HRES 2101: Change Management and Personal Reflection Assignment

This report delves into the complexities of change management within an organizational context, focusing on the impact of employee reduction and reorganization experienced by the author shortly after college graduation. The paper examines the positive and negative effects of this change, ...Read More

Running Head: CHANGE MANAGEMENT 1
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Name
Institution Affiliation

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Introduction
This paper discusses the impact of the change in an organizational context.
Organizational change has a huge impact across all areas. Change within an
organization has the biggest impact on employees working in the organization. This
paper discusses the change of employee reduction that happened in an organization I
was working for immediately I completed college. The paper explains the positive
and negative effect the change had on me. The paper also discusses the resistance that
the change experienced during implementation and when employees heard of the
change. Additionally, the paper discusses the amended Organizational Health and
Safety Act and how the amendments will be implemented in an organization.
Selection and reflection on the change
I completed college, and I got my first job just three months later. The job was
well paying, and the organizational had a global reputation with operations in more
than 100 countries in the world. The company had a very good remuneration scheme,
and the welfare of employees was highly regarded. After one year in the Job, the
company announced it would sell some brands of the company and hence result in
retrenchment of employees. The change would also result in the reorganization of the
organization. The change impacted me positively in that I was determined to work
hard more and become the best so that I could be retained by the company. I was also

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positive since I saw this as an opportunity to get promotion when reorganization
occurs. Despite the positive thinking I had about the change, I was also resistance
since the future was so uncertain and I wasn’t sure whether my input to the
organization was needed any more. I was also resistant to the change since I felt that
the change may affect my supervisors and other members of middle level
management who had mentored me since I joined the company.
Amended OSH Act
The occupational Health and Safety Act is an Act of parliament that seeks to
protect the rights of employees in order to guarantee safe and healthy working
conditions. The Act sets laws and provides guidance on the working standards and
regulations in every organization. The Occupational Health and Safety Act was
amended in the year 2018 and the changes touched on Workplace Harassment and
violence, obligations of work parties, reporting of incidents as well as Worksite health
and Safety committees and representatives (Mattingly, 2018).
The Joint Worksite health and safety committee(HSC) are a group of employees
and employer representatives who work together to identify and solve concerns that
are related to health and safety at the workplace (Jabri, 2017). Health and Safety
representatives also promote awareness among employees and promote the interest of
employees on matters of health and safety. The changes to the Act requires that when
twenty or more workers are at a work site, and work is expected to last for more than
90 days, the employer must establish an HSC (Little, 2014). When a work site has
between five to nineteen employees expected to work for more than ninety days, the
employer should ensure that employees choose their HS representatives (Ribeiro,
2014). The changes to the Act requires that employers must:

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 Provide enough resources, training and time to ensure that HS committee
members are effective in their duties
 Plan and hold meetings and carry out duties during the usual working hours
 Print and pin names and contacts of committee representatives where workers can
see
The Act also establishes that the workers choose HS committee members unless
the workers union states otherwise (Skyberg, 2011). The employer must meet the
representatives regularly to discuss issues relating to health and safety as well as agree
on how regular meetings should be held. According to the Act, if the work site has
more than one employer, the prime contractor is responsible for establishing Health
and Safety Committees.
The OHSA amendment also establishes that the HS committee must comprise at
least four members. Half of these must be employees. Each Health and Safety
Committee must have at least two co-chairpersons. The representatives and co-chairs
should be selected by the employees and should serve for a term of not less than one
year. The employer representative and the co-chair are appointed by the employer.
The OHSA amendment requires that the employer or main contractor must train
HS representatives in order to equip them with the skills and knowledge that will help
them to function effectively. Committee members and representatives must be given
16 hours to attend health training programs and seminars.
Advantages and disadvantages of the amendment
The amendment of the OHS act will help in reducing accidents in work sites. This
is because, the Act will ensure that workers have adequate representation in the health

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committee and hence ensure that any events that are likely to cause accidents are
detected on time and precautions taken (Campbell, 2014). The committee will help to
identify hazards at the workplace with the help of employees who are directly
involved in conducting the task.
Another advantage of the Act is that it requires that the employer provides
adequate resources and time to help the committee perform its task (Mattingly, 2018).
This means that committee members wont be so much involved in regular tasks at the
work site and hence will get time to concentrate on matters of health and safety of
workers.
The amendment is also important since it establishes that the employer should
offer training to committee members. This ensures that the committee is effective
when performing its functions since the members will have the right set of skills and
knowledge to perform their duties.(Koirala, 2015)
The committee will also have a voice in deciding the number of times the
committee should meet in a month as well as carrying out regular workplace
inspections in order to ensure the right of every worker are adequately represented.
One disadvantage of the amendment is that the HS committee might turn into a
workers union. This is because, the committee will be very powerful in decision
making on matters of health and safety and hence it might become so political and
hence interfere in normal running of the organization (Mattiske, 2011). The employee
representatives may incite workers to sabotage work when they deem it unsafe or
unhealthy and hence jeopardizing the function of the organization.

