Change Management Strategies in Medium-Sized UK Recruitment Agencies

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Understanding and Leading Change
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................. 4
Task 1: Managing the Impact of Change....................................................................5
Part A: Responding to Change................................................................................5
Assess the different drivers for change using a range of real-world examples to
support your answer................................................................................................5
Using the organisations, you have included for your examples, compare how each
of the organisations have responded to the drivers for change, considering
similarities and differences in each organisation’s approach to dealing with
change.....................................................................................................................6
Part B: The Impact of Change.................................................................................7
Evaluate the ways in which the internal and external drivers of change may affect
the leadership behaviour, and the behaviour of the teams and individuals. You
should use examples to support your answer.........................................................7
Evaluate measures that can be taken to minimise the negative impacts of change
on organisational behaviour. Apply appropriate theories and models in order to
critically evaluate organisational response to change.............................................8
Task 2: Leadership Decision Making........................................................................10
In relation to your selected organisation, produce a force field analysis that
identifies the driving and resisting forces associated with change.........................10
Explain the different barriers for change and analyse the driving and resisting
forces to determine how they influence leadership decision making within your
selected organisation.............................................................................................11
Critically evaluate the use of force field analysis in relation to meeting the
organisational objectives of your selected organisation........................................12
Task 3: Leading Change...........................................................................................13
Introduction............................................................................................................13
Apply different leadership approaches to dealing with change in a range of
organisational contexts and evaluate the extent to which leadership approaches
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can deliver change effectively................................................................................13
Critically evaluate the effectiveness of the leadership approaches and models of
change management you have used in this task...................................................14
Conclusion.............................................................................................................14
Conclusion................................................................................................................ 15
Reference List...........................................................................................................16
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Introduction
Changes are a part of nature that cannot be avoided and organisations need to
embrace it. Changes are temporary and affect not only organisations but people
working in it as well. In this assignment, the various drivers of changes have been
explained along with comparison of the medium-sized organisations that have been
chosen and the approach they adopted to deal with the changes. The affect of the
internal and external drivers on the behaviour of leaders, teams and individuals have
been explained in the assignment. The measures that could be taken in order to deal
with the negative effects of changes in organisational behaviour have been
explained. The organisations chosen are Sam Small Recruitment and LMA
Recruitment.
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Task 1: Managing the Impact of Change
Part A: Responding to Change
Assess the different drivers for change using a range of real-world examples
to support your answer.
LMA Recruitment and Sam Small Recruitment are medium-sized organisations in
the recruitment industry. The organisations have adopted several changes or
modifications in order to cope up with the latest trends in the market. The drivers that
stimulated changes or modifications in the organisations based in the United
Kingdom are as follows:
 Strategies of Expansion: The expansion strategies of Sam Small Recruitment
and LMA Recruitment stimulated them to accept the changes in order to meet the
objectives that they set.
 Brexit: Exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union Law has resulted in
modifications of law, rules and regulations in the United Kingdom that has
affected Sam Small Recruitment and LMA Recruitment to embrace the changes
and work accordingly.
 Technology: The developments in technology like new job portals, SAP HR, etc.
have stimulated the organisation to adopt the technological developments so that
their performance can be enhanced in the market (Domingues et al., 2017).
 Competition: The competition that the recruitment agencies like Sam Small
Recruitment and LMA Recruitment face have stimulated them modify their
strategies and incorporate them in their operation accordingly.
 GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation): The recruitment agencies had to
investigate the methods they use for retaining data so that they can operate
properly thereby aiding the organisations to protect the data of the clients and
candidates and win their trust (Bullhorn.com,2017).
 Apprenticeship Levy: Apprenticeship levy aided the organisations in the
recruitment industry to attract more recruiters and retain them by contributing to
the development of skills of recruiters or apprentices by paying for the scheme.
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Using the organisations, you have included for your examples, compare how
each of the organisations have responded to the drivers for change,
considering similarities and differences in each organisation’s approach to
dealing with change.
The organisations Sam Small Recruitment and LMA Recruitment responded to the
changes in the recruitment industry by embracing the modifications so that effective
services can be provided to their clients. The similarities that the organisations have
with respect to their approaches to the changes are as follows:
 The organisations Sam Small Recruitment and LMA Recruitment had to accept
the changes as introduced by the government of UK due to Brexit so that they
can operate adequately.
 Sam Small Recruitment and LMA Recruitment had to make sure that they adhere
to the rules of GDPR, Apprenticeship Levy, technology, competition, IR35, and
shortages of skills.
