Binkington Industries is preparing itself to gain a foothold in the baby product market in the short-term. As a niche company, we will be looking to add new products over the long-term and be prepared for the changes that come from implementing a new process and a new product.
The Change model Binkington Industries will initially utilize will be the Kaizen method. As noted earlier, the Kaizen model is founded on five specific elements, including; teamwork, personal discipline, improved morale, quality circles, and suggestions for improvement.
The model is people oriented and designed for long-term success. Kaizen also highlights being receptive and anticipating change in the organization. While this is the most appropriate model for developing a healthy organizational culture comfortable with change, the initial steps in the model will be based strongly on developing teamwork, analyzing quality, and taking a few pages out of the ADKAR model and focus employees on specific activities that will impact results. An important step we will borrow from the ADKAR model is to create employee action plans and work with the employees to develop a change management plan.
Communication with the employees will help to address human critical success factors that may be the driving factor of measuring success before actual sales and production numbers are readily available.
Addressing Human Critical Success FactorsAs a small organization, Binkington Industries will be able to give its employees the time and resources to work closely together and develop what will be considered the critical success factors. Employees will be able to be the driving factor behind their job expectations and roles in the organization.
Vyom Bhuta with Gantthead lays down eight ideas that impact critical success factors of any project. They include:
1. Put in Place a Change Management Program. - Be prepared for change, including the issues like resistance, fear of failure and lack of knowledge that can halt a company in the process of change.
2. Secure Management Support and Commitment. - This is very simple. Management must be on board and committed to the change. Management must also be able to visualize how the change will help the organization.
3. Know Your CIO's and the Organization's IT Priority. - Information Technology will be the driving force behind success as a company. The plan must have a specific and accepted definition of all programs, hardware and training. As well as cost comparisons and advantages.
4. Develop a Roadmap. - Map the organizational change so everyone involved will be aware of every stop ahead of them and be able to communicate any necessary changes.
5. Start with a Pilot. - A pilot program can emphasize the benefits of a change, without the company having to suffer potential disasters. A pilot will also help employees to visualize the plan and understand the process better.
6. Pick Your Implementation Team Wisely. - Utilize the resources and staff knowledge that you have to build an implementation team that covers the broadest range of procedures available. Also strongly consider employees who are open and willing to be a part of the change process.
7. Choose Your Angels. - These are the end users of new system changes. They should be a part of the whole process and help to define what information technology tools and process are needed, what will work and what will not.
8. Ensure Adequate "Angel User" Training. - Along with communication, training is the most important factor in ensuring success within a change process. With adequate training and communication, all of the other factors can fall in place.
(Eight Mantras to a Successful Software Implementation, 2001)
Of course the main factor in addressing critical success factors is open communication. This is the essential element to producing a successful change management strategy and creating a company culture of trust, honesty, and success.
Monitoring
Monitoring of employees must be as open and honest as any other element of the change project. The elements that are to be considered and monitored should include the elements that directly impact the project and are specific to the employee's tasks.
The article "Herding Cats: Human Change Management" explains the importance of human consideration during a change project.
"People are willing to change if they understand and accept the reasons, and have a say in the way their jobs are restructured. Behavioral change is most likely to occur when organizations connect with human nature rather than oppose it. A growing body of evidence suggests that much of the mechanistic organizational model antagonizes human nature. At best, people comply reluctantly and, at worst, actively resist management initiatives, covertly and overtly. Either outcome amounts to wasted time and resources, because a management that is misaligned with human nature requires expensive controls to police its employees' behavior." (2005)
There are several factors that can be attributed to employees not handling the new changes well. The factors can range from increased absenteeism, neglecting duties to even common theft. This can happen when employees feel stressed and under compensated for their work. Change projects ask for a great deal of time and energy from the change agents so it is important for employees to be able to see the benefits, and it is even more important that there actually are benefits for them.
The basic tools to monitor the employees are to watch and listen to how they are behaving and what they are saying. Then management can begin to understand better why the staff is reacting in a certain way, and take the steps to correct the situation. Managers are put in place to be decisive and take action. This includes working with employees to ensure projects are moving along and nothing potentially harmful can impact the company.
Contingency Strategies
Contingency strategies are set in place in case of crisis situations or project failure. No matter how well the project plan is implemented, or how well the staff is trained and ready for the change, a company would be foolish to not put contingency strategies that would react to situations that the company may never actually need to address. However, if the issue does arise, the company will have a plan of action and the means to respond.
When managing resistance it is important to stress training knowledge and potential benefits. Unfortunately this may not work. Employees may be completely non receptive to the changes. The actions that the company takes will depend on certain specifics of the project. Outsourcing to a different department certain tasks or the whole project could be an option. Maybe the troubled employee could be transferred to a department more suitable to them personally, or as a last resort, the employee may just need to find employment elsewhere.
If management is supportive of the project, only a large scale resistance should send the project team back to the drawing board. Minor employee resistance should be considered on an individual basis with each employee.
As previously stated, Binkington Industries will be on a small operations schedule in the short-term. The few staff members will have a great deal of input to operations projects and what their role in the organization will become.
With that being said, contingency plans will be put in place to manage the human implications. One issue we will be concerned with is that employees have not yet gained the trust and loyalty to an organizational culture that is in its infancy. A contingency of the main project plan is going to be the cross training of employees, in case a staff member jumps ship, we will be able to respond to their tasks without losing too many resources. We will place benefits for the employees that take on new tasks and remain committed to the project.
Loyalty will pay off for the employees who demonstrate it, as the company grows, so will the employee.