How does Holland & Davis help an organization
Develop and Implement a Change competence?
 Step One: Decide Leadership, Responsibility, and Support for Change
Step One represents the foundation step needed for an organizational competence in change. We believe that the CEO is the ultimate leader of change for an organization. In fact, that is what CEO literally means … managers can run organizations, but Chief Executives are responsible for changing organizations to ensure they have profits today and profits tomorrow.
- The CEO is the leader of change from two angles. First, the CEO must be the leader for specific changes that are designed to benefit his/her organization (e.g., a change in the company’s competitive strategy or an acquisition or merger).
Second, the CEO must be the responsible leader for development of an organizational competence in change. Organizations that are highly competent in change are frequently described as “agile,” while organizations that don’t take to change easily are frequently called “overly bureaucratic” and/or "laggards." The working assumption in business today is that agile organizations have a better chance of high performance in this world where change is now the rule. The CEO is the only one who has the span of control, the authority, the control of needed investment dollars, and the credibility to develop a change competence.
- Support for the Change Competence is required to ensuring that the organization has the resources it needs to allow units/departments to make changes effectively and efficiently. Organizations are tackling the support need in several different ways.
- Some larger organizations are implementing a change function or department to lead their change support effort. Absolutely key to establishing such an office is the early decision to either
- “provide the needed support using change department personnel” (implying the growth of a department to the size necessary to support the company’s change work) or to
- “ensure that change resources are available to do the company’s change work (implying change support management would be inside the company and a network of change vendors/partners might be available from outside the company).
- Other organizations use a carefully selected network of change service providers (that may range from huge system integrators to boutique change leadership firms specializing in different kinds of change). Units or departments inside the company then might be allowed to choose their own change service providers on a contract basis.
- Still other organizations are able to use both inside change support resources and an external network of change vendors. This way of supporting change can be complex, redundant, and conflictual. The critical success factors for this approach are (1) mutual respect for competencies, (2) demonstrated willingness and ability for insiders and outsiders to work together, (3) flexibility in use of valid methodologies, and (4) generosity in sharing work (there is more than enough change support work to go around in most organizations.)
Step Two: Develop a Vision of Change competence for the Organization
Although many organizations identify innovation or creativity as part of their vision or strategy for the future, few organizations describe the details of what those words mean. If an organization is betting on innovation, creativity, or agility for part of its future success, the organization would do well to describe what it means in terms of change competence. We recommend that our clients decide how they want to handle change and to come up with some words or ideas about what they expect.
What does a Vision of Change competence look like, and how do you develop one? A relatively easy way to develop a Vision of change competence is to use or modify the operational definition of change competence with its eight dimensions that we covered in the section above. Put your version of that change definition in front of your managers, and they will begin to understand what might be expected from them as the organization’s primary change team.
Step Three: Develop or Alter Work Processes to Enable Change competence
Although many organizations have work processes for assessing the business environment and periodic strategic planning, most do not yet have formalized work processes that are critically needed for change competence! We feel that the following three work processes or disciplines are critical for organizations to develop on their way to change competence:
- A Program Management Process that allows the organization to effectively manage multi-year change initiatives of strategic value (like opening a new market, cost reduction or customer relations optimization). Program Management provides the facility to identify and manage multiple organizational changes (including multiple change projects) simultaneously - while the organization is continuing to Run the Business.
The Program Management processes that we see today are usually owned by an organization that reports to the senior executive of the company. This Program Management unit serves as the Change the Business structure (or Office) that helps manage the continuous conflict and balance that is needed between the Run the Business and Change the Business agendas.
Failure to adopt a Program Management process or to set up a Program Office is to ensure that the organization will not do a good job managing change in the face of day-to-day business. The Program Office gives the Chief Executive the support she needs as she does her job as the Chief Change Officer…whose job it is to move the organization toward a series of successful futures, while meeting yearly Run the Business targets.
- A Project Management Process that gives the capability to bring concrete results to a given change initiative in a defined time period. The organization must have a required Project Management method that provides detailed guidance on how to manage every change project (using steps from the Change Management Method as the key activities to be managed).
The Project Management processes that we see in organizations today are usually owned by one of the technical departments like Engineering or Information Technology. For change competence, the Program Management Office must identify the version of the organization’s Project Management method that will be best suited for change projects and require that the Project Management method be used on all changes of significant size.
