Change is nothing new and a simple fact of life. Some people actively thrive on new challenges and constant change, while others prefer the comfort of the status quo and strongly resist any change. It is all down to the personality of the individual and there is little management can do about resistance to change.(Mullins 2010: 753)
We are in a world full of changes. It is continuous,always present and dynamic.If we want to grow and also develop as well as take advantage of new challenges then, living along changes and able to manage changes is key competency. (Vedenik and Leber 2015) Change is important if an organisation wants to expand and grow its resources. Change can arise from any source, it could be from the staff or technology or maybe from organisation structure and also from many external factors, so change is ever present and also unpredictable.
Change can be a problem or an opportunity and its our attitude which dictates how we see it. (Vedenik and Leber 2015) Every opportunity and every problem that runs with a change requires game plans which may provoke new changes and new circumstances, which might again bring about new opportunities and problem.
In 2008 Santander wanted to acquire Bradford and Bingley, Alliance and Leicester and Abbey National. These UK financial institutes very incapable of change and hence were unable to grow and evolve. Hence Santander wanted to change this and evolve these institutes into formidable retail banks. The CEO of Santander UK,Antonio Horta-Osorio, focused on change, which was ensuring that all stakeholders understood the value of shedding old ways and get in place the new era in banking.
There were many opportunities during this change process. Mainly the cultural misunderstandings. The ones who were to be affected by the new system very fully briefed, the issues and risks were discussed. For instance, in its branch teams, they were prepared for many ways to respond to customers through this change phase. Also the ones who weren’t affected were given briefing about the transition for its future. The objective was to not just understand what the change was but to embrace it. (Arnold 2015)
Resistance to change arises due to many reasons which could be changes in the status quo, changes in routines, poor communications, low trust, connected to old ways, lack of competency, misinterpreting the need for the change. All this is nature and is inevitable. Hence planning for for these resistances from the start of the change management process will help manage objectives effectively. (Rick 2011)
Kurt Lewin’s 3 stage model for change management is essential. The 3 stages are Unfreeze, Change and Refreeze.(Anon 2016) The organisation as a whole has to be proactive to adapt to this. The first change process is unfreeze, wherein the organisation has to prepare its employees to understand why the change is necessary and make it clear the the old ways need to be overturned and implement need ones. This will affect the equilibrium in the way the organisation was functioning.
The second process,change, here the employees have to function and operate in new ways and also find ways to implement and support the change process proactively. The key is how the new process will benefit them. Also time and communication as the key drives fro this process to be most effective.
The last step,refreeze, once things are in place and the employees understand and support the new status quo, and the employees are confident and comfortable the organisation can refreeze this stability. The motivation of the employees is a necessity fro this process to function. The organisation has to take into consideration the culture of its employees.
Provide training, leadership guidance from managers and also forming a feedback systems will help attain equilibrium
In conclusion, Leadership in an organisation is an on going process. Change to happen successfully needs employee involvement. However resistance to change is inevitable and so using the Lewin’s change management model will help organisation attain stability. Motivating the employees in the transitional phase will get a better outcome.
References
Anon. (2016) Lewin’s Change Management Model: Understanding The Three Stages Of Change [online] available from <https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_94.htm> [28 March 2016]
Arnold, P. (2015) The 5 Greatest Examples Of Change Management In Business History – CMI [online] available from <http://www.managers.org.uk/insights/news/2015/july/the-5-greatest-examples-of-change-management-in-business-history> [28 March 2016]
Rick, T. (2011) Top 12 Reasons Why People Resist Change [online] available from <http://www.torbenrick.eu/blog/change-management/12-reasons-why-people-resist-change/> [28 March 2016]
Vedenik, G. and Leber, M. (2015) “Change Management With The Aid Of A Generic Model For Restructuring Business Processes”. Int. j. simul. model. [online] 14 (4), 584-595. available from <http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=18&sid=f774617d-0160-443b-a6f6-712e332b7348%40sessionmgr4005&hid=4106> [28 March 2016]
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