Managing Change in Organisations
NEWS
Questions
[Link] roles and functions are assigned to bots at HDFC ERGO after onboarding them as
employees?
[Link] does assigning employee IDs and tickets to bots change the traditional concept of a
workforce?
[Link] HR and operational challenges motivated HDFC ERGO to integrate bots into its workforce?
[Link] what ways do bots complement human employees rather than replace them in this case?
[Link] are the potential benefits of onboarding bots as employees for organizational efficiency
and customer service?
[Link] can this case influence future HR policies related to human–AI collaboration?
Change Management
• What is Change Management?
• SHRMdefines change management the following way:
• Change management is the systematic approach and
application of knowledge, tools, and resources to deal
with change.
• In essence, the purpose of change management is to
determine, structure, manage, and execute any
initiative that would challenge the current status quo.
The change management process includes multiple
steps and structural elements, aimed at ensuring that:
• The organization can adapt/react to the changes,
prompted by external conditions (e.g. market
turbulence).
• The people, employed by the company, can go along
with the proposed internal changes, prompted either by
an internal or external need.
• Change management is a cross-functional action,
leaders pursue when they want to drive sustainable
transformations and effective decision making across
their organization with minimal resistance and
disruption.
A Guide to Organizational Change Management for Leaders
• What is Organizational Change Management?
• Organizational change management is a more
narrow scope of action, aimed at altering how
the organization operates. Organizational
change can assume improvements in the
company’s culture, standard operational
procedures, service or technology portfolios.
• The need for organizational change can be prompted by different factors
such as:
• A slow rate of innovation
• Low operational efficiency
• Shift to another business model (e.g. from sales-led to product-led growth).
• Why is change important? The global pandemic is a good illustration. Agile
companies, capable of pivoting and driving organizational changes fast (and
effectively), ended up among the market movers. Whereas more reluctant
or ineffective companies are still struggling to shake off the disruptive
impact of COVID-19 on their operations.
• Certainly, a ‘swan’ event such as the global pandemic is a more rare case of
organizational change. Far more frequently, businesses introduce a change
management policy as a response to the following types of changes:
• Adaptive changes — small-scale, incremental changes leaders pursue as the
company’s needs and priorities evolve. In most cases, such changes are slight
adjustments to existing processes, planned out in advance along with other
initiatives on the annual/monthly agendas. These may apply only to certain people,
processes, or tech, rather than the company as a whole
• Transformational changes — large-scale, radical initiatives, involving multi-vector
transformations. For example, a shift in the company vision can require changes in
the product portfolio, management, team structure, and business processes.
• Due to the sweeping scale and vast impact, transformational changes required
careful orchestration. Typically, such organizational change management strategies
are put in place as a response to a major shift in market conditions, a disruption in
the supply chain, or another major event.
• Transitional changes — a group of ‘sub-changes’ aimed at taking the company from
its current state towards the desired to-be to solve a particular issue. For example,
after M&A the parent company will develop a change management plan, aimed at
aligning operations within the purchased asset with the rest of the organization.
• Organizational Change Examples
• Implementation of new technology or
digital transformations
• M&A activity, company group consolidation
• Change in company leadership and strategic
priorities
• Change in organizational culture
Popular Change Management Models: Overview
• Old habits die hard. We are reluctant to change our usual ways,
especially when the request for change is imposed on us (rather than
manifests internally). That’s why formal change management
techniques exist in the first place. They facilitate a paced and non-
disruptive introduction of new practices, address resistance, and
minimize turbulence, experienced during the change period.
• But given that change comes in different shapes (and manifests as a
response to different stressors), there is a range of change management
tools leaders can leverage.
• Dr. John Kotter, an author, and professor of Leadership at the Harvard
Business School developed an 8-step framework for leading change.
Each of the proposed change management steps is aimed at mobilizing
the people around the purpose of change, getting a unified buy-in, and
ensuring fast-paced action.
