Teesside University: HRM4007 Management of Change Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of change management within HSBC, a leading global financial institution. It examines change from three distinct perspectives: organizational, team, and individual. The report delves into the challenges faced at each level, including structural changes, team dynamics, and individual resistance to change. It highlights issues such as increased workloads, technological adaptation, communication gaps, and employee turnover. Furthermore, the report explores the reasons behind these changes, the impact of new management structures, and the importance of effective communication and employee engagement. The analysis includes a discussion of the HSBC Change Management Model and potential solutions to address the identified issues. The report concludes with reflections on the learning process, including the application of Kolb's Learning Cycle and the development of leadership skills in managing change within a dynamic organizational environment. The assignment also includes a reflective practice component, demonstrating the practical application of change management theories and concepts.

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Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Discussion........................................................................................................................................2
Different Levels of Change Management....................................................................................2
Organizational Change Management......................................................................................3
Team Change Management.....................................................................................................3
Individual Change Management..............................................................................................4
HSBC.......................................................................................................................................4
Managing Change at HSBC.....................................................................................................4
Change at an organizational level and issues..........................................................................5
Change at Team Level and issues............................................................................................7
Change at Individual Level and issues....................................................................................8
Reason for the Change.................................................................................................................9
Different models that can be implemented for addressing the issues........................................10
HSBC Change Management Model..........................................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
Reflection.......................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
The world is evolving at a fast pace and so are the elements within it. A lot of
development has taken place in several fields, which has changed the world drastically. Coping
up smoothly with change however one of the greatest challenges is that everyone faces (Hayes
2018). Change occurs at different levels and at different places. This assignment however deals
with changes in organisation and management of such change. Change management is one of the
complicated tasks performed by all top level managers and administrators (Hughes 2010).
Change within organization refers to the transformation of the organizational goals, policies,
principle, structure, process. It refers to the change in the work culture and diversity.
Management of change helps in structuring and reshaping the organization into a desired future
stage from its current stage (Doppelt, B., 2017).
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the process of change management within
organizations and how organizations respond to the same by taking real life examples. The
problems will be critically analysed based on three different levels (Organizational, Team and
Individual) in the paper.
Discussion
Different Levels of Change Management
If the organizations are reluctant to change, then the organizations will always be stuck in
the past. In the world of digital progress it is very important to align with the technological
innovations and advancements. A successful change management is a combination of clear
purpose, clear vision and positive outcomes (Rosemann and vom Brocke 2015). Change

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management helps in providing better business results if the workforce is provided with
sufficient time for adopting strategies (Hornstein 201)5. There are three distinct levels of Change
Management approaches –
i. The Organization Level
ii. The Team Level
iii. The Individual Level (Steigenberger 2015)
Separation of the strategy of change management into these three levels help in creating a clear
vision and helps in supporting people at all levels for better end results.
Organizational Change Management
Although change is the foundation to success it is very difficult to manage change
effectively. Organizational change management refers to managing new business processes, new
organizational structure and cultural changes within the organization (Ewenstein, Smith and
Sologar 2015).
Team Change Management
Change management at the team level ensures that the team achieves the desired results
by supporting the different transitions that the team requires. Team level management of change
provides with different plans, actions, and steps that focuses on proper deployment of the team
goals. The changes in the teams can be driven by internal factors or the external factors or by
both (Quinn and Quinn 2016). It can impact policies, process, structures, system and tools but
when it requires the workforce to do their job in a different way, by showing new processes,
tools and behaviours for achieving certain team targets, then it becomes a team level change
management (Cameron and Green 2019)..

