Planning and implementing change within an organization plays a pivotal role in enhancing performance in addition to creating the right environment for organizational growth. In order to effectively oversee the transition, it is important to put in place the right change management strategies which would ensure that the transition ends up having the least impact on the organization’s culture and the environment (Bentley and Whitten, 2009). Despite the successful implementation of the change program at Care UK, it can be deduced from the case study that the management faced and continue to face a number of challenges which can be categorized as sources of resistance to change. This therefore emphasizes the need for proper mitigation strategies. In order to ensure successful organizational transition, the management needs to create an appropriate environment which would enable the people within the organization see and understand the need for change. This approach is referred to as creating the urgency for change. It can be achieved by outlining the current performance of the company and noting the various areas in management which comprises loopholes hence the need for speedy adjustments. The next phase involves the creation of a change management team which is made up of like minded individuals who have indicated unending commitment to the organization’s culture, goals and core values (Bhattacherjee, 2010). Successful implementation of change would then require the team to create change vision which is clearly articulated. The vision guides the core principle of the change program. Once the vision is firmly in place, the contents and outline of the change program is then communicated effectively to the other members of the organization. In this phase, explanations are made to the company’s key stakeholders on the core aims of the change program and the projected benefits that would accompany its implementation. The change team is empowered through proper training and exposure. At the same time, the individuals who indicate resistance to change are either encouraged into the course or done away with as a strategy of ensuring the smooth transition of processes. The other approach in effective change management involves creating a change culture. The sustainability of change program at Care UK has been anchored on the fact that the management cultivated the change culture into the organization’s core values hence making it part of the daily activities. This approach has been instrumental in helping the employees and other key stakeholders to embrace the change program (Bidgoil, 2015). Furthermore, the creation of short term goals has continuously served as a source of motivation to the organization. The short term achievements serve as an appropriate evaluation tool for the effectiveness of the change program. It also enables the organization to identify the specific areas which need adjustment in order to improve the efficiency of the change strategy.
Scope and Purpose
This report does not only detail the analysis of the change program at Care UK but also delves into a discussion of the company’s life cycle, the situational leadership and variables at the organization with references to various models and theories for instance Greiner’s model and the contingency theory. The report also details the leadership approaches which have been embraced by the management in a bid to deal with the transitions arising from the implementation of the change program.
Care UK is one of the largest organizations in Britain which works in conjunction with councils and care commissioning groups to provide health care services to people with disabilities, mental sicknesses as well as the aged. The organization which has its branches located in various areas across the United Kingdom was founded in 1982 and has since risen up the ranks being viewed as one of the best care organizations in UK (Bidgoil, 2015). The major services at the organization since its inception involves providing care to the aged, people with learning disabilities and mental health problems. It currently operates 114 homes with over 8,000 beds. Care UK also supports approximately 17,000 older people from different locations in UK through the provision of home care services.
Change program being Analyzed
Based on the 2013, 2014 and 2015 annual company reports, the statistical records indicate the aspect of bed shortages as one of the major challenges the company faced especially during this period (Collings and Wood, 2009). Lack of enough beds led to various other challenges which included long waiting hours and congestion in addition to increased risk of infection. There is also the issue of shortages in medicine and a low doctor to patient ratio hence leading to negative patient experiences. In order to adequately address these challenges, the organization resorted to the incorporation of a computer software to aid in controlling and monitoring various procedures at the organization. These procedures include financial management, inventory management, and control of patient records as well as performance evaluation. The main objective of the change process at Care UK was to improve the company’s image and brand among the people in UK through the provision of quality health care services (Hope, 2009). The change strategies were therefore aimed at improving both individual and corporate performance at the organization.
