CHANGE OF HEARTS
THE MANAGEMENT CHALLENGE TO INTEGRATE INTERESTS OF
THE ORGANISATION AND ITS EMPLOYEES
October, 1 2008 MIEKE KROES Student number: 1237403 Marnixstraat 175 1015 VP Amsterdam Tel. 0627097079 e-mail:mieke.kroes@gmail.com Supervisor:
Dr. Kilian Bennebroek Gravenhorst Management Consultant at PlusPulse
Associate at Sioo, Interuniversity Center for Development in Organisational Change Management and Learning
Second supervisor: Dr. Ben Emans
Associate Professor at the University of Groningen Faculty of Economics and Business,
Table of Contents:
ABSTRACT... 3
PROLOGUE... 4
1. MANAGING PEOPLE IN CHANGE SITUATIONS... 6
1.1 Problem statement & Research question ... 6
1.2 Research goals ... 9
1.3 Overview of this study ... 10
2. THE CHALLENGE TO INTEGRATE INTERESTS ... 11
2.1 Realising organisational interests ... 11
2.2 Employee interests ... 13
2.3 Employee dispositions towards change ... 15
2.4 Factors complicating the management challenge ... 18
2.5 Summary... 19
3. AN APPROACH TOWARDS INTEGRATING INTERESTS ... 20
3.1 Outcomes of influencing employees... 20
3.2 The management repertoire ... 21
3.3 Summary... 27
4. METHODOLOGY ... 29
4.1 Semi-structured interviews ... 29
4.2 Selection of practitioners ... 30
4.3 Procedure & interview scheme ... 31
4.4 Content analysis ... 32
5. RESULTS ... 34
5.1 Complexity of the management challenge... 34
5.2 Direction Principles: directing towards organisation interests and change ... 38
5.3 Emotion principles: managing emotions and personal interests... 41
5.4 Facilitating principles: being sensitive to timing, self-reflective and tactical ... 44
6. CONCLUSION & DISCUSSION... 47
6.1 Key findings and implications ... 47
6.2 Research goals evaluated ... 50
6.3 Recommendations for future research ... 51
EPILOGUE ... 52
REFERENCES... 53
ABSTRACT
PROLOGUE
It is with pride and sense of ownership that I present my Master-thesis study in the field of business, specialising in change management. What you are about to read is product of my studies in Psychology and Business and determination to do well.
During my study of Psychology I have learned about organisations from an individual perspective. Individuals bring to the organisation they work for, their identity, personality, culture, talents, experiences, ambitions and potential. Here individuals are seen as interacting with, being effected by and contributing to their work context. During my study of Business, I learned more about the work context. Organisations have value propositions, goals, a strategy, structure and processes and people work for it to fulfil tasks that follow from the way the organisation is designed.
I find it interesting to see how the organisation and its employees are interdependent. On the one hand, the organisation would not exist without its people; they design and define the organisation, sometimes fully involved, sometimes semi-detached, but all individuals take part. On the other hand the organisation offers a context in which individuals function, learn and do their jobs. It is this interaction that first implied to me the value of integrating both fields of study.
Change is a situation in which the interaction has increased salience, because the interdependency has to shift and both ‘parties’ adapt. In this work I focus on the manager’s task to manage the people side of change, which I argue requires the ability to integrate interests of the organisation and its employees.
The process of doing this thesis was a longitudinal study in itself. After a long period of struggle, an intervention of my supervisor Kilian significantly changed the progress of my work. It showed me how my intuition and sense of judgement of the many things Kilian could potentially teach me have proven valid.
But Kilian is not the only person to thank. Dear Mom, Dad, Peter, Hans and Renske thanks for always welcoming me home and sharing with me the difficult and fun times I had during this process. And of course my friends and Stuart helped me to stand my ground. Dad, for you a special ‘thank you’ for sharing with me your personal network which made it possible for me to arrange 18 interviews. And of course for your contribution; you were my number one interviewee and inspiration to succeed.
A warm thanks to the interviewees who were all available at short notice. I was fascinated by the diversity of situations, organisation types, approaches and styles in dealing with the management challenge that I was presented with.
1. MANAGING PEOPLE IN CHANGE SITUATIONS
In today’s fast paced and complex society, organisations need to adapt and anticipate to changes in the environment in order to be successful. Indeed, many organisations constantly develop change programs and projects in order to adapt to consequences of globalisation, changing market requirements and technological developments. However, realising major organisational change is difficult and many organisations do not obtain the outcomes they desire.
The human side of change management forms an important brain twister in the practice of managing organisations. “If individuals resist change, find ways to sabotage efforts, or become angry or withdrawn, it is unlikely that even the best technology strategies become successful” (Craine, 2007, 44). Change only occurs when the majority of employees change their behaviour or attitudes (Whelan-Berry et al., 2003; Alas, 2007). In this current Masters-thesis study, I will address this problem from the perspectives I have been introduced to during my studies in the fields of psychology and business. In the field of psychology the behaviour of individuals was a focal point, addressing individual behaviour in general (Grey, 1999), motivating employees (Schellekens, 2004) and solving resistance (Kloosterboer & Van de Vliert, 1987). In the field of business, change management was addressed in a broader sense; for example change management within organisations (Beer & Nohria, 2000; Burnes, 2004) and project management (Pinto, 2000). Here, individual contribution of employees was among the many other topics of change management. Moreover, both fields acknowledge the difficulty of managing change and both fields provide their own perspective on managing the people side of change.
1.1 Problem statement & Research question
but this body of knowledge is still developing and more research is required to find better ways of managing the people side of change.
The ultimate goal of managing employees is to make them commit and contribute to the organisation (Christensen, Marx, Stevenson, 2006). Employees have an understanding of the organisation they work for and their role within it, which includes their analysis of what they invest versus gain (i.e. money, development, versus effort, time and expertise). However, the organisation context is subject to change (Santos & Garcia, 2006), and often, organisational goals differ from personal interests and objectives (Aram, 1989). Thus, collisions of interests may occur, making it difficult to integrate employee and organisational interests. The ability to influence employees is a major determinant of managers’ effectiveness (Yukl, Kim, Falbe, 1996).
Under established conditions managing employees within the organisation is a challenge; under conditions of increased volatility and change this challenge advances (Christensen, Marx, Stevenson, 2006). Figure 1 reviews how a manager is responsible for solving collisions between individual interests of employees and organisational interests in change situations. Moreover, under conditions of change it is all about getting people to conform to new ways of doing things, new ways of seeing themselves, their roles and
Figure 1. The management challenge
interactions with others inside and outside the organisation (Sinclair, 1994) and redefining how, if at all, their personal interests will be met. Thus, we have to be aware of the influences that cause people to see change issues in different ways and the analysis of problems related to these (Sinclair, 1994). Although it is acknowledged that managing employees under conditions of change is more complex than usual (Christensen, Marx,
Stevenson, 2006) and that employees have interests that have to be integrated with organisation interests (Aram, 1989), few works have addressed the interrelation between individual and organisational interests with respect to change management. Moreover, a framework to help managers understand the challenge they face and to find ways of dealing with this challenge was not found.
