Chapter 1. What is change management [617565]

Chapter 1. What is change management

1.1 Definition and types
The technical side of the change, or the hard side, will be complex all the time . Issues
surrounding the financial arrangements of the deal must be worked out. Development will have to
take place to integrate the business system. Decisions about the physical arrangements will be made
of the newly formed organization. But getting people on board and participating in the change will
make the difference. Individuals will have to do their jobs di fferently, and it is the degree to which
they change their behaviors and processes that will make or break the merger or acquisition. The soft
side of change is in the most of the times the harder side of change. Learn the what, why and how of
managing the people side of change with a structured approach to change management.
What is Change Management?
Change management has been defined as ‘the process of continually renewing an organization’s
direction, structure, and capabilities to serve the ever -chang ing needs of external and internal
customers’ (Moran and Brightman, 2001: 111).According to Burnes (2004) change is an ever –
present feature of organizational life, both at an operational and strategic level. Therefore, there
should be no doubt regarding th e importance to any organisation of its ability to identify where it
needs to be in the future, and how to manage the changes required getting there. Consequently,
organisational change cannot be separated from organisational strategy, or vice versa (Burne s, 2004;
Rieley and Clarkson, 2001). Due to the importance of organisational change, its management is
becoming a highly required managerial skill (Senior, 2002). Graetz (2000: 550) goes as far as
suggesting ‘Against a backdrop of increasing globalisation, regulation, the rapid pace of
technological innovation, a growing knowledge workforce, and shifting social and demographic
trends, few would dispute that the primary task for manage ment today is the leadership of
organisational change.’
Change management takes care of the people side of change. It does little good to create a new
organization, design new work processes or implement new technologies if you leave the people
behind. Fin ancial success of these changes will be more dependent on how individuals in the

organization embrace the change than how well you draw organization charts or process diagrams.
Change management is the process, tools and techniques to manage the people sid e of change to
achieve its required business outcomes. It is the systematic management of employee engagement
and adoption when the organization changes how work will be done. Ultimately, change
management focuses on how to help employees embrace, adopt an d utilize a change in their day -to-
day work.The Change Management Proces s.From a process perspective, change management is the
set of steps followed by a team member on a particular project or initiative. For the given
transformational effort, it is the st rategy and set of plans focused on moving people through the .
Change competency is a leader or manager’s ability to effectively lead their people through change.
The notion of a leadership competency is universal, but what that competency entails depends o n a
person’s relationship to change. For senior leaders, change management competency means being an
effective sponsor of change and demonstrating their own as well as the organization’s commitment
to the change ( read more about the sponsor role and training ). For frontline supervisors, competency
is related to coaching direct reports through their own change journey ( read more about the
supervisor role and training ). While competency varies depending on one’s relationship to change,
organizations are more effective and successful when they build cha nge management competencies
throughout their ranks . Change management is not just communication or training. It is not just
managing resistance. Effective change management follows a structured process and uses a holistic
set of tools to drive successful i ndividual and organizational change
Organizational Change Happens One Person at a Time . It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking
about change exclusively from an organizational perspective. When one thinks about a merger or
acquisition, they can focus on financial structuring, data and system integration and physical
location changes. However, organizational change of any kind actually occurs one person at a time.
Success of an organization effort only occurs when George and Be lla and Andrew and De phne for
example do their jobs differently. Organizations don’t change , people within organizations change.
It is the cumulative impact of successful individual change that results in an organizational change
being successful. If individuals don’t make changes to their day -to-day work, an organizational
transformation effort will not deliver results.
The people side of change is not the soft side of change , in reality it is the harder side of
change. Investing the time and energy to manage the people side of you r organizational efforts pays

off in the end – in terms of success of the effort and avoidance of the numerous costs that plague
poorly managed change.
Types of Organizational Change . The 3 most common types of organizational change include:
• Developmental change, any organizational change that improves and optimizes on
previously established processes, strategies and procedures.
• Transitional change, change that moves an organization away from its current state to a new
state in order to solve a problem, such as mergers and acquisitions and automation.
• Transformational change – Change that radically and fundamentally alters the culture, core
values and operations.

