Change Management For Industrial And Commercial Training

Role of Marketing Professionals in Change Management

Discuss about the Change Management for Industrial and Commercial Training.

According to Hon, Bloom, & Crant (2011), in the words of a Green philosopher, Heraclitus, ‘change is the only constant in life’. This means that the only thing that remains unchanged is change itself. Organizational change occurs when a company changes from its current state to the desired future state. When an organization goes through changes, the marketing professionals continually make changes in the marketing strategies and they update with new trends, policies, concepts and tools. These changes are made so that the organizations and consumers can benefit leading to increasing market share. The marketers need to ensure that the marketing practices involve change and they also have readiness to change. The aim of this report is to analyse the role of marketing professionals in change management. Moreover, an assessment is made on personal and professional experiences with respect to responsibilities and whether there is a readiness for change.

Change management is an important area for the leaders and it must be embraced entirely in the organization. From the period of announcement through the installation of change, the leaders play a crucial role in managing change. A successful organization change depends on the leaders such as managers who manage the people going through the change (Appelbaum et al., 2015). The marketing professionals or marketers play a vital role in the business for influencing the profitability. They devise several strategies and tactics that help the organization move forward and the strengths of the products and services is well presented. Therefore, when an organization goes through change, the marketers constantly need to develop strategies and tactics that would be in alignment with the desired change (Hon, Bloom, & Crant, 2011).

The general issues faced by the marketers while an organization is transforming is the technical and people aspects. The leader controls everything as they want everything going according to their plan and no unwanted outcomes. The marketing professionals assume that change is a predictable process and behaviours must be adopted in a manner for driving transformations. The leaders play the role of a shaper in which they personally control what is done and expect others to follow their lead. As the marketers are responsible for driving the influential strategies and tactics, they are responsible for a top-down process transformation through a step-by-step process (Mariani et al., 2014).

The leaders also play the role of enablers in which they focus on doing change with people. The marketers play the enabling role in organization and creating conditions that encourage people to contribute and enhance from the transformation process. As an enabler, the marketing professionals also more aligned towards emotional support. The marketers can go around appraising the marketing team so that they design better strategies and campaigns that would integrate with the desired change or transformation (Hayes, 2012).

Readiness for Change

The marketers share a sense of purpose, direction and inspiration where people understand the need for change. The marketers also play the role of a role model where they might be willing to go first. The marketers demonstrate behaviours and attitudes which they expect from their marketing team. The other team members watch the professionals for consistency so that they are assured about the new marketing strategies shall be well implemented. The marketing professionals shall be self-aware and deliberate (Cameron & Green, 2012).

The marketing professionals pay the role of the voice. These professionals communicate, share information, new marketing tactics and offer encouragement. When the other teams or employees hear the news of change in the organization, they might panic or lose motivation at work. The marketing leaders need to balance the change message and act as transparent or consistent voice. Further, the marketing professionals must create a sense of urgency so that experimentation of marketing strategies can be done. The marketers must show passion and commitment about getting things done. The marketers play the role of enforcer in which they hold the marketing team members accountable for change. The marketing professionals understand the underlying reasons that the hindrances can be removed (Powers et al., 2012).

Without a change management program that addresses the uniqueness of marketing, effort is wasted, resources are squandered, and initiatives are delayed. A thoughtfully crafted change management program cuts short the time it takes to accomplish needed change and drives the long-term ownership needed to meet goals (Fulgoni & Lipsman, 2014).

According to The Stages of Change model, I shall assess my readiness to change drawing on my personal and professional experiences. The model shall help me in evaluating my readiness to change.

In the first stage, procontemplation, an individual is not even considering changing. The individuals are in denial as they have made several attempts to change and might have given up. The individuals feel as if the situation they are stuck in is hopeless. Moreover, the individuals want the others to change. Recalling on my personal experience, a couple of years back I had several issues with my health. The medication required for recovering from ill health involved changing my regular diet plan extensively (Leonard et al., 2013). I agree with the fact I could not switch to the recommended dietary plan completely, but I was not unwilling to change my dietary plans. I was concerned about my eating habits and wanted my health to recover soon. Therefore, I made changes in my diet plans by keeping my issues aside. I had an intention of changing and rationalizing my issues by changing myself which clearly indicates that I am not in the stage of precontemplation (Klonek et al., 2014).

