BSP6064 Leadership & Change Management

LEADERSHIP AND CHANGE
MANAGEMENT – 879120

Table of Contents
Introduction.......................................................................................................................3
Case Background..........................................................................................................................3
Pros and cons of each approach.........................................................................................3
Choosing the best approach...............................................................................................5
Change Management and Change Management Phases...................................................6
ADKAR Model Of Change Management.......................................................................................7
Communication Plan..........................................................................................................9
Bibliography....................................................................................................................11

Introduction
Case Background
Moroccan Lights Co. is a an Arabic company that manufactures lights and has been doing
well since the past 20 years. The employees working in the company had been doing well
since they joined the company and had become experts in their field of operations. The
management of the company recently observed that the employees had started becoming
bored of their jobs because of job monotony, even though there was an improvement in their
efficiency because they had been performing their job duties and responsibilities repeatedly.
To deal with the situation of job monotony as reported by the employees, the management of
the company introduced some changes in their policies and procedures, which made job
rotation possible for the employees.
Oussama is the in charge of the company’s operations and Ali, Kamal and Mehdi are
supposed to report to him. Oussama held a meeting to address the topic of job rotation and to
his surprise, only two of his subordinates were ready to accept the change and indulge in job
rotation. As a result, Oussama planned four alternative approaches to address the issues
related to change program. The four approaches planned by Oussama are listed below:
 Forget about Job rotation in his unit.
 Issue the orders that job rotation is mandatory for all the three subordinates with
immediate effect.
 Respect the feelings of each one and work out an arrangement where job rotation
occurs for a while, is stopped for a while, and so on, thus allowing each person to
have his or her way for some time.
 Call the meeting again and discuss the pros and cons of the proposed change and that
their interpersonal relationship are very important than any job rotation. Try to
develop a consensus for job rotation.
Pros and cons of each approach
A thorough analysis of all the four approaches, along with their pros and cons, will help
Oussama in assessing the present situation in the best possible manner and finding out a

solution that would not just keep the employees happy but would also prevent the workplace
environment from getting spoiled. An analysis of all the four approaches is given below:
First of all, forgetting about job rotation completely will help Oussama in avoiding workplace
conflicts or job dissatisfaction amongst employees. On the other hand, if Oussama decides to
go by this approach, he will never be able to implement any kind of workplace changes in the
future because of fear of resistance to change. Further, Oussama will be unable to reap the
benefits that job rotation can have for the employees, in terms of training and development.
Therefore, this approach would not prove to be of any benefit to the employees or to the
company.
Secondly, the approach to make job rotation mandatory for the entire staff members will not
be a good approach to be implemented. A benefit of implementing this approach will be that
Oussama would be able to achieve his objective of implementing job rotation in the
workplace either by hook or by crook. The second advantage of this approach will be that the
employees will be forced to go through job rotations, which will help them in developing
their skills and competencies. This will open up new career opportunities for them and will
also be beneficial for the organisation on the whole. On the other hand, a major disadvantage
of this approach will be that the employees resisting job rotation might become dissatisfied
with their jobs if they are forced to do something which is against their will. It could further
lead to politics, increased absenteeism, increase in labour turnover rates and a decrease in
employee engagement, performance levels and overall efficiency.
Thirdly, the approach to implement job rotation as an on and off strategy will be of some
benefit to the company as well as to the employees as it would prevent Oussama from
becoming a rule of thumb type of leader and will also help in keeping the employees engaged
and interested. It will prevent the workplace environment from being damaged because of
strict or wrong policies being implemented against the interest of the employees. This
approach will allow Oussama to negotiate with his employees and implement a solution that
might be approved by his employees as well. This approach will also enable the employees to
develop their skills and competencies but a major disadvantage of this approach is that it will
still prevent the employees from experiencing workplace changes, which has become an
inevitable part of the business. Not being able to accept workplace changes will make it