1.2 History of change management
Many change management models and processes are based with their roots in grief studies. As
consultants saw a correlation between grieving from health -related issues and grieving among
employees in an organization due to loss of jobs and departments, many early change models
captured the full range of h uman emotions as employees mourned job -related transitions. [1] In his
work on diffusion of innovations, Everett Rogers posited that change must be understood in the
context of time, communication channels, and its impact on all affected participants. Plac ing people
at the core of change thinking was a fundamental contribution to developing the concept of change
management. He proposed the descriptive Adopter groups of how people respond to change:
Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority a nd Laggards.[ 2]
McKinsey & Company consultant Julien Phillips published a change management model in 1982 in
the journal Human Resource Management.[ 3]
Robert Marshak has since credited the big six accounting and consulting firms with adopting the
work of e arly organizational change pioneers, such as Daryl Conner and Don Harrison, thereby
contributing to the legitimization of a whole change management industry when they branded their
re-engineering services as change management in the 1980s.[ 4]
In his 1993 b ook, Managing at the Speed of Change, Daryl Conner coined the term 'burning
platform' based on the 1988 North Sea Piper Alpha oil rig fire. He went on to found Conner Partners

in 1994, focusing on the human performance and adoption techniques that would he lp ensure
technology innovations were absorbed and adopted as best as possible.[ 5] The first State of the
Change Management Industry report was published in the Consultants News in February 1995.[ 6]
Linda Ackerman Anderson states in Beyond Change Management that in the late 1980s and early
1990s, top leaders, growing dissatisfied with the failures of creating and implementing changes in a
top-down fashion, created the role of the change leader to take responsibility for the human side of
change.[ 7].
In Australia, change management is now recognised as a formal vocation through the work of
Christina Dean with the Australian government in establishing national competency standards and
academic programm es from diploma to masters level.[ 8] In response to continuing reports of the
failure of large -scale top -down plan -driven change programmes,[ 9] innovative change practitioners
have been reporting success with applying Lean and Agile principles to the field of change
management.[ 10] The Association of Cha nge Management Professionals (ACMP) announced a new
certification to enhance the profession: Certified Change Management Professional (CCMP) in
2016.[16]

1.3 Change management approaches
While definitions vary, change management generally refers to how teams and companies
implement organizational change. Often referred to as the only constant, change —and the
management of it —is an ever -evolving process that affects everyone. And although there is no one
right or wrong way to mitigate change, there are a few tr ied-and-true change management models
that organizations return to again and again.
I will present 7 Fundamental Change Management Models :
Lewin's change management model : a 3-step approach to change behavior that reflects the process
of melting and resha ping an ice cube.
ADKAR model : A people -centered approach to facilitate change at the individual level.

Kotter's 8 -step change model : A process that uses employee's experience to reduce resistance and
accept change.
Kubler -Ross change curve : A strategy th at breaks down how people process change using the 5
stages of grief.
McKinsey 7s model : A process centered around the alignment seven fundamental elements of any
organization
PDCA : A cyclical and iterative change management process focused on continuous improvement.
Bridges Transition Model : A people -centered model focused on managing people's experience
transitioning to change.
Developed in the 1940s, Lewin's change management model remains relevant because of its simple
yet effective structure. Accordin g to the change model's namesake, Kurt Lewin, organizational
change management can be broken down into three smaller, more manageable stages:
Unfreeze – Change – Refreeze
A physicist by trade, Lewin used the example of turning a cube of ice into a cone of ice and applied
it to organizational change management . First, a team or organization must “unfreeze” their current
process and perceptions when preparing for upcoming changes. This step helps the team approach
the task or challenge with a clean slate w ithout bias or bad habits. Next, it’s time to implement
changes. Effective change requires clear and constant communication across all affected channels
both during and after deployment. Finally, it’s time to “refreeze.” Assuming accurate feedback and
ongoing communication occurred during the “change” step, the refreeze step locks into place the
new process. Like ice molds, teams and organizations need to move away from an old mold before
they can fit into a new one. The Lewin change model, while too si mplistic for some, is favored by
others for its ability to uncover old patterns or overlooked problems as well as for its clean approach
to new ways of thinking .
The ADKAR model is popular for its people -focused approach to change management. Created by
Jeffrey Hiatt, the ADKAR change model helps facilitate change on an individual level since change
is often less about the changes themselves and more about people’s reactions to them. ADKAR is an
acronym for: Awareness: Awareness of the need to change , Desir e: Desire to participate in and

