Engaging Employees in the Change Process

Engaging Employees in the Change Process
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Engaging Employees in the Change Process
Engaging Employees in the Change Process   Introduction Change is inevitable in any organization or industry. At some point, a firm's management needs to determine things that can be done to increase its production, lower its operational costs, or implement new technologies. The highly dynamic business environment, rapid technological advancement, and global economies make organizational change a necessity. In particular, if an organization is well-organized, change can make it gain and sustain a competitive advantage. The management team should understand that employees are the most significant stakeholders in a change process. If workers resist the change, it becomes extremely difficult for a firm to be successful. Before implementing change, the management should define how it aligns with set organizational goals, its impacts on a firm, ensure proper communication among relevant stakeholders, and have a way to measure progress or benchmark. As such, leaders should ensure that an organization is ready for change before implementing it. A change process becomes successful if employees in an organization are fully engaged, and the benchmark is established to show the progress or milestones covered.    Analysis of Factors Used to Determine If Change is Needed in a Given Organization The internal and external environments are dynamic, and they change depending on different things, such as technology, social shift, economic and political changes. In that light, organizations that remain static for an extended period are likely to reduce their profitability or fail to achieve set objectives. People's lifestyles keep changing gradually. In addition, consumers' demands and expectations keep changing. All industries are constantly changing and shifting, so organizations should adopt new ways of doing things to meet the dynamic consumers' needs. However, an organization should be well-prepared when initiating change since it is not a straightforward process and requires effective training, communication, and collaboration among the involved parties. As such, one factor that enables a firm to know that change is needed is unsatisfactory performance. If an organization is underperforming, which is determined by the lack of fulfilling established objectives, it needs to change the way things are done to improve its performance (Smither, Houston, & McIntire, 2016). Additionally, when an organization experiences numerous uncertainties from a particular sector, it means that a time for change has arrived. The management team should always be updated to help an organization be strategically positioned. Consequently, the most successful companies are the ones with a continual change process that involves all stakeholders, such as employees. When competitors continue to increase their market share, and that of the organization remains constant or is dwindling, it means that a time for change has occurred. Almost all companies have a goal of becoming highly p...