Building Organizational Competence in Change Management

The Need for Change Competence

Now that change is no longer the exception but the rule, organizations find themselves changing frequently … many times simultaneously changing several aspects of their way of doing business.

The immediate implication of “change is the rule” is that organizations will need to become very good at making change happen, on target, on time, and on budget. No longer will we be able to “muddle through” changes with the hope that this is the last one!

Holland & Davis helped organizations to successfully develop an internal competence in change and change management. Our assistance has enabled our clients to move much faster than they would have, had they needed to “re-invent the wheel” of change.

Organizational Change competence:
An Operational Definition

A business organization has mastered change when it can successfully and consistently perform on each of the eight dimensions of competence listed below:

1. Identifying the time for change
   An organization with a strong change competence will stay tuned to the business environment and its own internal business situation and will consistently identify the right time to begin a change as well as the target time for the completion of that change.
   
   
2. Identifying the Vision for Organizational Change
   An organization that has mastered change will develop, and keep current, a Vision for a more successful future that will be a detailed, valid business model that can be achieved with a high degree of confidence because of the organization’s track record of change.
   
   
3. Planning and Resourcing the Vision
   An organization with a strong change competence will ensure that the financial, time, and human resources needed for the change will be made available for change success. The organization will determine its needed level of investment in change based on the value of the change to the organization as well as on the organization’s track record of change costs. The change-competent organization will develop a change plan that will meet organizational needs while accommodating work needs of managers and employees.
   
   
4. Enlisting the Organization to Go For the Vision
   An organization that has mastered change will sign up all managers and the majority of workers for the Vision, using the Case for Change as the basis for motivation and the needed sense of urgency. The change-competent organization will describe the impending change as needed and required to meet the organization’s success targets.
   
   
5. Enlisting the Organization for completing Change Work and continuing existing work
   An organization that has mastered change will sign up all managers and workers to get the needed transition work done on target, on time, and on budget.  The change-competent organization will make arrangements as needed to ensure that Change Work and existing work can both be accomplished without compromising the motivation of the workforce or service to customers.
   
   
6. Changing Over to the Vision with High Performance and Competence
   A change-competent organization will change over to the new way of operating called for by the Vision for Organizational Change with most of the performance bugs all worked through in advance of the change.
   
   
7. Stopping Old Work
   An organization that has mastered change will stop doing work the old way and shut down those parts of the operation that are no longer in sync with the Vision.  The change-competent organization will not wait until evidence of old operations forces them to complete the shutdown of the old way of doing business.
   
   
8. Refining New Work to the Needed Level
   A change-competent organization will rapidly work to refine their changed operations to reach the targeted and needed level of performance. The change-competent organization will not wait for customer or investor feedback to stimulate and motivate them to refine the new way of doing business to the 99 percent of target level.

Click here to download an assessment of organizational competence

How does Holland & Davis help an organization
Develop and Implement a Change competence?

How does an organization move toward change competence?  The quick answer is “very slowly” with a lot of trials and errors!  The better answer might be to follow the Six-step change model below. Holland & Davis' senior consultants can help your organization move through each of the “deceptively simple” steps below. The steps are easy to say but have many details to work before an organization can increase its level of change competence.

• Step One: Decide Leadership, Responsibility, and Support for Organizational Competence iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin Change
  
  
• The CEO must declare him/herself as the leader of the organization’s change competence initiative … and change competence support provisions must be made
  
  
• Step Two: Develop a Vision of Change Competence for the Organization
  
  
• A vision of the organization as “change competent” must be developed, tested, and communicated to the entire organization
  
  
• Step Three:  Develop or Alter Work Processes to Enable Change Competence
  
  
• Three key work processes must be developed and implemented for change competence: Program Management, Project Management, and Change Management
  
  
• Step Four: Alter Organizational Tools to Enable Change Competence
  
  
• Tools to support change competence processes must be made available to the organization (e.g., critical path planning tools, project management applications, etc.)
  
  
• Step Five: Modify the Performance Management System to Enable Change CCCCCCC Competence
  
  
• Organizational job descriptions, training, feed back systems and performance appraisal criteria must be alter to reflect the company’s intention of “change competence”
  
  
• Step Six: Plan, Schedule, and Manage the Change Competence Project
  
  
• The movement of an organization to a higher level of change competence would be seen and managed as a work “project,” with a clear start and finish date at which time measureable results will be seen.
  
  
  • Click here for a more detailed version of the Six Steps
  • Click here to see Change Competence Cases
  
  
  

How We Can Work With You

Holland & Davis is very flexible in the way we work with clients. We've outlined several kinds of engagements that might meet your needs for assistance in building your organization’s change competence.

1. Initial Conversation – Holland & Davis is readily available to engage in a one to two hour phone conference to talk through your company’s situation, what you might do about that situation, and how Holland & Davis could be of assistance.
   
   
2. Webinar on Developing an Organizational Competence in Change – We offer an introductory webinar with an overview of change competency development, what the issues are, and what kinds of solutions are being used as best practices. We then answer your questions in real time. Have as many in your room as you want… it's OK with us. We will have to talk about the length and purposes of the webinar to make sure we meet your needs.
   
   
3. Change Competence Assessment – Holland and Davis is willing to travel to your location, use some of our structured tools, make a change competence assessment, develop high level recommended actions … and then present the work to you for your consideration. One big twist, we would recommend that you name two or three of your folks to be with us every minute and to take an active role in the assessment, development of recommendations, and play a leadership role in the summary presentation.  
   
   
4. Peer Review of Your Change Competence Initiatives – We are available to take a look at any of your specific competence-building initiatives and give a value-added opinion about what is working and what might be done to add strength and acceleration to your initiatives.  What initiatives might we add value to? … the development or your company’s change methodology or the contents of your change management training courses, for example. Again, one big twist, we would recommend that you name two or three of your folks to be with us every minute and to take an active role in peer review, development of recommendations, and play a leadership role in the summary presentation.  
   
   
5. Leadership / Participation in Your Change Competency Development Initiative – We can play a role in your ongoing change competence projects, adding leadership, methodologies, tools and/or project personnel. We only have mature players… with 20+ years of business experience, knowledge of our methodologies, and cool heads.  Or we can just work with you during the scoping and planning of your Change initiative … just let us know what meets your needs best.

Contact Gary Skarke for more information regarding Holland & Davis' Services at 713-800-3663:

Gary Skarke