In order for managers to benefit from understanding the challenge to manage individual versus organisational interests in change situations, it should lead to insight in concrete activities and actual skills. Although, such a framework presenting management skills and activities is missing, valuable insights towards developing such a framework are offered by the field of business (Beer & Nohria, 2000; Burnes, 2004; Ivanchevic & Matteson, 1999;) as well as the field of psychology (Cummings & Pierce, 1996; Schellekens, 2004). Here, the business perspective generally stresses the interests of the collective organisation, focusing on structures of organisations and the processes and financial aspects of managing organisations. The psychological perspective stresses interests of the individual, focusing on aspects such as motivating people, development, coaching, interpersonal relationships and social dynamics. Although the value of combining both perspectives is acknowledged by several researchers (Volberda, 1996; Beer & Nohria, 2000), applying both perspectives to clarify the management challenge and formulating the management repertoire just described, has not yet been done.
This problem resulted in the following research question, which will be subject of my master thesis:
Here, it is not only my intention to describe such a management repertoire, but also investigate why it is that managing individuals towards organisational goals under conditions of change is more difficult, than under conditions that are more stable. This practical question fits an MBA master-thesis by taking a practical approach towards the managers’ role within the realisation of organisational change.
What does the management repertoire consist of that can help managers to fulfil
1.2 Research goals
The focus of the current study will be the management challenge to direct individual employees towards organisation interests. I will consider this investigation successful if the following goals are realised.
Firstly, the current study aims to contribute to the body of knowledge about managing the people side of change. Currently, there are many works on this topic, but the persistence of the struggle to manage the people side of change gives me a desire to develop people management insights. I will approach this problem from a management perspective, focusing on the management task to manage the individual within the organisation.
Secondly and more specifically, I want to gain insight into the complexity of individual versus organisational interests under conditions of change. I will review existing literature on both individual and organisational interests, aiming to develop a view on how those interests relate to and why change situations make managing this challenge more difficult. In a later stage, perspectives of managers will be sought to verify and substantiate theoretical findings with practical findings.
A third goal will be to develop a management repertoire that will present concrete skills and behaviours managers can apply when managing individuals in change situations. In order to achieve this goal I will investigate how managers can direct and manage individual employees versus the organisational collective. Here, I will first review literature on how influencing works from a behavioural perspective. Next, I will review management literature, distilling principles for my management repertoire. Also here, management perspectives will be sought to compliment my theoretical findings.
A fifth goal is personal. During my studies of Work and Organisational Psychology and MBA, I have been introduced to two fields of study that focus on different aspects of organisational life. I have long believed that both fields are compatible and combining them can be useful. By successfully combining both with respect to the management challenge, I will prove there is a synergy of both fields. For an overview of the research goals, see text-box 1.
Text-box 1: overview research goals 1.3 Overview of this study
This chapter has provided a problem statement and scope of this research. Chapter two provides a view on the complexity of the management challenge to integrate interests of the organisation and employees. Chapter three focuses on how managers can deal with the challenge, resulting in a management repertoire of directing people under conditions of change. These views will serve as a basis for interviews. Moreover in chapter four, I will introduce the method that allows me to investigate how managers in practice comment on the issues elaborated. Findings will be presented in chapter five. Chapter six will consist of a reflection on my findings, limitations of the study and recommendations for future research.
To contribute to the body of knowledge of change management
To gain insight in the complexity of individual versus organisational interests
under conditions of change
To develop a management repertoire to direct and manage individuals in the
Situations of change that is recognised by managers in the practice
To contribute to society and the effectiveness and well being of managers and
employees
2. THE CHALLENGE TO INTEGRATE INTERESTS
When managing individuals towards the organisational goal, managers have to find a way of making individuals accept what is set out for the organisation. This sometimes means that employees have to do things that are not directly in their interest. The current chapter focuses on clarifying the interests of the organisation and employees, and investigating the manifestation of conflict of interests and complexity of the challenge under conditions of change. Furthermore, manifestations of conflict of interests will be presented.
2.1 Realising organisational interests
An important management responsibility is to realise the organisation’s interest. Managers have to answer to shareholders, achieve quality, and make profit. But what interests are at the core of what is good for the organisation? It is important for managers to be aware of these interests in order to fulfil their challenge. In literature, three organisation interests or ‘needs’ were found namely: the need for continuity, the need to have a dedicated workforce and the need to effectively interact with the environment.
A first and basic organisational interest is the need for continuity and survival. According to literature on business, organisations are built to create value in their marketplace (Kotler & Armstrong, 2005) and strive for ongoing organisational success. For many organisations, success means making profit. For other organisations, for example those that serve the public interests and receive funding from government, this means meeting budget requirements. Stagnation of value creation is often costly in that resources go wasted, customers fail to get the standard of quality they expect and potential productions are not met (Dale, 2003). Thus, in situations of change continuity of processes is required, complicating many change efforts, because until the new practices are reality, the old reality needs to be sustained (Pinto, 2000). Overall, managers’ actions should be dedicated to the organisation’s survival and continuity, and focus on the value proposition of the organisation.
organisational existence is possible. An important implication of this dependency is that employee interests are indirectly at the interest of the organisation. As a consequence the organisation needs to meet employee interests and for example offer salaries and pleasant working conditions. Here it is in the organisation’s interest to engage and motivate employees at a low cost. For, what is not invested in attracting and committing valuable employees can be invested in other parts of the organisation. Work unions are in place as a counter balance to the organisation force, protecting the interest of the collective (Aram, 1989). Moreover, this organisation interest confirms that the managers’ focus should include the organisation’s workforce as well as the organisation’s interests.
A third interest includes the need to deal effectively with the external environment. Organisations do not operate in a vacuum but function in an open system (Burnes, 2004) and have to effectively manage customer demands, competition and technologies (Beer & Nohria, 2000), regulations, governmental laws, quality expectations, and public image (Santos & Garcia, 2006). Thus, managers’ actions should facilitate the organisation to meet the standards, needs and requirements of its environment (Ivanchevich & Matteson, 1999). For example, in times where environmental developments and human rights are important, organisations are required to take these developments into consideration. Importantly, the standards, needs and requirements within the open system change. Moreover, this organisation interests explains the need to manage and direct people to adapt and anticipate to demands from outside as well as inside the organisation.
