Fair, Michelle

English

Change seems inevitable in our current world of work. Whether it is workforce restructuring, new products and services, changes to ICT, a change in leadership, new customers and staff, varied supply chains, a change in equipment used, new locations where work is performed - the change is endless. As an Occupational Therapist I have seen the impact on workers and the organisation when change is managed poorly. It can lead to an absence from work, psychological and physical injury or illness, poor workplace dynamics, reduced workplace productivity, an increase in worker and customer complaints, and the lodgement of workers’ compensation claims. The following is a summary of what I see as the key features of successfully managing a change initiative. When change isn’t managed well, unfortunately the impact on workers and the organisation can be significant

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Bond UniversityResearch RepositoryManaging change - Learnings from an occupational therapistFair, MichellePublished in:Journal of ErgonomicsDOI:10.4172/2165-7556.1000e170Published: 31/07/2017Link to publication in Bond University research repository.Recommended citation(APA):Fair, M. (2017). Managing change - Learnings from an occupational therapist. Journal of Ergonomics, 7(4),[e170]. https://doi.org/10.4172/2165-7556.1000e170General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright ownersand it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.For more information, or if you believe that this document breaches copyright, please contact the Bond University research repositorycoordinator.Download date: 10 May 2019Managing Change – Learnings from an Occupational TherapistMichelle Fair*Department of Occupational Therapy, Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia*Corresponding author: Michelle Fair, Department of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland,Australia, Tel: 0487000260; E-mail: michelle@absolutehealthservice.com.auReceived date: July 21, 2017; Accepted date: July 26, 2017; Publish date: July 31, 2017Copyright: © 2017 Fair M. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use,distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.AbstractChange seems inevitable in our current world of work. Whether it is workforce restructuring, new products andservices, changes to ICT, a change in leadership, new customers and staff, varied supply chains, a change inequipment used, new locations where work is performed - the change is endless. As an Occupational Therapist Ihave seen the impact on workers and the organisation when change is managed poorly. It can lead to an absencefrom work, psychological and physical injury or illness, poor workplace dynamics, reduced workplace productivity, anincrease in worker and customer complaints, and the lodgement of workers’ compensation claims. The following is asummary of what I see as the key features of successfully managing a change initiative. When change isn’tmanaged well, unfortunately the impact on workers and the organisation can be significant.ConsultationConsultation needs to be engaging of the relevant stakeholders.Delivering one way communication to people is not consultation. Weknow that by engaging people, seeking their input, clarifying issues,and problem solving together, is the best way to gain commitment andbuy-in [1]. We must consider both internal and external stakeholdersin this consultation, and ensure that those persons affected by thechange, are engaged in the consultation phase [1]. This doesn’t meanevery worker must be individually consulted, however there needs tobe authentic and inclusive consultation processes across the range ofstakeholders.PreventionQuality and relevant risk assessments must be completed prior tothe change initiative occurring. This includes looking at strategic risk,business risk, and the project risk. Within these risks will beconsideration of the workplace health and safety risks. At a basic level,we need to ensure we analyse the risks, update the risk register,mitigate any identified risks, monitor risks, and ensure wecommunicate widely to all relevant parties [2].Organisations are founded on a basis of social psychology, and afailure to recognise this is likely to result in failed attempts atimplementing successful change initiatives [3]. We need to considerpeople, and plan for strategies over time. Simply trying to institutechange on to people will result in failure. To prevent this occurring,establishing a healthy organisation puts us in good stead to then workwith our workforce when implementing change initiatives.Furthermore, having healthy workers means they are better preparedto deal with the stressors associated with change [4]. This is also linkedwith creating effective teams - people working with people. Effectiveteams are paramount in successful organisational change [5]. Whentalking ‘effective teams’, there is a strong connection between culture,leadership styles and individual worker behaviours. Ultimately, there isa social-psychology basis to preventing change initiatives from failing.Early ResponseManagers and supervisors need to be trained and skilled inidentifying the early warning signs of resistance to change. Followingthis, they then must do something about it. This may include workingwith the individual to clarify the purpose of change, the benefits ofchange, answer any questions they have, problem solve any issues theyhave, and possibly refer them to other support services who canprovide assistance through the change process. It is important forpeople to remember that not everyone responds the same way to achange initiative. Keeping in mind the five factors that are likely toinfluence an individual’s response to change can be of benefit [6]:• The nature of the change.• The consequences of the change.• The organisational history.• The type of individual.