Employee Readiness for Change: Insights from HR Analysis

Milestone 3: Part 1 Emilee Krenzien MBA-687 Leading Organizational Change Dr. Rooks-Price Southern New Hampshire University November 25, 2023

1 Before any major changes are made or attempted, it is important to know what we are facing. As an HR consultant, it is my job to analyze the company’s readiness to change. I have put together a report on my findings by utilizing the data in the employee satisfaction survey provided to me. Below is a visual of the most important factors from that survey. The employee satisfaction survey highlighted flaws in management, especially senior management, that are highly likely to create resistance to change. The employees do well working with one another, but there is low employee morale. Based on the leaders' self evaluations, most feel they have the skill set to do their jobs well. There is a lack of communication between the employees and leaders. The employees have not, or cannot, express the fallout between management and employees. It would be beneficial to use middle management as messengers for both senior management and employees to communicate. Middle

2 managers are meant to mediate communications between senior management and those employees not in leadership positions (Jaser, 2022). Middle management can help with communications so employees have a clear understanding of the company’s intentions. This will start to build back some of the trust that has been lost. Based on the surveys that have been provided, senior management is confident in most of their leadership abilities and the middle management is slightly less confident. With proper training, middle managers can biome the glue that holds the company and facilitate the changes that need to be carried out. With effective management, the readiness to change will increase and there will be less resistance. With the current standing of the company, the leadership style that I feel would be the most impactful in aiding readiness to change would be the transformation leadership style. This leadership style focuses on creating a clear vision and puts an emphasis on growth and development (Miller, 2022). The company needs a management strategy that motivates all employees to work as one unit. Giving middle managers more power while introducing a transformational leadership style will be the most effective for employees' readiness to change. Even with the best management styles and power distribution in place, some employees can be more resistant to change than others. The reasoning behind peoples resistance to change, even with proper management, can be explained by a visual provided by Laurie Lewis. This visual explains the cultural differences people can have that would lead to them being more resistant to change. Two forms of resistance include refusal/exit and ambivalence. Refusal/exit happens when certain employees simply cannot or refuse to adapt to the changes taking place. Ambivalent resistance is when people are torn between the positives and negatives of change and vocalize both for and against the changes (Lewis, 2019). These two forms of resistance are common and can lead to a failure to change within the company.

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3 Cultural considerations are important in an organization, but they are especially important when implementing changes in an international organization. Differences in culture can lead to misunderstandings and frustrations. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions model is a framework that helps people understand the psychological differences between cultures (Nickerson, 2023). Using Hofstede’s cultural dimensions model, I have analyzed some of the differences in cultures that may lead to dissonance. This specific model is based on factual evidence rather than opinions about different cultures making it an unbiased tool to identify differences. It gives each country a total score in different categories to indicate where each country falls on a measurable scale. Some of the major cultural differences are uncertainty avoidance and individualism. Uncertainty avoidance can be compared to fear of the unknown. Singapore scores an 8 on the scale while the United states scores a 46 (Country). This means Singapore is less likely to resist change when the outcome is uncertain. The US culture is much more likely to resist change when the outcome is not guaranteed. The importance of individualism is also a significant difference between the two cultures. Singapore scores a 43 on the scale and the US scores a 60. This means the culture in Singapore is less individualized. Singaporean people are culturally more comfortable being grouped with others, while more Americans place importance on individuality. The cultural differences are not negative or positive, but they must be considered when trying to initiate changes within an organization that has people from different cultural backgrounds. Misunderstandings can be frustrating and lead to resistance. Understanding others' culture will help predict where some struggles may occur and help with the changes overall. Resources Country comparison tool . Hofstede Insights. (n.d.).

4 https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison-tool?countries=singapore%2Cunited %2Bstates Jaser, Z. (2022, January 26). The real value of Middle Managers . Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/06/the-real-value-of-middle-managers Lewis, L. (2019). Organizational Change; Creating Change Through Strategic Communication (2nd ed.). Wiley Blackwell. Miller, H. (2022, December 16). Learn the 7 distinct leadership styles . Leaders.com. https://leaders.com/articles/leadership/leadership-styles/ Nickerson, C. (2023, October 24). Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory & Examples . Simply . https://www.simplypsychology.org/hofstedes-cultural-dimensions-theory.html

MBA 687 Milestone 3_ Part 1 (1)

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