The second stage is contemplation which indicates that an individual is ambivalent about changing. In this stage, the individuals make an evaluation and comparison weighing benefits and costs. The individuals acknowledge the problem and the role played by them in it. The individuals may not be ready for change and they wait for the magic sign. Drawing on one of my professional experiences, at my previous workplace a new branch was rented. However, visiting my older office for quite a time, I was used to visit the place and work with my regular colleagues. However, the new office had a greater scope of opportunities and scope in the professional line. I did not behave adamantly and agreed to my manager regarding my shift in workplace branch. I evaluated the benefits I could obtain by visiting the new branch of my office which made me ready to accept the change. I did not wait for any magic sign which clearly indicates that I am past the contemplation phase (Prochaska, Norcross, & DiClemente, 2013).

The third stage is preparation in which the individual is prepared to experiment with small changes. The individuals develop realistic goals and provide positive reinforcement. The individuals need final reassurances that give them a push to move to a step to accept change. The fourth stage is action in which the individual takes definitive action for changing behaviour. There is a need for positive reinforcement by peers or family members that help the individuals overlook possible relapse. The last stage is maintenance and termination in which the individual maintains new behaviour for a very long time. The individuals consolidate gains and communicate about maintaining the new change. However, they tend to use the backup plans in case there is a failure (Mariani et al., 2014).

I support the thought of the time is now and believe in making small experiments to check if the change is working in a positive direction. For example, I had to change my city when my parents moved to another city. The school friends, teachers and other mates had changed. It made me afraid in the beginning and I was scared to accept change. However, with time I started experimenting and going out with new people. I was shy in the beginning but with time I became a part of their world. Moreover, I made efforts to adjust in the new environment as my parents’ generated positive reinforcement. They acted as a great source of motivation which helped me adjust in the new environment by accepting change (Klonek et al., 2014). 

Therefore, drawing on my personal and professional experiences it can be interpreted that I have readiness to accept change. I have a strong willingness and determination to change as I make constant efforts to change for the good.

Conclusion

Conclusively, change management is a process that not only requires acceptance to change among employees, but also the leaders. When an organization goes through changes, the marketing professionals continually make changes in the marketing strategies and they update with new trends, policies, concepts and tools. A successful organization change depends on the leaders such as managers who manage the people going through the change. The marketing professionals assume that change is a predictable process and behaviours must be adopted in a manner for driving transformations. The marketers demonstrate behaviours and attitudes which they expect from their marketing team.

References

Appelbaum, S. H., Degbe, M. C., MacDonald, O., & Nguyen-Quang, T. S. (2015). Organizational outcomes of leadership style and resistance to change (Part One). Industrial and Commercial Training, 47(2), 73-80.

Cameron, E. & Green, M. (2012). Making sense of change management (1st ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Kogan Page.

Fulgoni, G. & Lipsman, A. (2014) ‘Numbers, please: digital game changers: how social media will help usher in the era of mobile and multi-platform campaign-effectiveness measurement’, Journal of Advertising Research, 54 (1), pp.11-16. 

Hayes, J. (2012). The theory and practice of change management (1st ed.). Basingstoke [England]: Palgrave Macmillan.

Hon, A., Bloom, M., & Crant, J. (2011). Overcoming Resistance to Change and Enhancing Creative Performance. Journal Of Management, 40(3), 919-941. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0149206311415418

Klonek, F., Lehmann-Willenbrock, N., & Kauffeld, S. (2014). Dynamics of Resistance to Change: A Sequential Analysis of Change Agents in Action. Journal Of Change Management, 14(3), 334-360. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14697017.2014.896392

Leonard, T., Shuval, K., de Oliveira, A., Skinner, C., Eckel, C., & Murdoch, J. (2013). Health Behavior and Behavioral Economics: Economic Preferences and Physical Activity Stages of Change in a Low-Income African-American Community. American Journal Of Health Promotion, 27(4), 211-221. https://dx.doi.org/10.4278/ajhp.110624-quan-264

Mariani, M., Buhalis, D., Longhi, C., & Vitouladiti, O. (2014). Managing change in tourism destinations: Key issues and current trends. Journal Of Destination Marketing & Management, 2(4), 269-272. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2013.11.003

Powers, T., Advincula, D., Austin, M., Graiko, S. & Snyder, J. (2012) ‘Digital and social media in the purchase decision process: a special report from the Advertising Research Foundation’, Journal of Advertising Research, 52 (4), pp.479-489. 

Prochaska, J. O., Norcross, J. C., & DiClemente, C. C. (2013). Applying the stages of change. Psychotherapy in Australia, 19(2), 10.