Failure to adopt a Project Management method is to ensure that the organization will not do a good job managing change, and that the change initiatives that the organization attempts to run simultaneously will not be comparable, making overall Program Management practically impossible to do well.
- A Change Management Method that gives detailed steps on how to make organizational change happen in a controlled and predictable way. The organization must have a required Change Management method that gives detailed guidance on how to employ the means of change (i.e., process alterations, employee performance changes, etc.) to alter the means of doing business (i.e., how the company delivers its products and services to customers, etc.).
The Change Management processes that we see in organizations today are frequently “ad hoc and informal”…or “processes de jour,” depending on which Change Management consultants just made a sale to the Chief Executive! Progressive organizations who have mastered change place the ownership for the organization’s Change Management method in the hands of the CEO and his/here right hand: the Program Office (or their organization’s equivalent).
Failure to adopt a Change Management method is to ensure that the organization will not be successful in change projects, despite the level of effectiveness of Program and Project Management. The organization’s Change Management method provides the content of activities and tasks needed for effective organizational change as well as for Project Management.
Step Four: Alter Organizational Tools to Enable Change competence
Management Tools: While most organizations have more than enough tools for the fundamental level day-to-day running of the business, many of these tools need to be tuned to meet the needs of change competence. Key tools are critical path planning and multi-project management tools. Odds are that most organizations are already using these kinds of tools in the everyday work of Running the Business. Generic versions of these tools that can be used for change management are needed.
Communication and Training Tools: With most large organizations spread around the globe, the need for communication and training tools that can reach each employee is apparent. Training available on line in real-time is now a requirement, not an option for keeping global organizations competitive. However, these now-standard communication and training tools must be adapted to handle unique change management tasks.
Status and Follow-Up Tools: Managers and consultants frequently agree that the toughest part of managing a change project of any size is the “prompt and follow-up” task, a task that can get really complex if the change project impacts 8,000 people in 12 countries, for example. Without web-enabled prompt and status tools, change managers are frequently “blind and late” in steering change.
Reporting Tools: Most organizations have reporting tools that allow management to understand results and progress of the organization toward their Run the Business Agenda. These reporting tools will need to be altered somewhat to allow management to see the progress in the Change Program/Projects along side regular business goals.
Step Five: Modify the Performance Management System to Enable Change competence
Employee Roles: Organizations with strong change competence have set clear expectations for managers and employees alike, that change is a part of doing business, and that all workers are expected to be willing and responsible for change. Roles for all workers must be modified to make such change expectations clear and a part of the workers’ agreement with the company.
Employee Selection: It take time (years if not decades) to develop the expertise and experience needed to manage even a typical change project in today’s complicated business environment. Companies wishing to develop an internal competence to manage change must recruit and select technical professionals who already have the needed years of change experience. Odds are these new recruits can learn the new organization faster that non-change experts can develop needed change expertise.
Employee Training: More and more managers today are receiving training in change management. This training must be extended beyond the usual “how human beings deal with change” (we call that Change Aid …like First Aid) … to “what individual managers must do to enable their organization to successfully change … on target, on time, and on budget.” We believe that it is critical for managers to know the actions they are responsible for taking to ensure that the mechanical attributes of their organizations are aligned to enable designated changes.
Employee Performance Evaluation: Organizations that have mastered change realize that change performance counts. That is, these companies give employees formal and informal feedback as well as formal performance evaluation on how well employees are doing at change. Failure to give employees feedback/evaluation on change performance signals employees that change doesn’t count.
Employee Compensation: We believe it is critical to pay for what the organization needs, and not to pay for what the organization doesn’t need. If we want the organization and its employees to master change, we must compensate those employees who contribute to both Run the Business and Change the Business. Employees who only contribute to the Running of the Business must have their compensation suffer and their jobs put at risk.
Step Six: Plan, Schedule, and Manage the Change Competence Project
An Organization’s journey toward Change Mastering must be treated like any other organization change. Failure to consider the development of change competence as a “project” will delay the organization’s journey although the trip might not be totally stopped. As the organization makes progress on other change initiatives over time, some change competence progress will still be made.
Contact Gary Skarke for more information regarding Holland & Davis' Services at 713-800-3663:
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