ORGB 4871 STUDENT ID FIRST NAME LAST NAME ASSIGNMENT 4
Introduction
Commitment is a crucial component in a change implementation process. One of the key
roles of change practitioners is to obtain sufficient commitment to carry out the change
through to completion. The present assignment explores the concept of commitment during a
change implementation process. First, I will look at the challenges related to gaining
commitment during the change implementation process. Second, I will explore various
feedback mechanisms that can be used to determine if employees are committed as well as
the indicators that illustrate that they are committed and enthusiastic about the change. Lastly,
I will elaborate on the different ways of sustaining the momentum for change and
interventions to employ if one is unable to sustain this momentum.
Q1. What are the challenges in gaining commitment during a change implementation
process? (15 marks)
Sustaining momentum for change requires recognizing of the reinforcing processes.
According to Senge et al. (1999), no change can grow in a self-sustaining way unless there
are reinforcing processes underlying its growth. Therefore, thinking strategically about
initiating and sustaining developmental interventions requires appreciating the need for a
highly participative change environment. In other words, for organizational improvement
strategies to be successful, a broad commitment is essential. Commitment involves winning
the cooperation of the change recipients. Change recipients are the implementors, and their
behavior determines whether a change will stick (Jick, 1990; Jick & Peiperl, 2003). However,
gaining commitment necessary for implementing change is associated with considerable
challenges.
, First, change recipients exhibits strong tendency to remain in the present state due to
uncertainty of the future of the future state. This uncertainty may be in terms of complexity of
skills or losses that may be incurred. Cummings and Worley (2005) assert that a strong
tendency exists among organization members to return to what is learned and well known. As
such, gaining sufficient commitment becomes a challenging task.
Second, inherent tendency to care about personal results rather than business results.
Employees have a strong passion for the quality of their life (Senge et al., 1999). Thus, given
a choice, they would choose to remain in a setting that has minimum or no incidences of
disruptions of their personal lives or difficulties such as handling of unfamiliar and
complicated tasks, use of more energy, and requirement of high level of commitment.
Profound changes factor in such experiences, thereby making it hard to gain desired
commitment.
Another challenge in gaining commitment during change implementation process is
cultural diversity. Change recipients differ in relation to beliefs and values, which in turn
creates differences in expectation, fulfilment, hopes, and fears. In such a case, people may
adopt and adapt to change differently. It becomes challenging for change agents to influence
the change recipients to focus exclusively on the change process.
Q2. Describe the feedback mechanisms you would use to determine employee
commitment. In this description, outline how you would obtain input from the
employees and how you would verify the commitment from the employees. (20 marks)
According to Hayes (2002), managing change involves pursuing tentative steps and, after
each step, reviewing the intervention (s) that constitute the step to determine if it or they
worked as planned and the general direction of change in terms of whether it still holds good
or there is a need for revision. As such, a change process demands for feedback mechanisms.
Introduction
Commitment is a crucial component in a change implementation process. One of the key
roles of change practitioners is to obtain sufficient commitment to carry out the change
through to completion. The present assignment explores the concept of commitment during a
change implementation process. First, I will look at the challenges related to gaining
commitment during the change implementation process. Second, I will explore various
feedback mechanisms that can be used to determine if employees are committed as well as
the indicators that illustrate that they are committed and enthusiastic about the change. Lastly,
I will elaborate on the different ways of sustaining the momentum for change and
interventions to employ if one is unable to sustain this momentum.
Q1. What are the challenges in gaining commitment during a change implementation
process? (15 marks)
Sustaining momentum for change requires recognizing of the reinforcing processes.
According to Senge et al. (1999), no change can grow in a self-sustaining way unless there
are reinforcing processes underlying its growth. Therefore, thinking strategically about
initiating and sustaining developmental interventions requires appreciating the need for a
highly participative change environment. In other words, for organizational improvement
strategies to be successful, a broad commitment is essential. Commitment involves winning
the cooperation of the change recipients. Change recipients are the implementors, and their
behavior determines whether a change will stick (Jick, 1990; Jick & Peiperl, 2003). However,
gaining commitment necessary for implementing change is associated with considerable
challenges.
, First, change recipients exhibits strong tendency to remain in the present state due to
uncertainty of the future of the future state. This uncertainty may be in terms of complexity of
skills or losses that may be incurred. Cummings and Worley (2005) assert that a strong
tendency exists among organization members to return to what is learned and well known. As
such, gaining sufficient commitment becomes a challenging task.
Second, inherent tendency to care about personal results rather than business results.
Employees have a strong passion for the quality of their life (Senge et al., 1999). Thus, given
a choice, they would choose to remain in a setting that has minimum or no incidences of
disruptions of their personal lives or difficulties such as handling of unfamiliar and
complicated tasks, use of more energy, and requirement of high level of commitment.
Profound changes factor in such experiences, thereby making it hard to gain desired
commitment.
Another challenge in gaining commitment during change implementation process is
cultural diversity. Change recipients differ in relation to beliefs and values, which in turn
creates differences in expectation, fulfilment, hopes, and fears. In such a case, people may
adopt and adapt to change differently. It becomes challenging for change agents to influence
the change recipients to focus exclusively on the change process.
Q2. Describe the feedback mechanisms you would use to determine employee
commitment. In this description, outline how you would obtain input from the
employees and how you would verify the commitment from the employees. (20 marks)
According to Hayes (2002), managing change involves pursuing tentative steps and, after
each step, reviewing the intervention (s) that constitute the step to determine if it or they
worked as planned and the general direction of change in terms of whether it still holds good
or there is a need for revision. As such, a change process demands for feedback mechanisms.