Company Life Cycle
With references to Greimer’s model, the initial phase of company growth involves growth through creativity. At this initial state, the values are being cultivated, the employees are loyal and informal and the structure is often flat. Care UK has already gone through this phase is now a relatively stable entity. In the second phase, there is growth through direction where functional managers are appointed hence creating a middle point of management leading to a complex organization. Care UK has appointed various managers to handle its subsidiaries hence indicating a sense of growth. The next phase is growth through delegation where a now complex organization is led by sharing of roles especially to the middle management. This has been done at the organization with the executive giving roles to the facility managers. In the next stage, growth is now achieved through control and coordination. In this case, a lot of emphasis is laid on coordination between the various institutions. This is the phase in which Care UK is at the moment. The organizational challenges mentioned are majorly as a result of effective coordination strategies between the management and employees and also between the individuals in the various subsidiaries. The next stages are growth through cooperation and alliances, the very phases that Care UK needs to work to attain.
Using Fielder’s Contingency Theory to discuss Situational variables at Care UK
Based on Fielder’s LPC Contingency Model, appropriate leadership requires the establishment of the right match between a situation and the leadership style. The style therefore ought to be one that effectively mitigates the challenges outlined by the situation. A high LPC score indicates better relations while a low score reveals the need for tasks and adjustments. In order to identify the best leadership approach, it would important to analyze the various situational variables. These variables may have impacts on the change program. Proper management approaches leads to positive influences while lack of appropriate mitigation strategies only serve to slow down the process of change. In order to achieve this objective, we shall incorporate the 5C method of analysis (Collings and Wood, 2009). The approach therefore examines the organization’s internal environment and external environment with references to five major variable factors which include: company, competitors, contexts, customers as well as collaborators.
To begin with, there is need for continuous evaluation of a company’s capabilities, objectives as well as its strategies. The approaches used within an organization tend to vary as a result of the business environment in which the organization operates. For instance at Care UK, the health care facilities are located in various regions across UK. It is a fact worth noting that each of these regions may be characterized by varying trends which in turn change the definition of the organization’s environment. The needs of the society in one place may differ from the situation in other areas as a result of the current circumstance. In case of an outbreak or a calamity which renders people homeless and in need of urgent care, the organizational environment in such cases would be dictated by the specific needs which may cause the organization to adjust its normal programs in order to accommodate such circumstances. It therefore implies that the best strategies are often implemented by the organization in a bid to enhance performance (Dubin, 2009). At the same time, the objectives of the organization may be adjusted to accommodate the various changes within the company. It is therefore important to critically analyze these objectives to ensure that that they remain supportive not only to the change program but also to the overall improvement in performance of the organization. Company analysis also gives room for the establishment of the company’s current position especially in line with its market grip and product line. The outcome of such approaches play a major role in enabling the key stakeholders to note the specific areas of adjustment and hence ensure the implementation of the change program is not only efficient but involves minimal challenges.
Competitors
The healthcare sector in the UK is considerably one of the most competitive arenas in the corporate environment. In addition to the government owned organizations, there have been the emergences of various other non-governmental organizations which provide similar services as those done by Care UK. The situation gets more complicated especially when the rival organizations offer these services for free or at relatively lower costs. The presence of rival organizations has tremendous effects on Care UK market presence due to the fact that some of its patients are likely to be swayed to seek services from alternatively cheaper sources (Edmiston, 2010). It can therefore be deduced that competitors impact an organization’s client loyalty which in turn leads to negative effects on the performance of the organization. The continued establishment of facilities in various parts of Britain which offer health care services to people with learning disabilities, mental health cases and homeless aged people therefore serve as a notable challenge to the change program at Care UK. The main objective of the change was to improve the quality of its services and eventually enhance positive patient experiences. These change strategies were basically aimed at enhancing customer retention. However, competition from other organization effectively alters the dynamics of this program.
