Fundamentals of Change Management in an Oracle ERP Transformation Programme

Fundamentals of Change Management in an Oracle ERP Transformation Programme
Authored by Khalil Rehman

Fundamentals of Change Management in an Oracle ERP Transformation
Programme

Authored by Khalil Rehman

October 2009

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Fundamentals of Change Management in an Oracle ERP Transformation Programme ©2009 Page 1

CONTENTS

ABO U T C ON T RA CT O RS N ET W O RK ................................................................... 3

ABOUT THE AUTHOR ................................................................................................ 4

UNIT 1 CONTENT ...................................................................................................... 5

Lesson 1: Managing Change Basics ...................................................................... 5

Lesson 2: Importance of Change .......................................................................... 9

Lesson 3: Leading Change .................................................................................. 13

UNIT 2: THE PROCESS OF CHANGE ........................................................................ 16

Lesson 1: Analyse the Situation.......................................................................... 16

Lesson 2: Choosing an Action ............................................................................. 19

Lesson 3: Implement the Action......................................................................... 22

Lesson 4: Monitor Progress ................................................................................ 24

UNIT 3: OBSTACLES TO CHANGE ........................................................................... 26

Lesson 1: Resisting Change ................................................................................ 26

Lesson 2: Eliminating Complacency.................................................................... 30

Lesson 3: Encountering Crises ............................................................................ 32

UNIT 4: HOW TO MANAGE CHANGE ....................................................................... 35

Lesson 1: Encouraging Creativity ....................................................................... 35

Lesson 2: Developing Commitment .................................................................... 39

Lesson 3: Communicating Change...................................................................... 41


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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Khalil Rehman

Over the last twenty two years I have been involved in countless transformation programmes.
BP Oil was wildly successful and we rolled out to all the European countries. Others were
sabotaged by powerful stakeholders who feared the change would weaken their authority.
Then we came across resistance from employees at Sandwell MBC who feared that progress
would cost them their jobs.

In all these cases the underlying cause for the success or failure of the ERP transformation
project was the ability to engage the senior stakeholders and employees in the need for the
change.

A very successful programme that illustrated this was the Electronic Staff Records programme
run by McKesson’s at the NHS.

I used my experiences to develop the following course which has been delivered to ERP
project teams at PWC, Atos Origin Middle East and Liberata.

Many of these lessons were refined after watching the great Jose Mourinho in action at
Chelsea and seeing how rapidly he created lasting change in an organisation that had been
failing for the last 38 years. Even after his departure he continues with his success.

The course Starts here ….so read/listen carefully.


UNIT 1 CONTENT

Lesson 1: Managing Change Basics

Why is change important to an organisation?

Change is an element of life that every organisation has to accept. Organisations have to

view change, both external and internal, as a potential opportunity for growth and

advancement. Remaining open to change allows organisations to compete and adapt to new

demands placed upon them within the business environment.

I have been consulting for the Department of Health and various NHS PCT’s over the last six
years and they have all realised that they need to move away from paper based requisitions
for medical supplies.

The NHS is being asked to provide more services with lower budgets so they had to adapt to
the demands placed upon them. Using Oracle e-Procurement speeds up the time from
ordering goods to being delivered to the ward and used with patients.

We have all seen the tabloid stories in the past where patients suffered or were left waiting in
corridors because the NHS system couldn’t cope. The present government has been investing
in IT systems (mainly Oracle based) to rectify these nightmare scenarios.


At what level does change occur?

There are four levels at which change can occur:

1. Personal change affects employees' performance by motivating them or causing
additional stress. Knowing what an employee is experiencing, allows managers to
understand changes in their productivity.

For instance , I had a member of staff called Danny moving to a new house in
Wembley and he had decided to save money by doing all the work on the new
house himself to save some money. His productivity went down dramatically because
he wasn’t getting any sleep or eating regularly. He had sold his old house and was
sleeping on a settee whilst repairing the new house. He didn’t have a functional
kitchen so was eating a lot of junk food.

He was normally a very cheerful character but he became broody for the two month
period of this move.

2. Group change affects how group members interact with other employees. Managers
should help group members adapt to changes in order to maintain productivity and
efficiency.

I was once brought in to manage a failing project and was met with hostility because
the previous PM had been very popular.

What I needed was for senior managers to introduce me to the team in a social
setting so the team could get to know me and start putting aside their reservations.

A similar situation occurs in the film “The Damned United” when Brian Clough was
replaced by Dave MacKay. Dave went on to win the league with the team created by
Brian Clough by harnessing their talents. I tried to do the same at HM Land Registry.

3. Organisational change affects everyone in an organisation. Managers need to inform
employees on how a change will benefit the organisation in order to generate
employee support.

Many years ago I was working at BT when rumours got out that 30000 employees
were going to lose their jobs. This spread panic throughout the organisation and the


best managers started looking elsewhere. Those with long terms invested and
pension issues kept their heads down and hoped for the best.

Because the communications weren’t handled very well I believe the organisation
suffered from a brain drain. In the end 30000 people did lose their jobs (mainly
middle layers of management). In the same year the top executives rewarded
themselves with fat bonuses for making long term payroll savings.

Clearly this is an example where the managers had lost the support of their
employees because the communications were not handled well or on a timely basis.

What are some common misconceptions about change?