Kotter’s Change Management Theory
• The Kotter’s 8 Step Model Template for PowerPoint is an organizational
change management presentation. Most of the time, the employees do
not take change as a positive action. Therefore, implementing a new
process for organizational change is a challenge and requires a detail
strategy. This PowerPoint template contains visual graphics of John Kotter’s
progressive model of 8 steps for successful transformation. Further, this
PowerPoint model shows staircase style stages of Kotter’s methodology. It
demonstrates the extensive planning through eight phases to share the
goals with all team members. Moreover, this process of sharing ideas
empowers employees to become a part of progressive improvement. The
first three steps of Kotter’s business model help in creating opportunities
and need for change. However, the next three rationalize implementation
and last two are implementation and control phases.
• Following are the Kotter’s 8 steps describe individually:
• Following are the Kotter’s 8 steps describe individually:
• 1. Sense of urgency: First, create the opportunity and communicate the
importance of taking an immediate action.
2. Recruit right people: Built an army of effective people with ability to guide and
coordinate activities.
3. Develop and clear shared vision: Explain and ensure a different/better future.
Also, the initiatives connecting to the vision.
4. Communicate vision: Use every possible medium to communicate the vision
which shows the urgency of change.
5. Empower action: Remove all the barriers of change system including the
structure which undermines vision.
6. Create short-term wins: Recognize the progress often which help in tracking and
energizing the volunteers.
7. Consolidate improvement: Make necessary changes in system, structure and
policies to increase the credibility of vision.
8. Embed in culture: Lastly, institute change as new behavior and ensure it sticks.
McKinsey 7-S Framework
• This change management model identifies 7 strategic areas, companies
need to focus on in order to sustainably transform. These include:
• Strategy – a step-by-step roadmap for executing proposed changes.
• Structure – the company’s current structure and desired future state of
it.
• Systems – new systems that will be required to support new operations.
• Shared values – core values and main principles that the company
adheres to.
• Style – approach in which the change is adopted.
• Staff – current workforce composition and new roles that will become in
demand.
• Skills – Competencies, possessed by the current workforce.
• ADKAR model
• ADKAR is an acronym for awareness, desire,
knowledge, ability, and reinforcement — the
five main components of effective change
management, according to Jeff Hiatt. This
model provides a great framework for
formalizing the scope of change and
identifying ways to support the employees
during the transition.
• Lewin’s Change Management Model
• This model focuses on helping leaders pursue stages in
three phases:
• Unfreeze — a prep stage, aimed at ‘activating’
employees to make them more receptive to the imposed
changes.
• Change — the active phase where change is introduced.
• Freeze — concluding stage, where all employees have
adopted the change and can go back to a more ‘passive’
state of day-to-day activity.
MCQs
• **Q1.** Which of the following models of change
management emphasizes *unfreezing existing behaviors,
implementing change, and refreezing new behaviors*?
• a) Kotter’s Eight-Step Model
• b) Lewin’s Three-Stage Model
• c) ADKAR Model
• d) McKinsey 7-S Framework
• ---
• **Q2.** Resistance to organizational change is
most commonly caused by:
• a) Excessive financial resources
• b) Fear of the unknown and loss of job
security
• c) Over-communication by management
• d) Strong organizational culture
• **Q3.** Which strategy is considered most
effective for reducing employee resistance
during organizational change?
• a) Imposing strict rules and controls
• b) Ignoring employee concerns
• c) Involving employees in the change process
• d) Delaying communication until
implementation
• A mid-sized IT services company is transitioning from a traditional
project-based model to an **Agile and DevOps-driven workflow**. Many
engineers are resisting the change due to unfamiliar tools, increased
collaboration requirements, and fear of performance evaluation changes.
• **As a newly recruited management trainee, what steps would you
recommend to manage this change effectively?**
• Your answer should address:
• * How to reduce employee resistance
• * The role of communication and training
• * How leadership can support successful change implementation
• ---
• Question 2: Automation and Workforce Change**
• A manufacturing firm introduces **AI-enabled automation** in its production unit to improve
efficiency and reduce defects. While productivity improves, shop-floor employees fear job
losses, leading to low morale and absenteeism.
• **If you are appointed as a junior engineer-team lead, how would you manage this
organizational change?**
• Your response should include:
• * Strategies to handle employee anxiety and resistance
• * The importance of reskilling and upskilling
• * Ways to align employee goals with organizational objectives
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