Customers
The patients who are affiliated to Care UK form a basic portion of the change program. The company objectives and goals remain focused on patient satisfactory through timely and good quality services. This therefore implies that the customers are organization’s key stakeholders without which the change program and the project’s life cycle bears no meaning. Due to the changing circumstances and situations, the needs of the consumers vary. For instance the changing economic situation in Britain as a result of Brexit may act as a challenge to most individuals hindering them from affording basic amenities such as food and accommodation. The projected records indicate that most aged people are likely to lack appropriate accommodation and care services in future due to the overexploitation of available resources and lack of stable strategies to deal with the situation (Johnason, 2009). Similarly, new challenges as a result of industrialization may result in the increase in number of opportunistic health problems due to exposure to harmful substances and compounds. It can therefore be deduced that the number of patients in need of more assorted care is likely to increase hence the need for the organization to adjust its scope of operations in order to capture a larger customer base. The current strategy at Care UK mainly concentrates on the provision of primary and secondary NHS health services. However, there may be need to adjust the scope of this care to cater for other issues such as physical disabilities, emergency services for accident victims and cancer care treatment just to mention but few. This allows the organization to remain competitively relevant while implementing the change programme.
Collaborators
The other situational variable in the organization are the collaborators. These parties play a major role in supporting operations at Care UK through the creation of new ideas, provision of necessary resources and evaluation of the management process. The collaborators are vital stakeholders within the organization. They include the agencies, suppliers, distributors and partners to the organization (Johnson, 2010). The agencies act as the organization’s middlemen. Due to the fact that Care UK has subsidiaries in various locations, the agencies in this case have remained effective in overseeing the settling process through prior environmental analysis. Based on the terms of agreement, the company’s agencies may change their approaches from time to time. This calls for the management at Care UK to put in place the right adjustment policies to ensure that such transition do not interfere with operations at the constituent facilities. At the same time, the suppliers and distributors of medical resources play a crucial role in enhancing the quality of services provided to patients at the organization. The changing organizational dynamics may in turn alter operations of the collaborators hence the need to create a common ground to ensure that each of the management approaches are streamlined with the change objectives which equally factors in the interests and role of collaborators in successful change management.
Context
The final situational variable that needs the necessary attention at the organization is the changing context of the company as a result of varying political, social, economic and technological trends. The political environment in Britain has relatively been conducive hence leading to the formulation of effective policies to guide operations in the health care sector. However recent adjustment related to the exit from EU may have impacts on the political situation in the country (Klerck, 2009). Based on the current trend, the likelihood of emergence of more stringent policies can be projected. The changing contexts in the political arena therefore have a direct impact on the operations of organizations. Secondly, the economic trends in the country indicate inconsistencies hence making it hard to predict the future aspects. Additionally, there are continuous changes in social lifestyles. With the ever changing nature of the corporate world, people tend to embrace new trends, values and cultures. Variations in social factors have a direct impact on the context of an organization since the needs of the consumers who are important stakeholders change as well. Finally, the ever emerging innovations in the world of technology continue to give the fraternity a whole new meaning each time. One of the change strategies at Care UK involved the installation of an enterprise system.
Leadership evolution to account for the variables
Leaders within an organization play a central role in ensuring a smooth flow of processes during the implementation of change. At Care UK, the organization continuously introduces new approaches in leadership through the change of head of departments and managers in various locations. Additionally, leadership training and exposure through benchmarking has been consistently embraced at the organization in a bid to equip the managers with skills and abilities which would be pivotal in managing the changing situations within the change program.
Due to the fact that the people within the organization are often affected by change the most, it is important to cultivate and embrace the best strategies which enhance positive attitudes among the people within the organization (Motiwalla and Thomson, 2009). In order to achieve this, leaders within the organization can introduce a number of approaches aimed at enhancing effective communication within the organization. As one of the change management strategies, the managers ought to create an environment in which information easily flows from one person to the other without its meaning being distorted. Effective organizational communication as enhanced by the leaders in turn leads to effective dissemination and distribution of information. This strategy is essential towards enhancing positive attitudes among the employees. In a bid to achieve this strategy, the leaders can create a number of interactive platforms in which the employees freely relate with the organizational leaders, exchanging views and values. The leaders can eventually take advantage of such platforms to make stories to the employees on aspects related to change within the main objective of instilling the right attitudes among them.
