Organisational Change: Factors, Analysis, and Recommendations

This report explores the multifaceted reasons why organisations continually need to adapt and change, focusing on technological advancements, economic shifts, social demographics, and legal requirements. It highlights the need for both reactive and proactive change, providing examples from the education sector to illustrate these concepts. The analysis includes an environmental and organisational assessment of a school, examining the impact of political decisions, economic conditions, social demographics, technological advancements, and legal frameworks. The report also examines the effects of new legislations such as the Additional Learning Needs and Educational Tribunal Act and the Digital Competence Framework. The report concludes by outlining the changes implemented by the school in response to these factors, including the development of a blended learning policy and various initiatives to promote environmental sustainability. The report emphasizes the importance of adapting to the evolving landscape to ensure organisational success and student well-being.

1.1 Explain reasons why organisations continually need to change
Organisations have many influencing factors that can decide or impact on the direction of
work. These can relate to: technology, economics, social, and legal aspects. There are two
types of changes: reactive and proactive. Aishu claims that “reactive change involves a
reflexive behaviour whereas proactive change involves purposive behaviour.”
1. Technology
In an ever-changing world, organisations need to adapt to new technologies that can support
their work. Golson (1977) claims that there are major areas were technological
developments will impact organisational change: “the amount of market competition and
uncertainty will increase; there will be requirements for more diversity and higher quality in
the organization's products or services; and external politics and legislative reform will
increase in complexity.” This implies that organisations need to take into consideration new
technological developments to ensure they are fit-for-purpose and able to compete with rival
companies. Pratt (2019) also argues that “the workplace is being digitized on a global scale”
and states that organisations need to adapt to the changes to survive. In the context of
education, it is extremely important for schools to adapt to technological changes so that the
future generations of workers have practice of using technologies. Especially during the
period of school closures due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was important for schools to be
able to deliver some distance learning methods for pupils to remain engaged in their
learning. Schools have had to train their staff to become proficient in the use of Microsoft
Teams, for instance, to ensure teachers and staff could collaborate and work remotely.
2. Economics
According the CIPD’s 2020 survey, “the challenges and opportunities resulting from
economic change are the most common drivers of change in UK organisations” (People
Profession, 2020). The survey was conducted before the start of the pandemic and therefore
it is expected that economic change will be an even greater consideration now. This aspect
is an important consideration for businesses as it influences the funding they might have
access to and therefore the scope they have to carry out their work. In periods of economic
instability, it can be more difficult for organisations to plan for the future with limited
resources. In the context of education, this is an important consideration too, as many
schools get their funding mainly from the local authority’s funding. Therefore, depending on
the current economic climate, they may receive varying budgetary allocations each year.
This can have a serious impact on the student experience and the amount that schools are
able to change to meet other demands. An example within my school is that we were able to
secure funding for the Accelerated Learning Programme to support pupils to move forward
from the pandemic and lost teaching time. This funding was granted to enable pupils to meet
their targets and ensure we are able to continue closing the attainment gap between pupils
from more deprived backgrounds.
3. Social
Demographics within an organisation can play an important role when it comes to
organisational change. The global population is growing, and people are having fewer
children, which is leading to an ageing population. This should be a consideration for
employees as it can have an impact on duration of work and retirements. Furthermore,
“there is an increasing recognition that a more diverse workforce is a major source of
strength for a business.” (PricewaterhouseCoopers). It is also stated here that there is still a
gender pay gap that should be addressed because women “go into lower-paying
occupations and industry sectors, or don't climb as far up the career ladder as their male
peers”. Hence, organisations should aim to be inclusive with their recruitment policy to
ensure they include women in leadership roles. Another demographic to consider is
millennials, who have different expectations of work than previous generations.
PricewaterhouseCoopers states that millennials “have far greater expectations of working

