Change Management as a Contemporary Issue Facing Human Resource Managers
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Change Management as a Contemporary Issue Facing Human Resource Managers
Introduction
Human Resource (HR) managers foresee the most crucial components of a successful business organization. The fundamental organizational functions managed by the HR department include recruitment and training of employees, employee compensation, record-keeping, relational support, compliance with labor laws and regulations, and management of explicit performance issues (Pattrick & Mazhar, 2021). These functions are crucial since they ensure that an organization retains a productive and prosperous workforce, contributing to an organization’s success. However, HR managers in the contemporary world face various challenges resulting from increased globalization, change in customer demands, the latest production methods, corporate restructuring, and technological advancements (Nasir, 2017). Therefore, for the HR department to continue contributing significantly to the success of business organizations, HR must tackle and manage these challenges. One of the challenges facing HR in the contemporary world is change management. This paper explores the issue of change management and proposes practical solutions to deal with it. First, the paper discusses the concepts of change management to give the reader a background of the research topic. It then discusses the role of HR in change management. Further, challenges faced by HR during change management are discussed. Lastly, potential solutions to address the challenges of change management faced by HR are presented.
The concept of Change Management
Technology innovation, global integration of economies, shifting socio-cultural norms, and changing consumer patterns have made the 21st century a more challenging environment for organizations to operate in (Goksoy, 2015). To prosper in an ever-changing environment and swiftly adjust to the highly competitive business environments, organizations need to continuously change through evaluating, revising, and restructuring their organizational policies, thus partaking in organizational change (Çolakoğlu et al., 2016). Organizational change refers to the continuous renovation of a firm’s structure, capabilities, and direction to meet customers’ changing needs (Anyieni et al.,2016). Since companies are inextricably tied to the forces of change, effective change management has become a major priority for senior managers. Change management refers to a structured and systematic procedure of designing and implementing interventions and strategies for firms to transition to the desired state from their current state (Ramachandran & Sharma, 2019). Sher et al. (2021) urge that change management is necessary because it accords organizations an opportunity to accomplish their intended goals, such as expansion, sustainability, and profitability, among other positive outcomes. HR managers contribute significantly to change management (Alfes et al., 2019). The following section discusses the role of HR managers in change management.
The role of HR in Change Management
HR play a significant role in change management. The HR department can serve as a facilitator for the changes initiated by other departments or leaders, or it can initiate and lead a change process (El-Dirani et al., 2020). Also, HR contribute in improving employee understanding of the anticipated change (El-Dirani et al., 2019). According to Hornstein (2015), HR and other leaders of change management must facilitate comprehension of the change initiatives to influence the willingness of employees to embrace the change. Usually, HR explains to the employees where the change comes from as well as its implications. The second role of HR in change management is improving communication between non-managerial and managerial employees. To ensure effective communication, HR maintains precise, quick, and clear communication that a wide range of employees can understand. Furthermore, HR increases employee satisfaction during change management. This is achieved by explaining the change to the employees and clearly defining its positive implications. HR also increases trust between non-manager and managerial employee levels during change management. Another role of HR in change management is improving employees’ skills and proficiency. This is achieved through offering training programs to allow employees to develop the necessary skills to oversee change. Furthermore, HR recognizes and rewards employees for the successful implementation of change (El-Dirani et al., 2019). Other roles of HR in change management identified by El-Dirani et al. (2019) include increasing the leadership cohesiveness, minimizing unplanned staff turnover, and sustaining change and its long-term results. While playing their roles in change management, HR managers are faced with several challenges. These challenges are discussed below.
Challenges Faced by HR during Change Management
One of the major challenges facing HR in change management is employee resistance to change (Sher et al., 2021). On the same note, Alfes et al. (2019) urge that HR managers expect to experience some sort of employee resistance while managing change. Yılmaz and Kılıçoğlu (2013) define resistance to change as any action or attitude that designates a lack of willingness to make or support the desired change. Usually, employees resist change because of a lack of a comprehensive understanding of the change and its implications, fear of losing something they value, and their lack of belief that the change will positively impact the organization (El-Dirani et al., 2019). Also, employees may resist change if employees influenced by the change are pressured to comply rather than being given input in the direction of the nature of change. El-Dirani et al. (2019) reveal that successful HR who serve as change agents replace resistance to change with excitement about the possibilities of the change.
