Implementing_Change

Implementing Change Te’Neidra Smith University of Phoenix September 26, 2011 HCS/475 Implementing Change The traditional management structure does not allow for the development of the kinds of relationships essential for good management leadership of teams (Porter-O’Grady & Malloch, 2007). Usually leadership needs to be retrained to assume a much more active and facilitating relationship rather than a superior and directing relationship traditionally found in the manager role (Porter-O’Grady & Malloch, 2007). This leadership program helps the individual leader tap into interpersonal relations skills, mentoring and monitoring behaviors, relational and directional problems, and mechanisms for advancing innovative practices within the team (Porter-O’Grady & Malloch, 2007). In this paper, the author will describe the manager’s role and responsibility in implementing change within the department, how should a manager handle staff resistance to change, and define each step of the change process, which consists of assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation (University of Phoenix, 2011, Week Two Supplement). If a manager wants to successfully implement a change to his/her employees, the manager needs to bring the ideas to them and get their feedback. The employees will need to know how it will benefit them and how it will affect their daily work. Change is inevitable, if not always welcome. Change is necessary for growth, although it often produces anxiety and fear (Sullivan & Decker, 2009). Even when planned, it can be threatening and a source of conflict because change is the process of making something different from what it was (Sullivan & Decker, 2009). Even when change is expected and valued, a grief reaction still may occur (Sullivan & Decker, 2009). The manager’s role is to continue to monitor and assist the employees in any way to make the change work. Sometimes when a manager wants to make changes within the company, it is kind of difficult for certain employees to adjust to the change because it does not happen overnight. Some employees might adjust quickly, when others might not adjust because they are afraid of change. That’s why it is very important for the manager to work with their employees in any way to make the change work. Management must understand that change is inevitable and that they themselves are responsible for overcoming employee resistance through sound management and change-oriented leadership (David, 2004). Accountability relates to decisions and their actions. It is important to clearly align decisions with those who are accountable for them (Malloch & Porter-O’Grady, 2005). Empowered work environments reflect a distribution of decisions based on their most appropriate locus of control. Understanding why employees resist change is the first step in learning how to manage this resistance (David, 2004). Effective change management is necessary for the change to be implemented successfully (David, 2004). Employees may resist change because they dislike or disapprove of the person responsible for implementing the change or they may distrust the change process (Sullivan & Decker, 2009). Regardless, managers continually deal with change—both the change that they themselves initiate and change initiated by the larger organization (Sullivan & Decker, 2009). They must understand where you are going and how you plan to get there. Employees must buy into the change and understand the reasoning behind it. Without understanding the reasoning for the change, it becomes quite difficult for people to accept changes (Sullivan & Decker, 2009). This essentially means that they think you are wrong to initiate the change in the organization (Woldring, 1999). It is, however, the leader’s responsibility to see that the change is implemented successfully (David, 2004). In order for everything to run smoothly within the company, the manager needs to follow the change process which consists of assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation. The act of systematically collecting information about an organization to determine its performance is assessment (Steps to Quality Improvement, 2011). An organization can assess how well it addresses the needs of its members, the community it serves or other stakeholders. Assessment provides a valuable snapshot of the organization’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as opportunities for improvement (Steps to Quality Improvement, 2011). The next step is planning the intervention is to identify the problem. Once a problem is identified, the team must determine its causes or contributing factors to identify changes that could solve or mitigate it (Steps to Quality Improvement, 2011). Planning the who, how, and when of the change is a key step (Sullivan & Decker, 2009). Members from this system should be active participants in the planning stage. The more involved they are at this point, the less resistance there will be later (Sullivan & Decker, 2009). Managers need to plan the resources required to make the change and establish feedback mechanisms to evaluate its progress and success (Sullivan & Decker, 2009). Implementation will have a greater chance of success if the your team breaks it into manageable steps and then test each step independently and, once ready, work on institutionalizing the proven changes (Steps to Quality Improvement, 2011). Interventions are designed to gain the necessary compliance. The change agent creates a supportive climate, acts as energizer, obtains and provides feedback, and overcomes resistance (Sullivan & Decker, 2009). Some methods are directed toward changing individuals in an organization, whereas others are directed toward changing the group (Sullivan & Decker, 2009). At each control point, the operational indicators established are monitored (Sullivan & Decker, 2009). The change agent determines whether presumed benefits were achieved from a financial as well as a qualitative perspective, explaining the extent of success or failure (Sullivan & Decker, 2009). The final program evaluation lets the team measure the success of the program as a whole and determine whether it is accomplishing the goals set at the beginning of the initiative (Steps to Quality Improvement, 2011). References David, T. (2004). Resistance to Change: Management’s Responsibility- Part 1. Retrieved from http://www.leadingtoday.org/Onmag/2004%20Archives/sepoct04/td-sepoct04.html Porter-O’Grady, T., & Malloch, K. (2007). Managing for success in health care. St. Louis, MO: Mosby. Robbins, S. P. (2003). Organizational behavior (10th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc.. http://www.leadingtoday.org/Onmag/2004%20Archives/sepoct04/td-sepoct04.html Steps to Quality Improvement. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.clashealth.org/steps-to-quality-improvement-overview.html Sullivan, E. J., & Decker, P. J. (2009). Effective leadership and management in nursing (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. University of Phoenix. (2011). Week Two supplement. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, HCS/475 —Leadership and Performance Development course website.