Change Management and Communication Plan Essay Example
Change Management and Communication Plan Essay Example

Change Management and Communication Plan Essay Example

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  • Pages: 10 (2633 words)
  • Published: April 30, 2018
  • Type: Case Study
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Riordan Manufacturing can resolve employee confusion by implementing a new organizational structure that removes the presence of multiple bosses. By adopting the chain of command functional structure, customer management will be enhanced as it establishes clear reporting lines from top-level executives to lower levels, eliminating the necessity to report to multiple individuals.

Riordan will establish rules on power limits for implementing the chain of command, based on the level of deciding power. The managers play a crucial role in achieving the company's goals by identifying new outcomes and objectives. They will oversee a group of leaders who will monitor the progress and consider any recommended changes. When implementing necessary changes to meet the company's goal, employee emotions will be taken into consideration.

The plan execution timeframe will

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be determined taking into account the department's level of impact. To overcome resistance to the new implementations, force field analysis will be used to create equilibrium and ensure successful changes. According to Robbins and Judge (2011), organizational culture refers to the shared meaning held by members, which distinguishes the organization from others (p. 520). Riordan Manufacturing has a culture that is shared by some members, particularly in the research and development (R;D) department, where innovation is highly valued.

The organization's intranet does not show any evidence of other parts of the company participating in this aspect of the culture. Instead, R&D and quality are given more importance. Riordan manufacturing also has a culture that promotes a team environment and has very informal and unclear policies. An example of this is their human resources policies, which are unclear and rely heavily on th

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"open door" policy for complaint resolution. However, most of the time, the benefit is not for the employee but for the organization ("Riordan Manufacturing," 2005, 2006, 2012, 2013).

Riordan Manufacturing prioritizes top performance, staying aware of new trends in the plastics industry, as well as research and development. Regrettably, employee development does not receive sufficient attention. Although Riordan Manufacturing values employment stability, it lacks forward-thinking. The organizational employee handbook emphasizes creating a conducive environment for personal and professional growth, but the 2012 satisfaction surveys from the organization's human resources show evidence to the contrary ("Riordan Manufacturing," 2005, 2006, 2012, 2013).

Moreover, Riordan manufacturing lacks a union culture and an affirmative action plan. The majority of management consists of White males, with limited representation of minorities, women, or older workers in positions of authority ("Riordan Manufacturing," 2005, 2006, 2012, 2013). The corporate culture at Riordan may affect employee behavior in various ways. One such influence is the lack of incentive and reward for employees to take risks and promote innovation. Only a $25 reward and inclusion of their picture in the company magazine are provided for innovation ("Riordan Manufacturing,"2005, 2006, 2012, 2013).

Despite the emphasis on R;D and quality, there is no indication of any quality initiatives being implemented in the manufacturing line at Riordan Manufacturing. The employee handbook only mentions initial training and does not reference important practices like Kaizen or the use of Six Sigma teams. These tools would help improve the workforce's morale, which appears to be lacking at present ("Riordan Manufacturing,"2005, 2006, 2012, 2013).

The team environment at Riordan is highly regarded by employees, who enjoy working with

their coworkers. However, they feel that the distribution of work is not always fair. Additionally, there is a lack of established protocols and a heavy reliance on supervisors. Employees are satisfied with their supervisors but not with management, as they believe that managers have poor communication skills towards them ("Riordan Manufacturing," 2005, 2006, 2012, 2013).

Employee surveys at Riordan Manufacturing indicate that employees are unhappy with the company's training and personal and professional growth opportunities. The absence of sufficient training is a major issue, leading to an overall sense of discontent. One example is that the human resources department only provides conflict resolution and goal planning training for teams when it is deemed necessary, suggesting unclear policies. Additionally, employees are required to give up any unused vacation days and flex-spending (prepaid health) accounts by the end of the year, demonstrating that the company prioritizes its own interests over those of its employees.

The employee's negative opinion of the company, influenced by Riordan Manufacturing's corporate culture, could harm employee satisfaction. The employees view their work as stable but with mandatory over-time, resulting in lowered morale and team performance. Consequently, employees feel demoralized and undervalued, leading them to actively seek new job opportunities.

The turnover rates at the Albany and Pontiac plants are 18.6% and 13.2% respectively, while the San Jose plant, which serves as the Headquarters (HQ) and handles research and development, has a much lower turnover rate of 5.6% ("Riordan Manufacturing," 2005, 2006, 2012, 2013). There are two possible explanations for this difference: either the HQ provides ample resources and support to the R division, making it a more desirable workplace; or

upper management has neglected to provide adequate resources and support to the other plant locations, resulting in employee dissatisfaction. Additionally, in 2004, funds were allocated by the human resources department for integrating documentation and policies.

