CHANGE MANAGEMENT
NIGEL H. TOMLINSON
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
SHEFFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
& INDUSTRY
Some Thoughts About Change
“Things do not change; we change”. Henry David Thoreau
“We must be the change we wish to see in the world”. Gandhi
“There is a better way for everything. Find it!”. Thomas Edison
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no-one thinks of changing himself”.
Leo Tolstoy
“We do not succeed in changing things according to our desire, but gradually our desire
changes”. Proust
“And if not now……when? Talmud
“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are
capable of being”. Goethe
The Imperative of Change
“Expect nothing; be prepared for anything” Samurai saying
At this time there are six major external changes which influence
organisations:
1.
A bigger global market-place made smaller by technology and competition
from abroad.
2. A worldwide recognition of the environment as an influencing variable.
3.
Health consciousness as a permanent trend amongst all age groups
throughout the developed world.
4. The demographic slump in the developed world means there are fewer young
people to go round.
5. The changing workplace and skills shortages create a need for non-traditional
employees.
6. Women in work and management is an ever increasing trend.
The Major Causes of Change
Think of changes that have occurred in your working life.
How often were the following causes of change involved in some way?
• Changes in the level of technology used?
• Changes in customer expectations or tastes?
• Changes as a result of competitors’ activities?
• Changes as a result of Government legislation?
• Changes as a result of alterations in the economy?
The Result:
You will change.
There is no alternative.
The organisation and employees can either be reactive or pro-active.
Those that survive will be world class.
“The quality of people and their management is going to make a bigger difference than the quality
of products or the quality of services” Rosabeth Moss Kanter
Examples of Environmental Influences
Economic Factors and
Restructuring
e.g. re-united Germany
1990s
Capital Markets
e.g. corporate losses
Economic
Forecasting
Demographics
e.g. ageing
population
Financial
Policy
Labour Market
e.g. drive to reduce costs,
higher skills
Labour Policy &
Industrial Relations
Demographic
Competition
e.g. increase in
tendering organic and
acquisitive
Marketing
Policy
Lobbying
The Enterprise
The Enterprise
Forecasting
Representation
Environmental
Sensing R & D
Policy
Government
e.g. national and transnational budgets, interest
rates, employment law
Environmental
Sensing R & D
Policy
Purchasing Policy
Socio-Cultural
e.g. quality of life,
health, mobility
Technology
e.g. reduces product
life cycle, investment
costs increase
Ecology
e.g. environmental
laws and protection
Supplies
e.g. raw materials
scarcity, supply and
demand
The Major Obstacles to Change
“I do not know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody” Bill Cosby
•People being too close to see what the problem is.
•Those who are part of the problem.
•Being unwilling to confront issues when status and remuneration are involved.
•Those who are part of the power system being examined.
•Those who are afraid to challenge the needs and demands of superiors.
•Those who quite simply do not like change or having to think about something.
“Habit is either the best of servants or the worst of masters”. Nathaniel Emmons
The Sheffield/South Yorkshire Scenario
The Past
•Sheffield was the industrial and commercial powerhouse of its region.
•Heavy dependence on, and dominance by, Steel, Heavy Engineering and Mining.
•High proportion of small/medium/large family-owned companies operating a
paternalistic management style. Exclusive reliance upon authority which only
encouraged counter measures, minimal performance, even open rebellion.
•Lack of innovation and acceptance of new ideas and/or technology whilst the
competition embraced them.
•Heavily Unionised with specific and rigid job demarcation, workforce with
narrow skills base.
•City/Town Councils and Government constantly at odds with one another.
•Public and Private Sector saw no need to co-operate.
•Highly reactive to external and internal issues and forces.
Result: Uncompetitive, outdated, lack of investment and left in the political and
business wilderness. We needed to move to be World Class.
The Sheffield/South Yorkshire Scenario
The Present
Mines and steel mills closed - Rationalisation through technology improvements, changes in
demand and competition.