It is common knowledge that change can occur at any time within an organisation. However,
there are some misconceptions about the nature of change:

 Change is a reaction to problems

 Change only affects organisational structure

 Change occurs naturally

Change is a reaction to problems

A long standing misconception about change is that it occurs only when an organisation
reacts to a significant problem. However, organisations do not require that a problem
develops in order to begin implementing change. For example, in order to grow financially,
organisations frequently challenge the status quo to improve their financial standings.

A few years back I was managing the Oracle Practice for Atos Origin Middle East and we were
approached by Saudi Telecom (STC) to help them go to market with a web based sales
channel for their SIM Cards and Vouchers. This seems straight forward in the West but in
Saudi I had seen agents travelling in to Riyadh with truckloads of cash to order SIM Cards
and pre-paid vouchers. Frequently STC didn’t have the stock on site to cope with this
unplanned demand.


We ended up re-engineering their business and creating a new entity SAWA which was later
taken to the market as a separate entity thereby creating a massive revenue stream from a
failing business. STC were in a monopoly situation so they didn’t have to react to change.

Change only affects organisational structure

One misconception about change is that it only affects an organisation's structure. However,
due to the rate of change in the world today, every area of an organisation is constantly
changing.

To remain competitive in its market, an organisation has to adapt to the demands of its
market in a variety of ways. Some non-structural ways an organisation adapts to change
include hiring additional employees, enacting new policies, and making financial planning
adjustments.

Change occurs naturally

Many individuals believe that organisations can only react to change. However, managers can
take a proactive approach and implement change whenever they feel the need to improve the
organisation. Managers can control change and its effects by following the proper format for
implementing change.

When I worked at Motorola they continually looked for ways to improve their processes and
eliminate waste by following six sigma methodologies.


Lesson 2: Importance of Change

What if change is not addressed?

When organisations fail to address change, they become complacent with the status quo.
Without challenging the status quo, organisations will not surpass their goals.

Adapting to change enables organisations to adapt to, and grow with, technological and
social advancements. Failure to address change will allow competitors to grow faster and
eventually takeover the market.

Some of our older readers may remember what happened to betamax video recorders when
they failed to spot the trend for VHS and the same happened when DVD’s came along and
made VHS redundant.

What are the benefits of change?

There are three primary benefits change can offer an organisation:

 Helps an organisation reach its vision

 Increases productivity

 Enhances growth

Change helps an organisation reach its vision

Making changes are a core component in a company policy which allows an organisation to
remain adaptable when its needs fluctuate. Remaining flexible toward change allows an
organisation to make the changes needed to fulfil its vision.

For example allowing fathers to take paternity leave when their partner is due to deliver a
baby. There have been a high number of marriage breakdowns in the past because husbands
simply couldn’t support their families at this key important time and show loyalty and
commitment to high pressure jobs, thankfully these new laws and company practices take a
more enlightened view. I remember a few years ago one of my colleagues being dismissed


because he wanted time off to be with his wife during the birth of their first baby.
Unfortunately things like this still happen to contractors.

Change increases productivity

Organisations benefit from change when managers search for innovative ways to increase
productivity among their employees. Finding more cost-effective ways to operate increases
overall productivity and helps organisations reach their goals.

A few years ago I was managing the programme at Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council
and had to load 44000 sickness and absence records for an eight year period over the
Christmas holidays. I was not able to get volunteers and overtime was not sufficiently
attractive to forego Christmas and New Year so I hired contractors and gave them a
productivity bonus which backed up by Computer People. We managed to do four weeks’
worth of work in less than half the time with staff finding ingenious ways of entering and
correcting the data into the Oracle HRMS system.

I made all the teas and coffees, brought in lunch and cracked jokes to keep the energy levels
high. The project Director couldn’t believe I had done all this backlog of work especially over
Christmas with skeleton staff and at half the cost quoted by a famous Indian Outsourcing
Company.

Change enhances growth

Change promotes simultaneous organisational and personal growth. Change promotes
organisational growth by allowing the introduction of new procedures and innovations.
Change also enhances employees' growth by offering new opportunities for training and
additional responsibilities.

In the example above I managed to develop two new team leaders by giving them exposure
to many new Oracle HRMS modules and giving them management responsibilities (time
management of their temporary staff, quality and quantity of work produced). In fact Wesley
one of the managers has made significant leaps in his career since this experience.


Why is change important?

Change can affect every level of an organisation. However, there are four areas where change
is essential for ensuring organisational success:

 Customer relationships

 Market understanding

 Personnel

 Technology

Customer relationships

Change is necessary to maintain consumers' interest and satisfaction. Without quality
products and services, an organisation will fail to satisfy current and future customers.

To improve customer relationships, organisations need to change according to their
customers' demands. Managers can identify the changing needs of their customers in many
ways. Using customer surveys, research and development and interpersonal skills to gain
customer feedback, will let managers know what customers expect from the organisation.

Just look at the changes at Manchester City FC and ask the fans if they are happy to see their
team competing with the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and that little team from
Merseyside. The changes in the organisation has increased customer satisfaction immensely
they now see some of the best players in the world entertaining them on a weekly basis and
they occasionally get to have bragging rights over their more famous local neighbours.