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Individual Change Management
It is the human behaviour to always resist changing naturally. Therefore managing
change at an individual level is one of the critical tasks performed by the managers. In order to
make the transition accepted at individual level, it is very important to possess good
communication skills, good understanding and transparent vision (Cameron and Green 2019).
Individual change management focuses on the reasons for the change and the risks for not
changing (Burnes 2017). It helps in understanding the individual needs and preferences and how
people perceive any changes being made. It helps in providing guidance, supports and advice to
all the employees at an individual level and helps them to retain their motivation level (Cameron
and Green 2019).
HSBC
The organization considered for this assignment is HSBC Limited. HSBC is one of the
largest organizations of banking and financial services that serves more than 40 million
customers. It has four distinct global businesses – Retail Banking, Commercial Banking, Global
Banking and Markets and Global Private Banking. The business is spread across the world with
the coverage of around 65 countries and territories. The basic aim of the organization is to grow
continuously and connect with its customers thereafter providing an opportunity for the business
to thrive and helping people in the fulfilment of their desires (McLarney and Trudeau 2017).
Managing Change at HSBC
Managing change in HSBC is a difficult task because of the huge organizational
structure, vast operational area and its diversified work force. The multi-national organization
has a number of departments and teams working from different locations. The organization has
faced a number of changes since its inception and has always tried to align itself with the latest

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technological and operational changes. The business therefore faces change every time because
of the external and internal forces and influences. Making change at the earliest stage or even
before they are being forced upon, will bring a competitive advantage. HSBC is one of the
world’s leading international bank and supports business for its growth and helps people in
managing their money. The organization always tries to create an innovative culture for the
transformation of business.
There are a number of changes that can take place like – strategic change, planned
change, incremental change, directional change, anticipatory change and so on. Creating the
change is however very challenging as several resistances are being faced by the organization at
different levels. Although HSBC follows a strong change management system yet there are a
number of ways in which the organization face challenges. Effective change management
therefore depends on leadership skills and team work. HSBC has faced a number of changes
since its inception. There has been a change at the organizational level, team level as well as the
individual level. All these changes are planned changes. Being one of the largest multinational it
has faced a number of controversies and implemented several changes related to money
laundering, data protection, and payment processing systems. The organization has also faced a
great imbalance as the top management structure kept on changing as the company grew.
Change at an organizational level and issues
The most recent changes of HSBC at an organizational level are that the Senior
Management structure has changed altogether with a new purpose. There have been a number of
changes in the organizational policies and principles. Samir Assaf already stepped down as the
CEO of the Global Banking and Markets as he will be taking a new role in Corporate and
Institutional Banking as the Chairman. The Global Banking and Market will now be headed

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jointly by Georges Ethedery and Greg Guyett. The Group Chief Operating Officer will also be
retiring and will be supported by his successor. The new purpose is to evolve more with
technology and bring more security for the customers. The whole new senior management will
implement a number of new policies and process changes that needs to be managed effectively.
This is a type of a structural and cultural change that took place in HSBC.
The issues that have been rising because of such change are that in order to make the
operations more strict and convenient a number of new processes and new checks are being
implemented. The work load of any people within the organization has increased and most of the
people cannot cope up with the sudden change as they require time to understand the reason for
the change. There has been a transition in the management system. However one would require
knowing if the new managerial system is at all compatible with the old one. The management
team must assign roles to respective teams and check whether all duties are covered and change
is properly implemented. They should take proper feedbacks from everyone and see whether the
reason for the change is clear to the workforce. When the workforce has a clear idea of the
vision, then only they will be motivated to work and move towards the change, otherwise they
will resist. The sudden change in the senior management has changed the expectations and
deliverables across the world and this has resulted into high employee turnover. Employee
turnover has increased as the changes are not being properly conveyed to the teams and
individual, it has just been made at the top level. The expectations from the employees have
increased but proper time and rewards are not given for the same. Adapting to the new
technologies takes time and the technologies are required to be implemented in a manner so that
it does not cause huge logistical issue. The scenario in HSBC is however not the same as huge

