Kotter's Change Model to Solve the FedEx Situation

FedEx HR Management Strategy

Local as well as multinational organizations experiences change during operations. The goal of change is to ensure sustained organizational competitiveness and relevance. Any change is met by an organization and its members going all-out in their commitment to it and in integrating it into company systems. HR departments are responsible for devising practicable plans for resolving organizational issues and, more significantly, inducing change. Corporate change may be small-scale (changing one sub-department or some operational processes only) or large-scale (department-wide or company-wide change).

International courier giant, FedEx, has a sound global footprint. Ever since its institution, the multinational has garnered positive reviews on the part of specialist commercial managers, business partners and its own workforce. Star candidates from the HR pool, with advanced educational qualifications and first-rate experience, are hired via a great vetting process, to handle its HR department. In spite of its favorable reviews and praises, FedEx experiences a few management-level failures which need addressing. I believe a few of the organization's HR management approaches aren't appropriate and require keen focus. A key issue which must be immediately resolved is personnel downsizing, which has left the remaining workers overburdened (Impact of downsizing, 2004). Additionally, the company is paying greater emphasis to improving profits, which successively gives rise to a detrimental financial climate. This paper will employ the eight-step model of change proposed by Kotter to suggest ways in which the company can resolve its management problem.

Using Kotter's 8-Step Model in FedEx's HR Situation

Several HR management strategies may be applied to tackle FedEx's internal issues. One efficient tool for initiating and maintaining successful organizational change is the eight-step model developed by John Kotter, a well-known Harvard Business School professor and specialist...
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Leading Change, the popular, well-received book published by the professor in the year 1995 outlines the aforementioned model. This paper attempts at demonstrating how the courier company, FedEx, can utilize Kotter's model for resolving its present issues of a detrimental financial atmosphere and personnel overload (Kotter, 2012).

Establishing a Sense of Urgency

FedEx has engaged in rigorous downsizing, cutting back on its workforce size. The workers who remain have been overburdened by their everyday responsibilities and duties. Their workload is simply piling up and older, though better experienced, individuals are left in charge of things. This top-level workforce is strongly influencing the firm, leaving younger personnel feeling intimidated (Margaritis, 2000). Clearly, there is a pressing need for its HR department to deal with this scenario and ensure they divest workers of their excessive workload. The workforce has been voicing its disapproval of the way things are currently being run and if the management fails to address this soon, strikes and non-productivity may ensue. It is imperative for the management to think up a quick and effective response and keep its personnel motivated (Impact of downsizing, 2004).

Creating Coalition

FedEx's HR division ought to collaborate with other organizational divisions to deal with the given issue. Interdepartmental support is vital and must be sought whilst bearing in mind the crucial fact that they don't stick to the conventional company hierarchy. Any individual capable of influencing peers and subordinates, even lower-level employees, can help instigate change in the company (Kotter, 2012). A combination of influential individuals ought to be organized into a team for change management; these members of the company may be looked up to as authority figures by other members, owing to their status, position in the company, political significance or skill. FedEx's HR department should secure such individuals' emotional…