Managing organizational change: established models, frameworks, and implementation lessons

Organizational Change

Managing Change Organization. Provide a significant change place a major organization, compare contrast established change management models/frameworks implementation phase common lessons learned.

Managing change in the organization: Best Buy

One of the most recent successful changes to be implemented at a major organization is that of the technology company Best Buy's shift to a results-only workplace (ROWE). In the ROWE model, workers are judged solely on their output, not on how many hours they log at the company headquarters. This is a complete shift from the previous organizational culture and the way of valuing employees at Best Buy before ROWE was implemented. Before, workers were encouraged to pride themselves about how early they came in to the office and how late they stayed. Today, measurable output alone is how workers are valued. "Employee productivity has increased an average of 35% in departments covered by the program," and the implementation of ROWE "has forced managers and employees to be really clear about what needs to be accomplished" (Brandon 2007).

Organizational change management model 1:

Seven phases model (Grover & Kettinger, cited in Major change frameworks and models, n.d., DePaul University)

Strategy linkage

Before ROWE was implemented, Best Buy was in a quandary -- its best managers were leaving, particularly women, because of the difficulty of creating an effective work-life balance. Additionally, all employees -- male and female -- were reporting high levels of burnout. "Two managers -- one in the properties division, the other in communications -- were desperate. Top performers were complaining of unsustainable levels of stress, threatening business continuity just when Best Buy was rolling out its customer centricity campaign in hundreds of stores" (Smashing the clock, 2006, Businessweek). The solution was found partially through ingenuity, partially through technology: "wireless broadband was turning the world into one giant work kibbutz" (Smashing the clock, 2006, Businessweek). The new model was to judge workers on output, whether the work was done on-premises or on a laptop at a child's soccer game.

Change planning

Changing the workplace culture came slowly. "Managers in the old mental model were totally irritated" (Smashing the clock, 2006, Businessweek). Instead of coming in a top-down fashion, change was implemented division by division, beginning with the initiative of the two mid-level managers. However, as the greater productivity of ROWE divisions became evident higher-level managers began to take note.

Process pathology

To ensure that the new change would be accepted, the old pathologies of the former system were documented, and the ways in which the new system alleviated those pathologies were also chronicled. For example, "voluntary turnover among men dropped from 16.11% to zero" (Smashing the clock, 2006, Businessweek). Despite the fact that ROWE was in sharp contrast to the previously existing workplace culture, it was difficult to quibble with success. "Offices encourage the wrong kinds of habits, keeping people wrapped up in a paper, pre-wireless mentality as opposed to pushing employees to use technology in the efficiency-enhancing way it was intended. Offices also waste space and time in an age when workers are becoming more and more place-neutral" (Smashing the clock, 2006, Businessweek).

Social re-design

The most difficult aspect of ROWE was changing the workplace culture. Many workers, particularly older workers, insisted that face-to-face interactions at corporate headquarters were essential, and resisted ROWE. The original managers that implemented the program oriented the workers to the ROWE commandments, made gentle fun of those who were obsessed with face time, and made a case for the fact that ROWE enhanced rather than inhibited overall productivity. They created what came to be known as the thirteen ROWE commandments. "No.1: People at all levels stop doing any activity that is a waste of their time, the customer's time, or the company's money. No.7: Nobody talks about how many hours they work. No.9: It's O.K. To take a nap on a Tuesday afternoon, grocery shop on Wednesday morning, or catch a movie on Thursday afternoon" (Smashing the clock, 2006, Businessweek).

Technical re-design

The use of ROWE was stimulated and made possible by the use of wireless technology and the ability of individuals to commute virtually, using laptops and computers at home. Mandatory staff meetings were banned in favor of allowing workers to work anytime, anywhere.

Continuous improvement

Monitoring change is an essential part of any organizational change model. This determines if the change was successful and warranted, and also if the change is 'sticking' and people are not sliding back into old, bad habits. In the case of ROWE, because the new model promised to measure worker output based upon results, it was particularly necessary that workers were monitored in terms of their overall results or productivity. Much to the surprise of 'old school' managers the results were extraordinary. "Orders processed by people who are not working in the office are up 13% to 18% over those who are. ROWE'ers are posting higher metrics for quality, too" and combined with 35% higher productivity, even the most hardened executives were convinced (Smashing the clock, 2006, Businessweek). The program was so successful that it is beginning to be phased into even the retail side of store operations, where Best Buy still has a high level of organizational turnover. Most white-collar departments are 'cubicle free' but now it is time, the organization believes, to find a way to reduce turnover for the blue-shirt wearing employees who interact with customers and have 65% turnover. "The company says turnover costs - recruiting, training, and loss of operational time - are $102,000 per blue shirt, or about 250% of their salary" (Bradley 2007).

Organizational change management model 2:

Loss response cycle for individual experiencing radical change (Major change frameworks and models, n.d., DePaul University)

The seven phases Grover & Kettinger model seems uniquely suited to the Best Buy experience, because the change was so successful and so welcomed. Other change models take more negative views of change and seem less well-designed to explain the Best Buy experience. For example, the 'Loss response cycle' of denial, anger, resistance, and acceptance begins with the premise that individuals naturally resist change, and must be forced to change. Acceptance only comes when change is seen as inevitable, and there is always an initial period of denial that a change is required.