The Essay Explores The Change And Learning Of Sanitarium.

Analysis of Organizational Culture

Discuss about the Change And Learning Of Sanitarium.

This report focuses on change and learning of Sanitarium. In this particular study, a critical assessment of  culture of Sanitarium has been conducted.  Various cultural initiatives are discussed in this particular study in the context of Sanitarium. In addition to this, an assessment of various initiatives has been conducted in this particular study with respect to Sanitarium. This  study examines the different factors that have influenced the results on the basis of organizational change as well as learning principles. In addition to this, impact of learning mechanisms on company’s performance, fruitfulness and reputation are covered in this particular study. Apart from this, possible recommendations are provided in this particular study

From the case scenario, it has been observed that Sanitarium, a health food organization of Australia possesses a shared culture within its working environment. In accordance with the opinion of Kempster, Higgs and Wuerz (2014), shared culture is the language, ideas along with the common objective. It is seen that there are positive and negative sides of shared culture. The main goal of Sanitarium is to inspire the community members to lead a healthy life. It has been noticed that shared culture of this company is aligned with its mission and vision. Shared values is an integral part of its shared culture. It has been observed that mutual knowledge sharing can be done within the workflow or the company if it adopts shared culture. In this regard, Bolden (2016) commented that mutual knowledge sharing is done by staffs working at Sanitarium. This acts as an advantage for the company It is seen that this health food company has become successful in implementing shared culture thereby retaining its core values namely integrity, care, passion, humility as well courage.

 It has been observed that there is the tangible commitment as well as the shared purpose of improving the living standards of the community members. Broadening a range of staff’s cultural experiences acts as an advantage for the respective health food business firm of Australia. According to Eason (2014), shared culture motivates the employees of the company to work together as a team. This is applicable for Sanitarium and this can be counted as an advantage. Besides, there are some disadvantages too. From the perspective of Haake, Rantatalo  and    Lindberg (2017), shared culture can destroy the unique practices of cultures within the respective organization thereby decreasing the extent of the cultural diversity. This is applicable for Sanitarium and it is counted as a disadvantage for Sanitarium.

Analysis of Change Efforts

It has been noticed that this company has used two tools in 2011 for introducing biannual Culture survey. These tools are Organisational Culture Inventory (OCI) as well as Organizational Effectiveness Inventory(OEI).  From the case scenario, it has been observed that the Cultural Coach was founded across its business, and employees were given training so that they can support the changes that are going to take place within the organisational working procedures (Grant, 2014). The leaders as well as managers put emphasis on creating connection with their skilled professionals. Several initiatives were undertaken for establishing a connection between organizational managers, leaders and employees (Georgalis et al., 2015).

Initiatives like annual team talk and culture debriefs were the initiatives that are taken by organizational managers and leaders. In addition to this, leadership as well as learning groups is one of the initiative which is being undertaken by the management of Sanitarium (Lozano, Ceulemans and Seatter, 2015).  This company has introduced an online performance and development system known as IGro. The main objective is to establish a two-way interaction between people and managers. Igro focusses on employee performance objectives, required behaviors as well as development planning.

 Some of the characteristic features of this approach are formal six-monthly reviews, annual reviews, regular catch-ups along with joint goal setting (Connolly and James, 2014). From the case scenario, it has been observed that this company put emphasis on employee’s performance, their behaviors as well as development of their employees. These are some of the change efforts that has been made by Sanitarium. These efforts have resulted to low turnover rates. It is seen that approximately 1% employees leave the organization per year (Godemann et al., 2014). This statistics showcases the fact that  employees job satisfaction level is quite high (Pollack and Pollack, 2015 ). It has been observed that change efforts made by the company are successful to a great extent.

