Trevor Lambkins

Individual Project
February, 28, 2011
 Change is something that requires tons of energy that has to be put into it.
When there is more than just one person trying to get it to happen then it seems as
though things will happen and go along a lot faster. When there are not enough
upper management, key players or people in power involved then a good strong
coalition will not result. There has to be commitment from the people in power in
order to get change to drive through an organization and catch on. The people of
power have tons of influence on the people who work for them. They look up to
these people to guide them and tell them how and what to do at their current job. At
the same time change can also be blocked if the people of power are not into the
change. Then everyone will go against the change since the people they look into
are not into the change. This will have the opposite effect and will make the change
that much harder. Therefore change needs to start at the top and catch on in order
to get the people of power use to the change, and on board. Then the change can
start to happen because others will be better able to deal with it if their
management is ready and open for the change that is about to happen and take
place. In order to keep the organization in alignment with its goals and strategies a
common vision has to be in place and kept on track on goal and strategy at a time.

HR and senior leadership can use power to help them move through change
levers. The four change levers are first to never depend on one individual. In order
to get change to happen you must be able to depend on multiple people in order to
get the change to start to happen. Not everyone will like what everyone else likes,
but if one person they do like are for it then maybe they too will start to like the
change. The next lever is to never fully rely on what a group says because it may
reflect only what people think they should say. This holds true because a people
may be just trying to go with the group. Therefore by using power you can try to see
what each individual says and try to break up the groups by having people work
apart. The next three levers are to the culture of the organization will determine
what views are sanctioned, some people’s opinions will be of far greater value than
others, depending on their leadership role, and outside information sources are less
biased. Management should use their power to just see what individual says about
change and try to get each one on track with the change. This is one of the best ways
to get change to catch on and stick within the work place.

Conflict can be a power tool for change and growth as conflict con stimulate
members of the organization to increase their knowledge and skills, and their
contribution to organizational innovation and productivity. The successful
organization, then needs conflict so that diverging views can be put on the table, and
new ways of doing things can be created. If an organization is changing and growing
then the employees will have to learn for whatever change is happening. Maybe
employees will have to further educate themselves or receive more training. This
will benefit the organization in all ways because then the employees will then be
better educated and be able to bring more to work and be able to perform at a better
quality level. This will do nothing but help any organization be successful because
they will have better trained and educated employees all because they are trying to
keep up with the changes that are going on and happening within their organization.
Therefore change is a powerful tool for an organization because it serves as
motivation for employees to better themselves and then in turn better the
organization and bring more success to everyone involved in the success.

HR and senior leadership can determine when and how to use conflict by
understanding what is going on between employees (Deal, 1982). If there is conflict,
a manager can determine what the conflict is and determine ways to resolve the
same. This may be to exchange views in an open forum to have an organizational
meeting. By knowing what is going on between employees then HR will be able to
not take sides and determine what is the best way to go about solving the conflict,
and coming to an agreement on both sides. This will also keep them in control of
things and not let anything get out of control and have employees in disagreement.
They also can have a meeting with the employees involved and get it all out in the
open. By coming to an agreement on issues then conflict can be solved and
everyone kept happy. This will also keep everything legal and not have anyone be
affined and get their feelings hurt in any way. HR and senior leadership definitely
needs to keep in control when conflict does happen and not let employees handle it
because that is when it gets out of control and then it will start to effect business and
the success of the organization. Conflict can bring down any organization by
spreading to all employees and bringing negativity to everyone around the conflict.
The will bring down employee morale and effect how successful the company or
organization will be. This needs to be controlled by HR and senior leadership before
it gets to bad to where the problems cannot be fixed. The problems need to be fixed
before they start in a way. This would be the ideal situation for all companies in
order to get the greatest success out of what they are trying to accomplish.

To understand which coalitions are helping the change and blocking the
change the organization can speak to the employees to understand what areas they
have concern in. (Handy, 1985). Furthermore, the CEO should ask for ideas,
suggestions, and help. When asking for help and assistance, the organizer or leader
needs to be a facilitator, not a speaker. That individual also needs to make sure all
coalition members show off their views, and that people who might be shy are called
upon to give their opinions. Keeping track of every suggestion is also important.
Make sure that everyone’s opinions and views are counted. The facilitation process
should lead to members buying into the coalition’s goals, because people feel their
contributions are valued. By doing this employees will feel better about themselves,
and will think that they are an important part of the change that is going on. This
will help with the change because employees are better able to change and take on
the change by giving their opinions and having their input put into the change. By
having their views brought into it then the change goes about better and is better for
everyone in the end. Then everyone is happy and therefor the success of the
company will be better because work will be going good and creating nothing but
success for the organization. In the end having a good coalition will be the best way
to go about the change and creating positive work environment.
 You can use the information to help move the organization towards future of
change by instituting new management personnel to undertake the changes. There
have been many complaints in this organization (Charles, 2001). Management has
not been willing to help new supervisors put into place. Therefore, in order to move
forward in the organization, the CEO needs to institute positive attitudes and ideals.
This cannot be done with the authoritarian managers from before. Managers need
to be able to accept employees opinions and not be authoritarian. Employees need
to feel as though they are important and not just be treating as though they are
being told what to do and not being felt as though they are being considered when is
comes to change and important decisions about the company or organization that
they work for. This will help also to bring employee morale up which will also help
with the success of the company. With all of this put together then all employees
will be happy and successful. This is great coalition for organizations and getting
employees what they want and need. All employees are in it for themselves and
when they are happy then they will be a better help for the company and be able to
bring nothing but success to the organization around them. In the end everyone will
benefit and be happier and feel better about themselves and what they are doing
and trying to accomplish, and the goals that they are trying to achieve within their
work environment.

References

Charles W. L. Hill, and Gareth R. Jones, (2001) Strategic Management. Houghton Mifflin

Deal T. E. and Kennedy, A. A. (1982) Corporate Cultures: The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life,

Harmondsworth, Penguin Books.

 Handy, C.B. (1985) Understanding Organizations, 3rd Edn, Harmondsworth, Penguin Books