I NEED YOUR HELP
60 � June 2018 www.humancapitalonline.com ◆
CHANGE STRATEGY2
constantly change. The growing global
competition, and, the rate of technological
advancement foresees a continuing need for
change. Change helps improve and increase
productivity, which ultimately bolsters sales
and the overall business of an enterprise.
Hence, an organisation requires change
agents to work as enablers in its effort
towards successful change. It is here that
the HR professional plays a critical role in
ushering in change within the culture of an
BY INDRANI SAHA
HR: The Change
Catalyst
From an employee’s perspective, HR facilitates by improving employees’
understanding of change, by increasing communication between the management
and employees, and enhances employee satisfaction.
organisation, thus making it more adaptable
and agile.
HR plays a key role in change
management, and, acts as a facilitator by
influencing multiple factors. From an
employee’s perspective, it facilitates by
improving employees’ understanding of
change, by increasing communication
between the management and employees,
and, enhances employee satisfaction. It also
identifies and mitigates risks and boosts
trust between management and employees.
It helps employees improve their skills and
proficiency through change-related training
initiatives. It caters to match the potential
employee to the desired culture in the
organisation, and, aligns employees with the
culture to foster the most effective culture
of ownership and accountability, therefore,
moving away from being a support function
to that of being a business partner that
enables business results.
A necessity to involve HR
HR should be involved in major
organisational changes from the beginning
as change management involves the
transformation and modification of whole
organisations, or sometimes in parts, as it is
highly people intensive. It is an effort on the
part of the leadership to maintain or…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
usinesses can only maintain their
position in the marketplace, or gain
competitive advantage provided theyB
“
Culture does not change because we desire to change it, Culture changes when the organisation
is transformed – the culture reflects the realities of people working together every day.
”
_
Frances Hesselbein
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
www.humancapitalonline.com◆ June 2018 � 61
CHANGE STRATEGY 2
improve upon the effectiveness in
productivity, revenue, market
competitiveness and internal alignment. So,
change management is an approach to
transition individuals, teams and
organisations to a desired future state. It is
therefore pivotal to involve the Human
Resources team right from the beginning.
This ensures that course correction and
intended change is made possible in the
least resistive manner and with maximum
results.
Cultural Transformation is a hard road in
an established organisation as compared to a
new organisation. Every organisation has an
established culture where people must
unlearn the old values, assumptions and
behaviour before they can learn the new
one. In an organisation, we have employees
who have been in the system for a specific
period, hence, there is already a culture
which is established, and, in order to change
that agents of change normally have to
follow the proven model of change. The
change agents can institute change by
following Kurt Lewin’s three step change
model.
� Unfreezing
� Moving
� Freezing
Unfreezing
To avoid resistance to change, the first stage
involves preparing the organisation to accede
that change is essential, which involves
breaking down the prevailing status quo,
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
Define
� Step 1- Evaluate your current culture
and performance
� Step 2 – Clarify your initial vision
� Step 3 – Clarify values and expected
behaviours
Align
� Step 4 – Clarify strategic priorities
� Step 5 – Engage your team in defining
smart goals
� Step 6 – Clarify and track key measures
Manage
� Step 7 – Maintain a management system
for priorities and goals
� Step 8 – Manage communication habits
and routines
� Step 9 – Build motivation throughout the
process
Indrani Saha is Director-HR, Diebold Nixdorf India Pvt. Ltd. She carries
an experience of twenty five years and has previously various industry
domains such as Automobiles, Transmission, IT, Airlines etc. Indrani has
a Master’s Degree in Industrial Psychology from the University of
Mumbai and has a certification in Executive Management Development
Programme, CEIBS (Shanghai,China).
before you can put together a new way of
operating. The preferred environment should
be created for change to occur so that new
ideas and visions can be formed in minds of
the people. The unfreezing process passes
through three phases. Firstly, there must be
indicators that current conditions are not
ideal. Secondly, this vital information must
be communicated to the organisational
members, and finally, a solution has to be
found to reduce anxiety among the
members.