To obtain approval, all they had to do was submit a comprehensive plan, budget, and timeline. However, as of 2012, there is no centralized storage for documents and records. Each manager keeps employee records separately and the location of sensitive medical records is still unknown. This indicates that employees are not trained in developing plans and objectives, and the human resources department lacks these skills as well. Additionally, sales customer lists have remained unchanged since 2005 and until 2012, sales information has not been consolidated into a single customer management system.

Riordan's sales force and management cannot capitalize on the information they possess, hence the need for a customer management system. It is unclear from available sources whether the employees desire unionization. However, there is pressure from management in the Employee Handbook to discourage union representation. This pressure may have influenced new employees to resist unionization if the option was presented.

In order to tackle the lack of diversity in management positions at Riordan, particularly concerning women, minorities, and older workers, the company plans to make a change. At present, there is no established customer management system which results in different systems being used by individual employees to handle customer information. Thus, it is essential for a unified customer management system to be implemented promptly.

The act of change involves altering things, but it is not always a smooth process due to resistance from individuals who

dislike change. Humans are creatures of habit as programmed responses help us navigate the complexities of life. When these programmed responses are challenged, we develop a fear of change and create resistance to it, especially those with a strong need for security. Additionally, economic factors also contribute to resistance to change. For example, if a new customer management system is implemented, employees may fear that their performance will not meet the usual standards. This fear of poor productivity and potential decrease in pay can further fuel resistance to change.

Lack of communication about change causes fear as individuals are uncertain about its effects on their lives. Moreover, resistance to change can arise from selective information processing, where employees focus only on information that confirms their beliefs while disregarding anything that contradicts them (Robbins & Judge, 2011). Consequently, both the organization and its employees encounter resistance during periods of change.

The processes of formalized regulation that produce stability are challenged by change. The organization's structural inertia attempts to resist change and maintain stability by disregarding the need for change. Organizations are made up of interdependent subsystems, so if one system requires change, it is likely that the entire organization will be affected. As a result, larger systems often ignore the necessity for change. Group inertia is another obstacle to change because even if employees acknowledge and desire behavioral changes, group norms will hinder those changes.

Furthermore, organizations have reservations about changing their customary practices or processes as they believe it may undermine their expertise and specialized teams. Similarly, organizations are apprehensive that introducing change, like reassigning decision-making authority, will disturb the established power

dynamics in the organization (Robbins ; Judge, 2011). Nevertheless, resistance to change can yield positive results by encouraging open discussions and debates. Hence, the following strategies can be utilized to efficiently handle resistance to change.

The objective of the education and communication strategy is to provide employees with information on the necessity, nature, advantages for both individuals and the organization, and timing of a change. It also involves educating employees about training opportunities that will arise as a result of the change. The strategy promotes employee involvement and participation in the change process. Furthermore, it emphasizes creating support and commitment among employees by offering therapy and new skills training to address any concerns or fears they may have regarding the change, aiming to facilitate their acceptance rather than resistance.

To ensure fair implementation of change, employees must understand the importance of implementing it. For example, incorporating a customer management system can benefit the organization by providing a secure database accessible to everyone and protecting customers' information (Robbins & Judge, 2011). The proposed approach for implementing the new system consists of eight steps to be completed over a period of 12 months.

According to "Kotter International Because Change Is Essential" (2012), the initial step towards change is to establish a sense of urgency. This involves change agents helping the organization and its employees recognize the need for change and emphasizing the importance of immediate action. The next step is to form a guiding coalition, which is a group that has sufficient power to lead the change efforts. It is crucial for this group to work effectively as a team. Following that, the

third step involves developing a clear change vision that will guide the overall effort, along with strategies for achieving it.

Communicating this vision and ensuring buy-in is the fourth step, which emphasizes the importance of having as many people as possible understand and accept both the vision and strategy. In step five, broad-based action takes place by empowering individuals to remove obstacles to change, modify systems or structures that hinder progress, and encourage risk-taking and nontraditional ideas and actions.

The sixth step focuses on generating short-term wins by planning achievements that are easily noticeable and following through on them. Furthermore, employees involved in these accomplishments should be recognized and rewarded. Lastly, in step seven it becomes essential to maintain momentum without relenting. By leveraging increased credibility gained from previous steps, changes can be made in systems, structures, and policies that do not align with the established vision.