In conclusion, organisations have three important interests. These interests provide managers with a context to manage and direct their employees. Organisations need to consider interests of its workforce, although the interests of the organisation prevail over interests of individual employees. At the same time, because the constraints and requirements within the organisational context change, organisations have to adapt. Change is thus an indirect organisational interest that sets a context for the workforce. Furthermore, it is assumed that change initiatives are in line with the organisational interests of survival. For an overview of the organisational interests, see text-box 2.
Text-box 2: Organisational interests 2.2 Employee interests
Dedication of the organisation’s workforce is not a matter of course. In order to manage employees towards the organisational goal, it is important to motivate employees and offer a work context in which they can achieve their personal goals (Schellekens, 2004). Without motivation, people will not help and cooperate to change efforts and the effort goes nowhere (Kotter, 2000). Dirks, Cummings and Pierce (1996) distinguish three particular interests that guide individuals to further some goals and avoid others: the need for self-enhancement, self-continuity, and control and efficacy.
Firstly, individuals actively seek situations that secure their self-preservation and survival and avoid situations that do not (Fiske & Taylor, 1991). These interests are what Maslov (1943) refers to as physiological, safety and social components. Concrete examples of these interests with respect to work are fair salary and secondary working conditions, safe and pleasant working conditions, feelings of belonging to the organisation, social contacts and pleasant interactions, and job security (Schellekens, 2004). The sense of belonging explains that people accept interests of collective entities such as organisations and society (Aram, 1989). Managers should provide a fair salary (Jensen, 2000), facilitating unity amongst (sub-) groups of the organisation (Kotter, 2000), and offering a sense of job security and continuity to the employees (Wirth, 2004). Whether or not the change conflicts
Organisational interest
with the need of self-preservation depends on whether the change leads to, for example, job loss.
A second individual interest refers to experiencing a sense of control and self-efficacy. People have a need for appreciation by themselves and by others. Maslow (1943) and Bandura (1977) described self-efficacy as an important motivational force, which is strongly linked to job performance and job satisfaction (Judge & Buono, 2001). Concrete examples with respect to work are feelings of being competent and having the knowledge, skills and expertise to perform well, positive and constructive feedback, respect, trust, status (Schellekens, 2004), responsibility and control over the activities and tasks they have to perform (Treville & Antonakis, 2002). At the one hand, this interest suggests a preference for more stable situations rather than unpredictable and changing situations (Dirks, Cummings & Pierce, 1996). At the other hand, managers can improve a person’s sense of control and efficacy through involvement, providing employees with trust, responsibility and the information needed to oversee work situations (Spencer & Mountford, 1997). Other findings suggest that in situations where employees believe they are able to meet changes of the new situation and can sustain certain levels of control, they are less likely to resist the change effort (Tan & Tjong, 2005). Thus, whether or not this interest conflicts with change depends on features of the change and of how the change process is managed.
challenging and encouraging circumstances that encourage learning and development (Alas, 2007).
In sum, employees have three important interests that motivate them (see text-box 3). The ‘employee interest’-view suggests that managers need to consider employee interests with respect to what they are trying to achieve (i.e. change). Change is not only a mean towards realising organisation interests, but at times change conflicts with the employees’ interests. The degree to which employees can fulfil their personal interests can be influenced by managers, who can thus influence employees’ dispositions towards change. The following section zooms in on employee dispositions towards change in relation to their interests.
Employee interests
self-preservation control / self-efficacy self-enhancement Fair salary, secondary
conditions
Safe / pleasant working conditions
Feelings of belonging, pleasant interactions Job security / continuity
Being competent / skilful / expert Responsibility Receiving positive
feedback / respect / trust Status / appreciation Stability Contribute to society Creative and challenging work Personal growth / development Promotions
Text-box 3: employee interests 2.3 Employee dispositions towards change
Change elicits different responses, varying from constructive to resisting. Literature on motivation and emotion explains how people develop short-term goals and interests within long-term goal-paths (Raynor, 1969). Schellekens (2004) states that emotions are evaluations of perceptions, experiences and expectations that value things that happen to a person with respect to personal goals. Moreover when managers confront their employees with the requirement to change, people are likely to have positive dispositions towards change if they see a way of furthering their interests, neutral if the change doesn’t affect their interests and people are likely to have negative disposition towards change if their perceive change as a threat to their personal interests. According to literature on power tactics, three types of employee responses are recognised (Yukl, 1990): commitment, compliance and resistance.
Commitment is a desirable outcome of management influence because of the trust and emotional pledge that it engenders (Green, 1999). According to employee interests, change is likely to meet commitment if interests that are relevant to a certain employee are enhanced or respected by the change. This in line with findings of Yukl, Kim, Falbe, (1996) who state that commitment occurs when the target person agrees internally with the action or decision, is enthusiastic about it and is likely to exercise initiative and demonstrate unusual effort and persistence in order to carry out the request successfully. In situations of change, commitment is associated with management approaches that take time to introduce the change, to convince people of the goals and therefore the need to change (Bruins, 1999). Responses relating to commitment are contribution and acceptance (Craine, 2007).
the continuation of which depends on successful surveillance of the target by the agent (Bruins, 1999).
Resistance occurs when the target person is opposed to the requested action and tries to avoid doing it by refusing, arguing, delaying, or seeking to have the request nullified (Yukl, Kim, Falbe, 1996). When people perceive potential threat of their personal agenda’s, they are likely to become defensive (Dirks, Cummings & Pierce, 1996). Jobs may be on the line and people may experience insecurity as to whether they will be able to fulfil the new job requirements (Invanchevic & Matteson, 1991). Conflict of interests manifests itself in resistance to the perceived cause of conflict. According to Craine (2007) non-contributing reactions at different stages of a change are: shock, denial, anger, frustration and sabotage. Bennebroek Gravenhorst (2008) describes four ways of resistance: fighting, denying, fleeing and waiting. Here, in situations of flight, people may call in ill, retreat in their offices or even change jobs. Fighting is an aggressive form of resistance; openly opposing the change and forming coalitions with other ‘resisters’. Denial includes activities such as ignoring and doubting the need for change. Waiting is the most difficult to recognise; it takes time to recognise passiveness, failing deadlines and waiting for instructions.