difficult for the employees as well as for the management to introduce any kind of workplace
changes because of resistance to change offered by the employees.
Lastly, the approach to call meetings and give importance to interpersonal relationship and
the change program will be the most beneficial one. The first benefit of this approach is that it
would ensure employee engagement and strengthen interpersonal relationships in the
company. The second benefit of the approach is that it will initiate a change management
program where all the employees will participate and thorough discussions about the changes
would enable the employees to understand the change and accept it. Ultimately, the approach
will prove to be beneficial for the employees as well as for the management on the whole.
Choosing the best approach
Out of the four approaches planned by Oussama, the fourth approach should be followed by
him without a doubt because of the following reasons:
Organisation development: It’s important for Oussama to ensure success in the present as
well as ensure that the organisation is able to remain successful in the coming future, which
can be achieved through developing the organisation. By initiating a change program,
Oussama will be able to make the employees more open to workplace changes. The
employees of the company will gain a better understanding of how workplace changes are
important and should not be resisted altogether.
Employee engagement: Using the fourth approach, Oussama will be able to engage his staff
in the change program by calling out meetings and by asking them for their input. The
employees would feel more valued and will try their best to understand the viewpoint of their
managers. Engaging them in important workplace decisions will also help the managers in
keeping their staff motivated in the longer run. As a result, the chances of successful
implementation of job rotation will become higher.
Employee-employer relationship: maintaining good relations between employers and
employees is of utmost importance, in accordance to human resource management and this
approach will be helpful in strengthening the relationship between the employers and the
employees.

Preparing them for the future: Moroccan Light Company has not experienced much
changes since its foundation and most of the employees have been working at the same job
position for more than ten years. Such conditions can increase the difficulties for the
company because the employees have a tendency to develop a comfort zone and will not
accept any kind of changes in their jobs or routines. With workplace changes becoming
inevitable and imperative for market survival, the inability to change can throw a company
out of its business. This approach will initiate a movement that would promote workplace
changes, which would pave a path for future workplace changes for the company.
Eliminate boredom: Boredom in a workplace can be very harmful from the viewpoint of a
business. Boredom can lead to increased job dissatisfaction amongst the employees and
absenteeism, which would ultimately lead to increased employee turnover ratios (Leddy,
2016). Further, the employees would also develop a comfort zone of their own and it would
become difficult to make them indulge in new things or to increase productivity. Successful
implementation of job rotation in the workplace would lead to implantation of job rotation,
which would enable the employees to work at new job positions and experience different job
duties and responsibilities. Working at different job positions would allow the employees to
discover their hidden talents and develop their skills or competencies (Blakely-Gray, 2017).
The employees would become more skilled and competitive, which would also lead to an
increase on the overall productivity and efficiency of the company.
Change Management and Change Management Phases
Change management is a systematic approach that helps business organisations in adapting to
the changing market trends and minimising resistance to change (Perkins, 2018). Project
management and change management are often considered to be similar but there are a
number of differences between the two approaches. Project management is an approach that
uses people, processes and methods to meet the project goals of an organisation in order to
achieve strategic goals and objectives whereas change management is an approach that
involves people, processes and tools to manage a change that has become necessary as a
result of a project initiative or other factors that have a direct impact on the business of a
company (Alexander, 2016).
The contemporary business world is complex and highly competitive. Business organisations
are striving really hard to survive in the market and create competencies that can help them in

grabbing a greater market share. Further, the spread of globalisation and liberalisation has
increased the factors that can have an impact on the business in real time. In such a complex
and variating environment, business organisations are being forced to introduce workplace
change in real time so that they can cope up with the changing market trends.
Implementing workplace changes is not an easy task, which can also be observed from the
case of Moroccan Lights Company because of the resistance that the employees usually offer
to a change program. Therefore, it is important for people like Oussama to use a planned
approach in introducing, planning, implementing and evaluating a change in the workplace.
An organisational change that is not introduced or managed properly by an organisation can
have some serious consequences, such as reduced productivity, active and passive resistance
to change, increased employee turnover, failure of change programs, workplace politics,
absenteeism, etc. One of the best models of introducing and managing workplace changes,
which can be used by Oussama to implement job rotation in the workplace, can be the model
which was suggested by Jeffery Hiatt and is commonly known as the ADKAR model (Hiatt,
2006).
ADKAR Model Of Change Management
ADKAR model is a planned approach towards change management that consists of five
stages. ADKAR is an acronym that is used for defining five goals that must be fulfilled in
order to successfully introduce and manage a change program. A detailed account of these
five goals is given below:
Awareness: the first goal in this model is to spread awareness about the change program
amongst the employees. It is important for human resource managers or leaders of an
organisation to communicate what exactly the change is about and why has it become a
necessity for their company. Unawareness amongst the employees can lead to reduced
motivation levels and resistance to change (Gerdsri, et al., 2010).
Desire: the second goal is to achieve a situation where the desire to change comes naturally
from the employees rather than forcing the change program upon them. By involving them in
the change program, their desire to change can be increased.