Market understanding

In today's business environment, change occurs very quickly. Organisations that are unable or
unwilling to adapt to change cannot compete within their market. To maintain an advantage
in its market, an organisation must differentiate itself from its competition through constant
evaluation and change.


Changing products or services to gain the advantage over competitors allows an organisation
to focus on a specific target market. If an organisation remains complacent, its competitors
will corner the market and take away potential business.

In the short time Mourinho ran Chelsea FC we had an outspoken manager who could back up
his claims. He made Chelsea the team everyone wanted to beat and watch. Immensely
successful were ever he goes. He caused such change in such a short space of time. He
became the Muhammad Ali of football.

Personnel

Organisations have to produce their products and services in a cost-effective manner if they
want to stay competitive. To maintain economic growth, organisations will sometimes have to
downsize the labour force in order to operate as efficiently as possible.

Downsizing allows organisations to remain active in their market by cutting costs. Eliminating
unnecessary jobs to increase productivity allows organisations to remain competitive.

Technology

Technology is revolutionising how the world conducts business. Technological advances have
increased business' speed, quality and flexibility, and have changed how organisations
operate.

Managers have to realise the speed at which technology changes and decide how their
organisation can benefit from new technologies. Without proper knowledge of technology
and its benefits to an organisation, managers will quickly lose any advantage that the latest
technological advances may offer.


Lesson 3: Leading Change

When can change occur?

Change can occur at any time in an organisation, since the motivation for change is a desire
for improvement. Whether you are solving problems or want to challenge the status quo,
change has to begin with a desire to improve the current situation.

How can I promote successful change?

There are two ways to promote successful change:

1. You need the ability and power to implement change successfully. When employees
understand that you are using your experience and knowledge of the organisation's
interests to make improvements, they will be inspired to help implement a change.

This is usually achieved with a successful analysis phase of an Oracle Implementation
project. This is carried out by seasoned professionals with the requisite level of soft
skills to cope with the various issues that can arise.

You start off with the “As is” phase where the project team take the time to
understand how the organisation works and identifies the requirements for Oracle E
Business Suite.

We then put together a “To Be” vision of the organisation which we try and sell to the
stakeholders.

We take the time to get positive and negative feedback into the programme thereby
eliminating some of the problems of project failure.

2. Change requires enthusiasm and support from employees in order to be successful.
Informing your employees of the benefits of a change will generate the necessary
enthusiasm and support for it to be successful.


What behaviours should I demonstrate when implementing change?

Be active with the employees responsible for implementing a change. Being involved
demonstrates the importance of the change and allows them to work with confidence.

Listen to your employees by allowing two-way communication. Learning your employees'
thoughts, concerns, and suggestions, prevents you from overlooking potential obstacles.

Coach your employees to lead them successfully through the change process. Coaching
allows you to influence and guide employees, while directly affecting the change's outcome.

Appreciate your employees to gain their support for a change. Recognising an employee's
participation during the change process encourages them to continue their efforts.

What traits will help me implement change?

There are three traits that will help you implement change in your organisation:

1. Remaining flexible enables you to adapt to a change's needs without causing disruptions
throughout your organisation. Demonstrating flexibility while implementing change, displays
your confidence in the change to employees.

2. Maintaining a serious attitude toward a change helps convey its importance to employees.
Taking change seriously allows you and your employees to stay focused on the organisation's
needs.

3. You may need to train your employees periodically to provide guidance during the
implementation of a change. You should oversee the training process to make sure
employees understand your expectations for the change.

What is resilience?

Resilience is the ability of an employee or an organisation to recover swiftly from change.
Resiliency allows employees to face the challenges of a change and bounce back quickly.
Resilient employees save the organisation time and money, since they reduce disruptions and
are able to maintain performance levels.


What role does resilience play during change?

An organisation's management is responsible for instilling resilience in their employees.
Remaining flexible and promoting an adaptable work environment allows managers to
facilitate resilience in their employees.

Developing resilience in employees creates an open and flexible atmosphere within the
organisation. Resilience throughout an entire organisation allows change to occur more easily
and establishes built-in responses to change.


UNIT 2: THE PROCESS OF CHANGE

Lesson 1: Analyse the Situation

Why is there a process for change?

Managers who follow the change process are able to understand how to implement change
successfully into their organisation. The process for a change has to relate back to the
organisation's goals. Managers are able to control the outcome of the change process
through a structured plan. Mapping out a strategy allows managers to anticipate and prevent
problems from occurring.

What are the steps of the change process?

You need to follow a four-step process in order for change to be effective:

 Analyse the situation

 Choose an action

 Implement the action

 Monitor progress

Why is it important to analyse a situation?

Analysing a situation enables you to understand why there is a need for a change in your
organisation. This is why we employ this phase pretty early on the project if we follow Oracle
AIM Methodology. When analysing a situation, there are four things you should do:

1. Determine the catalyst for change to understand why a change is necessary. Determining
the catalyst for the change allows you to direct your efforts in order to improve the situation.

2. Understand the situational variables that will help or hinder the implementation of the
change. Anticipating potential complications enables you to prepare a strategy to address
them.


3. Learn employees' concerns to assess the commitment they are willing to put forth towards
change. Determining these aspects indicates their initial support for the change.

4. Gain employees' support when learning about a change. When you speak with your
employees, inform them of the change's benefits to start winning their support early.

What should I know about the organisation when analysing a situation?

