ManagingtheIndividualinOrganisationalChange

1、Power to the PeopleBy Graham Clark, Senior Lecturer in Operati ons Man ageme ntManaging cha nge at the orga ni sati on al level has bee n the subject of innu merable books and articles. How this change effects individuals within the organisation has, in comparis on, bee n n eglected. Yet the impact

2、on in dividuals caught up in the process of cha nge is substa ntial, particularly in the area of employee empowerme nt.Empowerment has been one of the buzzwords of the decade. It is not however, as straightforward as it soun ds. The problem is that not all in dividuals will be affected in the same w

3、ay: there will be differences of personality and of roles. What is more, the appropriate type and exte nt of empowerme nt to be en couraged will depe nd on the n ature of the bus in ess. Trough Cran field s Service Operati ons ResearchwClubhave developed a framework which looks specifically at these

4、 issues of in dividual employee empowerme nt.A Framework for Empowerme ntFluid(Empowered)Type of Employee Discreti onFacilitati ngRout ineCreativeANXIOUSADAPTIVEOrga ni sati onStyleLeadershipStyleCOMPLIANTFRUSTRATEDRigidDirective(Imposed)LowHighPerceived Employee Discreti onFigure 1. A Framework for

5、 Un dersta nding Empowerme ntThe framework (Figure 1) describes two basic types of orga ni sati on. The first is the Adaptive Organisation where individuals feel they have a lot of discretion. This is typified by activities that require a high degree of creativity such as desig n, marketi ng, and ma

6、ny professi onal services. By con trast, the Complia nt Orga ni sati on has more stable processes and structures with individuals playing highly defined and scripted roles. Examples of Complia nt Orga ni satio ns in clude mass product ion systems, con sumer services such as fast-food restaura nts an

7、d retail finan cial services, but also activities that n eed to man age sig nifica nt risk such as airli ne operati ons and hostage n egotiati on.Rather tha n use the term empowerme nt it is helpful to look at perceived in dividual employee discreti on - how much freedom the in dividual feels he or

8、she has. For instanee, a member of a Compliant Organisation may in fact have high levels of personal responsibility or a role involving the management of significant risk. The more complex the task, the moreRout ine Discreti on (freedom to choosehow thi ngs are done) will be given to employees. This

9、 contrasts with the Adaptive Organisation where in dividuals may have sig nifica ntCreative Discreti on (freedom to choosewhat is don e).Whe n an orga ni sati on goes through a process of cha nge levels of in dividual empowerme nt are likely alter as well. The react ion to this depe nds on the emplo

10、yee.Movi ng from Complia nt to Adaptive: The An xious ZoneWhe n the in dividual chBhges, for in sta nee whe n they are give n greater discretio n, they may feel as though they are being forced to leave the safety of the Complia nt Orga ni sati on, where man ageme nt emphasis was on the adhere nee to

11、 established procedures. Now performa nee is to be judged on less well-defi ned outcomes, ofte n with Ion ger time scales. The in dividual may en ter theAn xious/Excited Zone, wan ti ng the new challe nge but un sure as to whether they can achieve it.The challenge for managers is to identify employe

12、es in this position because they are frequently silent in their anxiety, not wanting to admit that they are not sure how to achieve these Ion ger term goals. Man agers must spe nd time in support ing their staff through this zone, not assuming that employees who do not immediately perform are in com

13、pete nt.A nu mber of so-called empowerme nt in itiatives have failed because man agers have not identified individuals in the Anxious Zone or provided sufficient support. In other cases in itiatives fail because in appropriate discreti on is give n to employees, the real challe nge not being to move

14、 from Complia nt to Adaptive, but to move with in the Complia nt Zone to build ing own ership of customers and processes.Movi ng from Adaptive to Complia nt: The Frustrated ZoneAs an organisation grows some individuals may find that their role has less freedom. A com mon example is that of the Sales

15、 Man ager who might have had con siderable discretio n in develop ing bus in ess but who is being asked to sell a more n arrowly defi ned set of goods and services. These in dividuals move into the Frustrated Zone, where they still feel that they have high pers onal discreti on, but are con stra ine

16、d by the system.Un like the sile nt-a nxious employees above, these people are extremely vocal. The dan ger is that they will find ways to circumve nt any imposed system thus destro ying the ben efits for the orga ni sati on as a whole. In con trast to those movi ng from Compliant to Adaptive, these

17、 people are difficult to support. They probably need the Creative Discretion implicit in the Adaptive Zone and will never fully adopt the discipli ne of the Complia nt Zone. It may well be that these in dividuals should be encouraged to find new roles rather than continue in the potentially disrupti

18、ve Frustrated Zone.Is it Possible to be Adaptive and Compliant?of any roleThe simple answer to this question is yes. Many of us have roles that require both aspects. This is certainly true for those in the Adaptive Zone, who may have con siderable freedom and yet must perform some Complia nt tasks.

19、In using this matrix, though, it is importa nt to plot where the centre of gravityhow this might be cha nging. In recog nising this, the man ager must adapt his or her style to be more directive around the compliant tasks, whilst at the same time facilitative around activities which lie in the Adapt

20、ive Zone.The key challe nge is to man age the in terface betwee n the Complia nt and Adaptive Zon es. Very complia nt processes do not work well if they n eed in put from very adaptive people! Figure 2 gives a way of thi nking about roles withi n the orga ni sati on. If the organisation provides hig

21、h volume goods and services to a stable mass market, the majority of the workforce will be in the Implement/Execute roles. If, on the other hand, the key task is to provide inno vative soluti ons for clie nts, the n we might expect the centre of gravity to be around the Desig n/ln terpret regi on.To

22、day, there are more orga ni sati ons emerg ing in the centre of the diag on al. Mass goods and service providers must offer more flexibility, and those orga ni sati ons traditi on ally at the low volume/high creativity end of the spectrum are gett ing bigger as we can see in the growth of the intern

23、ational consultancies. For these organisations, then, the vital roles are those of Interpret/Implement - being able to turn ideas into product ion or service processes quickly and effectivelyType of Employee Discreti onFacilitati ngLeadershipStyleDirectiveFigure 2. Develop ing Orga ni satio nal Role

24、s(With ack no wledgme nt to Ia n Sau nders Executive MBA 1998/99)The Man ageme nt Challe ngeThe challe nge for man agers is esse ntially to recog nise that their orga ni satio ns are made up of in dividuals whose comb in atio n of role and pers on ality means that they may be movi ng into either the An xious Zone or the Fru