Knowledge: organisational change can force almost all stakeholders to introduce changes in
their daily routines, responsibilities, roles, etc. It is important that the employees have
complete knowledge about the change program and how it would affect their routine. Further,
they should also be made aware about the skills that they would have to learn or develop in
order to cope up with the change program (PEARSON, n.d.).
Ability: even if an organisation is able to achieve the previous goals, it is important for the
employees to have the skills or the competencies that are required for making a transition
from previous state to the desired future state. Hence, business organisations should
adequately train and develop their employees so that they do not make costly errors once the
change program is implemented.
Reinforcement: even when a change has been achieved in the behaviour of the employees,
there is a chance that they would resort to their previous state. In order to prevent this from
happening, it is important that the changes adapted by them are reinforced by awarding them
with monetary or non-monetary incentives or benefits.
ADKAR model is one of the most commonly used methods for introducing and managing
change in a workplace because it defines the elements that must be present for the successful
implementation of change. The ADKAR model is able to drive action because it is outcome
oriented and also because it provides a road-map that can be used to advance through
different stages of a change program (PROSCI, n.d.).

Communication Plan
Effective communication is the key to success whenever a change program is being planned
for a business organisation. Using proper communication strategies can help the management
in keeping the employees engaged and well informed, which reduces the level of resistance
that they offer to workplace changes. There are a number of strategies that can be used by
Oussama to ensure proper communication of the change program to his employees. These
strategies are discussed below:
Firstly, Oussama should create a sense of urgency in the workplace and communicate the
way in which a change would benefit the stakeholders. Information regarding the change
program can be communicated to the employees using a number of methods, such as word of
mouth, pasting posters on bulletin boards, distributing circulars to the employees at every
level, sending e-mails, calling out for meetings, discussing real life case studies and examples
of similar workplace changes, etc. (Johnson, 2017).Oussama can hold a meeting where all the
stakeholders involved in the change program are invited and are informed about the change
program, its requirements, expectations from the employees, benefits for the employees and
for the organisation, etc. If done correctly, employees would start telling each other about the
change program themselves and will become an important part of the program on their own.
Second, change agents and teams should be selected from within the organisation that can
have an influence on the employees and can convince them to accept the change. Change
agents can be selected from within the organisation or from the outside of the organisation.
Change agents are those people who help an organisation in developing their employees by
promoting workplace changes. When the employees would hear about the importance of a
change from their co-workers or an external expert, they feel more influenced and become
more likely to accept the change program (Christensen, 2014).
Third, asking for employee feedback and taking it into consideration for deciding a future
course of action can also make employees feel valuable and can help in convincing them to
accept the change program. Employee feedback during a change program is not just
beneficial in engaging the employees but also opens up new communication channels in the
organisation. When the employees are engaged in the change program, they seek information
on their own and are aware about the ongoing process at all points of time (Heathfield, 2018).

This enables them to understand the change in a better way and see the benefits of the change
program through their own eyes.
Fourthly, an open system of communication, also known as an open-door office system, will
greatly enhance the communication that exists between the employees and the employers or
the employees and their managers. An open system or an open door policy is a strategy where
employers, managers, or any employees keeps the door of his office open, which promotes
transparency and encourages employees to ask questions, initiate discussions and share their
problems whenever there is a need to.
Fifthly, sharing information at the right time is very important for establishing effective
communication plan. If a manager delays in sharing information about a change program
with his employees, a rumour or a leak in any information could disturb the employees and
could possibly result into resistance to change amongst them (Fenson, 2000).
Lastly, establishing a system of reward can also help in assuring employee buy-ins during
change implementation. Rewarding employees who accept and show a change in their
behaviour, operations or processes cannot only reinforce the right behaviour but can also
motivate others to accept the change program. Fixing monetary and non-monetary incentives
will communicate new performance levels that the company would be expecting from their
employees, which would also help in communicating the changes that are required to be
accepted (Gleeson, 2016).

Bibliography
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