The history of the organisation's previous changes is an excellent indicator of whether a
current change will be successful. Understanding the success rates of previous changes
enables you to identify potential problems before they occur. In addition, an understanding of
previous changes can suggest if employees will accept similar changes.

What aspects of the change are important to consider when analysing a situation?

When analysing a situation, you should consider three aspects of the change:

 The change's sponsors

 The change's advocates

 The change's target area

The change's sponsors

The change's sponsors are those individuals who decide that the organisation needs
improvement. If you were not one of the individuals who created the need for change, you
should keep their ideas in mind when implementing a change. Reminding yourself of the
sponsors' intentions allows you to implement the change according to their instructions.


The change's advocates

The advocates of change are the individuals who support and help implement the change.
Although advocates support a change, they may have concerns regarding their
responsibilities toward its implementation.

I have found that having a powerful advocate or sponsor can be really useful in driving
through change programmes rather than having a sponsor who sits and watches from the
sides whilst staff or other stakeholders try and sabotage the programme.

You should meet face-to-face with the advocates to clarify their involvement in the change.
Involving employees in the change process allows you to eliminate rumours and promote
openness about the change.

The change's target area

A target area is where you direct the effects of a change. Target areas can be any part of the
organisation in which you wish to see improvement.

Informing the employees who work in a target area of the reasons for a change increases
their interest in improving their area. As these employees become more involved with the
change, their commitment levels rise. When you fail to gain the commitment of these
employees, they will not accept the change and all efforts to implement it will be lost.


Lesson 2: Choosing an Action

How do I choose an action?

There is a four-step process for choosing an action:

 Identify obstacles

 Know the available resources

 Create an action plan

 Reward success

Identify obstacles

The first step in choosing an action is to identify obstacles that may slow or prevent the
successful implementation of a change. You need to understand how the change will affect
every aspect of the organisation to determine obstacles to the change. Some potential
obstacles you should recognise include:

* Limitations of the organisation's vision

 Lack of necessary skills and knowledge in employees

 Communication barriers

 Time and financial restrictions

 High levels of complacency and resistance

Know the available resources

The second step in choosing an action is to determine what resources are available for
implementing the change. Without proper knowledge of your available resources, you risk the
possibility of the change failing due to lack of preparation.


When preparing a plan, you have to determine and adhere to the organisation's resources.
Organisational resources include the availability of funding, time and personnel. Disregarding
your organisation's resources will often result in senior management placing restrictions on
the change.

Quite frankly a strong PM will always try and bring in his own team to ensure he is in control
of his own destiny. I have got caught out too often in the past by having line mangers
volunteer dead wood from their departments to man the project. These are usually the
weakest people they have. In one cased at Sandwell MBC I was able to turn the situation
around and help create a very productive team but this is the exception to the rule.

Once you have worked out what you have to do, you should be able to call on your
experience and a good network of resources like oraclecontractors.com to find suitably
qualified resource to hit the ground running.

Create an action plan

The third step in choosing an action is creating a well-developed action plan that will increase
support and commitment. Employees who understand how a change will work are more likely
to support it because they know the logical process of it. When creating an action plan, you
should consider the change's effects on your employees and the organisation.

Reward success

The final step in choosing an action for change is to establish rewards for those who helped
implement the change successfully. Some employees may require rewards to be motivated
about a change. Informing employees that they will receive rewards for their efforts
frequently gains higher levels of commitment and can quicken the change's implementation
process.

In 1999 I took a team with me to perform Hajj in Mecca and did the same again in 2005
taking a successful team to perform Umrah and Mecca and Medina. You won’t believe how
close this brought us all as a team.

For another member of staff I arranged tickets to the Champions League final for a years
worth of loyal service.


Can I avoid risks when making organisational changes?

Any time you implement a change there are risks due to unknown factors. When change
occurs, you can never calculate its exact effects on the target area and the organisation.
However, having a strategic plan helps identify most risks before you implement a change.

I have always figured that fortune favours the brave and I can plan to mitigate or avoid risks
but there is always going to be the time when sh** happens. In those cases I back myself to
do the best I can to minimise the negative impact.


Lesson 3: Implement the Action

Why should I create a sense of urgency?

Employees who understand the urgency regarding a change are able to identify what it needs
to accomplish and to reorganise their departments to facilitate it. When employees develop a
sense of urgency, they understand the necessity for the change and strive to implement it
successfully.

How do I create a sense of urgency?

Increasing the levels of urgency requires that you eliminate all sources of complacency within
your organisation. There are two ways you can create a sense of urgency:

1. Eliminate narrow-ranged performance evaluations to inform employees of the change's
effect over the entire organisation. When employees understand how the change will improve
their entire organisation, they become motivated to make its implementation successful.

2. Immediately attend to problems to emphasise their impact on the organisation. Giving
immediate attention to problems prevents you from correcting errors at the last minute and
eliminates the possibility of the situation getting out of control.

Why is goal setting important when implementing change?

Setting goals for a change allows you to identify and achieve its objectives. Goals allow you to
identify potential problems with a change's implementation and devise ways to overcome
them. You should periodically re-evaluate your goals to make sure they remain focused on
the change's objectives.

Why is motivation important?

Only employees who are motivated to improve their organisation are likely to implement
change successfully. Motivated employees understand the need for change and strive to work
hard to make improvements.


