Hr and Organizational Change

By: Muhammad Faisal

Change is a messy, iterative process. Just when you think you've arrived you find you've hardly begun

(Tony Turrill: Change & Innovation - A Challenge for the NHS)

Ever since those two planes hit the twin towers of World Trade Center we talk about 9/11 as if this was the only year that September 11 took place. As a matter of fact the world has seen the eleventh day of the ninth month throughout the Gregorian calendar for over 2000 years. Come 2001 and people started blaming this day for their personal and professional failures. One person got fired by his employer in the month of June but people said it was his 9/11. Even some organizations found a worthy scapegoat in the form of 9/11.

It is also often mentioned that everything has changed since 9/11. We should however not forget that the world has seen more tragic changes taking place, in the past, having survived two world wars and many recessions. In the corporate world, those who found the going too tough also found a place in the history books. However, the ability to deal with change effectively remained the key to attaining success for high performing organizations.

As HR assumes the role of a business partner their participation in organizational change activities is becoming more and more critical. This article provides a basic guideline for organizational change to all managers in general and HR practitioners in particular.

Understanding Change

In a corporate world where 'change ' & 'change management' are the buzz words very few people would be able to answer one basic question - 'why change?'.

Having been personally involved in organizational change and having closely monitored some change management activities, I have concluded that if managers ask themselves the following key questions before administering any change, they will be able to handle change much more effectively:

1. Why change

2. What to change &

3. How to change

Let's take these questions one at a time.

Why change

Organizations mainly change for the following 3 reasons:

1. to adapt

2. to achieve goals

3. to sustain success

1. To adapt

When the factors influencing your business/organization are outside your span of control you can do nothing but to adapt to it. A good example here is that of security measures that were taken by all major airliners after what happened on 9/11, 2001.

2. To achieve goals

There can be a number of and several types of goals. The goal of profit earning organizations as well as non-profit organizations. The goal of Edhi Welfare Service is to serve the humanity. Their change management has mostly been expansion of their services eg. from car ambulance to air ambulance, from local to international relief work.

The goal of loss making unit may be to turn the unit into a profit making one.

3. Sustaining success

Success doesn't guarantee more success unless you work for more success. In many cases success laid the foundation for future failures, as people & organizations became complacent due to their success. In a fast paced and competitive economy the word 'change' deserves more respect then it ever did. Organizations which sustained success for longer periods were able to do so only because they managed changed effectively. In fact some of these organizations were responsible for bringing about change in the lives and lifestyles of people. Siemens, 3M, Toyota, Sony are examples of some such organizations.

What to change

Once you have determined why you need to change you then determine what are the things you need to change to achieve the desired out comes. These, in a nutshell, can be categorized into the following:

1. People

2. Processes

3. Systems/Environment

1 . People

People, they say, are the real competitive advantage of any organization. They can make or break the entire company. One main reason cited