It has been observed that there are certain factors which creates a direct impact on the outcomes based on organizational learning and change. In accordance with the opinion of Pollack and Pollack (2015), technology is one of the important factors that impacts on company’s change efforts. It has been observed that companies opt for new technologies for increasing the workflow of the respective organization. In case of Sanitarium, the managers aim to retain its skilled professionals in the long run. As a result, IGro has been developed and implemented in the work culture. It is a unique and sophisticated system that aids the companies to measure the performance of the employees, their behaviors and it also focusses on development planning. In order to enhance its productivity, IGro has been introduced by Sanitarium in its working procedures.   In order to keep the skilled professionals for a prolonged period, the managers need to strengthen their relationship with its employees. In this regard, Mills (2017), commented that IGro facilitates both-way interaction between the skilled workforce and the managerial section working at Sanitarium. In the opinion of Pollack and Pollack (2015), changes in the people’s attitudes as well as tastes affects the outcomes based on the organizational learning as well as change efforts.

Factors Influencing Outcomes Based on Organizational Change and Learning Principles

 In this context, Connolly and James (2014) commented that lifestyles of customers, their tastes as well their needs create an impact on the outcomes based on organizational learning as well as change. Nowadays, consumers are searching for something, which can quickly grab when they would step out of their home. This change in the tastes and lifestyle of the customers has made this company to become a beverage-based business firm, rather than staying as a cereal-based business firm. In this regard, Godemann et al., (2014) asserted that a drift in the market conditions creates a direct impact on the organisational change that takes place within its environment.

It has been noticed that there are certain ways by which it is possible to implement learning mechanisms within the organizational workflow (Pollack and Pollack, 2015). The first and foremost thing that the managers have to do is to organize meetings where it is mandatory for all the employees to attend the meetings. Grant (2014)) commented that meetings should be organized for establishing a two-way communication between senior managers and every employee of the respective organization. It has been observed that date of training would be mentioned by the managers to its employees in this formal meeting (Grant, 2014)). After this, training sessions should be organized by the managers in order to educate the employees about organisational policies and rules and regulations. After this, management of Sanitarium will take feedbacks from its employees in order to understand the loopholes present in its working process (Pollack and Pollack, 2015).  In this context, it can be stated that these mechanisms improve the individual performance as well organizational performance.

 It is recommended for the managers of Sanitarium to provide on-job training to its employees so that they can learn and adapt quickly with change efforts made by the management within its working environment. It is recommended for the managers working at Sanitarium to incorporate feedbacks in order to get an idea about its loopholes existing in its system based on which possible measures would be undertaken by the managers of the respective company accordingly. In order to measure the performance delivered by the employees after learning about how the company works, its policies and rules and regulations, it is required for the management to take help of key performance indicator (KPI). In other words, KPI is mainly used for reviewing the performance delivered by the employees with the organization. These are some of the recommendations for the next phase of learning and change.

Conclusion

From the above discussion, it can be stated that organizational change efforts are done by Sanitarium for enhancing the productivity of the respective organization. In addition to this, these change initiatives are implemented by the respective company for retaining the comparative edge of the respective business firm. It has been noticed that technological factors and social factors as well as market conditions has directly influenced the results based on organizational learning and change. It has been observed that managers will organize meetings, arrange training session and they will gather from the employees of the respective. These are the different learning mechanisms of the respective health food company.  It is a suggestion for the managers to incorporate KPI for assessing performance of the employees. They should arrange training sessions for their employees and they should gather feedbacks from its workforce. These are the possible suggestions for the next phase of learning and change.

References

Bolden, R. (2016). Leadership, management and organisational development. In Gower handbook of leadership and management development (pp. 143-158). Routledge.

Connolly, U., & James, C. (2014). Effective change in schools.Abingdon: Abingdon: Routledge.

Eason, K. D. (2014). Information technology and organisational change.Florida: CRC Press.

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Grant, A. M. (2014). The efficacy of executive coaching in times of organisational change. Journal of Change Management, 14(2), 258-280.

Haake, U., Rantatalo, O., & Lindberg, O. (2017). Police leaders make poor change agents: leadership practice in the face of a major organisational reform. Policing and society, 27(7), 764-778.

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Lozano, R., Ceulemans, K., & Seatter, C. S. (2015). Teaching organisational change management for sustainability: designing and delivering a course at the University of Leeds to better prepare future sustainability change agents. Journal of Cleaner Production, 106, 205-215.

Pollack, J., & Pollack, R. (2015). Using Kotter’s eight stage process to manage an organisational change program: Presentation and practice. Systemic Practice and Action Research, 28(1), 51-66.