Australia Post's Organizational Change Management Plan Essay. (70 Characters)

Strategic Analysis of Change

Discuss about the Organizational Change Management Plan of Australia Post.

The report is basically discussed about the change management program in a company. The report is based on the importance of change management in the company for the growth and success. The discussion has included strategic analysis of change to know that why it is needed for the organizational success. Along with this, the report includes planning for the successful change and management of people with that change. Report is also discussed about the issues and barriers will rise because of the change and how to overcome from those issues. The benefits of the change process are also discussed in the report.

A company needs various changes while operating in competitive market. Company has to adopt different changes if it wants to do growth in the market. There can be various reasons for the change in a company such as to increase the production, to give better customer services, to compete with the competitors, to restructure the business etc. before changing anything in the business, the company has to analyze all situation of its business. Company has to adopt proper change management process for successful implementation of change. Change management is a systematic process by which company can transform the present situation into future beneficial situation (Gashi, 2013).

This part of the report is focusing on the strategic analysis of change i.e. need and objective of change. Every company sets some goals and objectives in its business operations. A company requires strategic changes in the business operations when it faces any type of issue in achieving the goals and objectives (Graham, & Bennett, 2008). For the study of strategic analysis of change, the company named Australia Post has been taken. The need of strategic changes in the Australia Post has been as follows:

There are some objectives for the changes in the Australia Post. The current business objectives of the company are as follows:

• The objective of the company is to deliver innovative and best products and services to the customers in the market,
• The company wants to give friendly services by the qualified and knowledgeable employees,
• The company wants to establish the strong relationship with its clients and customers by providing best services and products,
• Company also wants to keep satisfy its employees by rewarding them on their good and effective performance in their job,
• One of the important objectives of the company is to motivate the employees so that they can participate and give their best for successful business operations (Ardichvili, 2012).

The company Australia Post has the business objectives which are described above but the strategies adopted by the company were not so effective to achieve these goals. The reasons of the failure of the strategies are the lack of knowledgeable staff, lack of friendly attitude in the employees towards the customers, lack of punctuality and sincerity in the employees and staff to provide the services on time, and lack of motivation among the employees etc. These are some reasons available in the current strategy that is why company is unable to achieve its set objectives. There is a need of some changes the strategy of the company to achieve the goals and objectives (Gill, 2012).

Review of Company’s Strategic Objectives

The current strategies of the companies and their failures are as follows:

• There is one of the policies named enterprise agreement 2013. The policy was made to reward the employees who perform well but it was failed. The reason of failure was that the policy was not implemented properly and in a right manner. The result was that the employees did not get fair rewards for their performance.
• There was another policy in the company named assignment of the postcodes. The policy was made to provide postcodes in different areas and various geographical localities. This policy was also failed because of the lack of proper training to the employees. The result was that the employees did not allocate the postcodes timely.
• Another policy in the company was refund policy. This policy was made for the customers’ benefit. The policy is to refund exchange or repair the product to the customer in case of any complaints. But this policy was not implanted properly and customers faced many problems with the company’s product.
• There was one more policy related to ethics in the company. The aim of this policy to ensure the ethical ways in the business operations. But there was lack of communication among the employees in the company. The result was that this policy was also failed to fulfill the objectives of the company.

These were some issues that needed to be changed to achieve the goals and objective within the company (Smart & Pontifex, 2003).

Because of the unsuccessful strategies, company is unable to achieve the objectives. There are the needs to change the current strategies of the company. The points in the strategy are as follows:

Performance gap: The main reason of the failure of the strategy is the performance gap. There is the performance gap in the delivery of products and services to the customers. The reason of the performance is that there is a lack of punctuality and sincerity in the employees of the company. Because of these performance gaps, both the customers as well employees are not satisfied. The performance gap is because of the managers who not successful in communicating with the employees in the company. One of the reasons of performance gap can be lack of knowledge in the employees (Kossek, 2007).

Business opportunities: There are some opportunities which can be adopted by the company such as new technologies, increasing demand of innovative products; growing environmental awareness among the customers etc. along with this, there can be some issues such as legal policies and restrictions, starting of new companies and competitors etc (Tracey, 2004).

Management decisions – The management of the company made several policies but they are failed to take appropriate decisions to implement those policies and they have also took decisions of not providing all the relevant holidays to the employees which became the main barrier for non-achievement of objectives.

