In the case of Wakewood the problem started already with the inability of the CEO to devote enough time to the Unit 7. We can also see that the General Manager has the ability to control costs and activities but he does not care on the complaints of the clients. He also seems to be largely disinterested on the slow progress of the Unit.
This can be due to a time problem because he has too many tasks to resolve and too much responsibility. Probably his own morale is also low.
First of all the principles of managing of the General Manager have to be changed. This is a very difficult task because he has been working there already for 18 years using his own way of doing things. But the needs of the employees and the techniques of leadership changed over such a long period of time and the company needs to be adapted for the future. By hiring an assistant for helping him with the easier tasks and by offering him a good personal performance bonus system his motivation will increase. (Class Notes)
Another help to increase the satisfaction of all the managers and herewith also the one of the employees is to change the actual management to a more person oriented management. Wakewood should offer a seminar of leadership and management to his General Manager. At this seminar he would be introduced to new leadership techniques. The General Manager has to create new ways of communication to offer a good support to the Functional Managers and employees. He should delegate more tasks to the Functional Managers as they are an efficient and professional team. But delegating is not enough. The Functional Managers have also to be trained on participative group management, to learn the importance of having confidence in subordinates and also to understand of the role of communication throughout all the levels of the organisation. (Gerry Johnson,1997)
Once the mentality of the General Manager is changed and as a result of that those of the Functional Managers, the employees will feel much better and the motivation will increase at all levels. The next very important point is the knowledge of the new technologies of the employees. The organisational climate is much better when employees can fulfil their work feeling sure about what they are doing. The efficiency will increase and that way the company will be more competent. Even if it is very difficult to change the way of thinking and of doing things, giving employees a good support and informing them regularly they will accept more and more the new situation at work. Wakewood should also pay attention to fair and individualised economic rewards to get an improved staff motivation.
Improvement in the unit’s performance as a result of Organisational Change
Importance of organisational change: To improve the performance of an organisation fist of all it is important to have a well defined organisational culture. Culture influences the process of changes in a company because therewith the management will work with clearly defined ways of doing things. The organisational culture influences directly on the performance of a company. As a result of organisational development companies can reach higher quality of services and products, employees’ motivation increases and conflicts are easier to resolve.
The Wakewood organisation is characterised by the Tough-guy/ macho culture defined by Deal & Kennedy. This culture consists in individualists who frequently take high risks and receive quick feedback on their actions. The intense pressure often results in early ‘burn-out’.
Due to all the external and internal pressures it is very urgent to change the company’s culture and it is the most important thing to survive in a long term view. The ideal culture for Wakewood is the Innovation Culture. This culture is the result of the traditional culture that was replaced by the client culture and later on by itself.
The characteristics of this way of thinking is to develop new products satisfying the changing needs of the customers, to be flexible for changes, to organise the tasks regarding the competence of the workers and to refresh know-how and abilities. Once the new culture is well defined it has to be communicated to the employees. Wakewood can inform his employees about the new procedures organising a meeting where the General Manager in presence of the Chief Executive Officer present the changes and answers questions. (Beatriz Pérez, 2003)
Organisational climate to improve staff motivation: it is an indication of the employees’ feelings and beliefs of what the organisation is about. Climate is characterised by the nature of the people-organisation relationship and the superior-subordinate relationship. Due to the importance of climate Wakewood has to define it very precisely. (Class notes)
It is very helpful to involve the employees in giving their ideas for improvements and propositions for changes. Surveys are an effective way to know more about the employees and to know what the weaknesses of the jobs are. The results of the survey have to be analysed by a group of experts for example by an extern consultancy agency. (Class Notes)
The Unit 7 itself needs to be changed very urgently. As already said the employees have to be trained on the new technology. A very good way to do that is paying to the part of the staff that needs the knowledge most urgently external classes where they learn to handle with the new software. But these classes are not enough; Wakewood should hire an expert in computers who trains the employees at the place of working. Once the already trained group has an advanced level knowledge has to be passed to the rest of employees. A good idea to do that is organising weekly internal training courses where one expertise employee can train a group. Once the whole staff is able to work with the new technologies it is important to offer refreshing courses to the employees to be updated. These refreshing courses are not only good to keep a high productivity but also to get a higher level of motivation in the staff. It is also recommendable to create job descriptions so that the employees have more clearness about what their tasks are and how they have to do them. Due to the new technologies many human tasks can be replaced by computers and machines. Part of the problem with the too high costs can be solved by offering an acceptable pension plan to the oldest employees so that they can enjoy of an early retirement.
The next step is to give more importance to the clients as they are the most important stakeholders to survive. This is a very difficult task because they are not only unsatisfied with the service given by Wakewood but also with the quality of the products. Once arrived to this point Wakewood has to do a product life cycle analysis and an external analysis to extract the possible problems and solutions with the suppliers. Wakewood should create a new marketing mix and should invent a product development program to offer more innovative and qualitative better products and services.