Another challenge faced by HR during change management is the lack of resources required for change management (Mosadeghrad & Ansarian, 2016). Usually, some executives in the organization do not comprehend the purpose of change nor its value to the organization. As a result, this makes it challenging for HR to acquire the resources needed to manage change as the senior leaders in an organization are reluctant to approve the budget for change management since they do not see any value in change management. If an organization lacks sufficient funds, time, staff, and other resources to fully manage change, this sabotages HR efforts to implement change successfully.
Lack of executive support is another challenge facing HR while managing change (Rudnev, 2020). Mosadeghrad and Ansarian (2016) also identify a lack of sufficient management support as a major cause of change failure in modern organizations. Notably, implementing and sustaining change is a long-term investment. Usually, changes do not occur just because a new solution is designed. For change to be effective, it requires to be implemented, tested, refined and reinforced. These activities require executive support. Since some executives do not understand the value of change management, they fail to support HR in change management.
Potential Solutions to the Issue
This section provides practical solutions for addressing the above-mentioned challenges faced by HR while managing change. Firstly, to deal with employee resistance to change, Sher et al. (2021) recommend that HR managers identify the possible causes of employee resistance and then utilize persuasive methods to define and resolve these causes of resistance. Another strategy that HR can be adopted to deal with employee resistance to change is allowing employees to participate in the change process. Darmawan and Azizah (2020) reveal that the lack of or low participation of employees in the change process makes them feel undervalued, which makes them reject changes. Therefore, engaging them in the change process will make them feel valued and will not resist change. Also, to reduce employee resistance to change, HR managers can discuss the underlying benefits of change, such as the organization’s shift from one state to the other and the main opportunities to be availed by the change, with the organization’s workforce before implementing change. This may change the employees’ attitudes towards change, and they may stop resisting the change.
To deal with the issues of lack of sufficient management support, HR managers can help executive managers understand the value of the organization’s change (Sher et al., 2021). They can explain to the managers the benefits of the complete change and the opportunities that the change will unveil for the organization. When the managers get to understand the benefits of the change, this will make it easier for them to support the HR in various ways, such as providing the resources required for change management. Consequently, this will solve the issue of the lack of sufficient resources that HR faces during change management.
Personal Impression Regarding HR issues
In my opinion, since HR contributes significantly toward organizational success, business organizations should prioritize addressing issues facing HR managers. Also, since the HR department is the first contact with a potential employee and the last contact when an employee leaves an organization, HR should serve as leaders. The direction and leadership provided from the beginning to the end will set the tone for employees’ experience and attitudes towards HR. Consequently, this will contribute significantly toward change management. However, HR must adopt effective leadership styles, such as transactional leadership style, during change management. This leadership style will make employees feel valued during the change process and will make them support change. Transformational leaders promote open communication and strong relationships. Building healthy relationships helps eliminate internal conflicts. In cases where HR has adopted transformational leadership, it will be easier to manage change as this form of leadership will prevent employee resistance to change.
Conclusion
Overall, change management is among the biggest challenges facing HR in the contemporary world. Organizations must be able to adapt to internal and external changes in order to grow and thrive. Therefore, HR must deal with the challenges faced during change management. The roles of HR in change management include improving employee understanding of the anticipated change, promoting comprehension of the change initiatives to impact the willingness of employees to embrace the change, improving communication between non-managerial and managerial workers, and increasing employee satisfaction. Other roles include increasing trust between non-manager and managerial employee levels and improving employees’ skills and proficiency. However, HR is faced with various challenges, including employee resistance to change, lack of sufficient resources, and lack of adequate management support while managing change. These challenges can be solved through employee participation and open communication about the benefits of the change. HR managers should adopt a transformational leadership style during change management, which will assist in dealing with the challenge of employee resistance.
References
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