Change in an organization is inevitable. In order for an organization to keep progressing, it is important that new technologies and processes are implemented. If a company were to stay doing the same things in the same ways forever, a few years down the road they will be unable to compete against others that are making advances. The world changes and we must change with it. In order for companies to properly implement change they must use tools to prepare their employees for what will come (Moran, Harris & Moran, 2015).
Change is a scary thing for many. Think about it. If you have been at a company for 20 years and you are comfortable with the way things are, would you be so willing to change them? Why is change necessary? That is the question that many employees will be asking themselves in defense to keeping things the way that they are. It is important as leaders that we answer that question (Moran, Harris & Moran, 2015). Employees must be made aware of why change it so important, and what can happen if the change is not implemented. If employees are not prepared for change, there can be many consequences (Moran, Harris & Moran, 2015).
Now picture this. A few years back I was a part of an organization that was going to take one department and split it into two different departments. The reason behind the change was that there was two main customers of this department and neither customer was getting the support that they needed. In order to better support the customer, two departments were created. Many of the longtime employees felt hurt because they were separating their team which was like their family. The morale of the shop dropped to all-time lows. Even employees that did not have an opinion on the matter, began to resent management in support of their fellow coworkers.
It should come as no surprise that many people in this organization values their job. In order to maintain the business and the jobs of many people, the transformation was necessary. Of course the consequences of not implementing the change was not communicated by the management team. And if it were, would it have been accepted any better? In order to properly implement change, leaders must communicate the reasons behind a change and set a sense of urgency among their followers of why the change is highly important (Moran, Harris & Moran, 2015). Change will always be a sensitive subject, because it requires people to unlearn something and learn something else. But the need to communicate and prepare others for change could have made for a smoother transition.
References
Moran, R. T., Harris, P. R., & Moran, S. V. (2011). Chapter 4: Global Leaders Learning From Others and Change. Managing cultural differences: Global leadership strategies for cross-cultural business success (8th ed.) (p. 97-126). Oxford, UK: Elsevier Inc.
Pennsylvania State University World Campus. (2015). OLEAD 497B Lesson 05: Learning and Change in a Global Setting. Retrieved from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/sp15/olead497b/001/content/05_lesson/01_page.html
This post really hit me, I know that feeling. Imagine being in the military, where things have been done the same since military has existed. As you said “Change is scary” and the reasons for that relate to human and environmental factors. If this is the way its been since forever, why is it nesscarry to change? This is the common theme in the military when we talk about any sort of change generally speaking.
Perhaps the explaination for the reactive forces or lack thereof can explain why in my field why nothing changes. There is no competition for nondomestic organizations, risk for violatile exchange rates, customers are becoming more global consumers and global technological change. Some of this doesnt even apply, but the idea is there are forces that call for no change in my organization. There are many dynamics that make the military run but it could run a lot better if change was either easier or more accepted.