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changes in technology is taking place and automation has increased. There is a lack of consensus
and employee morale for this sudden organisational change and unrealistic expectations.
Issues in organizational change therefore can be briefed as conflicts because of
uncertainty, lack of communication, resistance, lack of commitment and lack of planning. The
key solutions as to how these issues are addressed by HSBC will be discussed at the later stage
of the assignment.
Change at Team Level and issues
HSBC has separate teams for respective works. The whole organization is divided into
different segments and each segment is again divided into separate teams. Managing team is also
a difficult task. It is not possible for the senior managers to penetrate into respective teams and
provide people with the vision of the change (Hughes 2010). The power and responsibility of the
change is therefore delegated to the team managers in order to properly communicate the vision
to individual teams and to let the people in the team know what is expected and how can it be
achieved. According to Kurt Lewin, the greatest determinant of behaviour is the immediate
social group. It means that all the teams in the organisation need to change in order to take hold
of the change. Teams are important pressure points where one can start behaving as per the new
norms.
The new organisational change and purpose has also changed the expectations from the
teams. The team targets have increased and the managers are required to achieve the maximum
by utilizing the minimum people. Even if a team lags employee, yet the manager holds on to the
situation and try to achieve the desired objective by using that limited number of resource. This
new policy of reducing FTs per team is de-motivating for the employees as they fall under a lot

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of pressure. The new technologies are not easily adaptable by all the members of the team, yet
everyone is given a fixed time period, which makes it difficult for the team to cope with the
change. One particular team does not operate from the same place as different members of the
team operate from different regions because of the technological advancements. This is however
not the optimal way for team engagement. Team can operate better and change can be smoothly
implemented when they are in close physical proximity. Everyone needs to have adaptability,
resilience and agility to cope up with the fast change. Team members who are not self-aware
come with low emotional connection thereby affecting the team productivity. They are also
resistant to the changes.
The issues in case of team change management are therefore low adaptability and
resilience, lack of agility, trust issues, lack of purpose, low self-awareness of team members and
lack of physical connection of the tea members.
Change at Individual Level and issues
HSBC has evolved culturally with the flow of time. The transform in culture starts with
personal transformation. Cultural change is the sum total of all the individual changes within the
organization. HSBC have a large number of teams that are again segmented as per various
processes. Every process has a group of qualified team members containing small number of
individuals. These individuals are responsible for front end customer services as well as back end
operations. If these individuals are motivated then productivity will increase and efficiency will
also be increased. The productivity will however fall and there will be increase in number of
errors if a sudden change is being made and the individuals are not given time. The process
change implemented by the seniors and the technological advancements require the employees to
undergo a number of learning and development modules. People must be provided with the

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correct time to update themselves as per the needs of the senior management. Recent strictness in
valuations and customer centricity has led to the change in how the valuations are done and how
information is presented.
HSBC faces a number of issues in managing individuals regarding change. It is very
difficult to judge the actual satisfaction level of the employees in regards to the change. Even if
the employees tell they are happy, they can merely fake the fact out of fear of losing jobs. The
tolerance for change is also an issue. All the people do not possess the same tolerance level
within the workplace (Ready 2016). The main issue that is noticed at the individual level is that
people compete among themselves and as a result does not readily accept the changes out of the
fear of unseen and the unknown future. The increased amount of automation that has taken place
within HSBC has led to the fear of losing jobs. Habit is another resistance in this organization.
People are not ready to shift from one location to the other or change their shift times just
because of their existing habits with their timings. People are also unwilling to perform ad hoc
unless clear vision and reason for doing the same are being provided to them.
Reason for the Change
Change takes place because of a number of reasons. There are a number of internal and
external factors that causes change. Internal changes take place because of employee attitudes,
low rates of productivity, high rate of absenteeism and high rate of staff turnover. In HSBC
employee turnover has increased and productivity has also been affected as a result of which
structural changes have taken place. External sources like political, international, technological
and economic factors also cause change. In case of HSBC technology is one of the factors
behind change.