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Another disadvantage of the amendment is that it requires the representatives to
be accorded time for training and performing their committee duties. The
representatives might spend too much time on health and safety issues and may
therefore abandon their main role in the organization. This may lead to decline in
performance.
3. Implementing change at the workplace
Metrics to be used
Training sections will be organized after end of working hours to inform and
educate workers on the amendments and the likely impact they are likely to have
on them (Maguire, 2007). The amendments will also be published and placed in
various notice boards within the work sites. Additionally, workers will receive
emails with clear details of the amendment. Social media communication will
also be used.
In order to implement the OHS Amendment of 2018, the organization must
clearly define the change and align it with the goals of the
organization(Borovnik, 2011). This will ensure that the change does not hinder
the organization from achieving its objectives.
All the workers must then be informed of the changes.The workers are an
important party to the changes and hence they it is important to communicate to
them the change and the need for change (Burke,Clarke& Cooper, 2012). This
will help them to prepare psychologically for the changes about to come. The
management of the organizational will also be briefed of the change in order to
prepare for the change adequately before implementation begins.

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After one month, the employees will be called upon to elect their
representative to the HS committee. Election will be conducted through secret
ballot. After election has been conducted, the committee representative will
attend a one week training section to prepare them for their new roles.All tools
required for the new roles will be procured.
Implementation time-lines
Activity Start End
Defining change and
aligning to organizational
goals
1-11-2018 30-11-2018
Communication of change 1-12-2018 6-12-2018
Election of representatives 15-12-2018 15-12-2018
Training 17-12-2018 23-12-2018
Beginning of work 01-01-2018
The change will implemented within six months.
The following is the budget for implementing the change
Activity/Item Amount ($)
Teaching materials 120
Hall rent 760

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Food and refreshment 300
Allowances for trainers 470
Cost of monthly meeting 270
Total Budget 1920
The positive behavior I will be observing from employees includes; increased
adherence to safety and health guidelines, increased contribution and participation of
employees in improving working conditions, increased use of safety gear and
equipment while at the work site (Al & Abu Dhabi University, 2017). The other
behaviors include workers becoming more motivated when performing their duties
and commitment to holding regular meetings to address health and safety issues.
Resistance to change will be reduced by training all the workers on the need for
change (Tompa Culyer & Dolinschi, 2008). Workers will be informed of the benefits
of the amendments of the OHS Act. Involving employees in the change process will
also help in reducing resistance to change.
To support the amendment of the Act one of the metrics that will be used is the
reduction in the number of accidents at the work site. The other metric is increased
involvement of employees in designing health and safety policies.

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References

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Al, A. A. A. B., & Abu Dhabi University. (2017). Managing organizational change in
the UAE: A study of selected organizations.
Borovnik, M. (2011). Occupational health and safety of merchant seafarers from
Kiribati and Tuvalu. Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 52(3), 333-346. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-
8373.2011.01459.x
Burke, R. J., Clarke, S., & Cooper, C. L. (2012). Occupational Health and Safety.
Gower Publishing, Ltd.
Campbell, H. (2014). Managing Organizational Change: A Practical Toolkit for
Leaders. London: Kogan Page.
Jabri, M. (2017). Managing Organizational Change: Process, Social Construction
and Dialogue.
Koirala, J. (2015). Importance of Managing Employee's Attitudes for Organizational
Change and Development. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.2601710
Little, J. (2014). Lean change management: Innovative practices for managing
organizational change.
Maguire, M. (2007). Managing organizational change for BMW in the emerging
Chinese market. München: GRIN Verlag GmbH.
Mattiske, C. (2011). Managing organizational change: Tools to help your team
through change.
Mattingly, L. C. (2018). Managing Organizational Change: The Measurable Benefits
of Applied iOCM. New York: Business Expert Press.

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Ribeiro, M. G. (2014). Frontiers in Occupational Health and Safety. Sharjah:
Bentham Science Publishers.
Skyberg, K. (2011). Congratulations on the new occupational health journal.
International Journal Of Occupational Safety And Health, 1(1). doi:
10.3126/ijosh.v1i1.5225
Tompa, E., Culyer, A. J., & Dolinschi, R. (2008). Economic evaluation of
interventions for occupational health and safety: Developing good practice.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.