Thriving Medical, IT, Service Cultural and Sports related sectors.
Over 70% of businesses are micros (1-10) or SMEs (10-199). Almost all of our large producers
are owned by foreign companies.
New entrepreneurial spirit has led to innovation, technologies and ideas to allow companies to
compete.
Job demarcation is giving way to transferability of skills, skills base being increased, flexible
manufacturing systems being designed and adopted.
Change of Government with a very different agenda. Sheffield City Council Executive working
closely with business sector and beginning to revolutionise its own work practices.
Public and Private Sector have come together in Sheffield First Partnership, South Yorkshire
Forum to achieve Objective 1 status.
Much more proactive approach across the region to secure inward investment, re-development,
reduce social exclusion and promote change.
Result: We are still behind the pace setters but we have a better chance of catching
up.
Where did we go wrong?
We had highly mechanistic organisations characterised by:
• Task differentiation and specialisation.
• Hierarchy for co-ordination of tasks, control and communications.
• Control of all communications from the top, information provided on a need-to-know basis.
• Interaction and emphasis placed on vertical reporting lines.
• Loyalty to the organisation and its officers.
• Value placed on internal knowledge and experience.
We needed to have organic organisations characterised by:
• Continuous assessment of task allocation through interaction to utilise knowledge which
solves real problems.
• The use of expertise power relationships and commitment to total task. Sharing of
responsibility.
• Open and widely used communication patterns which incorporate horizontal and diagonal as
well as vertical channels.
• Commitment to task accomplishment, development and growth of the organisation rather than
loyalty to officials.
• Value placed on general and transferable skills which are relevant to the organisation.
What makes a Change Environment
1.
There must be agreed requirements (Internal/External) - all employees develop willingness to
provide service - establish needs.
2.
Customer requirements must be met first time, every time.
3.
Quality improvements to reduce waste and total costs - everyone uses their time effectively and
more meaningfully.
4.
A focus on the prevention of problems, reduce “fire-fighting” manner - Preventative rather than
reactive.
5.
Improvement can only result from initial management action, but everyone must be encouraged
to participate in shaping the process.
6.
Every job must add value - Overall enhancement of quality of work and personal quality of life.
7.
Everybody must be involved from all levels and across all functions.
8.
A culture of continuous improvement must be established.
9.
An emphasis on measurement to assess and meet improvements in processes.
10. An emphasis must be placed on promoting creativity - the most valuable organisational
resource is the human element NOT technology. Attitude is the key.
An understanding that there is NO finishing line.
A FRAMEWORK FOR MANAGING STRATEGIC CHANGE
“Effective change management is a continuous process of confrontation, identification, evaluation and action”
James McCalman & Robert Paton
Understanding processes of strategic
change
Diagnosing strategic change needs
Managing the strategic change
process
Styles of managing
change
Changing
organisational
routines
Symbolic activity
Political activity
Leadership and change agency
As designed by Kindercare Inc, USA
The Seven Dynamics of Change (i)
1
People will feel awkward, ill at ease and self conscious
2
People will think about what they have to give up
3
People will feel alone, even if everyone else is going through the change
4
People can handle only so much change
5
People are at different levels of readiness for change
6
People will be concerned that they don’t have enough resources (time,
money, skills etc)
7
If you take the pressure off, people will then revert back to old behaviour
The Seven Dynamics of Change (ii)
Strategies for dealing with each dynamic in a work related situation
1
People will feel awkward, ill at ease and self conscious
Acknowledge it
2
People will think about what they have to give up
Don’t just sell people the benefits. Legitimise the losses and time for people to mourn the loss
3
People will feel alone, even if everyone else is going through the change
Structure activities which create involvement. Encourage the sharing of ideas and working
together. Instil the idea of joint working and support
4
People can handle only so much change