The differences in the approaches that were used by Sam Small Recruitment and
LMA Recruitment in order to deal with the changes are as follows:
 LMA recruitment changed its strategy of operation such that it can provide a
better working environment to its staffs and the rate of turnover of the
organisation can be reduced (B.co.uk,2019). Sam Small Recruitment adopted the
changes in order to expand its branches as the organisation has now four search
consultants.
 LMA recruitment adopted the changes so that it can give more career
opportunities to women, expand the fields in which it provides recruitment
services, and then expand its branches at international locations. The
organisation Sam Small Recruitment adopted the changes such that it can
provide recruitment services in additional fields and expand its branches locally in
the country itself (Samsmall.co.uk, 2019).
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Part B: The Impact of Change
Evaluate the ways in which the internal and external drivers of change may
affect the leadership behaviour, and the behaviour of the teams and
individuals. You should use examples to support your answer.
The internal drivers of changes or modifications affect the behaviour of individuals,
teams and leaders in the following ways:
 Financial Resource: The budget that an organisation has with respect to the
investments it makes determines the modifications in its operation thereby
affecting behaviour of the staffs working in the organisation and the leader
(Francioni et al., 2017). For example, in case an organisation does not have
adequate budget to afford the latest developments in technology then its
performance is hampered as the morale of the staffs and even the leader goes
down.
 Human Resource: The desires and the capabilities of the staffs of an
organisation affect the behaviour of staffs of an organisation as if their needs are
not met they lose the willingness to work for the examination. This is reflected
in the overall performance of the organisation therefore it is required that the
organisations change its strategy in order to make sure that its staffs are satisfied
with the work they do (Valero-Gil et al., 2017).
 Inventions: The new inventions or the creativity that the staffs of an organisation
devise are the factors that drive changes in an organisation. Innovations change
the operation of the organisations.
The external drivers of changes or modifications affect the behaviour of individuals,
teams and leaders in the following ways:
 Government: The changes in the rule, regulations and laws of the government
affect the operation of an organisation (Francioni et al., 2016). For example, in
case of Brexit the organisations had to adhere to the new rules of the government
that then affects the conduct of the leaders as well as the staffs of an
organisation.
 Technology: The developments in the field of technology stimulate the
organisations to adopt the changes so that they can cope up with the latest
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trends in the industry thereby affecting the style of work of the staffs and the
leaders (Verhulst and Lambrechts, 2015).
 Competitors: The activity of rivals of the organisations stimulates changes in an
organisation.
 Customers: The changes in the desires and demands of the customers
stimulate changes in organisations.
 Investors: The shareholders of an organisation have the right to incorporate
changes in the policies governing in an organisation.
Figure 1: Internal and external drivers of change in an organisation
(Source: 1000ventures.com, 2019)
Evaluate measures that can be taken to minimise the negative impacts of
change on organisational behaviour. Apply appropriate theories and models in
order to critically evaluate organisational response to change.
The steps that can be taken in order to minimise the negative effects of modifications
on organisation behaviour are as follows:
 Explain the change: The changes along with its goals must be explained
appropriately to the staffs so that they can understand the reason behind the
implementation of changes and are not afraid of it. If not explained, the protests
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made by the employees might prove to be a great obstacle in the implementation
of changes (George et al., 2016).
 Training: It is required that the employees of an organisation are well trained with
respect to the implementation of changes so that they can deal with the
modifications adequately.
The theories and models that can be applied in order to evaluate the response of an
organisation to changes have been explained below:
Nudge Theory: The Nudge theory emphasises on the management of changes
effectively such that it can be incorporated in an organisation successfully (Arno and
Thomas, 2016). The theory emphasises on changes by the definition of
modifications, comprehend the changes from the point of view of the employees, use
of proofs for the best option to be chosen, make the changes a choice for the
employees, acknowledge the reviews of the employees, deal with the obstacles of
changes and focus on accomplishments of short-durations.
Lewin’s Change Management Model: Kurt Lewin developed this model to describe
the stages of management of changes so that it can be successfully incorporated in
an organisation. The three stages of the model are:
Unfreeze: Explanation of changes in an organisation so that the staffs can be
encouraged to accept it.
Transition: The stage in which the modifications are executed in an organisation by
leading it effectively (Cummings et al., 2016).
Refreeze: The third stage of the model in which an organisation is stabilised again
after implementing the modifications.
