Organisational Change Risk Assessment and Equality Analysis
Title
__________________________________________________________
Faculty/Area
Completed by -
Date -
Risk Assessment Form
1. Impact of Change
All affected employees are consulted on and appropriately engaged in, the change initiative
Poor communication
and uncertainty
Fears about job
security
Dysfunctional teams
Diversity issues not
adequately
considered
Considerations – (mark as appropriate)
Lack of support from
Employees unaware
managers
of available
support
Other ‘change issues’
Poor morale
Inexperience/fear of
new technology
Lack of skills for new
tasks
Current Control Measures
Before consultation begins, Project Lead to contact colleagues in other departments who have implemented similar change programmes in order to learn from their
successes and failures.
Residual Risk:
Low
Medium
High
Dedicated project team
Trade Union Support
General Control Measure Prompts – (mark as appropriate)
Open briefing
Local team meetings
Individual meetings
sessions
Frequently asked
questions
Change timetable
published
Change timetable
regularly updated
Not enough time to
complete
initiative
Internet micro-site
Single email for
queries
Equality Impact
Assessment included
below
Project Action Plan
2. Implementing Change
Suitable and sufficient resources are available to implement the change initiative
Considerations – (mark as appropriate)
Conflict with other
Non-compliance with
Excessive/prolonged
Miscommunication
Other implementation
change initiatives
policy/legal
pressure on
between
issues
requirements
implementation
implementation
team
team members
Current Control Measures
Higher level of
dissatisfaction from
particular groups of
staff
Residual Risk:
Dedicated
implementation
team
Low
Medium
Dedicated HR support
resource
High
General Control Measure Prompts – (mark as appropriate)
People development
Alignment to other
SMG Awareness/
resource
change
Prioritisation
available
Initiatives
Additional resource
Provided where
required
Equality Impact data
gathered
Project Action Plan
Too little time for tasks
3. Change Outcome
The structure and resourcing of the new organisation is suitable to meet future demands
Considerations – (mark as appropriate)
Inadequate staffing
Inadequate resources Excessive workloads
Excess pressure
Dysfunctional teams
Lack of clarity of job
roles
Confusion over others
job roles
Conflicting demands
Change impacting
unexpectedly on
some staff
Correct level of skills,
training and
knowledge
Current Control Measures
Residual Risk:
Low
Medium
Organisational structure
charts
Job Descriptions
Redeployment policy
Voluntary redundancy
policy
High
General Control Measure Prompts – (mark as appropriate)
Competency
Training needs
Developmental
specifications
analysis
appraisal process
Monitoring plans
developed as a result
of the equality impact
assessment
Project Action Plan
People development
programme
Organisational
change guidelines
Equality Impact Assessment
Do the organisational changes covered by this assessment have an impact on the following ‘protected characteristics’ under the Equality Act?
Group
Does the change potentially impact on
those people with protected
characteristics either explicitly or
inadvertently?
Yes
No
Unsure
Can the change be used to help meet
positive duties (eliminate
discrimination, advance equality of
opportunity and promote good
relations)?
Yes
No
Unsure
Evidence of adverse impact based
on data or consultation- i.e. does the
change impact less favourably on
certain groups? (n/a if not equality
relevant)
Yes
No
Unsure
Age
Disability
Race
Religion
Gender
Sexual Orientation
Gender Reassignment
Pregnancy and maternity
Describe the potential adverse impact to group(s) identified:
Describe the measures adopted to ensure that there is no adverse impact:
Describe the opportunities to help meet positive duties available as part of this change:
Signature:
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REVIEWED : Date .
Title:
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Action Plan
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Review Date
By
Action by
Completion Date
Guidance for completing a health and safety risk assessment for Organisational Change:
Introduction
It is generally acknowledged that people can find significant changes to their working environment difficult to deal with. This principle applies to a
range of situations- from moves in office accommodation to higher impact changes which may threaten a person’s job security or level of pay.
Although it may not be possible to completely remove the stress associated with organisational change for individuals; it will certainly be the case that
change which is managed well, will be easier to cope with for individuals and will lead to higher performance and better motivation in staff groups as
the changes are implemented.
This organisational change risk assessment is not intended to reflect individual responses to a change; it is intended to reflect School/team issues.
When significant numbers of change initiatives are undertaken at one time, it may be necessary to pull together an overview of the various
organisational change risk assessments which have been completed in order to identify whether certain staff groups, or individuals may be affected
disproportionately within the organisation. Normally, the assessment should be completed by the project lead on an initiative, who can take ownership
of the action plan developed.
The Risk Assessment
A specific template has been developed to assist those leading change, to assist them to keep a focus upon the critical elements which can make
such a difference to those who are required to implement changes. The template is based on very similar formats developed elsewhere within the
sector.
