PART III: Change after Action
PANS is a major superstore operating in Hong Kong. While it was able to successfully establish itself in the country’s retail industry, certain internal and external pressures had begun to affect the company’s overall performance. The growing competition in the industry, the inefficiency of the staff as well as the changing demands of the customers are some of the major issues being encountered by PANS. In order to address these, the organization developed specific objectives to bring about changes in its operations. Below are the components of the company’s change management project:
- To create a better shopping experience by greeting customers
- To develop a staff who are highly initiative and willing to help out the consumers
- To conduct specialist trainings to enhance the knowledge of the staff regarding store management and customer relations
- To implement efforts towards employee empowerment
- To reorganize staff structure for more effective work distribution
- To promote effective communication and team-building among company personnel
- To employ appropriate performance standards to evaluate the progress of implemented business plans or changes
A main component of this plan was the conduction of various trainings for the staff. The trainings focused on developing the employees’ communication, leadership and team-building skills. During the process, participants went through workshops that involve seminars, classroom discussions and actual demonstrations. These programs allowed the staff to learn more about the company’s operations, the expectations of the company from them as well as their work responsibilities. The trainings taught the staff participants the different means of dealing with customers, colleagues and other work situations that they could encounter.
The techniques for efficient customer relations and service provision were also part of the program. In addition, the program also helped the employees to get a clear vision on how exactly they could contribute to the company’s change management plans and future progress. The trainings also gave the participants the chance to comprehend how the change management project will be beneficial for them and the company.
In order to improve the coordination between the staff from various store departments, the training programs involved sessions participated by employees assigned in different store sections. This helped in making the participants understand more of each department’s responsibilities and operations. This has also been a means for the company to acquaint staff members with their colleagues. To facilitate the establishment of better work relations between these staff members, team-building activities were conducted. Games and presentations were included in the activity to make it entertaining and less formal.
In addition to training programs, the company also carried out modifications on its existing policies and standard operations. Specifically, stricter observance of store policies had been enforced. For example, in order to ensure that all employees are complying with uniform policies of the store, a daily shift inspection is done by the managers. In addition, managers are required to make regular store rounds to check on the employees assigned on their respective posts.
Naturally, certain sanctions are done to those who fail to follow the set policies. This new practice will help in instilling among the employees the significance of following company regulations. This will also increase the level of discipline among the staff. Problem areas in the store (e.g. blocked store aisles or passages, unavailable product stocks in the store shelves) can be addressed immediately. Moreover, increasing the visibility of the manager in the store can help in bringing the management and subordinate staff together.
Means of empowering the employees of the company had also been carried out in the process. One of the major developments in this change component is the training of selected managers in order for them to participate and contribute in other major activities of the company. This training program is designed to enhance the leadership potential, analytical skills and decision-making capabilities of the participants. Adding a new edge in their work responsibilities is a way of the company to motivate its store managers.
A clearer career ladder for both management and subordinate employees has also been developed. This has been developed especially to optimize the potentials and skills of each organizational member. Opportunities for promotion, salary increases and incentives are also provided for the staff. Regular company gatherings are also to be conducted to recognize employees who have contributed greatly to the company’s development. Furthermore, store managers have also been trained on how to constantly motivate their staff.
The changes introduced by the company had naturally caused a number of effects on the employees. This section will then identify how the change management project of PANS has impacted me and the staff. In particular, the developments and problems that were observed after the change project will be identified. Relevant theories that could further explain the project’s turn out will also be integrated in the discussion.
3.1 Impact on the Company
Significant developments were obtained by the company through its introduction of change. Its ability to develop effective developmental strategies for instance, had been developed. Through the initiation of change, the company management was able to develop a change project that directly addresses its main issues. By developing an appropriate plan, PANS was able to gradually achieve its objectives. This development is important as this allows the company to apply cost-effective projects. The value of this development had been stressed by the contingency theory. Basically, the contingency theory stresses that there is no single way on how one can manage different organizations.
The main message relayed by the contingency theory is that organizational leaders cannot apply a single and perfect management approach to any working environment. This means that a general and overall effective management system is neither existing nor is it possible to develop one. This is mainly because each company is subjected to distinct internal and external factors that it must overcome.
In order to overcome these challenging factors, an organization must then create an individualized style of management. The principles of the contingency theory support this general management concept. One, which has already been cited, is that there is no such thing as a universal means of management. Aside from this, an organization’s way of management must be adaptable to its subsystems. Most importantly, the contingency theory supports the concept that the success of the organizational system is largely dependent on it proper design based on the main activity of the organization and its type of workforce.
