Introduction
Scholars and practitioners have long recognized that organizations must constantly be ready to change not only to solidify their competitive advantages, but also to modify the functioning of the entities (Battilana & Casciaro, 2012). Change leaders are at the forefront in driving the intended change and ensuring minimal resistance from relevant stakeholders, including employees (van Dijk & van Dick, 2009). The present paper looks into some underlying issues on monitoring and responding to drivers of change and resistance within the organization and industry.
Monitoring and Responding to Drivers of Change
As a change leader, it is always important to monitor and respond to the drivers of change with the view to developing a solid understanding of the organization’s capacity for change. Within the organization, I would monitor current trends in technology, globalization, customer expectations, industry, market, competitors, new leadership, regulations, as well as the economy. Within the industry, I would monitor current trends in technology, globalization, market, and the economy (Whelan-Berry & Somerville, 2010).
Such monitoring can be done through the development of a clear and compelling vision which could be used to note variations between current trends and future directions (van Dijk & van Dick, 2009).
Responding to change drivers is often a complex and multifaceted task which requires careful thought and analysis to ensure successful implementation of the change process (Battilana & Casciaro, 2012).
As the change leader, I would respond to the drivers of change within the organizational context by evaluating the organization’s capacity and readiness for change. In the event that the organization is ready for change, it is important to move the change vision to the group level before introducing the particular change to the employees for adoption. Here, it should be noted that the change being introduced to employees arises from a particular driver that has already been identified through demonstrating a vision which must be compelling to and accepted by individual employees (Whelan-Berry & Somerville, 2010).
Afterwards, it is imperative that I not only develop a strategy to sustain the momentum of the change implementation but also institutionalize the change. Within the industry context, I would respond to the drivers of change by assessing how the change may affect the organization and consulting with the top leadership to establish ways through which the organization could gain competitively from the change effort (Battilana & Casciaro, 2012).
Monitoring and Responding to Individuals Resisting Change
It is important to monitor the reasons that make individuals to resist change as such resistance can have an adverse impact on the successful implementation of the change project (van Dijk & van Dick, 2009). As a change leader, I would monitor the reasons by, among other things,
- maintaining an open door policy,
- encouraging change-related employee participation,
- using the 5 stages of ‘grief’ model to assess resistance,
- facilitating communication and support (Battilana & Casciaro, 2012).
Moving on, I would attempt to respond to the reasons for resistance by not analyzing the motivations behind the resistance but also improving the utilization of my self-enhancement strategies in response to the reasons advanced by individuals as forming the basis for resisting change (van Dijk & van Dick, 2009). To minimize resistance, I would also attempt to implement the change effort using tested and humane change models such as Kotter’s 8 step change model.
The steps of the model include developing urgency for the change project, structuring a powerful partnership, developing a vision for change, communicating the vision, addressing the various obstacles, designing short-term wins, building on the change project, and anchoring the change in corporate culture (Kotter’s, 2015).
Conclusion
The current paper has provided a personal perspective on how I would monitor and respond to the drivers of change as a change leader, and also how I would monitor and respond to reasons that make individuals to resist change. Drawing from this exposition, it is evident that a better understanding of these processes is needed to ensure effective change implementation.
References
Battilana, J., & Casciaro, T. (2012). Change agents, networks, and institutions: A contingency theory of organizational change. Academy of Management Journal, 55(2), 381-398.
Kotter’s 8-step change model: Implementing change powerfully and successfully. (2015). Web.
van Dijk, R., & van Dick, R. (2009). Navigating organizational change: Change leaders, employee resistance and work-based identities. Journal of Change Management, 9(2), 143-163.
Whelan-Berry, K.S., & Somerville, K.A. (2010). Linking change drivers and the organizational change process: A review and synthesis. Journal of Change Management, 10(2), 175-193.