Principles for managing organizational change

¶ … Twelve Principles for Managing Change.

Principles twelve and two

Two principles for managing change that may seem, on their surface, to be contradictory, are perhaps the most powerful, ironically, when combined. The first is number twelve, that to change the individual, one must change the system. Everyone can recall a poor manager in a scenario where an otherwise competent or even a potentially excellent employee appears to be under performing, due to a lack of managerially provided incentives. When the manger perhaps takes the employee to task and asks what is the cause of such underperformance, the employee may admits to trouble balancing home and work life or to personal difficulties being recognized on his or her work team.

But with an appropriate plan that allows employees to take reasonable time for off-work duties, or by providing onsite childcare, such problems can be potentially alleviated. Also, if employees are not recognized, they will likely routinely under perform unless mandatory performance reviews and appropriate recognitions are systematically integrated into the organization, to ensure such appropriate recognition is bestowed upon good employees. But this does not alleviate personal responsibility for employees. For, to cite principle number two, that change only happens when each person makes a decision to implement the change, this means that employees must still be made of 'the right stuff,' when they are hired. Managers must implement such humane changes, as delineated above, and employees must find it within themselves to foster loyalty to their organization. Thus, hiring the correct individuals to do the work is critical for the organization, but this does not alleviate the organization for turning a similarly self-critical eye upon itself, and individuals must strive to be worthy of the organization that hires them and rewards their efforts.