The change allowed the retail company to apply the concepts indicated in the contingency theory. In turn, this enabled the company to increase its competitiveness. Considering that the company is being threatened by the presence of several competitors and new business entrants, the change made it possible for PANS to maintain the business and integrate essential improvements. These include the development of highly-skilled employees, acquisition of better customer relations and enhancement overall store operations. In addition to this, the modifications in the company made its management sector more aware of the different pressures affecting the business. Another important development in the company brought about by change is that it made the company more adaptable, resourceful and creative. In terms of human relations, designing a change project that is directed for the customers and employees made the company more people-oriented, which is an important feature in today’s business sector. As people serve as the main support of the company, learning how to give them due value is an important factor for Pons’s progress in the future.
3.2 Impact on People
The introduction of change at PANS has resulted to several effects on its personnel. Although the change project was intended to improve the company’s operations, negative issues had also been observed. For instance, the initiation of change in the company has been difficult at first due to the resistance of some employees. The employees believe that change in the company will only take valuable resources such as funds, time and energy. They also believe that changing their work routines will only lead to work disruption. This in turn affected the training programs conducted during the change implementation phase as some employees would refrain to participate in the said programs.
This effect of change had been cited in Levin’s (1951) theory of change. In this theory, Lewina noted that managers should be aware of the two types of resistance forces that can result from change. These forces are derived from customs or social habit and the other is from inner change resistance. The root of change resistance is brought about by the interplay between the group and its individual members. As most group members would want to maintain behavioral norms of the group, the individual resistance from each member would increase. This is the same in organizational application. Some PANS staff would want to maintain their usual work routines and practices; these employees’ resistance influences others, thus, the issue worsens.
Resistance to change is indeed a typical occurrence in organizations; previous applications of change in other organizations have resulted to similar effects. In a research done by Brutus and Green (1999), the authors cited a multinational corporation that had enforced the belief system approach to every level of the company. In order to carry out this change, the company would have to downsize its employees. In addition, as the company is operating as a profit centre and competing against outside suppliers for internal customers, it had to rethink its entire operation and change the processes it had used for providing HR services, such as recruitment, selection and evaluation, training and development, and personnel record keeping. With this wide array of changes, the company management encountered a number of problems with their employees when they were implemented. For instance, the impact of downsizing had not only caused organization upheavals but stimulated strong emotions from the employees. Furthermore, not all employees in the organization were supportive of the belief system approach. Some, in fact, reacted with hostility towards the different change projects developed by the organization.
The company however, did not leave the problem unaddressed. The management encouraged its staff to participate in its training sessions, one-on-one sessions, team meetings, and follow-up sessions. Once the one-on-one sessions got underway, positive word-of-mouth quickly began to change employee attitudes. When people heard about the effectiveness of the belief approach in solving various organizational problems – and how good their co-workers felt after their one-on-one sessions – they became less apprehensive about participating and even began to look forward to meeting with their managers. In the six months after the belief system was introduced, the Vice President of Human Resources noticed a marked improvement in both organizational morale and performance. Team effectiveness also improved significantly. The manner to which managers deal with each other and handle conflicts also improved ( 1999).
PANS realized that its planned changes for the company will encounter resistance from some employees. Thus, the company also developed some measures to address this issue. For example, in order to reduce the level of resistance from the employees, the company relayed and discussed the change plan in advance. By avoiding surprises, employees are given the time to prepare and adjust themselves for the upcoming changes. Official meetings with the managers and employee representatives were conducted on a regular basis. The purpose of these meetings was to inform the managers and employees how change will be done in the company operations and how these will affect the organization. By means of giving out official information, rumors and assumptions were removed. Moreover, meeting with the company personnel is a good means of ensuring their participation and support for the project.
During the discussion of the company’s planned changes with the employees, PANS also ensure some important matters. For example, the company ensured that the support of the top management towards the plan is observed and emphasized. This was done as managers set the stage for change by showing a positive attitude towards it. This helped in boosting the confidence of the personnel towards the project plan. The discussion of the plan was also kept simple and comprehensive in order for the general audience to understand the project well and actively ask relevant questions. In addition, rather than stress total change to the employees, the company made sure that conventional ideals and values are still incorporated in the plans. Furthermore, the sentiments and feelings of the employees are accommodated during the said meetings. Valid objections are also acknowledged in order to relieve their fears and apprehensions towards the project.