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Different models that can be implemented for addressing the issues
Change can be addressed through leadership skills, management skills, consultation as
well as team efforts. A number of different models and practices have been introduced for
managing change at different levels. Some of the most important models are highlighted in the
assignment (Dawson 2019). The major approaches of change management are –
1. Lewin’s Change Management Model
2. Kotter’s Change Management Theory
3. McKinsey 7 S Model
4. ADKAR Model
5. Nudge Theory
6. Kubler-Ross Five Stage Model (Al-Haddad and Kotnour 2015)
The current organizational change in HSBC requires a combination of few models as
change is required at every level because of the drastic change in the senior management and the
work process. The Lewin’s Change Model and McKinsey 7 S Model are very much suitable for
an organizational level change (Nadler and Slywotzky 2017). Lewin’s change model is also very
helpful in case of conflicts and can be implemented in team level change management as well.
Kotter’s Change Management theory is very much suitable for managing team level changes. On
the other hand Nudge Theory and ADKAR model is best fit for managing individual change
(Vollmer 2017).
HSBC Change Management Model
HSBC follows a mixture of leadership and team change management models. It follows
the following steps in managing its change –

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1. Identify the needs from early stages
2. Recognizing the importance of workforce
3. Get impetus for change to come from people who actually need to accept it
4. Prioritising change
5. Preparing for the change
6. Selling the change (Lai and Chen 2019)
7. Implementing change
8. Create the culture for change (O'Donovan 2017)
The steps used by HSBC shows a combination of the Kotter’s Change Management Theory and
the ADKAR Model. The Kotter’s Change Theory includes the following stages –
i. Increasing the urgency among people for motivating them towards the change
objectives
ii. Getting the right people and selecting proper mix of skills, knowledge and
commitment
iii. Preparing a proper vision (Foss and Hallberg 2017)
iv. Communicating the vision to the workforce
v. Provide support and remove the road blocks in order to get the things moving on
vi. Focusing on short term goals and achieving them in order to reach the ultimate
objective
vii. Staying persistent
viii. Besides managing the last step is to reinforce the change and make it a part of the
work culture (AlManei, Salonitis and Tsinopoulos 2018)

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The ADKAR Model on the other hand involves awareness about the change, desire to
bring the change, knowledge about how to bring the change, ability of incorporating the change
at regular basis and reinforcing the same to keep it implemented (Freedman 2015).
Change in HSBC is mixture of the two where change is seen as a norm. When change is
implemented as a norm, people naturally become less resistant to it. HSBC also managed to deal
with the recent changes by implementing their change policies. The top level management
collaborates with the skilled employees and other managers to create a strong change
management team. They clearly made the vision and the top level and shared it across the
workforce with the help of mails. The project managers and team managers are told about the
respective targets and have been asked to clearly guide the team members (Bawole et al. 2016).
A proper learning and development team is always active in order to resolve queries as soon as it
pops up. Feedbacks are taken from the feedback in relation to the change taking place so that
their ideas relating to the change can also be implemented (Girod and Karim 2017). The
employees are always encouraged to be a part of the change and are provided with appreciation
and rewards if they actively participate and help others in the same. Weekly huddles and team
meetings, one to one, skip feedbacks as well as counselling sessions are done for understanding
individual behaviours. They not only try to maintain a clear communication and participation but
also ensure that the process of managing change remains persistent.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded from the above discussion that change is inevitable ad an
integral part of all the organization. There are a number of changes that takes place at different
levels of the organization and in order to manage the same, a number of change management
models are required to be followed along with a strong team of change management. Change in

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HSBC is continuous and people have always responded to the change. In this assignment it has
been seen that there is a huge change in the top management positions as new persons came in
and the old ones retired or changed their position. This change initiated strict rules and
regulations as well as changes in processes and technology. HSBC strongly prepares itself for the
change and tries to address each of the three levels of change by following the mixture of
ADKAR Model and Kotter’s Change Management Theory.

