Organizational Changes

Every organization that undergoes a change in the business landscape, a structural or process change or experiences the introduction of a new technology faces organizational change challenges. The establishment of a new mandate for core company goals and objectives necessitates a realignment or business processes and personnel. Restructuring is rarely a seamless transition.

Change in an organization is managed by an individual or a group of individuals. A proper planning and execution process is necessary for effective change. This requires careful planning, evaluation and implementation to bring about the desired change. There are various elements to be considered by management and authorized personnel responsible for the change. They are as follows:

Vision- This is the power to perceive and articulate change beyond the surface level. Having the vision to anticipate and see the future direction of the business landscape is required to forge new goals and strategies.

Sense of purpose and direction- The business should have clear objectives that match the vision. This forms the guide lines that department heads integrate into their department strategies. The department strategies integrate independently to form the whole.

Knowledge- Knowledge is the skills and experience to create organizational strategies and to implement them accordingly. Creating necessary process improvement and benchmarking progress is part of this.

Rewards and recognition- Companies must reward individuals who excel and overcome organizational change challenges. This will encourage all those who are a part of the organization to reinforce their sense of team spirit and work harder to achieve individual and company goals.

There are also several steps to be followed systematically for change to occur. These are:

1. Discussing and reaching agreement for the on going support of the company's direction and initiatives. This is strategic alignment amongst senior management.

2. Linking strategic initiatives to tactful execution through planning and on going communication. Open communication helps with iterative refinement.

3. Connecting and aligning performance management, training processes and incentive compensation in order to yield optimal results.

4. Emphasizing hiring, rewarding, developing and retaining the top talent as a key driver of sustained business growth.

Before implementing change initiatives, it is important for companies to understand the 'end effects' of process changes on the workers. This helps companies to better formulate change policy to avoid many of the potential pitfalls and organizational change challenges that can present. Understanding the cognitive change process is part of managing an effective change management framework.

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