Thus, compliance, resistance and commitment are three common employee responses to change and management behaviour. Literature suggests that managers can in certain cases influence their employees’ perceptions of the change by developing the change process and thus their employees’ dispositions. Both the classical and the alternative view on resistance connect with the conflict of change with certain employee interest. At times, resistance cannot be avoided, but focusing on the opportunities and options to facilitate employee interests offers implications for a management repertoire. 2.4 Factors complicating the management challenge
Although a clear overview of personal interests can be found, personal differences exist according to what motivates people (Maslow, 1943). People have personal characteristics and circumstances and have varying degrees of psychological ownership towards their work. These aspects complicate the management challenge to integrate organisation interests and employee interests.
Personal characteristic and circumstances. People have different approaches to life, and have different emotions, motives and styles of thinking and behaving (Gray, 1999). These aspects help explain why some people embrace change and others are fearful of it (Ivanchevic & Matteson, 1999). These authors state how demographics such as age, gender and cultural background determine the behaviours people choose and how strongly personal interests are at jeopardy. A person that is just starting a career and has no relationship and is not attached to a job-location may view change differently from a father with children of school age. Prior exposure to unsuccessful change may have caused people to build up a resistance to change interventions that affect their reactions (Sinclair, 1994). Also personality affects how people experience change; some people are more prone to stress and defensive behaviour than others due to personality traits such as neuroticism and low open mindedness (Kompier, 1999). Thus, the impact of change on employees depends on the personal situation and the personality of employees.
develop habits and ways of doing their jobs that fit with the company culture and their own personal interests and abilities. According to literature on psychological ownership, employees experience feelings of ownership towards their organisation, their jobs and functions (Dirks, Cummings & Pierce, 1996). Also here, personal differences and circumstances determine the degree of identification with the organisation. The more people identify with the organisation, the stronger their emotional response to change (Dirks, Cummings & Pierce, 1996).
2.5 Summary
Based on the literature, I found different interests of employees and organisations. Under conditions of change, conflicts of interests seem common but not inevitable. Overall, in situations where personal interests are being challenged, employee reservations are understandable. Employees, who identify with, invest in and contribute to the organisation, are due to external or internal forces encouraged to give up personal interests or redefine the way their interests are being met. Thus, I formulate the management challenge as follows: “to position and present organisation interests as a context that allows for employee interests, in a way that facilitates commitment of employees to change”. Figure 2 shows how the manager needs to balance pressures of interests of the organisation and employees. Here, personal characteristics, circumstances and identification with the organisation complicate the management challenge.
Figure 2: The challenge to manage interests
Organisation Interests:
Survival, continuity, committed workforce, managing environment
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3. AN APPROACH TOWARDS INTEGRATING INTERESTS
The current chapter focuses on how managers can deal with the challenge. I will approach this question reviewing literature on power tactics of managers, resistance to change and more general literature on change management and motivation. Thus, I bring together different views and approaches towards managing and directing employees. 3.1 Outcomes of influencing employees
Managers have a variety of influence tactics at their disposal (Emans & Bouwmeester, 1997; Yukl, 1990). Three influence strategies that can be applied to influence behaviour of organisation-members are: power strategies, rational empirical strategies and normative-re-educative strategies (Chin & Benne, 1969). Emans and Bouwmeester (1997) propose a fourth strategy, referring to a political incremental strategy.
Firstly, power strategies refer to coercion, pressure and legitimate power tactics (Yukl & Tracey, 1992), which is often associated with resistance (Green, 1999). Simply imposing the organisation interests on employees is associated with drastic, enforced and/or subtractive change, which is likely to meet resistance (Dirks, Cummings & Pierce, 1996). Compliance with requests and objectives is one of three potential outcomes that apply to situations where an employee believes a manager can personally affect his or her status or remuneration, or because the employee accepts the manager as an authority that she or he has to comply with (Green, 1999). Undesirable side effects of coercion are anxiety and resentment, which make it a tricky tactic to apply in change situations (Green, 1999).
Thirdly, normative re-educative strategies refer to consultation and inspirational appeals (Emans & Bouwmeester, 1997). The alternative change approach argues that involvement of different stakeholder and valuing employees leads to employee commitment (Bennebroek Gravenhorst & in ‘t Veld, 2003). Green (1999) found that in situations where the target admires or identifies with the agent and wants her or his approval, they are more likely to commit to certain goals.
Fourthly, besides these front-stage strategies, Emans and Bouwmeester (1997) add a description of more subtle back-stage behaviour, which refers to influencing tactics such as coalition forming, ingratiation and personal appeals. Although this strategy proves useful in influencing employees, it is sometimes perceived taboo or unethical behaviour (Burnes, 2004).
The review of these influence strategies shows that all can contribute to the success of change. However, to encourage and facilitate employee contribution and prevent undesirable responses towards organisational interests and thus change, subtly influencing employees, informing them and convincing them seem preferable tactics over coercive strategies.
3.2 The management repertoire
Managing employees towards the organisation’s interests has two foci: firstly, the employee interests and personal responses when employees experience a possible threat of those interests and secondly, the organisational interests indicating a need for providing direction and commitment to change. Moreover, over the course of a change process, a manager needs to shift between these two foci. Thus, reviewing literature on skills and means towards influencing employees under conditions of change I distinguished three themes. Together, these themes lead to ten management principles.
Envisioning & convincing. Firstly, according to Cunningham, et al. (2002) readiness for change starts with convincing a person to see the benefits of change. This makes employees more likely to find solutions to challenges and experience less stress or negative motions (Tan & Tiong, 2005). An important way of influencing what happens is through verbal and non-verbal information exchange (Schellekens, 2004). Here it is required that employees and manager have a common language and reference system that activates the relevant thoughts and goals within employees. Having a clear vision and clear focus on the organisation facilitates such a frame of reference (Collins & Porras, 1994), promotes team spirit (Tan & Tiong, 2005) and helps to apply the organisation’s resources in a consistent way (Cummings & Worley, 1994). Thus, managers need to explain the vision of the organisation and change (Wirth, 2004). This will help the employee to regain an understanding of the context of organisational interests in which (s)he will (re-)define their roles and task that will further embed the change.
Firm & directive. A second principle refers to being a firm leader. Namely, if changes or requests are perceived unpleasant, insignificant or detrimental to one’s work, the chances of convincing an employee are slim (Yukl, Kim, Falbe, 1996). Sinclair (1994) argues that convinced participation in change situations is not always realistic. Alternatively, he argues that reprisals and coercion should be used to deal with those who are damaging the change effort or causing programs to stall or defy the organisations interest. Other authors argue for mild pressure with respect to goal-commitment, stating that coercion is dysfunctional (Andrews & Farris, 1972). Burnes, (2004) argues that it is impossible to change employee behaviour whilst ignoring the work context that enables employees to sustain their current routines, which are embedded in their working context and conditions ways of doing things.
change to occur, the more likely it is that new information will be ignored or misunderstood (Schein, 1999; Wirth, 2004). Duplication of messages and the conveying of the same message in different forms is often needed (Sinclair, 1994).
