Getting Results with Change Initiatives

“You can’t sit on yesterday’s success model and not be willing to change,” commented Compaq CEO, Eckhard Pfeiffer, in a recent interview with Computerworld magazine, June 12, 1995.

Change is inevitable. Business must change to grow. But can there be too much change?

This new age of rapid change has developed work environments where reengineering, quality improvement programs, and other change initiatives are undertaken with frightening frequency. Executives trying to cope with the external pressures of increasing competition, new technology and global communications, have jumped onto the change bandwagon with the hope that success could be just a change away.

While change remains necessary for growth and progress, business can be hindered by too much of a good thing. More than one company has been reengineered out of existence by overzealous change leaders.

Take for example, an American tool manufacturing company reacting to the environmental changes of new overseas competition. In order to compete with lower cost products manufactured by inexpensive sources of labor overseas, the company’s first strategy was to reduce its workforce by roughly 30% and consolidate operations of its two plants into one. During this same time frame, production quotas were instituted and tied to a new performance evaluation system.

In their efforts to revamp and re-engineer their production processes, management failed to take into account what effect the changes would have on the organization’s overall ability to serve customers, both inside and out. In this example, the company’s production capability was severely affected. An increase in scrap and wasted raw materials produced by an overburdened, undermotivated workforce, worried about quotas at the expense of quality, caused sales to lag as customers noticed the change in workmanship.

Deciding when to change and when not to may be critical in determining the success of change. A change may be successful and still fail to result in any improvements in the overall performance of an organization. To avoid this phenomenon, leadership must be aware of the relationships between leadership style, work culture, and the effects of other recent changes, in their organization.

Strategy for successful change initiatives

Several strategies can help increase your chances for attaining enhanced performance goals through change initiatives.

First, consider how the change process affects the organization and decide how it can be managed.
A recent article in the Harvard Business Review (September-October 1995) states managers need to answer some key questions before redesigning critical processes. In “Beyond Total Quality Management and Reengineering: Managing through Processes”, the authors encourage managers to think in terms of processes and their interactions with other processes when attempting to make a change. Few processes unfold in isolation; most depend heavily on one another for information and resources. A greatly improved product-development process won’t generate the desired results if the market-research process is not aligned to provide timely information about customers.

Second, apply a disciplined and systematic approach when implementing change.
As a proposed change initiative progresses and is transformed from vision to action among the various levels within an organization, its overall effectiveness can be enhanced by following a systematic framework.

This framework emphasizes the need for up-front involvement by various levels within the organization. By sharing Vital information and the decision making with core members early on in the process, commitment for change becomes part of those who are ultimately responsible for changing their actions. This framework helps managers develop the ‘buy-in’ necessary to facilitate change and ensure its success.

Communication between two groups, a steering team and a core team, become the facilitator for realizing organizational action. As shown in Illustration 1, as the steering team approves a direction, it then shares information with core team members, who represent the front-line management and end-user workforce. Sharing information at this stage allows the steering team to better refine the focus of the change initiative. By listening to the feedback provided by the core team, the steering team gains a better understanding of the challenges involved which will impact implementation and performance gains.

As the focus and direction of the proposed change is considered and refined, several alternatives can be generated by the core team in response to the directive. After these alternatives are evaluated and consensus has been reached, the job of planning for implementation is passed back to the core team. With the involvement for planning and implementation residing with the group who will be responsible for action, the transition to the new mode of operation is more fully supported and aligned for success.

Third, make sure the end result is well thought through in the beginning.
This is not as rudimentary as it seems senior management has to be able to set the target, and then be realistic about the gains they hope to realize through change. Management must take the entire organization into consideration when examining these targets. Goals that are not in clear view or are not realistic are not achievable.

Fourth, management and leadership skills must be integrated.
A combination of setting direction and empowerment is needed to guide implementation. According to John P. Kotter, author of A Force for Change: How Leadership Differs From Management, firms which struggle with change are those that are overmanaged and underled. Leadership must spend a good amount of time creating a culture which is adaptive to change by aligning its people. By communicating to those within the organization who will influence the outcome of a change initiative, leadership can motivate and energize people and help the organization overcome obstacles such as bureaucracy and politics.

By integrating strong leadership skills with practical and systematic management practices, an adaptable culture that embraces change can be developed.

And fifth, the whole organization must be involved.
Extremely useful change often results when the entire organization has made part of the change their own. By creating teams within the organization that recognize the potential good of the proposed change strategy, “buy-in” is developed in the core of the organization. No longer is change viewed as something someone is doing to them, but as something they are doing.