I have encouraged many of my successful project teams to attend NLP courses so
they can learn to manage their states and motivation levels. I can highly
recommend the PPD courses in London run by Judith Lowe.

Motivated employees also help facilitate change. They are generally easier to work with and
require less time to manage. Employees who are motivated towards change help the
organisation reach its goals.

How do I motivate employees to accept change?

There are two effective ways to motivate employees:

1. Address employee concerns to help them accept a change. Take the time to answer their
questions and explain how the change will benefit them. Ignoring their concerns can result in
rumours and a lack of support.

2. Remain proactive throughout the change process to demonstrate confidence in the change
and your abilities to implement it. Your enthusiasm and desire for improvement motivates
employees to support and accept the change.

How can I prevent project failure?

Provide your employees with leadership. Leadership qualities such as charisma, competency
and respect motivate employees and provide them with guidance.

Never underestimate the change's needs. Make sure your procedures, goals, methods and
deadlines for the change thoroughly address the situation.

Prevent communication breakdown to avoid rumours, uncertainty, misunderstanding and
resistance towards change.

Set long and short-term goals to keep employees focused while providing them with a sense
of accomplishment when the goal is achieved.

Support the change in order for it to have the desired effect. You need to continually support
the change until it becomes a part of the organisation's structure.

Lesson 4: Monitor Progress

Why is monitoring change important?

Monitoring change allows you to determine if you achieved your goal. A change is deemed
successful when a goal is accomplished. You cannot judge the effects of a change without
reliable measurement. Monitoring a change's progress allows you to measure its
implementation rate, the support it receives and its effectiveness.

Monitoring change also allows you to identify areas in need of improvement and make the
necessary modifications during the change's implementation.

How do I monitor a change's progress?

There are two ways to monitor a change's progress:

 Regular reports

 A checkpoint system

Regular reports

Regular reports from employees keep you up to date with the change's status. These reports
allow you to identify potential setbacks before they become a problem. The information
gained from these reports will help you determine when employees need assistance.

A checkpoint system

Checkpoints allow employees to achieve small goals while accomplishing a change. For a
change to be successful, the employee has to accomplish smaller parts of the project
correctly. A checkpoint system enables employees to determine if they are proceeding
according to your specifications.


How do I control an implemented change?

You can control an implemented change by delegating. Withholding information or believing
that you are the only person able to implement changes results in a lack of commitment from
employees.

Delegating tasks allows you to involve your employees in the change process. In addition,
delegating allows you to remain in control of a change by coordinating, focusing, and
facilitating the change process.


UNIT 3: OBSTACLES TO CHANGE

Lesson 1: Resisting Change

How do employees respond to change?

Employee responses to change will vary according to the magnitude of the change on the
employee. However, employees will always respond either positively or negatively to a
change.

Employees who respond positively towards a change show little resistance and help
implement the change. Employees who do not understand the need for improvement resist
the effort to implement a change. Your responsibility is to influence the employees who resist
a change by explaining to them the benefits of the change.

What causes an employee to resist change?

 Employees who feel economically threatened will resist change if they feel it may
result in job loss, demotion or change in overtime status.

This has been the major cause of resistance in my experience of over 70 projects in more
than 18 countries over the last 22 years.

 Employees may resist any change in their decision-making responsibilities or if there
is a reduction in equipment, materials or responsibilities.

Basically if implementing change will reduce someone’s empire they will consider it in their
best interests to resist.

 Employees who view change as an inconvenience will resist a change if they feel it
threatens their feeling of security.

Many senior employees get comfortable in the way things are done around here and they
don’t care for change. They may have built up respect and seniority because they are a key
part of the way things are currently done. They see young IT literate whippersnappers taking
over so they put up obstacles.


 Employees who feel there is a lack of information will resist change, spread rumours
and create unnecessary problems.

 Employees usually resist change due to a fear of unknown circumstances that
accompanies change. They express their fears towards change as generalised stress
and lowered morale.

What are the different negative reactions to change?

Employees can have several negative reactions to change:

 Anger

 Shock

 Denial

 Depression

 Guilt

Anger

A change may aggravate employees if it does not appeal to their own personal needs or
desires. Angry employees suffer increased amounts of tension and stress, which may be
detrimental to the change's implementation. An employee's anger can make them blame or
criticise others.

Shock

Large-scale change can cause shock in some employees. The degree of shock that an
employee can experience ranges from temporary confusion to complete disorientation. Shock
causes employees to be incapable of understanding the benefits of the change.

I have seen over the years some very valuable senior employees resign rather than work in
the redesigned organisation.


Denial

Employees in denial do not accept the validity of a change and will frequently reject or ignore
all information about it. Denial causes employees to believe that the change will not affect
them, or that it will not be implemented.

I once heard about a stockbroker who jumped out of a thirty story building. He had been
accused of being in denial over the performance of his portfolio. He was reportedly heard to
chant at each floor of his descent “So far, so good”.

Depression

Employees can experience depression when they perceive a change negatively. Employees
may feel victimisation, a lack of emotional and physical energy and disengagement from their
responsibilities due to depression.

Guilt

When employees experience a major change, they may feel some guilt for causing the
situation. Employees sometimes do not understand the reasons for the change and view it as
a result of poor performance. Employees who blame themselves for a change become
unmotivated and their productivity suffers.

