Skills and Effective Practices
Terry C. Holbrook
AET / 560
October 17, 2016
Dr. Christine Nortz
SKILLS AND EFFECTIVE PRACTICES / 1Skills and Effective Practices
Today, when considering skills and effective practices it all comes down to upper management’s skills set in communicating change and policy. Anyone can say here it is take it or leave it, or it’s this way or the highway. Management today has to cultivate change, they have to motivate the employee to understand and want change.Motivation is tricky and there needs to be something to be motivated toward. During the 60’s through the 80’s just being grateful and getting a paycheck was motivation enough, but not today. Today,just having a job and getting a paycheck does not constitute motivation to do work, motivation to put out quality work. People need to take pride in their work, and sometimes they need help or support from supervisors or leaders.
Theories of Practice
Kurt Lewin theory of change. “The scientific study of change implementation can be traced back to the work of psychologist Kurt Lewin. In the aftermath of World War II, Lewin published two path breaking essays, “Behavior and Development as a Function of the Total Situation” (1946) and “Frontiers in Group Dynamics” (1947). Lewin is best known for his three stages of change implementation: unfreezing, moving, and refreezing.
•Unfreeze – Remove current beliefs and create a safe learning environment.
•Change – Brainstorming ideas of what is currently working and what is not. Formulating concepts, up to date ideas, and behaviors that the trainees will support and believe in while feeling all-inclusive.
•Refreeze – This stage is implemented when the new ideas are working as designed and both company and trainee have internalized said changes so that the new ideas stay consistent and as planned.
Another theory of practice is McKinsey’s 7S model in marketing. Harlon (2014), ”The beauty of this framework is that the elements are self-explanatory, although I have outlined some guidance for applying it later in the post” (Harlon, 2014).
•“Strategy: The definition of key approaches for an organization to achieve its goals” (Harlon, 2014).
•“Structure: The organization of resources within a company into different business groups and teams” (Harlon, 2014).
•“Style: The culture of the organization in terms of leadership and interactions between staff and other stakeholders” (Harlon, 2014).
•“Staff: The type of employees, remuneration packages and how they are attracted and retained” (Harlon, 2014).
•“Skills: Capabilities to complete different activities” (Harlon, 2014).
•“Systems:Business processes and the technical platforms used to support operations” (Harlon, 2014).
•“Shared Values: Summarized in a vision and or mission, this is how the organization defines its raison d’être” (Harlon, 2014). Developed by well-known business consultants Robert H. Waterman Jr. and Tom Petersand based on the theory that a company can only run efficiently by the seven fundamentals they have outlined. These ideas need to be associated and jointly maintained, so as to improve efficiency or possible reconfiguration.
Lastly, there is the Beckhard and Harris’s Change Equation Model. According toTools4management.com(2016),“Beckhard and Harris’s Change Equation Modelis the most trusted theory for organizational development and change” (Tools4management, 2016). The change equation: “Dissatisfaction x Vision x First steps > Resistance to change. It is important to note that the three components must all be present to overcome the resistance to change in an organization; Dissatisfaction with the present situation, a Vision of what is possible in the future, and achievable First steps towards reaching this vision” (Tools4management, 2016).
Change Leader uses Effective Practices
There are individuals that want to lead and there is effective leadership. Not everyone who wants to lead or be in charge is cut out to be a leader. Effective leadership can shape the behavior of those who are respectful of the leader, such as a manager and his/her assistant or junior. An effective leader can also be imitated by others, who strive to also be an in the role of effective leadership. Spector (2013), "When an organization is attempting transformational change, the behavior of leaders is meant to impact changes in the behavior of others" (Spector, 2013). It is important for employees to feel respected by their employers. Organizations can sometimes lose employees simply because they forgot to include the staff with their reorganizational plans.
Reorganization doesn’t always mean that employees will lose their jobs, but it tends to make employees leery about the future of their position. Organizational changes need to be addressed as revitalization and done so in a manner as to come off positive. The employees, suppliers, and customers need to be informed of what is the goal and what is going to be done. Employees need to be assured of what changes are going to be madeand if there is a going to be a deprecating move, like eliminating positions or demotions for the employees. Employees that are worried about their jobs without being given reassurance, especially with changes, tend to be distracted and not work to the best of their abilities.
Actions or tasks needed to promote change. To get employees sold on the idea of change and not have them worrying about their jobs; the very first action needed is getting them involved in the change. Having a feeling of inclusiveness will help replace the feeling of job uncertainty. Often, in the beginning of the change process when old protocols are getting tossed aside and old procedures are getting unlearned, employees get discouraged and leave or resist the change. During the early stages of the process, the leaders need to express emotional support to help motivate them to the change. Another action that helps promote change is the employee seeing how much the leader is inspired about the change, feelings can be very contagious and one can get inspired just being around someone who is fired up. A little passion and inspiration can go a long way to promoting ‘team change’.
Conclusion
While passion and inspiration are two key actions for promoting change, one cannot forget the importance of upper management’s (leaders) ability to communicate that change. Getting leaders to communicate that change as a positive necessity instead of a personal risk to their job can be tricky. There are many change theories out there for the taking, but research has shown that the programs that work and are successful, are the ones that are all inclusive.
References
Hanlon, A.(2014).How to use the McKinsey 7S model in marketing.Retrieved from
Spector, B (2013) Implementing Organizational Change: Theory into Practice. Third Edition. Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
These essays and others are collected in Kurt Lewin, Field Theory in Social Science: Selected Theoretical Papers (New York: Harper & Row, 1951).
Tools4management.(2016).Retrieved from