support the change , Knowledge: Knowledge of how to change , Ability: Ability to implement the
change , Reinforcement: Reinforcement to sustain the change . Since organizational change is directly
dependent upon its employees fo r successful implementation, it’s critical for individuals to have a
clear understanding of what changes are occurring, why they are occurring, and how they affect
them personally. The ADKAR model helps individuals process change through clearly defined
stages that enable them to both understand and accept the changes at hand .
Developed by John Kotter after a survey of over 100 organizations in flux, the Kotter 8 -step change
model also focuses more on the people experiencing large organizational changes rat her than the
changes themselves. The eight steps are:
Create a sense of urgency , build a strong coalition , form a strategic vision , get everyone’s buy -in,
enable action by removing barriers , generate short -term wins , gustain acceleration , institute change.
Kotter’s change management process skillfully turns possibly resistant individuals into receptive
participants through trust, transparency, and teamwork. By identifying the end goal, employing
everyone’s involvement, and executing the impending changes to gether, this process remains a long –
standing favorite among change management models .
Most widely known as the five stages of grief, the Kubler -Ross change curve can also be thought of
as a reliable change management strategy due to its breakdown of how p eople process change in
general. Organizations can better prepare for change when they also anticipate the possible reactions
by their workforce. The five stages are:
Denial , anger, bargaining , depression , acceptance .
If teams and companies lose sight of w hom their changes impact the most, then their attempts to
make those changes will be for naught. Changing an organization is not like changing a tire; there
are emotional factors to consider.One caveat to consider with this change management strategy is
that these stages are not always sequential and that everyone can progress through them differently,
so its effectiveness is not always predictive. As such, it can also be used to supplement other change
management models for a two -fold approach .

The McKinse y 7s model was developed at the McKinsey consulting firm by Thomas J. Peters and
Robert H. Waterman during the 1970s to evaluate how the different parts of an organization work
together. According to the 7s model, there are seven fundamental elements of ev ery organization:
Hard elements it’s the easiest to identify and control , Strategy , structure , system , soft elements it’s
more subjective and difficult to change , shared values , staff, style, skills.
These elements are interconnected, and if one element is altered, the change will ripple out and
affect the other elements. Companies tend to use the 7s model when they implement changes in the
organization and need to align different departments and processes. As an example, if a company
grows rapidl y from 15 employees to 50 employees, the staff, shared values, and structure of the
organization will probably change and are going to affect the other elements. Using the 7s model, it
is possible to understand the changes and realign the elements during g rowth to keep everything
running smoothly .
Also known as the Deming wheel or control cycle, the PDCA model was developed by William
Deming during the 1950s. Standing for Plan -Do-Act-Change, the PDCA model is a cyclical and
iterative process for continuous change and improvement.
Figure 1 . PDCA model
Source: Masaaki Imai (1997). Gemba Kaizen
It helps organizations make improvements by following a simple process: devise a plan, test the
plan, implement the plan, evaluate the plan's success, and make the nece ssary changes. Rinse and

repeat. As a powerful and versatile cycle, PDCA is best used when conducting controlled trails,
finding inefficiencies, and developing new processes across businesses and industries .
Similar to the Kubler -Ross change curve, the Bri dges Transition Model is another people -centered
approach to change management. However, unlike the Kubler -Ross change curve, the Bridges
Transition Model focuses on the transition to the change and people's experience rather than the
change itself. Accord ing to the Bridges Transition Model, the key to change management isn't the
results of the change, but the way the employees let go of the old and accept the new. The Bridges
Transition Model is best used during large changes to help employees through the process. There are
three stages that occur when people transition to change: Ending, losing, and letting go: As
contradictory as it seems, the first step in the transition model begins with an end and is typically the
most emotional for employees. Failure to acknowledge employees' feelings may cause them to
reject the changes so it is important to clearly communicate the purpose and benefits of the change.
Neutral zone: During this phase, employees adapt to the change and get up to speed with new
processes . Communicate quickly and clearly when issues arise to avoid confusion and frustration.
New beginnings: The last stage of the transition is acceptance. Employees have a sense of direction
and understand why the changes needed to happen. Highlight the succ ess of the changes to
demonstrate the tangible results of the employees' hard work.