internationally than their older counterparts” and therefore can be deployed in far-reaching
areas of the world. In an educational setting, demographics should also be a consideration
for employees but also for students, as teachers need to be aware of students’ socio-
economic backgrounds and ensure pupils have fair treatment and equal access to
opportunities. Within our school, we often run awareness campaigns to promote minority
voices and minimise prejudice amongst pupils. Corpus Christi ran an event called “This Girl
Can” to get girls into playing more sports and hence break the stigma that female players are
less regarded than their male counterparts in the field of sports.
4. Legal
Another aspect to consider is any legal requirements that organisations need to comply with.
New developments can have an impact on how organisations are run and what they need to
change to adapt to this. There are already many laws in place that affect how organisations
are run, such as anything relating to employment, safeguarding, health and safety,
consumer protection, and tax law. A recent example of a new legislation for schools is the
Additional Learning Needs and Educational Tribunal Act, published in 2018. This reviews the
previous Special Educational Needs framework which was around 30 years old and “no
longer fit for purpose” (Welsh Government, 2018). In practice, this will affect all teachers as
the students at school action status will no longer be on the SEN register but will still need
some form of provision to support their needs. It will therefore be each individual teachers’
responsibility alongside the ALN department to ensure lessons are sufficiently differentiated
to meet the needs of all pupils in their class. Therefore this new legislation is an example of
how it can impact schools directly and warrants change within the organisation.
1.2 Conduct an environmental and organisational analysis, to identify possible areas
for change in own organisation
Political The Welsh government can have an impact on change within an
educational setting, for instance, recently it has decided to roll out the
new curriculum for Wales. This means schools need to adapt their
curriculum to be in line with these new guidelines. Other examples are
the Digital Competence Framework (DCF), and the LNF (Literacy and
Numeracy Framework), which gives the prerogative for these areas to
class teachers. In practical terms for our school, all staff have had new
computers that connect to boards in each classroom and we have had
more training in the use of technologies such as Microsoft Teams and
HWB. We have had to adapt during the school closures to be able to
deliver live lessons and use other tools such as Class Charts for
homework setting. Changes that have come in as a result of the LNF
mean that teachers need to make an effort to include literacy and
numeracy where possible in all subjects and liaise with other
departments more to ensure consistency. New political developments
in education also concern the new Additional Learning Needs (ALN)
Act 2020 which is having an impact on how much support pupils with
additional needs will have access to and how that support will be
provided.
Economic Another area that can have an impact on change in my school is the
national economic situation. Funding gets allocated to schools by the
Welsh government and it can give out grants for certain projects.
Funding can have a significant impact on schools, for instance,
“Gibbons et al (2011) found an additional £1000 per year per primary
pupil increased FSM pupil attainment at Key Stage 2” (in Department
for Education, 2017). Schools can also ask the local authority for
funding projects that are specific to that school’s current needs. In my

school we have had funding for a new front entrance as the old one
was not fit-for-purpose and not secure enough. Funding was also given
for the Accelerated Learner Programme to support pupils and help
them move forward from the school closures due to the coronavirus
pandemic.
Social Pupil demographics can have a significant impact on change within a
school setting. In Wales, around 29% of children live in relative income
poverty, and approximately 18% of young people aged 5-18 are
entitled to free school meals (Welsh Government, 2019; Statistics for
Wales, 2019, in Wales Centre for Public Policy, 2021). During the
period of coronavirus pandemic, pupils from low-income background
may not have had access to an internet connection or laptops to
complete work from home. As a result, the attainment gap between
disadvantaged pupils and their peers has potentially widened.
Evidence of this has been suggested in an assessment by the
Education Endowment Foundation, who found that “the recent
Coronavirus-related closures are likely to widen the attainment gap
between 11%-75% in England. The impact on the attainment gap in
Wales is likely to be similar” (in Wales Centre for Public Policy, 2021).
As a response to this, my school has secured funding for an
Accelerated Learner Programme to support pupils who need to move
forward from this. Additionally, the school ensured all pupils had access
to a laptop during the school closures to avoid them falling behind.
Technological Technological changes can also hugely impact schools and how they
function. The DCF has come into play and is now adapting to fit the
new curriculum requirements. The DCF is defined as “the set of skills,
knowledge and attitudes that enable the confident, creative and critical
use of technologies and systems” (Welsh government, 2018). Every
teacher now has the responsibility to think about including elements of
the DCF within their own teaching, so it has had a considerable impact
on schools. Additionally, teachers have had to be more digitally literate
especially since the school closures in order to be able to deliver live
lessons. Teachers have had to be creative to ensure their teaching was
effective in lockdown. For instance, in the context of Modern Foreign
Languages teaching, we have had to trial various tools for virtual
speaking assessment with pupils. The technology at Corpus Christi has
vastly improved since the start of the pandemic, and it is currently
trying to secure Chromebooks for each class teacher to be able to use.
This would be hugely beneficial for students as they would be able to
have access to many more online tools within the classroom as well as
at home.
Legal Many legal aspects can impact on the school’s functioning. For
instance, Corpus Christi has policies regarding: health and safety,
Freedom of information, Additional learning needs, behaviour and
discipline, data protection, anti bullying, etc. In recent months, the
school has needed to adapt to the current climate and produce a
blended learning policy. This was a result of change within the
education system in Wales and the need for teachers to deliver online
lessons during school closures caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
This blended learning policy was shared with pupils, staff and parents
to ensure everyone was aware of what the expectation was for live
lessons. This policy was needed to ensure the school upheld previous
legislation, for instance, regarding safeguarding. The main worry was
that teachers would be delivering live lessons from their own homes

