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Change management

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Because creating lasting change can be complex and difficult, successful implementation of the new strategic direction should be based on a clear strategy or plan, with senior level commitment to creating change. It is also important to ensure that the organisation has the capacity to deliver the desired outcome. Unless these issues are explicitly addressed as part of the implementation of a new strategy or policy, most change programmes will fail to deliver their full benefits.

Organisational change management can be thought of as a process with a number of steps, which have to be followed broadly in sequence to create successful and lasting change. One way of visualising this process is as a flow chart:

The first three stages in this process rely on the analytical work which is needed to create a robust case for change, leading up to a clear vision of the desired strategic direction. This will have been determined through the first three phases of the strategy development process.

Before embarking on the subsequent stages it is worth assessing the extent of the change required to achieve the vision. This can be defined in terms of two dimensions - the desired end result of the change, and the nature of the change. The desired end result can either be transformation - that is, fundamental change within an organisation; or it can be realignment - a less fundamental but still potentially substantial change to the organisation. The process itself can either be incremental - spread out over time; or a "big bang" implementation.

The resulting types of change vary in scope. Adaptation and reconstruction do not fundamentally challenge an organisation's beliefs, and so are often easier to achieve. Evolution can take a long period of time, but results in a fundamentally different organisation once completed. Revolution is likely to be a forced, reactive transformation using simultaneous initiatives on many fronts, and often in a relatively short space of time.

It is essential that those responsible for creating the change are aware of the implications of the type of change they are trying to achieve. This can only be done by carrying out a detailed analysis of the context within which change will sit. Useful features to assess when determining context include:

• Time scale: how quickly is change needed?
• Scope: what degree of change is needed?
• Preservation: what organisational resources and characteristics need to be maintained?
• Diversity: how homogeneous are the staff groups and divisions within the organisation?
• Capability: What is the managerial and personal capability to implement change?
• Capacity: what is the degree of change resource available?
• Readiness: how ready for change are the staff?
• Power: what power does the change leader have to impose change?

Some of these dimensions can be assessed relatively easily, e.g. time and scope. Others are likely to require more direct consultation with front-line staff and other stakeholders, for example assessing organisational readiness for change. The organisational analysis already undertaken in the Research and Analysis phase should have laid the groundwork for this task.

If the organisation has a low capacity or readiness for change, this could negatively impact the success of the new strategy. Depending on what is hampering change, the first approach should be to assess whether it is practical to change the organisation to deliver the new strategy e.g. through additional training and re-organisation or through recruitment of staff with suitable skills. Only if this is impractical or excessively costly, should the project team consider changing the policy objectives. This situation should not arise if the organisational analysis was adequately considered during the policy development phase.

Key Success Factors

At all stages of the organisational change flow chart there are some "Golden Rules" which should be followed in order to create successful change:

• Compelling vision for action
• Committed leadership
• Rigorous project management
• Securing stakeholder support
• Effective communications
• Infrastructure alignment.

Compelling vision for action - the most important starting point for any change programme is to have a clearly documented case for change based on rigorous analysis. This should set out why action is needed, and how the proposed action will add value. It should also set out a new and compelling vision, articulated in such a way as to engage stakeholders.

Committed leadership - at all levels of the organisation, in particular with strong and visible support from senior management. The change programme should be sponsored by high calibre and credible managers, and led by capable line managers.

Rigorous project management - the organisation needs to commit the right resources to making sure the change programme is delivered on time. Project team members should have clear accountabilities for delivery of project outcomes, using disciplined and well-managed project processes. They should use rigorous project plans, including milestones, timeframes and risk assessments, and should have monitoring mechanisms in place to track progress.

Stakeholder support - it is critical to identify key stakeholders and engage them with the change programme. This does not just apply to senior stakeholders, but also to staff members whose participation in the change programme will be essential. Clear, consistent and persuasive communication is needed to share the new vision with stakeholders, to keep them updated on progress, and to ensure that they are aware of their own role in the process. Depending on the magnitude of the change, it can often be a good idea to have a system in place to monitor morale and attitudes in the organisation during the change programme.

Effective communications - there are a different elements of the change programme which will need to be communicated to front-line staff and other key stakeholders including, potentially, the public. These will include reasons for the need for change, what the change is intended to achieve or what is involved in the changes. Communication will also help minimise the risk of rumours, gossip and storytelling. It may be important to clarify and simplify further the priorities of the strategy. A three-theme approach is often advocated, emphasising a limited number of key aspects of the strategy, rather than expecting to be able to communicate the overall complexity and ramifications. Communication also needs to be a two-way process. Feedback to communication is important, particularly if the changes to be introduced are difficult to understand, threatening or if it is critically important to get the changes right.

Infrastructure alignment - change has to be backed up with appropriate elements of infrastructure to support the new arrangements - particularly budgets, performance metrics, HR policies and processes and IT resources. It will also be important to ensure that there are sufficient staff with the relevant skills in place.

Strengths

The only way to deliver lasting change is through a rigorous and well-designed change management programme carried out during implementation of the new strategy or policy. This is a highly complex area, which gets proportionately more difficult depending on the extent of the change and the number of people involved. Ensuring that all the factors listed above have been explicitly addressed in the transition to implementation phase of strategy work will help to create lasting change.

Weaknesses

There are a number of pitfalls that could jeopardise successful change:

• Lack of clarity around the new vision.
• Lack of senior commitment to change.
• Overestimating the ability of the organisation to deliver the new vision.
• Underestimating the time required to create the change, particularly if change in culture is required.
• Failure to design processes, structures and incentives that reward change.
• Lack of attention to stakeholders to ensure they are fully committed to the new vision.
• "Change fatigue" - organisations have been subjected to so many change programmes that they disengage.

References

Many of the frameworks in this short piece have been drawn from "Exploring Strategic Change" by Julia Balogun and Veronica Hope Hailey (Prentice Hall, 1999), which is a good source of further advice on these topics.

"Exploring Corporate Strategy" by Gerry Johnson and Kevan Scholes. Chapter 11 on Managing Strategic Change provides pointers to successful change management.

Effecting Change in Higher Education from the University of Luton contains articles, theories, tools, case studies and other materials related to change which draw on experience from inside and outside the HE sector.

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