Transition/ Moving
This is the stage where people have resolved
their uncertainty, and, are looking forward to
newer ways of doing things, and extending
support to the new direction. Also,
communication is vital to the success of
change, and, people need to be given time
to understand the change and feel highly
connected to the organisation throughout
the transition period.
Refreezing
At the point when the progressions are
coming to fruition and individuals have
grasped better approaches for working, the
association is prepared to refreeze.
Management experts use a structured
approach using a 9-step model: A Define-
Align- Manage framework for building a
strong cultural foundation.
This is definitely not a quick fix. It is a
long intervention starting with understanding
the prevailing culture and the desired culture
62 � June 2018 www.humancapitalonline.com ◆
to achieve the results. It involves getting the
leadership buy-in as this is leadership-led.
The process also requires understanding
what is working well, and, deciding to
continue with what needs to immediately
stop and start. These are specific actions
required to achieve the desired results. HR
is responsible to be able to use tools,
techniques and tricks for nurturing minds,
behaviours and beliefs to suit the
organisation’s value system. In general, the
most fruitful success strategy is, to begin
with, leadership tools; including a vision or
story of the future, cement the change in
place with management tools such as role
definitions, job descriptions, and
organisational structure, measurement and
control systems. Tools and techniques
involve focused feedback, Managers as
and innovation, both structurally and
culturally, have been found to be critical to
the success of culture change initiatives.
Make changes where appropriate to support
the new culture.
3. Ensure staff and stakeholder
participation: Change cannot succeed
without the meaningful involvement of many
people throughout the organisation.
Participation can range from individually
offering ideas, solutions, and, reactions to
concepts, to taking part in team meetings to
design and build the new culture and
organisational structure.
4. Communicate and demonstrate the
change continuously: To frequently
communicate and demonstrate the change-
repeatedly, and, in both upward and
downward direction – is necessary during
the change process.
5. Manage the emotional response – yours
and your employees: Leadership
effectiveness in times of change has been
found to be critically related to the use of
emotional intelligence. Employee emotions
have a strong influence on how they
approach to change, and, leaders need to be
as analytical and strategize as much about
their emotional messages as their cognitive
ones.
4. Examples of well-defined cultures and
aligned workforces: We have seen how
essential it is for organisations to go through
change, E.g. Toyota, GE, Coca-Cola, etc.
Witnessing success among these
organisations in defining their culture and
workforce, we at Diebold Nixdorf also felt
that there is a real need to focus on several
foundational imperatives that would improve
how we do our work, and, how we serve our
customers. The global market is changing and
is all about VUCA. So, we had to respond
appropriately to change along with it. Change
begins with people and so focus on our
people, and, constantly working on our
organisational structure, process and design,
is proving to be the reasons that have made
us the global leaders in our domain. The
thing that stands out with our approach is
that it changes the relationships focused on
the new culture, engagement and values. It is
a transition to a place where we can
successfully measure and achieve our results
and be competitive in the market. Our ability
to drive significant change rests on the
positive attributes of our people. It is
energized by our employee’s passion for their
work and also their willingness to change to
build our company and our brand. We work
together as one company with purpose,
agility, transparency and mutual respect.
coach, open and candid dialogues with
employees, employee engagement at all
stages of the culture change. Organisations
use project plan tools as well.
Driving cultural change requires active
and intentional leadership. Whether you are
changing the culture of a team, a division,
or an entire enterprise, few steps to be kept
in mind:
1. Quantitatively measure your current
cultural values: The first step to culture
change is knowing where your current
culture stands; that is, what employees
believe your organisation’s current values
are.
2. Intentionally align culture, strategy, and
structure: Be sure that the culture change
fits with the firm’s or group’s business
strategy, and, that both fit with the
organisation’s structure (its formal systems
and policies). Reconsider formal reporting
relationships, job descriptions, selection and
recruiting practices, performance appraisal,
reward or compensation structures, and
training and development. Supporting change
CHANGE STRATEGY2
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
Three stage model
Copyright of Human Capital is the property of HR Information Services and its content may
not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s
express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for
individual use.
