Do you have first-hand experience in an organization that was trying to change?
ID: 327020 • Letter: D
Question
Do you have first-hand experience in an organization that was trying to change? Was it successful? Can you recognize the steps from Kotter model ? If there was resistance to change, why - which of the 3 sources of resistance was at play? Which step in the Kotter model was not executed well? Do you have first-hand experience in an organization that was trying to change? Was it successful? Can you recognize the steps from Kotter model ? If there was resistance to change, why - which of the 3 sources of resistance was at play? Which step in the Kotter model was not executed well?Explanation / Answer
Yes, In my last organization where I was working as a Project Manager, the organization initiated a change process whereby the organization tried to implement 360-degree performance appraisal system for better evaluation and comprehensive appraisal of all the manpower.
A 360-degree appraisal system is one where both the senior and junior staff member evaluate each other on different parameters i.e. it is not traditional top to bottom appraisal in fact, it can be seen as cyclic appraisal system i.e. from top to bottom and bottom to top.
This change process can be said as a successful attempt though there were some initial problems while implementing this process. This change process has all the eight steps which are used in Kotter Model described as below:-
1:- Establish a sense of urgency:- In this step, the management gave the task to the HR department to implement the process in the organization before the commencement of new appraisal cycle. This created a sense of urgency in the entire HR department and the organization so that the employees can be trained and explained the steps required for the 360-degree appraisal.
2:- Developing a guiding Team:- The HR department formed some teams of HR executives which were given the responsibility of communicating, guiding and explaining the process of new appraisal system to the each and every individual. They were also given the responsibility of conducting a mock evaluation in order to make the employees understand the process involved in this.
3:- Develop the vision:- The main vision of this process was to have a comprehensive evaluation of manpower so that a better performance and training can be provided to the manpower and improvements can be imparted.
4:- Communication for buy-in:- There were regular training sessions and meetings so that the employees especially the managers do not have any issues while dealing with such a system. The meetings and training were directed to address the concerns and queries of all the manpower so that they can understand the process well.
5:- Empower action:- There were some employees who were made the team leader and were empowered to see how the things were going on in the organization. These employees were given the power to conduct meetings, train the employees but if we look closely, these were even under the influence of HR executive and were not fully empowered as they had to take the permission from their supervisors and HR executives.
6:- Development of short-term wins:- The HR team which was responsible for the implementation process established short targets such as communicating the process, providing training, addressing the concerns and so on and they were able to fulfill these short terms goals within the time frame.
7:- Consolidating improvements and producing still more change:- The HR team did not give up with the entire process despite facing some initial resistance, time limitation and other practical hurdles but those people in teams were very motivated and thus consolidate the process with each passing day and were able to fulfill their given responsibility on time.
8:- Institutionalizing new approaches:- After the long training process, the new 360-degree appraisal system was successfully implemented in the organization and it is still operative in the organization
There were some resistances from the managers and the senior employees against this appraisal system. The main reasons are as below:-
Most of the managers were of more than 15 years of experience and thus they had the conventional way of thinking and performing and thus they were not welcoming the process of being appraised by their junior staff members.
The staff members had to leave their job and attained the training session and this really proved a hurdle in their normal performance and overtime and this created a resistance among the employees as they were losing some extra earning opportunities in the form of overtime.
The employees were treating this process as a waste of time as they thought that no action will be taken by the management if they evaluate their managers and thus they were not motivated to be the part of this change. In fact, many employees feared that any negative evaluation of managers can endanger their job in the organization as a manager can sack the employee after coming to know about the negative evaluation given by a certain employee.
In my opinion, the step of Empowering the team was not executed well as the employee team leaders were not given the free hands and they had to take the permission from their senior for conducting any meeting or training session with other employees.
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