Relying & Involving. A fourth principle is to be reliable and involved. Managers need to communicate that they value their employees highly (Nelson & Burns, 2005) and have faith in the local rationality of individual departments, maximising competences in every level of the organisation (Voldebert & van den Bosch, 2005). Participation and involvement benefit both employees and the organisation. Employees get a clearer understanding of the change (Schellekens, 2004) and feel ownership towards the change and the change process (Dirks, Cummings & Pierce, 1996). Organisations benefit from the stronger commitment of employees and the quality of decisions and plans increase (Schellekens, 2004). Spencer and Mountford (1997) state, that employees are more likely to accept major changes when they are involved. Different types of involvement and the “pay offs” of becoming involved have to be released in order to attract a wide variety of individuals within the organisation. (Sinclair 1994).
In sum, manager takes the direction and intention of the organisation into consideration. Main focus of this theme is the management of organisational interests. Text-box 4 summarises the principles of this theme.
Text-box 4.
The second theme ‘managing personal interests’ works on the premise that change elicits emotional responses; from the announcement of the change, throughout the process until at least some degree of stability has been regained, people will be receptive to possible consequences for their personal interest. Schellekens (2004) states that conflict of interests is likely to elicit negative emotions because of the potential disturbance of goal-paths. Furthermore, people career-path / plans / perspectives require (re-) evaluation to see whether their interests are still met. If managers have concern for
Principles of managing organisation interests
1. Be envisioning & convincing 2. Be firm & directive
the well being and performance of their employees, it is essential for managers to acknowledge these effects and have principles that reflect these considerations.
Sensitive to emotional responses. A fifth principle is that managers need to be sensitive to signs of resistance (Bennebroek Gravenhorst, 2008) and how change impacts on different employees (Sinclair, 1994). A manager who knows what the attributes, perceptions and mental abilities of employees are as well as how variables influence performance is in a better position to make optimal decisions (Ivanchevic & Matteson, 1999). Moreover, if persons are to influence each other, they must be in a position to identify what is salient to the other party’s perspective and behaviour (Triandis, 1967 in” Pettigrew, 1975) Thus, when a person is able to anticipate that different groups of people have varying sets of needs, expectations and group affiliations, this person is more likely to develop positive feelings in the perceptions of relevant others (Pettigrew, 1975).
Supporting and constructive. A sixth principle is that besides being sensitive, managers need to be supportive and constructive, facilitating a positive atmosphere. Moreover, managers should remain calm, offering “a warm blanket”, support, and allowing people let off steam when people are shocked or upset (Craine, 2007). It is important that a manager, besides accepting people’s first shock, facilitates personal interests acknowledging people’s concerns and reservations, and encouraging them. Employees are more likely to change their attitudes in a pleasant and enjoyable work setting, for example with supportive co-workers, comfortable working conditions and promotion opportunities (Ivanchevic & Matteson, 1999). Support and constructive attitudes will create an atmosphere where people feel safe, this addresses people’s need for self-preservation.
of employees and help employees to figure out what the concrete consequences of the change are. This is likely to contribute to interests of control because people regain an understanding of their span of control, feel that a trusted party will look after them and regain a level of self efficacy.
Clear & informative. An eighth principle is to facilitate clarity. Clear information about what behaviour is expected, what will happen and to what degree employees are involved in organisational activities helps employees to overcome resistance and deal with change (Mourier & Smith, 2001; Bennebroek Gravenhorst, 2003; Leppitt, 2006). Greer (2006) stresses the significance of clear, well-documented project plans, accurate estimates of resource requirements, and accurate information. Employees should be aware of how things are going and feedback should be provided in terms of positive reinforcement, compliments and small ways of celebrating success; are all related to change success (Mourier & Smith, 2001). Key is to help employees to regain a sense of control and security, by managing expectations and clarifying the choices available (Spencer & Mountford, 1997) and when possible offer job security, (Ivanchevic & Matteson, 1999).
In sum, it is very important that a manager takes the emotional responses and personal consequences of employees into consideration. Main focus of this theme is the management of personal interests. Text-box 5 summarises the principles of this theme.
Text-box 5.
The third theme ‘integrating interests’ works on the premise that managers need to know when to give priority to certain principles. Furthermore, at different situations during the change a manager needs to apply different principles. Thus, two crucial skills seem vital to make all the above happen: a sense of timing and a realistic self-view.
Sensitive to timing. A ninth principle refers to being sensitive to timing. Emotions that individuals experience are likely to change at different moments of a change process (Bennebroek Gravenhorst, 2008; Craine, 2007). In situations of drastic change, employees’ comfort-zones are disrupted resulting in denial and shock where employees
Principles of managing personal interests
5. Be sensitive to emotional responses 6. Be supporting & constructive
require at least some adaptation time (Craine, 2007). Next, employees become aware of the personal consequences of the change, which elicits different emotional responses (Fiske & Taylor, 1991). In the third stage, employees start looking forward as Craine (2007, 46) argues: “people must be allowed to reflect and discover their own view about their roles in the change and how they can make it successful”. With respect to personal interests, this stage is where employees evaluate and try to redefine how their personal interests can be met. Towards the final stage people get on board and commit and develop themselves towards the new future. According to Craine (2007) people now become excited and ready to implement and contribute to change. Overall, with respect to a sense of timing, an interesting observation was described by Bennebroek Gravenhorst (2008) stating that the person who initiates a change had time to get used to the idea of change and should consider this when expecting other people to take part in the change. But it was also recognised that firm action is sometimes needed. Thus, managers need to take the time factor into consideration, and at times be patient towards employees, but also at times push the change forward to sustain momentum (Lepitt, 2006).
Realistic self-view With respect to the tenth principle, it seems unrealistic to expect one person to juggle all aspects just introduced. Especially when realising that the above is only a review of the many works on related topics. Moreover, for a manager to recognise what he or she is good at and get (external) help when needed is crucial. Furthermore, personal circumstances, interests and personality influence how managers approach and perceive their employees (Ivanchevic & Matteson, 1999). From this angle, self-reflection is needed to be aware of these personal factors and take them into consideration in making decisions and approaching employees. Text-box 6 presents a collection of these two principles.
Text-box 6. Supporting principles
3.3 Summary
After having explored the management challenge and interests of organisations and employees, my concurrent literature review brought forward numerous themes and points of attention that managers need to consider. In summary, in my view it is important that managers have a three-way focus: 1. to have an understanding of the position of employees in situations of change and consider their emotions, 2. to value employees and convince them of the organisation interests and need to change, and 3. to have principles that help them apply the other principles.
