Engaging Employees in the Change Process

Engaging Employees in the Change Process
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Engaging Employees in the Change Process
Engaging Employees in the Change Process   Introduction Change is inevitable in any organization or industry. At some point, a firm's management needs to determine things that can be done to increase its production, lower its operational costs, or implement new technologies. The highly dynamic business environment, rapid technological advancement, and global economies make organizational change a necessity. In particular, if an organization is well-organized, change can make it gain and sustain a competitive advantage. The management team should understand that employees are the most significant stakeholders in a change process. If workers resist the change, it becomes extremely difficult for a firm to be successful. Before implementing change, the management should define how it aligns with set organizational goals, its impacts on a firm, ensure proper communication among relevant stakeholders, and have a way to measure progress or benchmark. As such, leaders should ensure that an organization is ready for change before implementing it. A change process becomes successful if employees in an organization are fully engaged, and the benchmark is established to show the progress or milestones covered.    Analysis of Factors Used to Determine If Change is Needed in a Given Organization The internal and external environments are dynamic, and they change depending on different things, such as technology, social shift, economic and political changes. In that light, organizations that remain static for an extended period are likely to reduce their profitability or fail to achieve set objectives. People's lifestyles keep changing gradually. In addition, consumers' demands and expectations keep changing. All industries are constantly changing and shifting, so organizations should adopt new ways of doing things to meet the dynamic consumers' needs. However, an organization should be well-prepared when initiating change since it is not a straightforward process and requires effective training, communication, and collaboration among the involved parties. As such, one factor that enables a firm to know that change is needed is unsatisfactory performance. If an organization is underperforming, which is determined by the lack of fulfilling established objectives, it needs to change the way things are done to improve its performance (Smither, Houston, & McIntire, 2016). Additionally, when an organization experiences numerous uncertainties from a particular sector, it means that a time for change has arrived. The management team should always be updated to help an organization be strategically positioned. Consequently, the most successful companies are the ones with a continual change process that involves all stakeholders, such as employees. When competitors continue to increase their market share, and that of the organization remains constant or is dwindling, it means that a time for change has occurred. Almost all companies have a goal of becoming highly profitable and being the market leader. However, competition determines whether a firm will achieve its objectives of increasing its market share. For example, the introduction of Uber caused an uproar from taxi drivers since they experienced high competition. An organization should always scan its operating environment to know the right time to implement change to respond to its business rivals' strategies. The occurrence of more inefficiencies means that a firm needs change. In other words, the management team should start preparing for change if the organization is becoming less profitable or competitive. Successful corporations always keep scanning for new opportunities to benefit from by entering new markets (Hussain et al., 2018). As such, the availability of new opportunities should facilitate organizational change emanating from the internal environment. Another factor that determines whether change is needed in a particular organization is the rise of new technologies. Specifically, technology promotes work efficiency and effectiveness. Proper implementation of the right technology can enable a firm to sustain its competitive advantage and motivate employees. As such, organizations should determine when change is required to increase their profitability, operational efficiency, market share, and retain their best workers.    How to Determine If an Organization is Structurally Ready to Support Change Before change is implemented in an organization, it is appropriate to determine whether the firm is structurally ready to support change, which leads to a culture of continuous learning, improvement, and adaptation. As discussed earlier, change is not straightforward, and it can cause an organizational failure...