The actual implementation of change in PANS also considered certain factors in order to reduce the resistance of the employees. For example, in order to allow the employees adjust to the several changes of the company, modifications were introduced gradually. Moreover, the changes were introduced during non-peak seasons where there will be no major influx of customers to the store. Through this, the employees are given enough time to adjust to the changes of the company. Through these measures, the company was able to minimize conflicts and resistance as well as implement its change project plans.
Although the company did encounter resistance from its employees, its personnel especially its top management sector employees were able to acquire important developments. One of which is their ability to manage conflict and lead the employees. By being able to develop means of handling organizational change effects, the management sector was able to develop its leadership potentials. Moreover, the gap between the management and the subordinate employees was reduced; the ability of the management to communicate with the employees and deal with their issues also improved through organizational change. The employees also gained significant developments from the change project. Their level of productivity, sense of discipline and responsibility as well as their communication skills were improved through change.
The improvement of the employees can be attributed to the different means of motivation implemented by the company. In order to motivate the employees of PANS towards change, the company implemented changes in the employees’ promotional and developmental opportunities. Aside from the development of the employees during the training process, changes in the policies also provided the staff the opportunity to reach higher positions in the company. In order to achieve them, the employees are encouraged to do their best in their current assigned positions. According to Creech (1995), motivation is typically defined by psychologists as a stimulation that causes the creation of aroused, sustained and directed behavior. This behavior in turn leads individuals to work and perform towards goal achievement.
Several authors had also studied on the principal concept behind motivation. Kreutzer (1995) for instance, has defined motivation as the psychological process that results to a directional and purposeful behavior. Motivation is also defined as the tendency to behave in an appropriate manner to attain certain needs (Buford, Bodleian & Lindner 1995). Higgins (1994) also gave meaning to the concept of motivation by defining it as the internal drive to satisfy individual needs.
Specific theories can explain how PANS employees developed their work behavior and values through motivation. The need-hierarchy theory of Maslow (1943) for instance, is among the first motivation theories that had been introduced. In this theoretical model, Maslow noted five levels of employee needs, which include the physiological, social, ego, safety and self-actualizing needs. From his work, Maslow is a challenging process and that motivation basically works through a series of needs that are arranged in a certain level.
According to Skinner (1953), the reinforcement theory suggests the behaviors of the employees directly impact the outcome of their work or their performance. Thus, an employee with a positive behavior will bring about positive outcomes, whereas those with negative behaviors will lead to negative results. Thus, the positive behaviors of the employees should then be reinforced by their managers so as to generate more positive outcomes. Vroom’s expectancy theory implies a similar concept. In this theory, Vroom (1964) indicated that the employees’ effort leads to performance and that this performance should be given due rewards and recognition.
The nature of these rewards however can be good or bad. The managers should consider giving more positive rewards as these will make employees more motivated. Based from these theoretical perspectives, it is clear that employees would have to receive something in return in order to encourage them to work productively towards change and improvement.
Granting promotion to deserving employees, such as the one stressed in the change project plan of PANS, is one way of applying theories of motivation. Bonham (1993) stated that promotion is also synonymous to career success where employees are given higher responsibilities or place on higher authority levels. Promotion is considered an important element of human resource management as it encourages employees to perform with quality. This also represents a significant aspect of the internal selection system. The organizational members’ affective reactions towards their job and to the company are also influenced significantly based on their promotional opportunities. Most importantly, the turnover process is reduced through promotion (Johnston et al 1993).
Aside from these, providing opportunities for promotion among employees is also likely to increase loyalty, thus, preventing employee turnover. A previous study (Rome 1989) concluded that organizational commitment is positively correlated to internal promotions or career growth; this suggest that promoted employees are likely to have high commitment to the company. Promoting employees will naturally lead to their development. As employees are trained and educated, promoted individuals learn new knowledge and skills. Furthermore, they become more familiar with their company’s operations. Promotion does not only develop a person’s work abilities, but it also develops his or her behavior and values. For instance, promotion can make the employee more responsible, dependable and mature. Hence, in motivating an employee through promotion, the individual does not only develop professionally but personally as well.
From this theoretical perspective, the development of the PANS employees can be understood more clearly. The inclusion of motivational efforts by the company in its change project encouraged the employees to become more enthusiastic in performing their assigned tasks. In addition, these motivated them to have the initiative to do things on their own like greeting and assisting customers, arranging product shelves as well as maintaining the safety and cleanliness of the store environment. The company benefited from this development as well. In particular, the enthusiasm of the employees to do their best allowed the management to introduce change more easily. Through this, change-related problems remained manageable.