Set priorities and keep an eye on the outcome
5
People are at different levels of readiness for change
Don’t label or ‘pick on’ people. Recognise that some people are risk takers and others take
longer to feel secure
6
People will be concerned that they don’t have enough resources (time, money, skills etc)
Encourage and support creative problem solving
7
If you take the pressure off, people will then revert back to old behaviour
Keep a focus on maintaining the change and manage the journey as well as the outcome. Build
in “slippage’
STYLES OF MANAGING CHANGE
Implementation:
Style
Educations and
Communication
Means/Context
Benefits
Problems
Circumstances of
Effectiveness
Mutual
trust/respect
Small group
briefings
Overcoming lack
of
(or mis)
information
Time consuming
Direction or
progress may be
unclear
Participation
Small group/task
force involvement
Increasing
ownership of a
decision or process
May improve
quality of decision
Time consuming
Solutions/outcomes
within existing
paradigm
Intervention
Change agents
retains coordination/control,
delegates aspects of
change
Process is
guided/controlled
but involvement
takes place
Risk of perceive
manipulation
Incremental or noncrisis global change
Coercion/edict
Exploit power
through edict or
imposition of
change
May be successful
in crises or states of
confusion
Least successful
unless crisis
Crisis, rapid global
change or change
in established
autocratic cultures
Incremental change
or global change
with long time
horizon
Organisational Resistance to Change
”It is widely assumed that resistance to change is a common and natural phenomenon”
A Huczynski

The strategic direction of an organisation builds up a MOMENTUM of its
own which may be reinforced by ongoing success

The CULTURE of the organisation is likely to support this momentum of
strategy. These two factors when linked may result in ORGANISATIONAL
INERTIA when it comes to change

Faced with change there may be POLITICAL resistance within and around the
organisation
Machiavelli on Change and the Political Process
“There is nothing more difficult than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.
Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and
only lukewarm support is forthcoming from those who would prosper under the new. Their
support is lukewarm partly from fear of their adversaries, who have the existing laws on their side,
and partly because men are generally incredulous, never really trusting new things unless they have
tested them by experience.
In consequence, whenever those who oppose the changes can do so, they attack vigorously, and the
defense made by the others is only lukewarm. So both the innovator and his friends could come to
grief”
Source: The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
Machiavelli’s 3 Principles:
 Establish whether you are in the position, in case of need, to maintain
yourself alone, or whether you need the protection of others
 Esteem your nobles (managers), but do not make yourself hated by the
populace (general staff)
 Follow the example of Ferdinand, King of Aragon and Spain, who
“continually contrived great things which have kept his subjects’ minds
uncertain and astonished, and occupied in watching their result”
McClelland’s Motivation Model
Direction
Motivated by
Description
Towards
Power
Winning, beating everyone else, being the boss, top dog in charge
Away from
Power
Away from losing, having to take orders or being second best
Towards
Affiliation
Want to be loved, liked, popular, being part of the group
Away from
Affiliation
Fear that people won’t like me, won’t want me around. Not being part
of the group
Towards
Achievement
Succeeding at whatever goal I have set myself
Away from
Achievement
Fear of not succeeding – of failure
Implementation:
“Unfreezing” & the Management of Change
Organisational “Symptoms
Stages
Pressures for Conformity

•
Rumours and signals
Questions and challenges
Unfreezing Mechanisms

Early signals made sense of
within paradigm
•
“Felt need” for change
Organisational Anticipation

Political pressures not to “rock
the boat”

Competing views of causes
of problems and remedies
Organisational Flux
•
Information collection
Information Building
•
Information made sense of
within paradigm
•
Political “testing” of support
Experimentation
•
Resistance to new ideas
•
New ideas tested out
Refreezing
(the signalling or confirmation of change)
Gerry Johnson & Kevan Scholes – Corporate Strategy
What are you worth?
“Whatever your age, your upbringing, or your education, what you are made of is mostly unused potential”
George Leonard
In simple terms ...