When considering the 8-step process for leading change, it is important to hire, promote, and develop employees who can effectively implement the vision. Furthermore, introducing new projects, themes, and change agents can help reinvigorate the change process. Step eight of this process involves incorporating changes into the organization's culture by articulating the connections between new behaviors and organizational success. Additionally, methods should be developed to ensure leadership development and succession.

The company will use the 2011 Gross Profit as a baseline measurement to assess the success of the planned change. The reason for using customer data for sales is that Sales minus the Cost of Goods Sold equal Gross Profit. Hence, if the customer data is efficiently accessible to everyone in the company, it

will lead to increased sales. Additionally, the cost of implementing the system may be distributed over multiple years.

Therefore, the company may choose to validate the payoff of the new system after a specified period of time, like five years. Another measure of success is the utilization of the system by employees. If all employees do not adopt the system, its effectiveness will be compromised. In light of our evaluation of the Management Change Plan for the organization and our determination regarding the management style, we believe that a formal communication channel combining information would be the most effective way to deliver the information through our Communication plan (Robbins ; Judge, 2011).

Using formal communication channels is essential for delivering messages professionally to members and employees. These channels provide cues, prompt feedback, and establish a personal connection (Robbins ; Judge, 2011). Our preferred channel of communication is face-to-face. Although we cannot meet with each employee individually, we will gather them in groups to communicate the upcoming changes to the customer management system.

By utilizing a group face-to-face communication style, we can effectively convey information through various cues such as words, gestures, postures, and facial expressions. This type of communication provides immediate feedback and establishes a personal connection because it involves the presence of individuals (Robbins ; Judge, 2011). We complement these highly rich channels of communication with low richness channels like letters, memos, and bulletins to improve the delivery of our management plan.

These channels serve dual purposes: maintaining the direction of the company's customer management system and recording communication. As Riordan Manufacturing consultants, we will utilize upward communication flow to

gain insight into employees' perceptions of the current customer management system. This will enable us to propose changes for enhanced efficiency. Upward communication empowers employees to express ideas and suggestions for improvement.

This process will involve various methods such as oral communication, surveys, charts, graphs, and other elements to support the change. As the company evaluates for improvements, it is crucial to understand the functions and process of communication. This will ensure that everyone can receive valuable information and incorporate effective change. We acknowledge that proper communication is essential for any organization to share meaning and gain understanding (Robbins ; Judge, 2011).

Robbins and Judge (2011) identified various barriers that can hinder effective communication. These include information overload, selective perception, filtering, language, apprehension, and gender differences. Cultural barriers also pose challenges for global organizations like Riordan. Examples of these cultural barriers are semantics, word connotations, tone differences, tolerance to conflict, and different methods of resolve. Moreover, the difference in cultural context must be taken into account as it can lead to message misinterpretation.

During the ongoing process of change at Riordan Manufacturing, it is essential to effectively communicate the areas of change in order to prevent potential obstacles. As consultants implementing a new customer management system, we anticipate that some employees may resist change due to their individual backgrounds, experiences, motivations, and characteristics related to conformity stages. Emotions also play a role in the change process; individuals must be in the appropriate mindset to effectively convey and comprehend information.

Effective communication relies on language as it allows individuals to understand their audience and avoid misunderstandings in different situations. Communication apprehension, which

involves anxiety or fear during oral and written communication, can hinder the intended message. Gender disparities also play a role in conflict resolution. In "Organizational Behavior" (2011), Robbins and Judge reveal that men tend to see language as a way to assert status, power, and independence, while women view it as a tool for building connections and intimacy (Chapter 11).

Implementing a new customer management system in the global realm of an organization may face obstacles due to semantics and cultural communication. In various countries, words can carry different meanings or associations, potentially leading to misunderstandings. Furthermore, tone can vary based on context and the formality of communication. To ensure successful communication, it is crucial to comprehend the process, channels, barriers, and cultural complexities involved when implementing changes in different languages within the organization (Robbins ; Judge, 2011).

Implementing the change process smoothly requires an effective communication and information disbursement plan (Kotter International, 2012). For more information about Riordan Manufacturing, visit their website at https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/CIST/VOP/Business/Riordan/HR/EEOC.asp and https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/CIST/VOP/Business/Riordan/HR/Reports.asp (Riordan Manufacturing, 2005-2013). To learn about organizational behavior, refer to the book "Organizational Behavior" by Robbins and Judge (2011) available on the University of Phoenix MGT/311 website. The Riordan Manufacturing Employee Handbook can also be found on the University of Phoenix MGT311 website (University of Phoenix, 2004).

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