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Implementing Change in the Workplace

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Implementing Change in the Workplace
Implementing Change

Implementing Change

Teri Jefferson

Leadership and Performance Development/HCS 475
October 10, 2011
Victor Gibb

Implementing Change

Change is an ongoing and never ending organizational process. Change is often planned because of conflict between the desired and actual state of affairs. Conflict may arise because of difficulties in reaching performance goals or because new goals have been created (Sullivan & Decker, 2009). Making these changes in the workplace is stressful for everyone involved including the staff, the management, and the consumer. The role of the staff is vital for the change process to be smooth and the staff may be resistant to the changes, causing a systematic breakdown. It is the management’s responsibility to make this transition least traumatic as possible for all parties involved. This paper will discuss the steps management takes to implement change and how management handles staff resistance.
Management’s role and responsibility Management’s role and responsibility when implementing change is to ensure the transition is smooth. The manager needs to be aware of the permanent and never-ending demands that a changing environment has on the staff and the work load and translates the changes to the staff (Porter-O'Grady, 2007). They should be able to distinguish the difference between short-term and sustainable change in order to move effortlessly between responding to appropriate change and implementing the necessary structure. Management also needs to be able to look at the bigger picture and draw from various personal experiences and the work of the organization to make decisions in regard to essential changes and organizational direction. Most importantly a manager needs to be aware of and open to sustainable change in their individual behavior.
Handling staff resistance The staff’s role is the most important part of the change process and being able to deal with any resistance they may have



References: Madani, N., Suzanger, A., Kajbaf, M., Shirin, N., & Kalantarian, M. (2011). Proposing an Optimized Change Management Process by Analyzing ITSM Frameworks. Proceedings of the European Conference on Information Management & Evaluation (pp. 291-299). United Kingdom: Academic Conferences, Ltd. Porter-O 'Grady, T. (2007). Managing for Success in Health Care, 1ed. Manhattan: Elsevier Inc. Sullivan, E. J., & Decker, P. J. (2009). Effective Leadership and Management in Nursing, 7th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall. Sun, A. H. (2010). Breakdowns in Implementing Models of. Academy of Management Perspectives, 58-74.

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