and interacting with pupils outside of a physical school environment, so
there needed to be clear guidance on how to do this safely for
everyone involved.
Environmental New developments have taken place in the school to help make the
school more environmentally friendly. For instance, the school now
separates recycling and there are campaigns to raise awareness of the
importance of this to pupils. Some pastoral sessions relate to the
environment with the aim of increasing awareness of the need to take
action for the climate. Furthermore, prefects are encouraged to take
part in litter-picking. Solar panels have also been installed and the
boilers have been changed in the school to ensure it is more energy-
efficient. There is also a cycle-to-work scheme available for staff and a
new secure bike shed has been built. However, there is still room for
improvement, and more could be done to encourage car-sharing or
cycling to work. For instance, there are no showers for staff to use if
they cycle and many members of staff prefer to drive to school.
SWOT analysis
Strength Areas of strengths of my school are that it is making improvements in
the area of technology. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Corpus
Christi has had to change and use new technologies such as Microsoft
Teams to deliver live lessons. Staff have received training to support
the running of distance-learning. Furthermore, it has developed policies
to support the smooth running of blended learning and ensure the
correct procedures are followed. Furthermore, the school has made
some considerable changes to meet environmental requirements, such
as the installation of solar panels and fitting of new boilers.
Weaknesses Despite having made huge advances with technologies, the school
could still do with more resources for in-class use to support pupils’
digital skills. Corpus Christi plans to purchase a set of Chromebooks for
all teachers to be able to use in their classroom which would support
pupils in the use of new technologies and meet the requirements of the
DCF. Furthermore, as a result of school closures, pupils have missed a
considerable amount of teaching and may need extra support to
recover.
Opportunities Funding has been granted to the school for the Accelerated Learning
Programme to support pupils to recover from lost learning during the
pandemic. This is a huge opportunity for staff to get involved and liaise
with parents and pupils to ensure their success. Additionally, school
closures, despite having had a negative impact on pupil attainment, has
been a good opportunity for schools to make advances in the use of
technologies to ensure they are able to deliver live lessons and blended
learning content. Corpus Christi has invested in teacher laptops and
and services like HWB, Class Charts, etc. This has allowed teachers to
communicate better with students and support classroom teaching with
a mix of blended learning tools. Going forward, the school plans on
setting up more training for staff to be able to use a wider range of
digital tools offered by the HWB services.
Threats Due to the coronavirus pandemic and school closures, there is a risk
that some pupils may have fallen behind their peers due to limited
access to technology at home and general lack of engagement. This
means teachers will have to ensure pupils have access to sufficient
support in lessons and can access learning resources to support their

progress from home. As a result of this, Corpus Christi has secured
funding to support pupils who may be in need of extra support to
achieve their predicted targets. Furthermore, more could be done to
support environmental requirements, for instance, promoting car-
sharing or cycling to school.
Areas for change identified: support pupils’ academic achievement, environmental
(encouraging staff and pupils to avoid using individual cars).
2.1 Identify an opportunity for change, arising from an environmental and
organisational analysis
As a result of the coronavirus pandemic and school closure, many pupils will be in need of
recovery from the lost learning. As a result of the analysis completed, the area for change I
have identified is the accelerated learner programme which aims to support pupils to recover
from school closures due to the coronavirus pandemic.
As mentioned previously, some pupils from more deprived areas may not have had access
to computers to complete the online work from home. This could have an impact on the
attainment gap in Wales as these pupils will have missed out on a significant amount of
schooling. Corpus Christi High School has already identified this and has put together a
group of staff to work on the Accelerated Learning Programme, which I am a part of. The
aim of the programme is to support pupils to plug the gaps from the pandemic and support
them to ensure they achieve to the standard they are meant to and are not impacted by the
school closures.
Setting up the programme
First of all, a team of ten members of staff and two Senior Leaders has been selected to
work closely with pupils over the course of a year. Two members of staff have oversight of
each year group. Within that year group, 40 pupils have been identified by looking at tracking
data and class charts to assess their level of engagement with home learning during
lockdown. The pupils were selected to reflect those who most needed this support, for
instance, pupils who had difficulties accessing online resources and consequently have
lower tracking for a few subjects. Once identified, the members of staff involved including
myself communicated with parents via phone calls and started an initial assessment of the
pupil’s needs. We logged this in a shared area on Teams and started the first sessions with
pupils in the summer term 2021.
The programme
As part of this role, I have delivered 2 fortnightly sessions with my two groups of tense
pupils. This was initially to get to know them and discuss what the programme was, as well
as some team building activities. From September, we will start meeting fortnightly again and
deliver some workshops to give pupils the skills needed to build resilience and be effective
with their school and home work. Some of the sessions include: time management, building
resilience, overcoming failure, growth mindset, revision techniques, habits and environment,
etc. During these skills-based sessions, we will also speak to pupils individually and assess
which areas they need to work on specifically and build support plans for them that we will
share with parents. We will also need to liaise with some of our students’ teachers to ensure
we feedback what we are doing and ask for more data to assess the impact of the
programme.
Effectiveness

At present, the programme has had a positive start and the pupils mostly appreciated the
help and felt part of a group. However, there was some initial reticence from some pupils
who viewed this as a punishment as the sessions run after school. Once they were told that
this was a support programme to ensure they succeed in school and that they can be moved
out of the scheme once we feel they have made sufficient progress, they generally adopted
a more positive attitude towards it. The success of the programme will hopefully be
noticeable in the next round of tracking, as if it is helping pupils, then they should be getting
closer to meeting their target grades in most subjects.

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