The principles of this overview form a framework that managers can apply to solve the management challenge. Moreover, it helps managers to position and present organisation interests as a context that allows for employee interests, in a way that facilitates commitment of employees to change. Figure 3 summarises my theoretical findings, showing the management challenge, with the organisational interests, the interests of employees and the ten principles of the management repertoire.
Figure 3. The management challenge. Organisational
Change
Change Effectiveness Managing organisation interest
1. Envisioning & convincing 2. Firm & directive
3. Specific & concise 4. Relying & Involving
Managing individual interests
8. Sensitive to resistance & interests 6. Supportive & constructive
7. Coaching & confident leader 8. Clear & reliable
Integrating interests
9. Be sensitive to timing
10. Be aware of one’s self
Integration of interests Organisation / Employee Organisational interest
Survival and continuity Committed workforce Effectively managing the
4. METHODOLOGY
The focus of the current chapter is the design of the empirical part of this investigation. I have developed a theoretical view on the management repertoire that can help managers to fulfil their management challenge. In the following sections I will justify my methodology and present the procedures that are suitable to meet the goals of this research.
My theoretical framework offers a useful basis for an exploratory study. The goal of this exploratory study is firstly, to examine whether my representation of the management challenge and the concurrent management repertoire is valuable for managers in the field of change management. Moreover, I will verify whether the management challenge is recognised and offers a useful way of looking at managing people towards organisational interests under conditions of change. Secondly, I will collect practical illustrations of behaviours and interventions with respect to the management challenge.
4.1 Semi-structured interviews
Semi-structured interviews will be held to collect qualitative data for this research. Practical information is needed that will provide an insight into how practitioners view the management challenge and its complexity, and what interventions and behaviours relate to managing employees towards organisation interests under conditions of change. Interviewing is a method that is particularly suitable to gain insight in unique and complex situations (Baarda & de Goede, 1997). Performing semi-structured interviews will provide the opportunity to collect deeper reflections of the participants on the questions asked and investigate their insights and points of view.
semi-structured interviews will provide me with practical descriptions, evaluations and illustrations of the challenge, what it consists of and how it is to be dealt with.
Text-box 7. 4.2 Selection of practitioners
Interviews were held with managers and management consultants that have expertise related to managing employees and organisational change. Here managers have first hand experience with managing employees and organisational change. Management consultants are expected to contribute valuable information because it is their role to consult managers and reflect on management performance in situations of change.
Table 1: Sample description practitioners.
Position Sector Change Age M/F
1 Interim-manager Healthcare Process 55+ M
2 Master of board care house chain Healthcare Merger / Culture 55+ M
3 Director care house Healthcare Restructuring 40-45 M
4 Channel development manager Tele-company
Retail Process 45-50 M
5 Head department Oncology Healthcare Culture / Process 45-50 M
6 District manager CWI Public Process 45-50 F
7 Region director work-union Public Downscaling 40-45 M 8 Director care house Healthcare Culture / process 55+ F 9 Head department facilities care
house
Healthcare Process / merger 35-40 F
10 Director College Public Culture / process 50-55 M
11 Director Bank Financial Merger / process 55+ M
12 Director Envelope company Commercial Process 45-50 F 13 Unit Manager Mortgage /
Insurance
Financial Merger 35-40 F
14 Management consultant Public Culture / process 40-45 M 15 Director department Public Restructuring /
Culture
45-50 F
16 Manager Gas Transports Commercial Lay-off 40-45 M
17 Management consultant Public Restructuring 50-55 F
18 Management consultant Financial Process 35-40 M
Goals of semi-structured interviews with practitioners: Verify and examine the management challenge
Moreover, they are assumed to have a professional view on the issues presented and the management repertoire. I have strived to achieve a balance between female and male participants, participants working in different industries and reported on different types of change, so that a broad view will be developed. It is expected that both type of participants will provide valuable information from different perspectives that complement each other. Table 1 shows a sample description of the practitioners.
Access to managers was realised through my personal network. Relations were tested on the following criteria: having a management role that includes supervision of people and having experience of organisational change. Twenty-two potential participants were approached via e-mail, providing a short description of the research and input requested from the potential participant. As a result, fourteen managers and four management consultants participated in the study. Interview meetings were generally arranged via e-mail and telephone. In order to save the respondents’ time and make participation more convenient, the interviews were held at a location of their choice.
4.3 Procedure & interview scheme
The interview scheme was tested on one manager, who has wide expertise in organisational change and evaluated by my supervisor, and amended to improve clarity before being employed in this study. Some personal and demographic data was obtained (Table 1). Managers were asked about their position within the organisation, a short description of the organisation, a change they managed and gender. During the interviews, the funnel questioning technique was applied encouraging participants to give free answers (King, 2000). This helped me to gain broad insights in perspectives and ideas in the practice, rather than only evaluating my approach and the management repertoire derived from literature. Further probing was employed to identify underlying mechanisms of interview answers. Since my approach and management repertoire may not cover all elements relevant to our participants’ experience, space was left for contribution of participants.
Meetings were tape-recorded, after obtaining a participant’s approval. During the interviews, I made notes of the conversation. In situations where I could not keep up with the conversation, I noted the time, which allowed me to retrieve that moment from the tape. I reported my notes into a data-file, within 24 hours, so I had the interview fresh in my memory. I coded the information and ordered the data according to the themes of the management repertoire.
4.4 Content analysis
The research-approach ‘thematic analysis’ suits the goals of my research. The thematic analysis (Baarda & de Goede, 1997) consists of firstly collecting perspectives and insights that relate to the themes the interviewer brings forward. Secondly, further probing is performed to seek for themes that are not included in the questioning, but that are still relevant to the issues addressed. This approach provides the opportunity to verify, explore and collect practical information on the issues I addressed, as well as the opportunity to propose additions to the management repertoire I have elaborated in chapter two and three.
model was developed to illustrate how people generate goal-hierarchies, where lower-order behavioural goals are used to work, and evaluate progress, towards higher-order conceptual goals. Higher-order goals refer to system concepts of what or who a person wants to be, i.e. ideal self, and principles that support that ideal self. Lower-order goals refer to programs, or do-goals, and sequences of actual behaviours, which support the higher-order goals. This way of perceiving conceptual thinking and behaviour offers a valuable mean to realise research goal to gain insight in the behaviours of managers and the concrete underlying principles and intentions.
Figure 2 illustrates how this model can be applied to examine the management repertoire. The system concept I am addressing in this study is ‘being a good change manager’. One of the principles of the theoretical management repertoire is to ‘be sensitive to emotional responses’. This principle leads to the do-goals ‘understand employee perceptions’ and ‘understand employee interests’. Concrete action sequences resulting from these programs are to ‘listen to employee concerns’ and to ‘empathise’.