How can I ease the tension created by change?

Employee frustration towards change is natural and difficult to eliminate. However, you can
ease the tension created by change in two ways:

1. Plan morale-boosting activities to create excitement and support for a change. These
activities allow employees to express their interests and concerns to you and other
employees.

2. Allow ad hoc communication to dispel rumours and concerns immediately. If you do not
have the time to address the employees' concerns, express your interest in helping them
understand the change and set a later time to meet.


How can I empower employees to accept change?

There are three ways you can empower employees to accept change:

1. Clearly communicate your expectations helps develop principles in employees that coincide
with the organisation's standards. Employees who have a clear understanding of the
organisation's principles become empowered to make decisions that help implement change.

2. Providing employees with training to ensures that they can fulfil their job requirements and
expectations when implementing a change. Having complete knowledge of their
responsibilities empowers employees and provides them with confidence.

3. Give immediate feedback to inform employees of the results of their efforts. Employees
become empowered from immediate feedback since they receive the appropriate guidance to
implement the change.


Lesson 2: Eliminating Complacency

Why should I avoid complacency?

Complacency prevents organisations from striving to improve their current situation.
Organisations that never challenge the status quo are quickly overrun by more motivated
competitors.

What causes complacency in an organisation?

Organisational complacency has four main causes:

 Employees are not challenged

 Employees have a limited focus

 Employees do not understand the need for change

 Employees deny there is room for improvement

Employees are not challenged

This is a bitter lesson from my own experiences. I have frequently had roles where I was
being rewarded well but the work just didn’t challenge me or get my juices flowing to get into
work early. Ask anyone who knows me I am normally at work by 6.30am as it the time I do
my best work.

Complacency occurs when employees' job requirements are no longer challenging or
motivating. Employees no longer challenged by their position's responsibilities become bored
and fail to strive for optimum performance. Employees need to be assigned work that they
find meaningful and that uses their skills appropriately.

If your managers don’t recognise the signs it is up to you to do the right thing and volunteer
for more responsibility or to look for new challenges. It is simply not good enough to just


work to pay the bills if you want to be the best you possibly can. I trust in Allah to provide
me with challenges that will test my mettle and help me improve as a human being.

Early in my career I made a lot of rash choices and hopefully learned some lessons. So I keep
looking for fresh challenges and opportunities to add value to the organisations where I am
consulting.

Employees have a limited focus

Narrow goals cause complacency by limiting employee focus. Employees need to understand
how their work affects the entire organisation. Narrowing the employees' focus downplays
their achievements and they fail to understand the importance of their work.

On many of my projects implementing Oracle Procure to Pay solutions I have come across
instances of fraud. Quite recently three employees were sacked and the police brought in to
investigate.

At other public sector bodies we have been told to ignore the anomalies which indicated
possible irregularities because it would lead to work outside our narrow scope. Of course I
started thinking about the headlines in the Sunday rags when these instances finally get
aired. I decided to report the matter to the client service director and when he also ignored
the issue I got myself reassigned rather than work in such an unhealthy environment.

Employees do not understand the need for change

Employees who do not understand the need for change quickly become complacent.
Explaining the need for change informs employees of the possibilities for improving
themselves and the organisation.

Employees deny there is room for improvement

Employees who deny there is room for improvement in their organisation support
complacency. Employees who do not want to increase their workload or responsibilities will
ignore areas needing improvement. They will also ignore the signs of a problem in order to
avoid implementing a change.


Lesson 3: Encountering Crises

What happens in a crisis?

A crisis occurs when you realise that your plans will fail and that a change will not be
successful unless drastic improvements are made in your strategy. If you do not give
immediate attention to a crisis, the implemented change will not succeed and your efforts will
be wasted.

What should I do in a crisis?

Resilience is crucial to surviving a crisis. Organisations have to be able to adapt to change
quickly in order to maintain performance levels.

Organisations need to train employees to maintain their productivity and quality standards to
build the level of resilience. Resilient employees feel the same amount of anxiety as others,
but are able to remain physically and emotionally stable when facing a challenge.

You just need to think back to how Drogba, JT and Lampard reacted when “The Special One”
was ousted from his role as spiritual leader of Chelsea by the Evil Tsar.

How can I benefit from a crisis?

You can benefit from a crisis in two ways:

 Learn from your mistakes

 Anticipate future difficulties

Learn from your mistakes

Knowing what was previously ineffective allows you to adapt your current strategy to avoid
similar complications. In addition, you can learn what behaviours and attitudes were effective
in previous crises and incorporate them into your current efforts.

God knows I have made millions of mistakes in the past. Nowadays I prefer not to make the
same mistakes and learn from the mistakes of others.

Anticipate future difficulties

Understanding the cause of previous crises allows you to anticipate future difficulties, which
will enable you to prepare for and possibly eliminate the problem altogether. Anticipating
difficulties can save you time, money and energy when implementing a change.

How do employees react to crises?

Employees can react to a crisis in one of two ways:

 Overwhelmed

 Open to opportunity

Overwhelmed

Employees may feel that crises are threatening and become overwhelmed by them. These
employees are unable to re-orientate themselves when a change occurs. During a crisis,
overwhelmed employees feel uncertain and question their ability to handle the situation.

