Learning methodologies need to assist in breaking down resistance to change and facilitate the creation of emotional commitment to change.
The only certainty in modern organisational life is constant change. This statement may be a well-worn cliché, but it remains a fact of life. Today's business environment produces change in the workplace more suddenly and frequently than ever before.
Mergers, acquisitions, hostile takeovers, de-regulation, new technology and organisations going through cycles of centralisation and decentralisation are all factors that contribute to growing climate of uncertainty. Jobs, health, even marriages can be placed at risk, jeopardising productivity and profitability.
For many employees it is as if they have slipped through the cracks – they feel a once secure home-away-from-home has become an ever-changing environment that constantly requires re-adjustment.
More often than not, employee resistance to change has become the norm rather than the exception and even when change is supported, the commitment is not aligned to the strategic objectives that the change management process had in mind. The collective energy in the organisation is simply not channeled properly.
The reality is that organisational survival largely depends on the ability to effectively respond to change. Organisations encounter many different forces for change. These forces could come from internal or external forces.
The fact of the matter is that the increasing pace of change is driving decision making further down the organisation and often these challenges seem daunting. The need for functional experts to become more aware of the business implications of their decisions is growing.
Through understanding the bigger picture of their business, and their own role toward its success or failure, staff and managers begin to function more effectively.
There are many theoretical change management models - one of the better known ones is "Lewin's change model" which is designed around a three stage process:
Unfreezing – The focus of this stage is to create the motivation to change, in so doing individuals are encouraged to replace old behaviours and attitudes with those desired by management.
Changing – This stage provides employees with new information, new behavioural models, or new ways of looking at things.
Refreezing – Change in this last stage is stabilised during refreezing by helping employees integrate the changed behaviour or attitude into their normal way of doing things.
Even with all these wonderful theories, the key question is why do people resist change, how can we breakdown this resistance and how can we align the emotional energy to the objectives of our change management programmes?
It would be naïve to assume that there is a simple answer and solution. Obviously it calls for a comprehensive diagnosis of the problem and the development of an integrated solution, which includes more than a training intervention. However, training solutions often form an integral part of this integrated solution. It would therefore be imperative to consider why people resist change when designing training solutions aimed at facilitating the change:
It is evident that most people resist change because of the following reasons:
• They don't fully understand the reasons (forces) that necessitate the change – these could be the harsh realities and therefore the imperative of the scenario.
• There is a fear that change will have a negative impact on me as a person – my job security, new reporting lines, more work etc.
• There is often not an awareness why management has taken the decisions they have and the trade-offs – why was the acquisition made or way has management decided to change to a decentralised procurement system?
• In most case people can't visualise the change and the uncertainty of the end state creates anxiety and fear.
The challenge furthermore is to ensure that the training intervention is designed in such a way that the delegates clearly understand how their effort (outputs) in the new environment contributes to the success of the organisation and how their performance, together with the performance of the organisation will be measured.
A unique, experiential training solution:
It is widely recognised that the usage of Business Simulations as an experiential learning methodology is the state-of-the-art way to breakdown resistance to change and to align emotional energy of the workforce to the objectives of the change management process.
Why are business simulations such a successful tool?
Business simulation can be designed to reflect the "ideal future" state of the business. Through business simulations, employees can then experience this future state in a fun and non-threatening way. This reduces the anxiety caused from change significantly and increases the likelihood of success and the pace at which change can be implemented. The catalyst to create true "aligned commitment" to the change manage process, is the creation of a deep level of understanding why the change is necessary and what the impact will be on me as a person. People fear the unknown, and a business simulation creates the ideal platform to discuss an experience the unknown.
Since 1981, Business Today has developed a wide range of business simulations, which are utilised worldwide as an innovative vehicle for providing staff with a working knowledge of business and finance and one of the key applications of these simulations has been in the area of change management.
During the simulation, teams of managers and staff 'manage a business. They compete with other teams on the course, designed to simulate the business in which they work. They are required to make a variety of decisions over a number of business cycles, discover how money and other resources flow through their operation. They analyse the consequences (financial and otherwise) of their decisions and mistakes, take corrective action and then go through the analysis process again..
This experiential process is challenging, highly competitive and fun, and allows delegates to gain a deep base of business awareness and understanding.
A key philosophy of the training technology is that delegates discover, as opposed to being told, what the key business realities and issues are, leading to a very high level of belief in those realities. Lessons learned are constantly compared to their actual workplaces, and the simulations formally include client company language, issues and financial statement structures. Through becoming aware of the bigger picture of their business, and their own role toward its success or failure, staff and managers begin to function more effectively toward common goals.
The customisation process includes the gathering of relevant company information in order to design a simulation to best suite the requirements. In most cases key decision makers within the client company are involved to ensure that the end product resembles reality.
Board-based simulations enable employees at all levels to discover how they can personally influence the performance of the business and the organisation's future through their everyday activities and in the decisions they make. This understanding helps employees transcend traditional notions about functional barriers and ultimately leads to improved decision making and problem solving. The learning also improves overall company performance through employees understanding the "bigger picture".
Recent success stories where business simulations have enhanced change management initiatives include preparing employees at a leading electricity utility in Europe to understand how changes in government regulations would impact on the company. In another course, the simulation was used to build an understanding in a global consumer goods company about why a new marketing investment programme had been implemented and how it should be used.
A leading bank in the United Kingdom used simulation training to support a drive to increase market share by getting account executives to understand their customers' business.
About Business Today
The Business Today Group was started 28 years ago and is operational in 29 countries. The company plans to be truly global with a network of international business partners in 50 countries by 2010.
Business Today has developed a range of experiential board-based business simulations which are utilised worldwide as a vehicle for providing staff with a working knowledge of business and finance.
The company will custom design a simulation for the customer. The development team spends time at the company where they gather information and do interviews. This process normally takes between 3 – 6 months depending on the complexity of the company structure.
Business Today have designed and customised over 120 different business simulations. These simulations are built around different types of businesses across many industries, from the electricity, manufacturing and FMCG industry to the insurance industry and banking industry. The simulations incorporate the financial and other business drivers of that type of business.
Business Today is represented in 29 countries namely Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada/USA, China, Czech Republic, France, Ghana, Hungary, India, Italy, Ireland, Kenya, Korea, Malaysia, Namibia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, UK, Ukraine, the UAE and Zimbabwe.
Large international clients include Toyota, Royal Bank of Scotland, Nestle, Vodafone, Daimler Chrysler, Roche, SAB Miller, Anglo Gold, Goldfields, Danone, Johnson & Johnson, Elite Strauss, Goodyear Dunlop Europe, Reckitt Benckiser, Unilever and Sandvik.
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