An after sales division needs to be created and clear standard operating procedures have to be defined in order to help the staff how to handle problems with the customers. This way the customers see that his problems are treated seriously and they will be more loyal to the organisation.
As a result of the leadership seminar that the General Manager will do and which the functional managers will be trained on the employees will get mutual confidence, understanding of work problems, sharing information and seeking opinions with the supervisors. The confidence in management will increase and staff will have a sense of excitement in the job.
They should fix a formal structure for communication. By a clearly defined communication methodology Wakewood will be able to avoid rumours. Rumours are dangerous for the organisation because people often feel increased pressure and as a result of this the performance decreases. A solution for keeping the staff informed is to plan weekly meetings where the functional managers inform the staff about what is going on. At these meetings employees can expose their problems and ideas. With this feedback provided by the staff, managers can foresee problems and find solutions for conflicts. It is also important to keep the staff motivated by planning twice a year individual meetings to discuss with employees their individual performance. Communication on the level of the functional managers has also to be formalised. They should meet regularly to discuss the most important problems of each department in order to help another resolving and comparing them. The conclusions of these meetings have to be forwarded to the General Manager so that he is informed about everything happening in the Unit. Herewith the General Manager will be able to react quickly if needed and to keep the Chief Executive Officer on current. (Beatriz Pérez)
How to help people in the Unit 7 cope with the problems of change
The basic underlying objectives of planned organisational change are modifying the behavioural patterns of the members of the organisation and improving the ability of the organisation to cope with changes in its environment.
Lewin developed a three-phase process of behaviour modification:
- unfreezing – recognition of the need for change and improvement to occur
- movement – development of new attitudes and the implantation of change
- refreezing – stabilising change at the new level and reinforcement through supporting mechanism (Organisational Development, 2003)
Change is the primary cause of personal and organisational stress. There is a direct relation to the amount of change in an organisation and physiological changes in the people who work there. The more changes introduced in a short period of time, the more stress it produces on people.
Some useful techniques to help managers and employees to confront changes are:
Work with the Group: Managers have studied carefully the history of the group, and give many clues to members' behaviour. What has formed them in the past? How have they evolved and matured? A clear understanding of "what drives the group" must be achieved, before a leader can introduce new elements into the mix. Ignorance of the natural order of a group may doom a change strategy to failure. (Managing Change, 2003)
Confront Fear of Change: Asking employees to make significant behavioural changes is the most frightening thing you can require from them. Underestimating their response and potential resistance is the most consistent mistake made by leaders when introducing changes. (Managing Change, 2003)
Build Trust: If the doors to modifications are not open, then interventions must concentrate on teambuilding, trust-building, and open/honest communications, prior to the introduction of change. Authentic participation in the change process, with many opportunities to raise issues of concern, will help keeping a group open-minded to the possibility of significant changes. (Managing Change, 2003)
Avoid Manipulating the Workgroup: The worst change strategy for a leader is to pretend to listen to the work group and consider their concerns, having already decided what is appropriate in advance. This type of approach will backfire, because people will quickly perceive that they are being manipulated and conclude that the process is dishonest. (Managing Change, 2003)
Change managers are willing to compromise and lead the consensus decision-making process toward a culture that rewards new behaviours. The work group is partially allowed to take ownership of change and make it their own rather than decision-making remaining only with the initiator. Today's workforce trusts its leaders' actions more than it trusts their words, which places new behavioural demands on the leaders to act in parallel with their pronouncements. Change managers follow up and reinforce required changes, rewarding new behaviours early in the process, thus shaping future behaviours. Leadership integrity is one of the most important variables in successful completion of the process. The changes are not only difficult to be accepted for the staff but also for the managers. Therefore it is important to understand the reasons for the change and the nature of resistance and to create clearly defined strategies. (Organisational Development, 2003)
Conclusion
As a result of organisational change the Unit 7 of the Wakewood’s organisation will improve in many areas and this way find appropriate solutions for the external and internal pressures.
This whole program of change will help Unit 7 out of the actual situation. Once the changes are introduced, new methods applied and new techniques used the General Manager and all the employees have to work on to be more flexible for the future and not to get again in such a situation as before.
List of references
- Xavier Llopart Pérez, 1997, La gestion de los recursos humanos
- http://www.changemanagementgroup.com/mngorgevol-1.phtml
- Anon (2003) Organisational development, 15/12/03, class notes
- Beatriz Pérez, Psychologist and lecturer of the University of Barcelona (Class Notes “Psycologia Empresarial” October 2003)
- Herzberg, F. (1966): Work and the nature of man
- Louart, P. (1994): Gestión de los recursos humanos, Ediciones Gestión 2000, Barcelona