In general, the impact of change to the personnel of PANS was both positive and negative. While the objectives of the company are gradually being achieved through the change project, certain problems still occurred. Nonetheless, this has made the company more resilient towards business challenges and risks. The negative impacts of organizational change made the company management more creative and resourceful in developing counter measures to overcome these issues. The challenge brought about by change on the other hand encouraged the employees to draw out their inherent potentials and skills.
3.3 Personal Impact
As one of the store managers of PANS, I was able to undergo significant developments through change as well. One of which was the enhancement of my ability to communicate with different types of people. With my responsibility as the store manager, this personal development allowed me to work more efficiently with my staff. Specifically, problems happening daily in the store are now more easily relayed to me by my subordinates. As I motivate the staff, my working relations with them had improved considerably. With better communication systems, problems in the store are addressed immediately. This personal development can be supported by relevant organization theories.
Frederick Taylor for example, a classical theorist, stated that contemporary management should focus on establishing collaborative relations between the workers and the top management. Moreover, the combined knowledge and skills of the management and workforce will result to better organizational outcomes. In addition, he also introduced one scientific management principle, which is centered on the relation between the management and the workers. This principle indicates that the management must coordinate with its workers so as to achieve scientific work results (Freeman 1996). In general, he stressed that both need each other and must work together to achieve the organization’s objectives. As I was able to utilize better means of communication with the staff, the improvements in the store were achieved. The collaboration between me and the subordinate staff also facilitated the development of better working relations and a more orderly store environment.
Chester Barnard, a modern theorist, also introduced a theory that explains the significant role of effective communication systems as well as how managers should maintain this aspect in organizations. The theory is known as the theory of authority. In this theory, he noted that for a communication between the manager and the subordinate to be authoritative, four conditions must be met. First, the subordinate must understand the message being relayed; second, the subordinate must be able to comply or follow what has been said; third, the message and the subordinate’s goals must be compatible with each other; finally, the subordinate must believe that the message relayed does not contradict with the organization’s main objectives.
This theory then stresses that the authoritativeness of the communication process is significantly dependent on the subordinate rather that the manager. The theory of authority also stresses that in the communication process, managers should respectfully and competently approach their subordinates (Andrews 1968). In this theory, Barnard clearly stresses that executives must develop and follow a certain communication system (Barnard 1968). By learning how to be an effective communicator, I was able to initiate the changes in the store settings and obtain the support of the employees.
In terms of managing conflicts, the trainings conducted by the company allowed me to learn new means of handling various store issues and concerns. Through this training, I was able to develop my listening and communication skills appropriate for managing conflicts. As a store manager, these are important personal developments. Should conflicts arise, it is essential that managers must be able to speak up his or her thoughts to others. Without proper communication abilities, employees or customers will just feel frustrated every time a conflict occurs. Effective communication also practices two-sided conversation; through this, managers are able to let conflicting parties raise their views and reasons.
The development of listening abilities is also important among managers; with this ability, managers can concentrate on what both sides are saying. The aim of having these important skills among managers is to ensure that a positive environment is observed despite the conflict (Roper 2005). The maintenance of a positive environment is not only helpful for developing the right solutions but also in speeding the process of conflict management.
The trainings also allowed me to learn the appropriate behavior appropriate in handling conflicting issues. Managing conflicts also requires the right attitude among managers. For example, managers must be able to handle his or her emotions well. Strong negative emotions such as despair, frustration and anger must be managed well so as not to worsen the situation. Through effective emotional management, respect will be exercised all parties involved. It is essential that managers do not verbally attack employees who are trying to issues of conflict; it is important that managers still see to it that good relations are still observed in the workforce. Rational behavior is also important in conflict management; managers should realize that they have to be connected with the parties at all times so as to understand the situation and implement the proper solutions.
In general, the trainings I attended during the change management process allowed me to develop into a better managers, communicator, leader and negotiator. I was able to develop personally and professionally, which in turn enabled me to produce better work results. While change in the company brought about positive results, I also encountered certain downsides. For instance, I would have to adjust in order for me to handle new responsibilities. Initially, the adjustment process was difficult for me as I still have to support my staff employees who were also undergoing the same challenge.
Helping out in introducing change in the company has been tedious and stressful. In addition to ensuring the success of change implementation, I would have to handle the minor issues brought about in the process. Indeed, adjusting to a new store setting and performing regular workloads has been physically and mentally demanding. Nonetheless, the stress from the process enabled me to become a more adaptable employee.
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