Figure 2: Based on hierarchical feedback-loop-model (Carver & Schreier, 1999). Thus, the statements and principles brought forward by practitioners during the interviews can be classified in the hierarchical feedback-loop-model. Furthermore, I will be able to count the frequency with which certain principles and programs are brought forward by the practitioners. These frequencies will give an indication of the salience of certain principles and underlying programs.
Principles / be-goals:
Programs / do-goals:
Sequences / illustrations:
System concept of ideal self: Being a good manager
5. RESULTS
In presenting my practical findings, I will follow the outline of my interview scheme and theoretical model. A first goal of the data analysis concerned the theoretical viewpoint of this study on the management challenge. Thus, I compared interests reported by the practice with interests resulting from theory. Next, the complexity of the challenge with respect to change was investigated and the position managers took in prioritising interests of the organisation versus employees. In combination, this information offers a basis for drawing conclusions on the verification and examination of the theoretical management challenge. Included text boxes provide an overview of the key findings per section.
The second and third goal of the data analysis concerned evaluation of the management repertoire and the collection of deeper reflections and illustrations of how participants deal with the management challenge. Participants of my study all presented an impressive amount of data concerning the theoretical management repertoire. The hierarchical feedback-loop model allowed me to categorise this practical data. I was able to classify the statements of the interviews according to the ten principles of my theoretical management repertoire and substantiate them with subsequent programs and illustrations. Also I identified one extra principle.
5.1 Complexity of the management challenge
With respect to organisation interests, I found interests reported by respondents generally consistent with the theory. Where I formulated survival and continuity, the practitioners mentioned nine statements that could be classified as the interests for continuity / survival, one statement referring to continuity to offer people a life-time job and one statement where continuity was described in terms of staying independent. Also finance was an important aspect, be it in terms of revenue, budget or stakeholder interest. With respect to a committed workforce, the practitioners reported being dependent on their knowledge and dedication to facilitate continuity and survival. Effectively managing the environment can be recognised in the client interest and to fulfil a role in society, but was not explicitly reported. See table 2 for an overview of findings on organisational interests.
Organisational interest: X*
Survival and continuity 9
Finance (i.e. revenue, meeting budget requirements, stakeholder interest)
15 Offering people a lifetime job 1
Staying independent 1
Dependence on committed workforce 14 Effectively managing the environment
- Meeting client interests 5
Fulfilling a role in society 3 * X = Number of statements illustrating interest.
Table 2: Statements on organisational interests.
Taking a closer look at the interests mentioned I recognised how practitioners had different foci. For example, one organisation had a particular focus on people, stating that three interests were: continuity of the business (being a constant employer and towards market), the people (being very important, offering safe and pleasant work environment, and profit (to be shared with the people; a mean for continuity). Another manager stated: stakeholder interest and being the best in their market, continuity for clients and the workforce. Managers seem to have a broad awareness of what the general organisational
interests are. Generally managers were structured in their response, suggesting that they were aware of the organisation interests they served. In conclusion, the theoretical viewpoint on organisational interests is recognised by the practice and managers have a clear understanding of the organisation interests they serve, reporting and illustrating them in structured ways.
With respect to employee interests, practitioners mentioned large amounts of principles and illustrations. Although never explicitly reported, self-preservation was strongly represented in the reports of participants, with the following secondary interests standing out: feelings of belonging / enjoying social contacts, fair salary, job security / feel safe and stability / continuity. The interest control / self-efficacy was reported five times.
* X = Number of statements illustrating interest. Table 3: Statements on employee interests.
Here secondary needs were: being competent / skilful, receive positive feedback, respect, trust, status and control and influence what you do. Interests relating to self-enhancement /
Employee interests X*
Self-preservation 3
Feelings of belonging / social contacts 11
Fair salary 10
Job security / feel safe 7
Stability / continuity 13
Work/ life balance 2
Control / self-efficacy 5
Being competent /skilful 8 Receive positive feedback, trust, status 10 Control and influence on what you do 7 Self-enhancement / self-esteem 7
Doing something useful 9
Personal growth/ development / do challenging work
6
development / do challenging work. Although some managers reported lower- as well as higher-level interests, none of the participants seemed explicitly aware of an interest structure or model as presented by literature. A new secondary interest that was found in the practice: effectively managing private commitments and responsibilities, which effect how people are at work. Thus, an interesting emotion-aspect was illustrated by the following: “People have a personal life that affects how they are at work, if you know what’s going on you can offer support and help”. See table 3 for an overview of findings on employee interests. Interestingly, compared to the organisational interests, practitioners were less structured in their responses, suggesting they had less clear awareness of employee interests they deal with.
Another important aspect of the management challenge was that its complexity increases under conditions of change. This effect was recognised by all practitioners. Relating statements were “Firstly, it is more difficult to keep an overview of the situation and realise what needs doing; secondly, people get upset, insecure and generally find it hard to change, so you have to encourage and convince them”. One manager reported a general response to redundancies as: “S**T, less people, I might be me who has to go, what will happen then? Poor people leaving, I will miss my colleagues; managers have to accept that people have to get used to consequences of change, they will be distracted for a while and performance will temporarily suffer”. In conclusion, according to the practice, change complicates the management challenge because of people’s emotional responses and the complexity of the situation that makes keeping the overview more difficult.
Managers appreciated the value of employee interests, but present these as a long list of needs, rather than in a hierarchical or structured way.
With respect to prioritising the management of conflicting interests, managers generally put the organisation interests over the employee interest. Ways of dealing with this in practice were firstly to personalise organisational interests and secondly, to make people resilient to change. One manager stated: “You have to make people resilient through competent management and focus; make things small and focus on things within your span of control; the well-being of your clients, your targets, how you do your job”. In conclusion, it was clear that the organisational interests prevail over individual ones, but most managers stated that they acknowledged employee interests and considered it a personal responsibility to contribute to employees’ well being and happiness.
5.2 Direction Principles: directing towards organisation interests and change
The first theme of the theoretical management repertoire was to provide employees with direction towards the organisation interests. This was recognised as a crucial part of managing employees. Being more focused on the organisation interests and how to achieve them, this theme is rather rational and directive. It was interesting to see how some managers were ‘visionary’ in their approach: “You need to believe in it yourself; inspire, explain! That visionary thing is very important in order to facilitate employees to contribute”. Other managers are more applied and ‘hands-on’: “Every now and then we get new assignments from the head-office; we sit down to discuss, understand and implement them”. Also here, applying the hierarchical feedback-loop model helped me to classify and present the data in a clear way. Thus, I found the four principles relating to directing employees towards organisational interests and change confirmed and illustrated.