As a form of leadership adjustment to account for the changing forms of competition affecting the organization’s change process, the management identifies and implements the most effective leadership approaches which would ensure the organization remains competitive despite the dynamic nature of the corporate environment (Hope, 2009). This can be achieved through resource mobilization and investing in qualified medical personnel to ensure the consistency of quality care provision. The company may also consider adjusting its product and service prices to ensure that they are not only accessible to the clients but equally affordable.
It would be important to access the current trends in technology and hence upgrade the system appropriately in order to fit the changing dynamics (Mesly, 2017). The approach here may involve training the current leaders on IT integration into management or bringing in qualified personnel to guide the change processes involving the use of technology. The organization’s leadership therefore needs to have a good grip of the current social, technological, social and economic trends. This allows the change team to discuss and agree on the right counter strategies which would be instrumental in mitigating the challenges associated with such transitions within the organization.
Changing attitudes through Narrative and storytelling mechanism
Voice narrative
This mechanism can be applicable when the management creates an interactive platform in the course of the working hours. For instance, the organization may introduce a 20 minute break in which the members interact with leaders. In such cases, the leaders are able to communicate the change program, concept and values to the members. (O’Brien and Marakas, 2011). While having the meals, the manager then breaks the ice by introducing a story. An example of such stories has been outlined below
Company X has struggled over years to gain a good ground on its market area. The rise of competitors and unpredictable economic situations in the country has increased the cost of operations at the organization. The company’s annual report indicates a consistent fluctuation in annual profit. The leadership structure at the organization is flat and communication has been noted as a major challenge. In a bid to improve performance and regain its market ground, the management at Company X establishes a change program which involved introduction of a new enterprise system, training current employees, shifting worker positions and introduction of machine aided operations. The employees are initially resistant to this change but after repeated communication on the urgency of change and the projected benefits, the employees finally accept this strategy. Three years after implementation, the company has experience tremendous change in performance. Its return on investment has equally escalated with time. The employees who were once resistant continue to serve in one of the best environments with motivation and a stable reward system. Perhaps these benefits wouldn’t be existent if the people never gave in to the change program. We therefore need to remain positive to change as it serves to our very advantage (Reagans and Zuckerman, 2011).
Role of narratives and story telling
The narrative above can be used to engage the people during these breaks. At the end of the story, the leader engages the employees creating an interactive session to gauge their perspectives on the issue of change within an organization (Robert, 2011). Based on the responses, the manager then lays emphasis on the need for change by pointing out to these members the benefits that accompany change within organizations.
In addition to the use of interactive sessions, the leaders can enhance the attitudes of the members by involving them in crucial decision making processes. Most of the people within an organization tend to be resistant to change not only for fear of losing their jobs but also as a result of feeling left out and less useful. In order to minimize such attitudes, the leaders can incorporate the members by welcoming and considering their opinions before making major change decisions within the organization. When they are involved, the individuals feel more confident and needed. Such approaches equally lead to the cultivation of the right attitudes among members. Consequently, the process of implementation of change is made smooth, faster and effective.
Conclusion
The report entailed an analysis of the situational variables which can be associated with the change process at Care UK. The discussion was based on the 5C model of analysis. This model viewed the situational variables in terms of company, customers, collaborators, competitors and context. The discussion revealed that the internal and external environments of an organization is often characterized by dynamism hence the need to put in place the most appropriate counter strategies Stone, 2015). One of the approaches noted in the report involves the adjustment of leadership approaches and management strategies in a bid to accommodate the changing circumstance and dynamics within an organization. Subsequently, successful change management involves the cultivation of the right attitudes among the members. The report also reveals how leaders can utilize storytelling and narrative mechanisms to enhance positive attitudes towards change within an organization. The vital place of change within a company calls for the most effective management approaches which are vital in minimizing the hindrances to change.
References
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