Open to opportunity

Some employees view crises as an opportunity for growth and improvement. These
employees are resilient and take advantage of the situation. Opportunity seekers will develop
ways of handling a crisis instead of wasting time avoiding it. These employees have the same
fears as others during a crisis, but they view change as a necessary part of business.

Although these employees understand their limitations, they find creative ways to use their
resources. Employees who view change as an opportunity also seek assistance from others
when a change requires resources they do not possess.

In NLP terms this is called modelling. When I started out life as a PM I modelled my older
brother Tariq’s skill set to help me on my way.

How can I prevent crises from occurring?

Since the nature of a crisis is unpredictable, you cannot completely prevent one from
occurring. However, conserving assets prepares your organisation for when a crisis happens.
You should recognise areas that a crisis may affect, and conserve your assets before one can
occur.

Many organisations waste a large amount of time and money trying to control a crisis when
one occurs. Preparing for a crisis by conserving your assets enables you to react instantly and
quickly in order to take control of the situation.


UNIT 4: HOW TO MANAGE CHANGE

Lesson 1: Encouraging Creativity

Why is creativity important to change?

Creativity is the most effective way to determine new goals for change. Creativity allows you
to develop new and innovative methods to improve your customer satisfaction, teamwork and
communication skills. In addition, you can use creativity to increase employee morale.

I often look for quirky or artistic characters to put in key positions within my teams. One such
character Steve Taylor at HM Land Registry was a mean guitarist with a flair for getting team
members to engage and share new bright ideas.

My cousin Abid Hussain is another such character who has successfully created the Dixy Fried
Chicken Empire by being creative.

How can I encourage creativity in employees?

If you were to ask Abid or Steve they would say fostering creativity in employees encourages
ideas for handling change. There are several ways to encourage creativity:

 Remain open-minded to new ideas

 Provide verbal encouragement

 Plan brainstorming sessions

 Rotate employees through job positions

 Hold job improvement meetings

 Encourage employee experimentation


Remain open-minded to new ideas.

Remaining open-minded encourages employees to share their ideas and thoughts freely.
Employees are able to approach a situation from a different perspective than yours and can
offer unique insight. In addition, encouraging employees to share their ideas will help you to
gain their trust and respect.

Provide verbal encouragement.

You should provide employees with verbal encouragement to motivate them to contribute to
a change. Employees appreciate receiving feedback and feel more comfortable sharing their
thoughts with you when you request their ideas.

Plan brainstorming sessions.

Brainstorming sessions encourage employees to offer new and creative ideas. A
brainstorming group should represent the areas of the organisation directly affected by the
change, and be limited to six to eight members. A group of this size and with this diversity
will be able to generate a sufficient number of ideas for the change.

Employees should be encouraged to suggest ideas that are creative but also realistic and
attainable. These criteria focus the group on developing achievable ideas and goals.

During a recent brainstorming session at South Birmingham PCT my team were able to
design 8 new reports to be used across our own PCT and also got adopted by other PCT’s in
the Birmingham area.

This was such a success as the other PCT’s and the Shared Services agency who were
supposed to contribute couldn’t come up with another single report as we had
comprehensively thought of all business requirements. A lot of thanks go to Tahir Hussain
and Nadia Amreen.


Rotate employees through job positions.

Rotating employees through different positions within an organisation can encourage creative
thinking. Employees often become so familiar with a particular area of the change that they
begin to overlook obvious problems. Placing employees in new positions allows a fresh
outlook on old problems.

On my stint at HM Land Registry I had three of my project support girls shadow the
implementation team for six weeks and pick up some new skills. It’s amazing because for the
first week they were overawed and by the third week they were leading workshop sessions
with divisional managers.

Hold job improvement meetings.

Back in my days at BT we used to call these quality circles.

Holding job improvement meetings with employees generates creative ways for enriching
their jobs. Employees frequently have ideas on how to improve their positions. You can
encourage employees to be creative while giving them the opportunity to express their
thoughts at a job improvement meeting.

Whilst working at BBC Enterprises I was allowed to mix with colleagues from other
directorates and used my inquisitive nature to help reduce the cost of our education and
training video packages considerably by leveraging discounts enjoyed by our larger BBC
Books and Records departments.

Because many organisations have a silo structure the organisation suffers. In this case I
managed to save the department over £100k per annum and was promoted after six weeks
in the job and given a £3k pay rise.


Encourage employee experimentation.

There are several ways to encourage experimentation within your organisation. However,
when employees begin to experiment with new and creative ideas, you need to guide them to
make sure that they stay realistic and within organisational policy. Some ways you can
encourage employees to experiment include:

 Encourage employees to find new approaches to their jobs.

 Make a 'think tank' or workshop available with materials for thinking and planning.

 Implement a policy that rewards employees for offering creative ideas.

 Hold creative thinking seminars to encourage experimentation.


Lesson 2: Developing Commitment

Why should there be a commitment to change?

Everyone involved with a change has to be committed to it and its goals in order for the
change to be successful.

When gaining support for a change, you need to establish commitment for its success and for
the consequences if it fails. Establishing this commitment ensures that employees will not
lose interest or back away from their responsibilities.

How can I develop commitment in employees?