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Task 2: Leadership Decision Making
In relation to your selected organisation, produce a force field analysis that
identifies the driving and resisting forces associated with change.
Force field analysis was developed by Kurt Lewin to figure out the driving as well as
restraining forces that stimulates modifications in an organisation (Emmrich et al.,
2015). With respect to the organisation LMA Recruitment, the driving and the
restraining forces to the changes that it has adopted have been listed below:
Driving forces
 To enhance the work culture of the organisation
 To expand the fields in which the organisation offers its services
 To make sure that the clients are satisfied with the quality of services it offers
 To adhere to the new laws and regulations of the United Kingdom
 To comply with GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), the Apprenticeship
Levy and IR35 in order to ensure that its employees are trained better and better
services are provided to its clients
 To meet the shortage of skilled employees in various fields so that the vacancies
can be filled effectively
Restraining forces
 The laws and legislations of Singapore where the organisation LMA Recruitment
established its new branch in 2010 was an obstacle as it faced difficulty to get
acquainted with its laws and act in accordance with it.
 The integration of LMA Recruitment with Mansion House created a fear of being
replaced in its employees that proved to be a huge obstacle with respect to the
organisation to implement the changes (LMARecruitment.com, 2019).
 In 2005, the Managing Director of the organisation LMA Recruitment was taken
over by Russell that created sense of tension among its employees with respect
to the operation of the organisation.
 The financial crashes that took place globally in April, 2011 resulted in regulations
to become stricter that restricted the organisation to make further changes in its
strategy of expansion.
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Explain the different barriers for change and analyse the driving and resisting
forces to determine how they influence leadership decision making within your
selected organisation.
The implementation of changes in an organisation is not an easy task as there are
several forces or factors that restrict the implementation of changes in the
organisations. The barriers that restrict the implementation of changes in an
organisation have been explained below:
 Employees are not involved: In case the staffs of an organisation are not
involved with respect to the decisions that are made pertaining to the changes,
the implementation of changes gets restricted (Salonitis and Tsinopoulos, 2016).
 Strategy of communication is not effective: In order to implement changes in
an organisation, it is necessary that its staffs are communicated effectively
regarding the various aspects of communication. If the communication strategy is
not appropriate then the staffs fail to understand the requirement of the changes
to be implemented thereby they protest against it making the execution of
modifications difficult.
 Present state of the organisation is not known: It is necessary for an
organisation to be well aware of its present state so that changes can be
understood and implemented properly in the firm. Lack of idea may prove to be a
huge obstacle in the path of implementation of changes (Auschra, 2018).
 Complication of structure of the organisation: If the structure of an
organisation is complex then the implementation of changes in it becomes very
difficult.
The affect of the restraining and the driving forces on the decision-making
capabilities of the leaders with respect to the organisation LMA Recruitment have
been explained below:
Driving Forces
 The strategies that the leaders devise and the decisions they make is affected by
existing work culture. The leader of LMA Recruitment was affected in the same
way with respect to the work culture that existed, the fields in which the
organisation has to be expanded and the quality of services that had to be
delivered to its clients.
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 The decision made by the leader of LMA Recruitment was affected by the
changes in laws of UK due to Brexit as his decisions had to obey the new rules.
Introduction of GDPR, Apprenticeship Levy and IR35 also affected his decisions
so that LMA Recruitment operates effectively.
 In order to meet the shortage of skilled employees in various fields to fill the
vacancies effectively the strategy had to be changed following which the
organisation operated thereby affecting the decisions of its leaders.
Restraining Forces
 The establishment of a new branch LMA Recruitment in Singapore in 2010
affected the decision of its leader in order to get acquainted with the laws and
legislations of Singapore.
 The fear of being replaced by the employees of LMA Recruitment due its
integration with Mansion House affected the decisions of its leader so that proper
strategies are adopted to eradicate the obstacle of fear.
 The fiscal crashes at a global level in April, 2011 affected the decisions made by
its leader with respect to the organisation’s expansion.
Critically evaluate the use of force field analysis in relation to meeting the
organisational objectives of your selected organisation.
Force field analysis is necessary for an organisation such that the restraining and
driving forces of changes can be identified corresponding to which apt strategies can
be devised to deal with the implementation of changes. The driving forces of
changes can be stated to be the objectives of the organisation so that it can operate
effectively without hurdles. The force field analysis aids to develop objectives with
respect to the identification of driving forces, that is, the driving forces are the means
or the channels that an organisation adopts in order to meet its objectives.
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