CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROPOSAL 2

INTRODUCTION

This paper analyses the concept of change management in form of a proposal to certain

questions. The paper will assume the format of identifying the appropriate definition of the

project, identifying the current problem of the select target company, giving

recommendations to solve the identified crisis, analyzing the implementation strategy and

finally, a summary of the proposal.

In particular, this proposal will address the concept of change management in waiting in

Singapore’s Housing Development Board and in particular the role taken up by Tan Chew

Ling, the new Estate Administration and Property, Housing & Development Board Group

Director.

PROJECT DEFINITION

The Housing Development Board of Singapore was instituted on 1 st February 1960, following

a serious housing crisis in the country, mainly characterized by a huge population residing in

slum areas[ CITATION Gov19 \l 1033 ] . The prima face objective of the project was to build

decent and affordable government houses for Singaporeans. At the end of the first three

years, the Housing Development Board had managed to build a total of 54,000 houses for is

population.

The Housing Development Board Attributes its success to three strategies which include; The

concept of a sole agency, total approach to housing and strong government support. The sole

agency concept meant that for all of the activities carried out by the board, including

requisitions for construction materials and the actual construction, only one agency would be

involved. As such, accountability questions would be easily raised and answered. In addition,

all funds and dispensations would be easily accounted for. The total approach to housing
strategy provided for the adoption of a total approach covering planning and design, land

assembly, and construction of all the houses. As a result, the whole process from initiation to

completion of the projects was smooth and flowed easily due to presence of a similar well

internalized concept in place. Lastly, the consistent government support in terms of financial

and legislative provisions ensured that the deliberations made by the Housing Development

Board got implemented and adhered to by all other government departments and the

Singaporeans as well[ CITATION Gov19 \l 1033 ].

In its 2018 annual report, the Ministry of National Development announced board

appointment changes at the Housing & Development Board, with the new term of the Board

running from 1st October 2018 to 30th September 2020, which saw the appointment of Tan

Chew Ling into the board as the Estate Administration and Property, Housing &

Development Board Group Director[ CITATION Sin18 \l 1033 ].

This brief discussion of the Housing Development Board showcases the organization in the

board, which contributes to its successes.

DIAGNOSING THE CURRENT SITUATION

This change management proposal is informed by the following challenges currently looming

in the Housing Development Board. This proposal will focus on the Estate Administration

and Property Department, which holds more than 700 employees, hence making it the

organization’s pillar. These numbers pose a great management challenge and hence the

appointment of Tan as the director was a relive, given her former job as the Deputy Director

of the Projects and Development section in EAPD, that exposed her to handling a huge

number of employees.

In addition to the numbers, the department also faces the challenge of rarely autonomous

senior managers who constantly receive guidance and instructions from the Government.
This therefore limits their creativity space, in addition to the challenge that they do not have

training workshops to enhance their reception to new management ideas.

An additional challenge of the Housing Board is that their target audience seems to be

changing. In essence, the upcoming generation of home owners in Singapore seeks to have

diverse home designs, which is limited by the single agency concept aforementioned in this

proposal. As such, Tan Chew Ling has a huge task of introducing change management

structures that will help remedy these challenges.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Training sessions

Having identified the challenge of inadequacy of change management literacy among the

senior and junior staff in the department, I would recommend training sessions for the

staff[ CITATION PKo96 \l 1033 ] . This intervention will help bring them to speed with the

current management strategies in the market and in addition, improve their skills in their

areas of deployment.

2. Engaging Interest Groups

It is important for the board to serve its intended market in line with their expectations, as

identified as a challenge above. To be able to gather these opinions therefore, it is important

to engage the said interest group constantly and get to understand directly from them, what

they desire to have. This is because at the end of the day, if the board relies on obsolete

market ideas and fails to notice the changing times and interests in the market, then Singapore

could easily go back to its initial housing crisis as the market will not be interested in the

output the government offers them.

3. Streamlining Work Processes and Systems

This introduction into the management system of the department will help with the

management concept of specialization, such that every employee in the department

understands their role and as a result, the challenge of exhausted employees will be dealt

with. In essence, the streamlining could include measures such as rotating the employees

accordingly such that they have enough rest time which will in turn improve their output.

4. Private Investors

Another challenge identified in the department is the existence of obsolete house designs, all

accessioned by the reliance on a single construction agency. While this strategy has worked

well since the initiation of the housing plan, it seems to have been overtaken by events.

Principles of change management demand that managers be open to new strategies. In an

attempt to resolve this challenge, I recommend the inclusion of diverse agencies in the

operations of the housing board, so as to give the intended home owners the variety they

yearn for.

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

According to Tan Ling, she has various implementations ideas to service the

recommendations she gives in her change management policy. The same implementation

ideas are in line with the given recommendations and would effectively enhance

implementations of the recommendations to remedy the identified challenges.

1. Plan Approval

Given the fact that these changes in the management involve the running of the entire board,

it is important that Tan has identified the need to present the proposal before the board

members in the Housing Development Board to seek their approval. Once given the go-

ahead, she can then begin strategizing on how to implement the recommendations and the

change management ideas she has.

 2. Implementation Period

Given the nature of the challenges and taking into consideration the operations of the

department, which is house construction, it is important to have both short term and long-

term implementation periods set respectively. As such, a strategic plan is important to clearly

outline and justify which challenges need to be resolved urgently and which ones, their

urgency notwithstanding, have to take a little more time to deal with.

3. Financial Planning

It is important to take into consideration from the very beginning, what the financial

implications for the intended proposals are going to be. As such, detailed financial

projections should be prepared and presented to the housing board in advance to ensure the

change management proposal do not get frustrated in the course of implementation.

SUMMARY

This paper introduces the concept of change management in relation to change in waiting and

the process one takes in identifying the challenges, deriving recommendations and having an

implementation plan that ensures the proposed ideas suffice in their intended areas of change

management.

References
Committee, S. Q. (2018). TOWARDS A FUTURE-READY HDBSingapore Quality Award

(Special Commendation). Singapore.

Government of Singapore. (2019, October 25). Retrieved from

https://www.hdb.gov.sg/cs/infoweb/about-us/history

P, K. J. (1996). Leading change management. Havard Business School Press, 21-22.