The template used is broken down into 3 areas:
1. Impact of Change
2. Implementing Change
3. Change outcome
Steps 1-5 outlined below should be completed for each stage identified. Ideally, the risk assessment should be completed at the beginning of the
change programme, but there is no reason why it should not be picked up at a later stage if the significance of the change had initially been underestimated.
Step 1 -Potential Areas for Concern (listed under the ‘Considerations’ title)
The person completing the assessment is asked to consider what likely concerns might arise in relation to the changes proposed, using a list of
prompts, which can be supplemented, as necessary. Relevant boxes should be ticked.
Step 2 -Current Control Measures
Any actions already completed (or well in progress) during the change programme should be described in this part of the template.
Step 3 -The Residual Risk Rating
In order to get a sense of the likely impact of the change will be on staff, the form asks for a risk rating to be assigned to each of the three stages of
change. A rating of High /Medium or Low will be assigned, once the current control measures have been recorded.
For example, a change to a process may significantly increase workloads which are placed on a team. Without additional resources this may be a
high risk in terms of individual workload. However, with the provision of additional resources the risk may be reduced to Low. This rating is inevitably
a subjective judgement and something which may be perceived differently by different people.
The same principles for risk evaluation apply for organisational change risk assessments as they do for any risk assessment, higher risks suggest a
higher potential for harm to occur, in the case of organisational change, the harm could manifest itself as stress, anxiety or ill health at work. Further
guidance is given in the table below:
High
The change proposed is likely to be very challenging for staff to take on board, either because it implements a completely different way
of working or the process is likely to involve staff redundancy. When a large number of staff are affected the risk is increased. Although
the way these situations are managed are critical to the way staff feel about the process of change, the residual risks are likely to
remain high, despite suitable controls in place, when redundancy is likely.
Residual risks can also be high if a risk assessment is completed part way through a process and this highlights that the significant
changes proposed have initially not been very effectively communicated or managed. In such situations the number of required
actions in the project action plan are likely to be very high and the residual risk will remain high until improvements in the process are
made.
Medium This rating can be applied to change initiatives which may be complex in their nature, and may require people to work in very different
ways to the way they worked before. There may be some pay issues associated with this medium risk, but staff will not be facing
redundancy. If numbers of people affected are very high, this will increase the risk.
Low
Planned change where the impact on staff is not likely to be very disruptive. The residual risks can also be low if there are more
significant changes planned but the impact upon staff has been very effectively managed.
Remember in the context of organisational change, the risk level is only identified in order to assist those who lead the change to prioritise
any additional action required.
Step 4- Ideas for Managing Change (listed under ‘General Control Measure Prompts’ Title)
Established mechanisms for ensuring change is effectively managed are listed as a series of prompts, which can be supplemented as necessary.
Again, relevant boxes should be ticked.
Step 5 - Project Action Plan
Any further actions identified, after reflecting upon the potential areas for concern and current control measures in place should be recorded as an
action plan. This information is then transferred to the back of the document where responsibilities and timescales for implementation should be
recorded as part of steering group discussions.
Individual Stress Risk Assessment
This risk assessment should not be used to describe any single person’s individual response to organisational change. It maybe that a small number
of staff have a very strong negative reaction to a proposed change, despite best efforts to put in suitable management procedures to reduce the
impact upon them.
A negative reaction is not in itself a symptom of stress. However, if the person is exhibiting the signs and symptoms of work related stress, and any
line management discussions and subsequent action, fails to adequately improve this situation, a referral to Occupational Health should be then
completed. Occupational Health may then recommend that the line manager completes an individual stress risk assessment for that person (if work
related issues are shown to be a significant part of the cause of the person’s stress).
Equality Issues
The Equality Act 2010 requires that an employer has due regard to the impact of any change which is proposed on those people who have protected
characteristics (Age, Disability, Race, Religion, Gender, Sexual Orientation, Gender re-assignment, Pregnancy and Maternity). In the interests of
simplicity this template allows both the organisational change risk assessment and equality impact assessment (EIA) to be recorded in the same
place. Care should be taken to ensure that actions related to the EIA are recorded in the final action plan, together with the other action proposed.
However, in order to avoid identifying individuals who may have protected characteristics (especially so, if they have responded to a consultation and
their comments are being used to ensure that a particular equality group is not adversely affected) please give particularly careful thought to the
wording of the EIA section of this document.
Further Assistance
Further assistance can be obtained from the following sources:
General advice in completing the document and an overview of the suitability of the control measures: Health and Safety Office (5165)
Equalities Queries: Equalities Office (6333)
Queries over the employment rights of those affected by change included changes to contracts and terms and conditions: Area HR Advisor
Queries relating to the Health of those affected: Occupational Health (6010)