1.4 The impact of change management in actual economy ( Covid -19 ).
While the rush to homeworking may not have been the change most companies wanted, it was
the change they go t. And they embraced it gladly in order to survive. Typically however, in
“normal” circumstances, no business would embark on such a fundamental change to its operations
without assessing, planning, and mapping out all of the knock -on effects of the change to the rest of
the business. In other words, a business would not move to homeworking without developing a
change management plan first. A change management plan is necessary because every business
change leads to a myriad of consequences – some expected, some hoped for, and many more totally
unexpected. Some consequences are good, some are bad. Therefore, it is important to put a change
management plan in place. It is necessary to dissect every business operation, interaction, and
employee process in orde r to see how changing one part of it can affect the whole. In the case of

Covid -19, there simply wasn’t time for any form of a change management plan, let alone time to
evaluate the four main elements of change that would normally be considered. So where d oes that
leave us? The only thing we can do is to look at what has changed and reflect on how to make the
most of it. There isn’t time for a change management project, but there is certainly time to change
how we manage.Embrace the cultural benefits of hom eworking . One of the primary benefits of
homeworking is its flexibility. Why should staff work 9 -5 if they no longer have an office to travel
to? This is where a shift in metrics is required. Too often we value human resources by the amount
of time they contribute. We price a person’s time by the hour. But surely the most important metric
for an employee is their productivity, not how much time they spend? So, if productivity can be
maintained or even improved with “non -standard” hours and unconventi onal workwear, why
wouldn’t you support it? Do not bring 19th century expectations into the 21st century workplace
(especially considering the workplace is no longer a physical “place” anyway). Management
expectations: Don’t expect 9 -5 from your employees. Focus on their productivity instead. Perceived
activity is irrelevant. Employee mindsets: Employees should also be more mindful of changing their
attitudes. They should think about when they are most productive and, where reasonably possible,
align their work patterns to that. No one -size-fits-all: Homeworking is an opportunity to re -evaluate
your preferred work environment and build one accordingly. While some people really thrive
working in isolation (so are well suited to homeworking and really struggle in an open plan office),
others need the stimulation of people around them to stay focused. Know what makes you tick and
find virtual solutions which deliver it as best they can (while you can’t recreate the office
environment virtually, those who need re gular interactions with their colleagues can instigate more
virtual meetings or even recreate their lunch break with colleagues over Zoom). Infrastructure:
Provide employees with more options to communicate with each other, both formally and
informally, so all the different social aspects of the office environment aren’t lost. What’s more,
with the infrastructure now in place – and homeworking proving to work for many people – you
should be prepared to support it in your culture after the lockdown. Don’t fo rget your data security
obligations: Building on the infrastructure point, it is important to be mindful of the additional data
security risks that remote working can introduce (i.e. working on non -corporate devices, reliance on
VPNs, using home Wi -Fi netw orks, shadow IT etc.), which increase the likelihood of falling foul of
GDPR and other data protection legislation. IT departments need to make sure their data policies are
updated to reflect this change in work practices and that people are adequately tra ined to manage the

potential data risks of remote working. Covid -19 has provided a unique opportunity for everyone to
take a moment and take stock of what is really important in life – our family, friends, and health.
Many of the leading companies in the w orld already knew this, and have found that providing their
employees with the right work/life balance, allowing them to spend more time with their family,
providing breaks or facilities so they can focus on their health etc. yields better financial result s. It is
a true win: win. While it took a global pandemic for many other companies to realise this, I am
confident that the cultural change we have seen towards more homeworking will continue once the
lockdown is over. This truly has been a once -in-a-lifetime opportunity to reflect and change how we
work for the better.