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Enough fat to make 7 bars of soap
Enough iron to make one medium size nail
Enough sugar to sweeten 7 cups of tea
Enough lime to whitewash a chicken coop
Enough phosphorous to make 2,200 match tips
Enough magnesium to make a dose of salts
Enough potash to explode a toy car
Enough sulphur to clear a dog of fleas
What are you really worth to the organisation?
As an:
innovative
team playing
reliable
flexible
disciplined
results orientated person ...
You are worth your weight in gold!!
Some Thoughts About Attitude
“Your work is to discover your work, and then with all your heart, to give yourself
to it”. Buddha
“One of the most important factors, not only in military matters but in life as a
whole, is the ability to direct one’s whole energies towards the fulfillment of a
particular task”. Field Marshall E Rommel
“Once you say you are going to settle for second, that’s what happens to you”.
John F Kennedy
“It’s your attitude, not your aptitude, which determines your altitude in life”.
Anonymous
“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it”.
Thomas Jefferson
“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the
opportunity in every difficulty”. Winston Churchill
KAIZEN - The “Ki” Principle
KI (crisis)
KI KEN
KI KAI
DANGER
GOOD CHANCE
=
=
THREAT
OPPORTUNITY
=
=
DEAD END
SUCCESS
IT IS ALL ABOUT ATTITUDE!!
KAIZEN - Cultural Differences
The Western Perception
Top Management - Middle Management
Supervisors - Staff
Results: Exclusion
Top down dictatorship
Poor morale
Communication through the grapevine
Innovation
Maintenance
The Japanese Perception
Top Management - Middle Management
Supervisors - Staff
Results: Participation & involvement
Enhanced morale
Increasing communication
Improvement in discipline
Better time management
Greater skills development
Innovation
GENERAL IMPROVEMENTS IN ATTITUDE
Maintenance
KAIZEN - the Values
KAIZEN Means:
Improvement
Ongoing improvement including everyone!!
KAIZEN Philosophy:
Simplicity - That our way of life be it working or
social or home deserves to be constantly improved.
KAIZEN’S Focus:
Improvement through Adaptability/Teamwork/Attention to detail
People orientation/Open and shared information
Cross functional orientation/Comprehensive feedback
Building on existing technology/Systems
KAIZEN’S Requirements: Inherent desire for quality
A belief that it will pay in the long run
Behavioural change
Positive attitude to change and improvement
Missionary zeal
A clear understanding that there is No End
It is Continuous
KAIZEN - What Does It Do?
It demands continuous improvement in:
•
•
•
•
Customer orientation
Total Quality Control
Suggestions/Ideas
Productivity
•
•
•
•
Zero defects
Small group activity
Co-operative communications
Transferability of skills
In order to eliminate:
Muda (Waste) - Muri (Excess) - Mura (Uneveness)
In:
•
•
•
•
Manpower
Technique
Method
Time
• Facilities
• Way of thinking
• Output
KAIZEN - How?
1) Team Briefing
2) Training - Driven from the top-down and available to all
3) Objectives ie:
S - Specific
M - Measurable
A - Agreed
R - Realistic
T - Timebound
4) Suggestions
i - Improvements in ones own work
ii - Saving in energy, material and other resources
iii - Improvements in the working environment
iv - Improvements in systems
v - Improvements in office work
vi - Improvements in the quality of our products and services
vii - Ideas for new products and services
viii - Improvements in customer service and customer relations
ix - Others
KAIZEN - How?
ie: Consideration is given to any change/suggestion if it contributes to these goals:
i - Making the job easier
ii - Removing the drudgery from the job
iii - Removing nuisance from the job
iv - Making the job more productive
v - Improving product and service quality
vi - Saving time and cost
No suggestions means No need for improvement which means You do not recognise the problem or You are comfortable passing the buck to Your colleagues and customers alike !!
