Change is Most of the Times Selfish

Re:
ikechukwu Nwabuisi, Consultant, Nigeria, Member
If the change is well structured, subject to its definition, I think its more of an advantage to the employees.

Re: Change is Most of the Times Selfish
Ugama Rose, Management Consultant, Nigeria, Member
I'm having a hard time understanding how employees can benefit more than the organisation from change taking into considerations the fact that organisations are always thinking of ways to improve on their products and/or services, ways which are not always people centred. Yes! Employees sometimes benefit but in most cases, the organisations does more.

Solution Management in Context
ikechukwu Nwabuisi, Consultant, Nigeria, Member
Yeah, I quite agree with you to some extent Rose. It is also in this regard that organizations are very much particular about staff trainings, they are well aware that an organization without these people, without the right hands to man it with an excellent touch of professionalism and creativity, the company is as good as an empty house. We must not fail to understand that these individuals make up the organization in question, hence the change has to start from these people. Once there is a positive change in the people/employees... Then it will go a long way in affecting the organization as well as its product and image positively... This is what I call solution management in context because it deals more with the individual than with the organization as a whole.

Re:
Ugama Rose, Management Consultant, Nigeria, Member
Very true Ik (if I may call you that). But we know that in real life situations, that is not always practical. Organisations don't always try to change individuals (especially in this part of our world) or try to help them adapt to change, instead, they tend to look for the best people for the job, I'd like to use myself as an example. Sometime last year, I was transferred to another department to work under somebody I felt I wasn't supposed to. I wasn't comfortable with the change, as professional as we tried to be about the situation, it still sometimes get in the way. Management noticed the situation, and decided to move me yet again to another department! And one that is completely outside my field leaving me with no option but to endure the situation or quit. (this were the same people that told me I was doing a very good job where I was and decided to give me more responsibilities, which I gladly accepted anyway). Now, how do you think I feel? How would you have handled the situation differently?

Re:
ikechukwu Nwabuisi, Consultant, Nigeria, Member
I would say I quite agree with your point Rose. But permit me to point out here that management of every organization unconsciously improve the creative of their employees by giving them challenging responsibilities that would stretch them. This is the very area I feel every employee should look out for and take advantage of it, this might come as a positive or negative change, but one thing am sure is that every adversity that comes to a man comes with a wind of opportunity and its our responsibility to identify this opportunity and make better use of it rather that complaining about its associated problems.. These people (management) are looking for people that can impact their organization with the investment of their personality. Its all about the individual. You have a responsibility to yourself more than an organization has for you and that’s why change is all about the individual. It’s all about you.

Re:
Ugama Rose, Management Consultant, Nigeria, Member
Thank God I adapted to the change (though not without some difficulties from the start)cos personally, I don't run away from work. When I have the opportunity, I like to take on more responsibilities. But the point here is that, I did that absolutely on my own cos I wanted to, I had no help from the management. So it still brings us to the fact that organisations rarely put the employees' interest at heart during change.
Maybe I should chip in here that yes, I identified the opportunity in that posting and took advantage of it. It was kind of a preparatory ground for me and today, I'm far better off in my new posting and I'm as happy as I can be.
But then, it wasn't automatic, people need help to go through changes and I think organisations should take up more responsibilities in that area.

Employees Benefit from Change
Drazen
From my interpretation I believe that employees benefit from change. Surely some of them may be laid off, but they are also learning and these types of experience can then be transferred onto other organisations whereby the employee is rewarded.
Keep in mind an employee, although responsible for a specific role isn't the one who's responsible for paying the bills etc towards staff so why is it wrong for organisations to benefit more so if the rewards are existent?

Re
Ugama Rose, Management Consultant, Nigeria, Member
There's nothing wrong with organisations benefitting more. But the point here is employees are most often overlooked in the event of a change, I guess this is one of the reasons why they resist change, cos they will most probably benefit little or nothing from it.

Re:
ikechukwu Nwabuisi, Consultant, Nigeria, Member
Most importantly is ones' definition of change. Change can come in different form but as long as it is within an organization, the employees who are the end point would benefit more from it. This is so. Because anybody working in an organization benefits in two ways: the salary he receives at the end of the day and the experience he acquires which is most valuable. So in any way change occurs, there is always a benefit for an employee that is involved as long as one is able to identify the benefit in that change.

Re
Ugama Rose, Management Consultant, Nigeria, Member
Welcome back Ik. I'd like to rest my case because we both are obviously looking at the issue from two different angles, while you are looking at this from the management angle, I am looking at the same issue from the employee angle, and as we know, there are some issues that both parties will never agree on, though you've made some very fine points here, the fact still remains that the first (and sometimes only) beneficiary of change is the organisation. No matter the disguise, if you look underneath, youll see it.

Change Benefits Matrix
Jagdish B Acharya, Consultant, India, Premium Member
Let us accept the fact that no management will do a change that does not benefit it. The matrix is drawn below to explain all outcomes.
Change type - management - employee - remarks
C1 - benefits - benefits - OK. Win-win
C2 - benefits - loses - Read below
C3 - loses - benefits - Change will not be inititated
C4 - loses - loses - Not OK.
In case of C2 it may be that if in short term and long term the employee stands to lose he then quits and ultimately management also loses. So wise management teams will not proceed in this way.
In case employee stands to lose in short term and win in long term: he either accepts and both win - OK; or he does not know and quits and management either wins ( if it gets better alternate) or loses ( if it does not get good alternate). This is risk of change.

Update to Employees Benefit from Change
Drazen
I acknowledge that employees often get overlooked but it is their option to serve the organisation at the same time. No one forces an employee to be there, if one is not happy with the conditions that the organisation can only offer then it's perhaps time that employee moves on. Obviously if the employee is not getting treated fairly then that's an entirely different case. Overall some organisations have a little too much money on their hands and in those circumstances it would only seem fair that this or the organisations power pass on the benefit to an employee but why should it? As an employee one should know the rules of business before stepping in, if what's on offer is not suitable to you then perhaps it's time that you gather up your knowledge and create an organisation that's right or go looking else where only to be greeted by the same circumstances.

Employee Change Versus Organizational Change
David Wilson, Manager, Canada, Premium Member
Organizations need to change to survive as their economic and environmental conditions change. When an organization changes, employees typically have to adapt and if they cannot, they need to move to another organization. Organizations should recognize that their most valuable resource is their employees. Thus, they need to ensure the right person is in the right job with the right skills at the right time. Employees need to learn to adapt and change by increasing their knowledge and skills (competencies) and become flexible and innovative. If an organization considers the employee valuable and necessary to the success of the organization, they will work with the employee to retain them through recognition and rewards. You also need the right leaders in place to make sure these valuable employees understand the change and the vision through communications and support.

Change Acceptance in Management
Randommax, Member
But what do we do then, when change is not accepted by management itself?
The goals are clearly stated, yet they bend rules just so they do not in any way get associated with such change.
Even if the head of the department sees everything clearly and is ready for implementation, some of the members of the management may resist to the change.

Non-acceptance of Change by Management
D P BABU, Strategy Consultant, India, Member
Change when initiated by employee groups, peers and stakeholders in an organization becomes upward and may be difficult to be acknowledged by management. Hence all the stakeholders need to organize and make use of various communication tools for imposing strategic change upon management.