• The individual’s history.Using a model such as ADKAR may also assist in determiningpeople’s level of engagement [7]. This, along with pulse surveys andinterviews, will help to capture relevant information so leaders andmanagers can respond early if barriers arise.CommunicationEffective, timely, and transparent communication is necessary tobuild trust, rapport and a willing coalition. It is also imperative tosupport workers who are away from the workplace (e.g. on sick leave,return to work programs, maternity leave etc.) as they too need to bepart of the change process. Basically, we need the right style ofcommunication, the right frequency, a variety of methods, and weneed to deliver this to the right people [1]. Without this, a changemanagement initiative is likely to fail.LeadershipUnderstanding the workplace culture and creating a positive cultureare imperative for business success. Leaders within the organisationJournal of Ergonomics Fair, J Ergonomics 2017, 7:4DOI: 10.4172/2165-7556.1000e170Editorial OMICS InternationalJ Ergonomics, an open access journalISSN: 2165-7556Volume 7 • Issue 4 • 1000e170must take responsibility for this and ensure they inspire workers toachieve their optimum performance through authentic leadership [8].Cultural change comes about when there is a connection andpositive reinforcement between the strategy, systems, businessstructure, leadership style, worker skills, and staff involved. Thiscultural change can be seen as the ‘shared values’ identified in theMcKinsey 7S model [2].PlanningFrom a planning perspective, I believe thorough project planningneeds to occur, in consultation with relevant stakeholders such as thechange manager. For sizable change initiatives, a number of projectplanning elements and documents may be warranted as part of theproject management plan [9].1. Project definition.2. Schedule/plan (e.g. using a Gantt chart).3. Work breakdown structure including list of responsible persons.4. Detailed project work plan.5. Scoping document.6. Stakeholder analysis.7. Quality assurance plan.8. Risk assessment and associated plan.9. Communications plan.10. Transition plan.11. Evaluation.In addition to this, having an overarching framework or model forchange will assist in bringing about a successful organisational change.The model chosen will depend on the type of organisation and thepreference of the change manager and other relevant stakeholders.SustainabilityOrganisational values have an impact on not only decision making,but also strategic change [10]. Many organisations will state theirorganisational values on their website, in strategic documents, and onposters and marketing tools around the organisation. This however isonly one type of organisational value. For change to be sustainable,managers and leaders need to understand all types of values (espoused,attributed, shared, and aspirational) and their relationships andchanges over time [10]. This leads me to my next point which is, at afundamental level, leaders and managers must understand and paysignificant attention to the human factor. An organisation’s mostimportant asset is their people [11]. If they solely focus on the ‘clinical’elements of the business or the hard elements if you use the McKinsey7S model [2], then they will fail to address much of what is relevant inestablishing a shared vision and positive organisational culture.Finally, to truly ensure any change is sustainable, the followingshould occur [12]:• The change must have a good fit within the organisation so thetransition from current state to future state is smooth.• Ensure you take a systems thinking approach to change. Lookingfor the connections between parts of the organisation andunderstanding flow on effects of the change is required forsustainable change.• Understand where you get the best leverage to support your changeinitiative.• Understand the levels of adoption required by different parts of thebusiness. Some areas only require identification of the change,while others will need to internalise the change.• Know your tipping point, as this gives you insight to the durationrequired for embedding the change.• Know your feedback loops and seek to have positive reinforcingsystems in place. Knowing this means change managers can useleverage to get the ‘biggest bang for their buck’.• Efficient management of the process is needed. You must be able tomeasure the change so having accurate, up to date, and reliabledata supports you in measuring your change initiative.• Manage your transition. This phase of a change initiative must bedriven by strategies and include effective measures.It is my opinion that each of the features I mention above isimportant for successful change. They each have a depth of theory andevidence behind them, and require knowledge, skills, and motivationto implement. At the end of the day, the goal is for our workers tosafely achieve their optimal level of performance, and for the businessto succeed.References1. Sidhu R (2014) Communication and engagement. In: Smith R, King D,Sidhu R, Skelsey D (eds.) The effective change manager’s handbook,Kogan page, UK, pp: 210-257.2. Perkins C (2014) Change impact. In: Smith R, King D, Sidhu R, Skelsey D(eds.) The effective change manager’s handbook, Kogan Page, UK, pp:258-289.3. Carlopio J, Harvey M (2012) The development of a social psychologicalmodel of strategy implementation. Intern J Manag 29: 75-85.4. Smith S, Makrides L, Lebel FS, Allt J, Montgomerie D, et al. (2012) Thehealthy lifeworks project: the role of organisational health in the personalhealth of employees. International Journal of Workplace HealthManagement 5: 194-209.C205. Drew S, Thomas C (1996) Transformation through teamwork: the path tothe new organisation? Manag Decision 34: 7-17.6. Smith R (2014) A change management perspective. In: Smith R, King D,Sidhu R, Skelsey D (eds.) The effective change manager’s handbook,Kogan page, UK, pp: 1-77.7. Busby N (2014) Change readiness, planning and measurement. In: SmithR, King D, Sidhu R, Skelsey D (eds.) The effective change manager’shandbook, Kogan page, UK, pp: 290-328.8. Avolio BJ, Walumbwa FO, Weber TJ (2009) Leadership: current theories,research, and future directions. Annual Rev Psychol 60: 421-449.9. Blake I (2014) Project management. change initiatives, projects andprogrammes. In: Smith R, King D, Sidhu R, Skelsey D (eds.) The effectivechange manager’s handbook, Kogan page, UK, pp: 330-366.10. Bourne H, Jenkins M (2013) Organisational values: a dynamicperspective. Organisational Studies 34: 495-514.11. Kroemer KHE (2017) Fitting the Human. Introduction to ergonomics/human factors engineering. USA: CRS Press.12. Campbell H (2014) Sustaining change. In: Smith R, King D, Sidhu R,Skelsey D (eds.) The effective change manager’s handbook, Kogan page,United Kingdom, pp: 454-491. Citation: Fair M (2017) Managing Change – Learnings from an Occupational Therapist. J Ergonomics 7: e170. doi:10.4172/2165-7556.1000e170Page 2 of 2J Ergonomics, an open access journalISSN: 2165-7556Volume 7 • Issue 4 • 1000e170

Managing change - Learnings from an occupational therapist

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