Managing Change

Everything is temporary while Change is permanent, and it is necessary to go with it. Change can be in form of people’s nature, their style, in the sense of dressing, communicating, working etc. At the macro level, there can be a change in Economy, Technology, Politics, Management positions, behaviour modification, work culture etc.

“Change is an inevitable and constant feature. It is an inescapable part of both social and organisational life and we are all subject to continual change of one form or another” (Mullins, 2013).

The change in management is done to work cooperatively to achieve particular goal, increasing productivity, and profit. Sometimes changes can be done to minimise the problems as well. There are many options and steps taken by the organisation to sustain the successful change or to make change successful.

For effective change management it is necessary to understand the human behaviour like frustration, fear, hesitation, self-protective and bad attitude. People depending upon situations react differently to change. Some are open and sustain on change while others oppose and resist.

There are five steps which can be used for overcoming the resistance of change which managers can follow such as

According to Atkinson “A major problem in driving change in organisation is dealing a managing the resistance that will be encountered, but that resistance should be welcomed as a healthy response” (Mullins, 2013).

There are various models for change management which managers should adopt because a successful management of change is important for the economic performance and success of the organisation. Kotter’s 8 steps of change management model can be refer by the managers.

Kotter’s 8 Steps

The major changes taken in organisation fail because organization do not take complete action which is necessary to effect that change. Companies can encourage their employees to accept the change and make it successful by following the above eight step model given by Kotter.

Every management needs a change. Even if the things are going on track still it is necessary to give an organisation a new direction. Thinking in a positive way can be an advantage for the company. A valid example for a management change which I would like to share is British Airways who reorganised its entire organization. The chairperson noticed that the company is not operating properly, so to make the operations strong he decided to reconstruct the entire organisation by decreasing workforce.

The company got one thing right is that before any announcement he presented his views in front of the employees and prepared them for future changes. His transparency and clear communication became an advantage for the company to accept the changes positively otherwise the company would have faced employee backlash.

Thus to conclude in order to manage change successfully in hospitality industry, the managers need to identify the areas required for change, collect necessary information by even taking feedback from employees and customers, design a doable change plan and communicate to all, impart specific training for the same and a demo version of the change plan should be practiced and implemented before the final rolling out.

In hospitality industry managing change is extremely important as it is labour intensive, the attrition rate is very high and the product is extremely perishable. A change should improve operational performance. Although a change may be internal but it can be forced by an external factor.

The managers or change agents should believe in the change and recognize and coordinate resources. As employees are valuable human force of an organization, their resistance to change is understandable, yet it has to be justified as there is always a better way to do things. With evolution and change, the hospitality industry would definitely mature and establish in a better way.

References:

Mullins, L.J. (2013), Management and Organisational Behaviour, 10th Edition, Pearson Higher Education

International, Kotter, and Kotter International. ‘The 8-Step Process For Leading Change – Kotter International’. Kotter International. N.p., 2015. Web. 4 Apr. 2015.

Jacoby, Jesse, and Jesse Jacoby. ‘Strategies For Managing Resistance To Change’. Emergent Journal. N.p., 2011. Web. 4 Apr. 2015.

Scrumalliance.org,. ‘Change Management Models – Scrum Alliance’. N.p., 2015. Web. 4 Apr. 2015.

Troyani, Laura. ‘3 Examples Of Organizational Change And Why They Got It Right’. Tinyhr.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 4 Apr. 2015.