KAIZEN suggestions must be supported from the bottom up - WHY? - because the
BEST solutions for IMPROVEMENT come from those closest to the PROBLEM!
KAIZEN - How?
Who
What
Where
Who does it?
Who is doing it?
Who should be doing it?
Who else can do it?
Who else should do it?
What to do?
What is being done?
What should be done?
What else can be done?
What else should be done?
Where to do it?
Where is it done?
Where should it be done?
Where else can it be done?
Where else should it be done?
When
Why
How
When to do it?
When is it done?
When should it be done?
What other time can it
be done?
What other time should
It be done?
Why does he do it?
Why do it?
Why do it there?
Why do it then?
How to do it?
How is it done?
How should it be done?
How can this method be
used in other areas?
Is there any other way to do it?
Why do it that way?
The overall result - a never ending programme of:
Perceptiveness - Idea development - Decision making - Implementation - Effect
The S.P.E.A.K.E.R. Model
Specific
Positive
Evidence
Awareness
Knowledge
Ecology
Responsibility
POWER taking SPEAKER further
Any project or change can be taken through SPEAKER to check it out. You can then use
the POWER model. By going through the POWER process first you have a lot of
information that will help you to firm up your SPEAKER Outcome.
P resent Situation
O utcome
W hy
E ffects
R esources
“Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember. Involve me and I will understand”
Confucius
Ten Key Factors in Effective Change
Management
1. Change is all pervasive.
2. Effective change needs active senior management support.
3. Change is a multi-disciplinary activity.
4. Change is about people, pure and simple.
5. Change is about success.
6. Change is a perpetual process.
7. Effective change requires competent change agents.
8. In terms of methodology, there is no one best way.
9. Change is about ownership.
10. Change is about fun, challenge and opportunity.
CONCLUSION:
It must be a continuous process of:
Confrontation
Identification
Evaluation
Action.
15 Key Competencies required for Effective Change Management
“If you can imagine it you can achieve it, if you can dream it you can become it”
William Arthur Ward
Goals
1
Sensitivity to changes in key personnel, top management perceptions and market conditions, and to the way in
which these impact on the goals of the project
2
Clarity in specifying goals, in defining the achievable
3
Flexibility in responding to changes, perhaps requiring major shifts in project goals and management style, and
risk taking
Roles
4
Team-building abilities, bringing together key stakeholders, establishing and maintaining appropriate contacts
5
Networking skills in establishing and maintaining appropriate contacts
6
Tolerance of ambiguity, to function comfortably, patiently and effectively in an uncertain environment
Communication
7
Communication skills to transmit effectively the need for change, project goals and individual
tasks/responsibilities
8
Interpersonal skills particularly in identifying the concerns of others
9
Personal enthusiasm, in expressing plans and ideas
10
Stimulating motivation and commitment in others involved
15 Key Competencies required for Effective Change Management (ii)
Negotiation
11 Selling plans and ideas, by creating a desirable and challenging future vision
12 Negotiating with key players for resources, procedural changes and conflict resolution
Managing Up
13 Potential awareness, in identifying potential coalitions and balancing conflicting goals and perceptions
14 Influencing skills, to gain commitment to project plans and ideas from potential sceptics and resisters
15 Overall perspectives, to stand back and take a broader view of priorities
D Buchanan & D Boddy
The Expertise of the Change Agent: Public Performance and Backstage Activity
WHAT ATTRIBUTES DOES A LEADER REQUIRE IN THE NEW
MILLENNIUM?
“Managers deal with complexities, Leaders deal with change” Richard Branson
Integrity (not necessarily honesty)
Decisive
Charisma
Visionary
Builds Trust
Holistic
Pragmatic (but not duplicitous)
Adaptable
Socially Aware
Communicative
Politely Autocratic
Presentation
Sense of Timing
Attributes will always be moulded and dictated by the environment
13 Fatal Errors Managers make
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it”
W. C. Fields
Refuse to accept personal change
1.
