Change management

Change management helps affect beneficial organisational change. Organisational change management focuses on ensuring investments in projects and programmes realise their expected benefits.

This is done by identifying those aspects of company culture that must change, guiding employees through change and encouraging new behaviours, tools, and best practices that improves the organisation.

Strategy

For many years, a favourite business strategy of senior executives in many enterprises has involved outsourcing strategies and contracting out. Whilst cost savings have been the main motivating factor, the resulting changes in organisational structure have sometimes been overlooked.

Change managers

Often employees are resistant to change. Overcoming resistance to change is where the change management profession come in. Change managers must provide leadership to help staff navigate the transition from existing models and processes to new a new model and process.

Change management model

A change management model or framework can also provide change managers with a toolset to help them achieve success from a change initiative. Some of these change management models such as the Five Stages of Grief described in the Kübler-Ross change curve, plan-do-check-act (PDCA), 7-S model, or ADKAR model are well-proven methods that can help change leaders achieve effective change.

Learning organisation

Knowledge sharing and collaboration between leaders and teams is an important aspect of change management. An ideal goal is to create a self-sustaining learning organisation which strives to continually improve the skills of staff, their knowledge of the customer, and their competence to use appropriate collaboration tools. This means moving beyond a mindset that focuses on a low-risk approach based upon compliance.

Digital transformation

Post-Covid, digital transformation within companies is likely to accelerate as more organisations view organisational change as an essential part of strategic management. In the services industry, the acceleration of lean management and the elimination of waste based upon lean production systems and principles will provide competitive advantages to some.

Whilst a change project or change programme often involves cutting-edge technology, leaders must not lose sight of some of the basics such the continuous improvement aspects of quality management. Only by placing the need to improve at the heart of enterprise strategic management will successful change management be achieved.