You cannot take an employee's commitment to change for granted, and building it is not an
easy task. However, there are two guidelines that can help:

 Respond to employee commitment levels

 Remain patient when implementing the change

Respond to employee commitment levels

Employees respond to change both intellectually and emotionally. Most employees understand
a change intellectually and form an opinion about it before they emotionally accept it. When
developing your implementation strategy, you need to take into consideration the differences
between these two levels of their concerns.

When possible, you must balance the intellectual and emotional commitment levels required
from employees when implementing a change. When employees do not accept a change,
their commitment levels towards the organisation drop.


Remain patient when implementing the change

Remaining patient when implementing change allows time to encourage open
communication, involve employees, foster empowerment and develop relationships in order
to increase commitment to the change.

Commitment takes time to achieve. However, once you begin to develop commitment in your
employees, you will be able to gain the support needed for the change.


Lesson 3: Communicating Change

Why is communication important when implementing change?

If you encourage communication during change, you will be able to inform employees about
the change and the benefits they can receive from it. Communication addresses and
eliminates many rumours that employees may have heard about the change. In addition,
employees are more likely to support a change when they are informed about it.

One of the best examples I have ever seen is from the communications and change
management team at McKesson’s on the ESR project.

How should I communicate during a change?

There are several guidelines to follow when communicating to your employees during a
change:

 Keep the message simple.

 Remain consistent.

 State the change's goal.

 Provide examples.

 Explain your reasons.

 Tell the truth.

 State your feelings.

 Plan your thoughts.

 Repeat yourself.


Keep the message simple

Focused and jargon-free information reduces time and confusion when communicating about
change. Remaining direct and simple in your explanations prevents your employees from
drawing false conclusions about the change. Keep your explanations clear and precise in
order to communicate change effectively.

Remain consistent

Keeping your messages consistent will eliminate employees' confusion about a change.
Inconsistent messages that contradict one another cause employees to doubt the credibility
of the change.

State the change's goal

When you communicate about a change to employees, you should relate your message to
the change's overall goal. Employees should understand what the change's goal is, how it will
be accomplished and who will benefit from it. Clearly stating the goal establishes credibility
and keeps employees focused.

Provide examples

Using examples allows you to communicate complicated ideas quickly and effectively. It can
be difficult to communicate to a large and varied group of employees, but using well-known
examples enables you to relate your message more easily. In addition, well-chosen words and
phrases often make your message memorable to employees.


Explain your reasons

Employees need to understand the reasons for a change in order to become committed to its
implementation. Giving the employees as much information as you can reduces their
concerns and helps gain their commitment.

Tell the truth

Employees have to know the truth about a change no matter how unpleasant it may be for
them. The more employees understand a change, the less anxious they will be about its
implementation. If you attempt to evade the truth, your employees will distrust you and the
reasons for the change.

If you are unable to answer a question for your employees, you should explain why. However,
once you do become aware of the answer or any additional information, you should hold
another meeting to answer the question and to address any new concerns.

In addition, explaining the exact limitations and goals of a change will prevent employees
from imagining a worst case scenario.

State your feelings

Employees are interested in how their superiors feel about a change. Being open about your
feelings and concerns can help you gain support for a change. It is important that you remain
honest when expressing your thoughts. If employees doubt your sincerity, they will question
and resist the change.

Plan your thoughts

You need to determine ahead of time the best method of informing your employees about the
change. Planning your thoughts prepares you for employee concerns and frequently allows
you to answer their questions before they ask them.


Repeat yourself

You will not be able to communicate your entire message at one time. Repeating the
information about the change allows you to communicate all your ideas, while allowing
employee’s time to understand the issues involved.

Repetition should not be forceful or blatant. You should reiterate information about the
change through a brief memo, by spending a few minutes talking about it in a meeting or by
bringing it up briefly in a conversation.

Why is listening important when communicating change?

To be an effective communicator, you need to listen to your employees. You should avoid
spending too much time explaining a change and not enough time listening to employees'
concerns. Making an effort to listen helps you identify and address employee problems
immediately.

How can I provide support to employees by listening?

There are three ways you can demonstrate support and concern for your employees by
listening:

1. Use body language that demonstrates you are listening to the employee. Body language,
such as direct eye contact and nodding when appropriate, communicates that you are
concerned with the employee's thoughts and feelings.

2. Encourage conversation with the employee if the employee pauses or hesitates while
speaking. Encouraging conversation helps you understand all of the employee's concerns.

3. Paraphrasing employee's points allows you to repeat in your own words what they have
said. Paraphrasing ensures that you have understood their entire message.

I would encourage readers to research the magnificent work carried out by Richard Bandler
in the area of NLP if they want to develop some expertise in this area.


What is the grapevine?

The grapevine is the informal communication within an organisation. The information that
travels in a grapevine tends to travel very quickly since it is unimpeded by organisational
constraints.

How can I control the information in the grapevine?

An organisation's grapevine is a natural and unstoppable form of communication in any
organisation. Managers need to be aware of how informal communication travels in their
organisation in order to control the information in the grapevine.

Staying informed of the information in the grapevine allows you to dispel any unsubstantiated
and potentially damaging information about a change.

Although an organisation's grapevine is usually 80 to 90 percent accurate, you should be
aware of what is being said in order to eliminate any false information. However, you can use
the grapevine to your advantage by strategically placing information in it to increase interest
and support for a change.


Fundamentals of Change Management in an Oracle ERP Transformation Programme

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