Fail to develop people
2.
Try to control results instead of influencing thinking
3.
Join the wrong crowd
4.
Manage everyone the same way
5.
Forget the importance of profit
6.
Concentrate on problems rather than objectives
7.
Be a buddy, not a boss
8.
Fail to set standards
9.
Fail to train your people
10.
Condone incompetence
11.
Recognise only top performers
12.
Try to manipulate people
Source: W Steven Brown, President of the Fortune Group
What Does Change Provide
It provides an organisation with an opportunity to be a world class player through an environment of ...
Excellence Persistence Belief
Attitude
Imagination Courage
Teamwork Desire
Goals
It does not provide an organisation with a promise or a certainty of becoming a world class player.
SOME FURTHER THOUGHTS
“A mind that is stretched to a new idea never returns to its original dimension” Oliver Wendell Homes
“There are precious few Einstein’s among us. Most brilliance arises from ordinary people working together in
extraordinary ways”. Roger Von Oech
“Don’t find fault, find a remedy”. Henry Ford
“We will either find a way, or make one”. Hannibal
“He who stops being better stops being good”. Oliver Cromwell
“In every passionate pursuit, the pursuit counts more than the object being pursued”. Bruce Lee
Successful Change Management
A Perspective
“Jumping to conclusions, is the only exercise some people get” Anonymous
1.
It is not about job cuts
2.
It is about eliminating the work…..eliminating the job
3.
It is not more for less…..but more often more for the same
4.
It is about doing the job faster
5.
It is a journey…..not a leap
6.
It is largely incremental……not a leap
7.
It is easy to say…..but hard to do
8.
It is as much to do with culture…..as process
9.
It results in everything being “at the elbow”
10.
It will lead to:
a.
Motivated and aligned employees
b.
Accountability to deliver
c.
Closing the skills gap
……but today’s solutions are tomorrow’s problems
Allan Leighton, Chairman – The Royal Mail
It’s Not My Job
This is a story about four people, named Everybody,
Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.
There was an important job to be done and Everybody
was sure that Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that, because it was
Everybody’s job.
Everybody thought Anybody could do it
but Nobody realised that Everybody wouldn’t do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody,
when Nobody did what Anybody could have.
“The success of a team depends upon how well the members play together
and this means being willing to lose one’s identity for the sake of the team”
Unknown
Conclusions
-
Those organisations that manage change effectively are more like “open learning
systems”
-
Sensitivity to the external environment is part of the organisation’s culture
-
It is dangerous to think of change management as a prescribed set of activities. It
differs by organisation and by market
-
Strategic change is inextricably linked with operational change
-
It is imperative that change is continued and incremental and becomes a way of life
e.g. Kaizen
-
Human resource management must be an integral component of the change process
Above all: Consistency, Direction, Strategy, Feasibility, Clarify
With one aim: Competitive Advantage
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear
is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our
darkness, that most frightens us. As we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear. Our presence
automatically liberates others”
Nelson Mandella
Final Thoughts
“In the traditional bureaucratic corporation, roles were so circumscribed that most relationships tended
to be rather formal and impersonal. Narrowly defined jobs constricted by rules and procedures also
tended to stifle initiatives and creativity, and the atmosphere was emotionally repressive. The postentrepreneurial corporation, in contrast, with its stress on teamwork and co-operation….brings people
closer together, making the personal dimension of relationships more important”
Rosabeth Moss Kanter
“You firmly believe that sound management means executives on one side and workers on the other,
on one side men who think and on the other men who can only work. For you, management is the art
of smoothly transferring the executives’ ideas into the workers hands.
We are beyond this; business as we know, is so complex and difficult, the survival of organisations so
hazardous in an environment increasingly unpredictable, competitive and fraught with danger, that
their continued existence depends on their ability to constantly change through the mobilisation of
every ounce of intelligence”.
Konosuke Matsushita