading staff to blend with the new changes, without coercion. They are also mentors and role models in the system who can influence people.

• External-Internal Change Agents

These are the individuals or small group within the organization designated to serve with the external change agent so that intervention could be implemented effectively with their help.

Questions to Ponder for all Change Agents

Are you a change agent? Here are a few questions to ponder.

External Change Agent

If you are an external change agent,

• Are you well versed in the core business and structures of the organization you have agreed to help change?
• Are you employed to serve the genuine change needs as diagnosed by the Institution?
• If you observe personal agenda by some persons, do you sit and discuss with the employer, taking the staff and their clients and customers into consideration?
• What are the positive and negative consequences of the change? When it is balanced, will it improve the bottom line of the organization, or it is just to change for change’s sake? Note that some changes are just a change of personnel, while the engine still runs in the same old way.

Internal Change Agents

• If you are an internal change agent, do you ask fundamental questions that can help you identify with the cause and be able to sweep people off their feet with the new vision, slogan and values?
• How do you feel as a change agent? Are you regarded as a spy for the new regime or someone that can be relied upon for your transparency and neutrality?
• Is it a personal vendetta for you to report others or a chance for you to be promoted?
• Do you give the truthful and information to the external change agent or twist facts to have your way or facilitate hidden agenda?
• How well can you be trusted as a liaison?

The People

Without the human capital, an organization cannot reap the benefits of change. If one examines the sources of operational risk, one finds that people risk is one of the most critical aspects and can hit a bank’s bottom-line. For instance, Internal fraud in banks, especially when it is done in connivance with external fraudsters results in massive losses to banks. Let me also ask you the following questions:

• How are you finding the change management process?
• Is it clipping your wings of power?
• Is it taking you out of your comfort zone or safety net?
• Searching deeply within you, do you not find anything positive about the expected results of the change?
• Are you feeling “lorded” over by new faces and “inexperienced” persons?
• Do you show a positive and welcoming attitude to your new leaders and colleagues, or regard them as invaders?
• Have you been self-upgrading yourself to make yourself more marketable and adaptable to any changing circumstances in your career or are you stuck in your deep pit of knowledge?
• Are you ready to share your experiences while learning new ones?

Next week, we shall share some core best practices in change management not often found in books

TO BE CONTINUED

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