Visionary & convincing. The first principle is to be visionary and convincing.
goals, convince people to accept those goals. Illustrations relating to this principle are; “Show people where it’s going” “you need to inspire your people with the potential of the organisation” “Vision is usually a fantastic story, but it needs to land; become concrete; but that is where the difficulty lays” “When you present the vision everyone cheers and gets excited; then you move on to the personal consequences of things and people go silent... That’s when people start to have reservations and your convincing skills come in” “You have to make people see the point of being people oriented in their care: How long is a nurse in a room? 40 hours a week – max. How long the client? 168 hours. So; it should be the client that determines how things are done” “You have to convince people to give up their personal interests or put them aside, for the collective interests; that of the whole organisation” “Many 1-to-1 conversations, preparation, communication”. In conclusion, being visionary and convincing helps managers to direct and convince people towards change.
Firm & directive. The second principle is to be firm, recognised by all participants. “At some moment the talking-part is over”. Programs related to this principle were: to be decisive, keep direction and show determination. Illustration relating to this principle were: “Besides being gentle and understanding, show you mean business; if people cooperate, reward them; if there are people of who everyone knows; they are no good to the organisation; show the guts to fire them”. “When there are different ways, and that all have their pro’s and con’s, at some point just decide. At other moments you just need to say: ok look, we need two more weeks to gain more information” “It very important to stick to the general direction; it’s easy to go astray and be enthusiastic about things that are related, but not spot on” “Show that you are determined and serious, that you are ready to face with reserves and resistance, offer perspective to those who engage. Dare to direct” “You have to be directive sometimes to break through stubborn resistance; some people just don’t open their eyes; we don’t have forever to make this work.” “It’s not like it’s all ‘give’, there are requirements too; Follow training, prepare, engage, think along. It’s a give and take!”
In conclusion, being firm and directive at times is reported an important principle of managers.
Specific & Concise. The third principle is to be specific and concise. “If you can’t tell them what the precise idea is, they won’t know either”. Related programs are: set clear personal goals, show people’s place in the whole of decision making and practice what you preach. Illustrations are: “Translate the vision to the workers, so everyone knows what to
do” “You need to provide people with a view; sales; targets; bonuses, targets need to be
clear and realistic” “You have to provide information in many possible ways; at lunches, plenary meeting, If presentation doesn’t work; people have to develop a sense of what is important; that develops” “repeat, show different perspectives, the bigger and smaller picture should match” “Take your people seriously, a good manager sets the example, inspires employees to do what needs to be done”. In conclusion, being specific is needed to make people understand and realise what exact expectations are and how to perform their roles and tasks.
Relying & Involving. The fourth principle is to be relying and involving. I found this principle in statements such as “Firstly, there was resistance, but then everyone recognised a part of themselves in the results, and that created a lot of support!” Programs relating to this principle are: organising meetings to discuss change and managing information flows to keep people updated. Illustrations are: “Give people ownership; put them in taskforces, make them responsible for parts of the change and apply their skills towards it; people enjoy it.” “When we implemented a new assessment instrument, we first discussed how a patient could fit in” “We all got together and developed a group assignment which made the process and its pain-points insightful and we discussed those. Everyone was enormously involved and we achieved our target to do the same amount of
2. Being firm and directive showed in being decisive, in keeping track and direction and in showing determination.
communication plan, realise what is interesting for whom.” “A modern company makes sure that it communicates with people at all levels in the organisation and at their level”. In conclusion, the use of involvement is widely recognised in the practice. See table 4 for an overview of the findings regarding the management of organisational interests.
5.3 Emotion principles: managing emotions and personal interests
Reviewing statements of practitioners to get a general feel for the practical perspectives on this theme, I found variations in underlying views on emotions. Some participants perceived emotions more negative and framed it as something that needs to be dealt with. “It’s like at funerals; there is always something people complain about. You shouldn’t take that personally, but accept it as being an expression of their grief and insecurity”. Other participants addressed emotions in a more empathic way. “At once, it is not sure whether you can actually realise the ambitions you had within that company” “People often forget that it is not ‘fun’ to resist; try to help them get over it”. Further analysing the statements, according to the hierarchical feedback-loop model, I found the four principles relating to managing emotions and personal interests confirmed.
Sensitive. The fifth principle, or “be” goal, was to be sensitive. I recognised sensitivity in the general statement: “Know your people and know what’s going on”. Reasons to get a feel for the employees were both tactical “It’s really important to know who’s who; so you can compose teams in ways that balance co-operators and positive resistors” and concerning “I feel responsible for their well being”. Related programs, or “do” goals, were: listening, developing relationships with employees, empathising and being present. Reported behavioural sequences, or illustrations, were: “Just speak with your people, listen to their concerns” “Department X was outsourced. That was hard for them, they were still there, but no longer part of the company” One manager would sit in the
4. Being relying and involving shows in organising meetings to discuss change and in managing information flows to keep people updated
same open office with her employees when possible: “I just sit and work with them. It helps me to build trust and know what is going on and we all enjoy it!” “At some point people were unhappy and insecure about their jobs for a long time and took action themselves; more and more people started looking for other jobs. Then it became a threat for the company. It stopped when my manager guaranteed people would not be relocated for at least two years.” In conclusion, the need to be sensitive and have a feel for personal interests and emotions was recognised.
Supportive & constructive. The sixth principle was to be supportive and constructive, stating things along the lines of: “Change causes insecurity; make your employees feel safe; allow them to learn, make mistakes; offer support”. Programs relating to this principle are: making employees feel safe, tailoring support to employees and facilitating a constructive atmosphere. Reported illustrations were: “Provide a safe environment to your people; they are allowed to practice, learn and make mistakes, be humorous” “Philosophical flimflam? Not for my men! They are practical and just get on with stuff!” “The shock of redundancies was biggest for the people that could stay! Some expected to be sacked and now had to get used to the idea of staying! They were upset for colleagues that were lost. I kept them posted them finding new jobs, that really helped” “I always try to facilitate a positive atmosphere of appreciation; when people have their birthday, are ill, or something, I send cards, order cake, buy little presents for them”. “Make sure you challenge people to their intellect, adapt tasks to what they are able to. What do people want now and in the future?” “People have an ‘ego’ and seek status; think about that and make people compliments, also have function names, promotions, celebrate successes” In conclusion, being constructive and supportive was recognised as necessary responses to people’s concerns and insecurities about personal consequences.
6. Being supportive and constructive showed in making employees feel safe, in tailoring support to employees and in facilitating a constructive atmosphere