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Reflection
This segment of the assignment provides my understanding about the various change
management learning throughout the time period. The classes have helped me in gaining a
detailed knowledge of managing change at different organizational levels. Change management
refers to the systematic approach of dealing with those transactions, implementing strategies and
helping the workforce to adapt to the change. The learning has helped me in acquiring skills and
knowledge that would help me as a manager in the future. Kolb’s learning Cycle approach has
been used for analysing my in depth understanding regarding management of change. According
to the first session, Kolb’s learning theory is basically the ELT Model (Experiential Learning
Theory), which is a four stage learning theory – Concrete Experience, Reflective Observation,
Abstract Conceptualisation and Active Experimentation. My learning understandings are clearly
stated by following these four stages. The sessions on change management contributed to my
learning about practical application of change management. Successful organizational change
management includes a strong vision for change, strong medium of communication, strong top
level management, training and development teams, and monetary and non-monetary rewards.
I have clearly understands what change management is all about and how and why
change takes place within an organization. My experience of HSBC that has been shared in the
above discussion helped me in understanding how change affects the different levels and how
those changes can be managed effectively. I can clearly distinguish between the three different
levels of change – Organization, Team and Individual. I have also understood that these three
levels are also inter-related to each other. The learning sessions have helped me in understanding
the different types of changes that takes place within an organization and now i can say that not
all changes that take place are always planned. Changes are classified according to their nature

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and may be unplanned as well. It is however always better for any kind of organization to opt for
planned changes at it involves proper change management systems that are planned from before.
On a managerial perspective I can say that in case of planned change I can make difference
between my desired outcome and the actual outcome, which will help me understanding the key
focus point. Thereafter I can act on those key points easily.
The experience of HSBC as stated above has already stated that change is continuous.
Change within the organization is taking place at every moment. Changes take place because of a
number of factors. I realised that in case of HSBC changes have taken place because of the
technological innovations and the changes in the attitudes of the employees. The high rate of
employee turnover and low productivity has initiated the change in the organization. The change
management that took place in HSBC is an indication of a planned change and I feel that I can
apply these theories in the coming future as this learning has helped me in developing and
knowing about a number of change management skills.
With respect to my experience I can now say that change does not only take place for
earning huge profits, but it also takes place for reducing budgets, controlling the employee
layoffs, eliminating the non-required activities and improving efficiencies. In the coming future I
can apply my skills earned on these key features and can help in promoting my organization to
be more competitive in terms of efficiency, productivity as well as profitability. While these
changes take place, resistance always come in the line. I have observed that cultural change is
very difficult to take place all of a sudden. Changing of culture requires a shift in several
organizational activities. The organizational change that took place in HSBC helped me in
understanding how different change models can be implemented in different levels of change in

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order to bring about the best transition and outcome. I can now apply my skills relating to the
change models while managing change in the coming future in a positive way.
I have observed that workplace changes take place because of work arrangements,
working hours, communication process and so on. I realized that while managing change
individually, if the employees are being rewarded with flexible time shifts, proper
communication, rewards and appreciation, they feel motivated and start accepting the change. As
a manager in the future, I would be responsible for managing the team as a whole and individuals
as well. This learning course will help me in understanding team psychology and human
psychology and meet the needs and preferences of the employees. This will help in increasing
the operational efficiency and manage change effectively. In the near future a lot of
technological advancements are going to take place and I can apply this knowledge for a positive
outcome.
In order to create a change I have understood that there are two most important factors
that play a key role. Change agents and leadership are very important for bringing about change
within the organisation. I will be now able to apply the several models of change agency for the
different change levels. I have analysed that HSBC follows all the models of change agency as
suits for different situations. While managing change at the team level and at the individual level,
they properly follow the team change model and leadership model. Consultancy model is also
applied at certain stage while managing the individuals as I have seen that while managing the
teams, the team managers usually take feedbacks from the employees and they support the
employees with advice and expertise as and when required.

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Therefore, it can be concluded that change management is a mixture of several activities
that are needed to be planned and coordinated before taking the action. As a manager in the
future, I will be now able to understand better about the factors that are causing the changes
within my organisation and will be able it take effective and efficient decisions on the same by
applying this knowledge and the practical skills that i have achieved from the session.

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