NEW ZEALAND -- Change management - how The Independent Financial Review Case Studies with Business News can help in the classroom
Change management is a challenging subject for students and teachers alike. Change management has come to the forefront of business discipline in recent years and is now an important subject for high school business studies students. The Independent Financial Review with Business News aims to help teachers and students explain and understand change management methodology and its use in business practice. The product contains case studies on change management to show students and teachers how major organisations manage change.
The following information is taken from the case study 'BOC - promoting Gas & Gear through effective change management'. To read the case study in full, or get more information on change management, please go to our website at www.bizcs.co.nz.
Defining change managementChange management refers to a structured approach to changes within a business that affect individuals, teams, organisations and the consumer or client. The process moves the business objectives from their current state to a desired state. Change management refers to the people side of change and is often facilitated by a human resources department within an organisation.
Management's first responsibility is to detect trends inside and outside the organisation to identify changes and initiate a change management process.
Creating a successful change management process
It is important for an organisation to estimate what impact a change will have on employee behaviours and work processes. Change management needs to include informal support and communication (such as frequent dialogue with staff), as well as structured support (such as a formal communication process for staff to express their concerns) for its employees to assist them with the process of change. Monitoring the change management transition is an important step following the change management process. Modifications may need to be made to ensure that the change management process is achieving the results required. Employee engagement is also very important to monitor at this stage, as it means that people are willing to embrace the change and that staff retention does not pose an issue.
Change in any progressive organisation is inevitable. Any business that wants to thrive in an ever-changing world needs to adapt to the environment. Sometimes staff may fear the uncertainty that change can bring. On the other hand, change can also mean new opportunities, rejuvenation, progress, innovation, and growth. There are different types of change management strategies and approaches
Typical steps in a change management process
- Strategic planning and design: Form a change management team, define the vision and strategy
- Strategy implementation: Communicate the vision and change management implementation to staff, manage responses and maintain momentum
- Evaluation and readjustment: Look at the results of the change management process, track against targets, modify where necessary, plan for the future and continue to monitor
For more change management case studies, please visit our website at www.bizcs.co.nz
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