Stephanie Carbonneau
OLEAD410 Blog Entry #2
For this weeks blog entry I plan to discuss the topic of organizational change which was covered in lesson 5. I chose the topic of organizational change for two reasons. First, organizational change is something that I find to be a particularly important factor as a leader. Time, technology, processes (and more) are all constantly changing, which means the work place and the organization that runs it are also both frequently changing, and as a leader it is important to be able to adapt to these changes. The second reason I chose to focus on this topic is that my current workplace is currently going through a major organizational change, in higher level management as well as my direct management team.
Organizational change is something that is going to be inevitable in the work place. The organization, the people who run it, technology, all can change in any given moment. With that being said, it is crucial to be able to adapt and change as a leader as well. We learned this week that “organizational change means adapting the group to meet changes in the environment” (OLEAD410, L2) which I feel only supports my idea that adapting to organizational change is critical. Imagine a leader, who is stuck in their ways and unaccepting to change. How could they truly lead their employees? Not only would it be more difficult to be a leader, but it would be difficult for the employees under you and detrimental to the organization you work for. Beyond the ability to lead, it is important to be accepting of change in technology as well. It is no secret that technology has come so far from where it began in terms of computers, cellphones, programs and more. If a leader is not capable of adapting to technology changes (in their organization) they could have a hard time keeping up with new processes or demands.
In addition to the importance of being accepting to organizational change, I chose this topic because my current employer is going through a full organizational change from the top leaders, down. We recently had a company come through and audit many of our processes and determine where we could improve and be more efficient, the result of that audit is the organizational change. We have a lot of positions being combined, and a lot of positions being eliminated. Many of the eliminations are people who were not capable of adapting to the change of the organization. Not only are positions being changed or combined, but certain departments in the organization are also being changed. For example, my area has 2 departments, one is called CTRS (compliance testing and reporting services) and the other is called shared services, these once were two separate entities and we are not under the same leader. Changes such as this take some time to get used to, but over all it is to benefit the company over all and ensure we are as efficient as possible.
Over all, it is important to remember that change is not something that is going to go away. We are always going to face changes, in organizational structure, processes, technology, and essentially every aspect of life. Having the ability as a leader to adapt to these changes is crucial to be successful. I know that going through the organizational changes we are going through in my current work place is only helping my ability to see the kind of changes that can take place and what it takes to get through them, and find the “new normal” after a change occurs.
References:
Pennsylvania State University (2020). Lesson 05: Learning and Change in a Global Setting: Planned Change. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2041071/modules/items/27977845
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