Environment- There are also environmental factors which matter in the change management. By creating awareness about environment, the Australia postal can be able to deliver best quality of products and services. This can be an opportunity for the company to grow its business in the market.

Change in technology- The technology is continuously changing and it is creating lots of opportunities for the companies. The company can develop new and innovative products and services for the customers by new technology. This will be helpful in acquiring new customers and retaining existing customers.

There are also some aspects such as social, legal, and political aspects which can create opportunities for the company to change the strategy. Thus, above discussed points are the reasons to drive the change in the company (Martocchio, 2004).

Necessity of Changes

Before implementing the change management process, it needs a perfect planning. For the successful change management process, managers of the company need to do proper changes in the current strategy. To make effective changes, the company should appoint a change management team who should have proper knowledge of change management process. In the change management team, the employees as well as outsiders can be team member. In the second step of change management plan, the team has to analyze the company’s strategies for making changes. The analysis should be done to identify the sustainability of change management plans. The next step of change management process is to create a communication plan within the company. The communication plan in the change management process is necessary because it will be helpful to inform the members of the company about the change in the company or in the strategies. The next step of the change planning is to set up proper timeline which will be required during the change management process. Another step is to identify the problems and issues, which may arise during the change management process. Identification of the issues will be helpful to find out the solution of the problems in a proper way. The next step in the change planning is to present the report of all the planning before the senior management and higher authority. It is important to take approval from the higher authority for making changes within the organization. The last one is to discuss about the change plan with lower management team to implement changes within the company. This will be helpful for the change management team to gather different and innovative ideas for the change process by the members of the company (Hersey & Blanchard, 2012).

It is very important to take approval for the change planning from the higher authority. For example, if there is a need of change in the production process, the team must take approval by the production manager, managing director and CEO of the company. If there is a need to changes in the human resource management, the team must take the approval from the human resource manager and from CEO. If there is a need of changes in the other matters, the approval must be taken from the respective departments so that change process can be take place in a systematic process.

After taking approvals from the higher authorities, the change managers need to identify the required resources for the change management process. There are some resources that are needed for the effective implementation of change management process within the organization. For example if the Australia Post needs to makes changes in the human resource department then the training and development session is required by the human resource managers for the employees so that they can make adjust with the change process. For the training sessions, the managers have to identify the employees who need training and development sessions. After the identification of employees, managers need to prepare a proposal for required money for the training sessions and they need to present the proposal before the senior management for the approval. Apart from this, if the company requires the changes in the production department then the production managers have to identify the required raw material to produce new products. To produce new and innovative eco-friendly products, managers need to identify that what type of raw materials will be needed for the production. After identifying that what changes are required in the production department, the production managers have to inform the human resource department to arrange the required training for the employees and workers so that they would be able to learn that how to use new technology and raw material for the production of new and innovative products. After that, the production manager will inform the respected authority for the fund and money which will be required for the all process. Managers have to inform the finance department to provide sufficient fund for implementing effective changes in the company (Hellriegel, & Slocum, 2004).

Planning of Change

For implementing successful changes in the company, managers have to adopt a proper change management plan. Change management is a very essential part of a company’s change process. A proper and structured change management plan ensures the success of the company in the competitive market. Change management plan also includes the strategies which is helpful in achieving the goals and objectives decided by the company. For implementing successful change management process, managers have to adopt some new and innovative strategies while performing change process. The change process also requires proper and effective decisions by the managers. Along with this, a proper change management process is a complex process because it requires sufficient process and proper time for performing change process. The managers must have full knowledge of the situations which require changes. Knowledge of the decision problem will be helpful to the managers to take right decisions. In the change management plan of Australia Post, there are some techniques and analysis are included in it. Cost benefit analysis: The cost benefit analysis of the company is described below-

Risk analysis: There is one of the most important tasks for Australia post to analyze the job for establishing the experience among the employees. The aim of the change management plan is to adopt new practices and strategies to achieve the objectives of the company. The change management will be helpful to improve the business performance of the company in the market. So, job analysis and preparation of organizational structure is important to be done before implementing the change process. To achieve the objectives, mission and vision of the company, managers must motivate to the employees so that they would be able to give their full potential. Along with this, managers must value of the employees. By valuing the employees, the company will be able to make changes easily in its operations. Company can increase its effectiveness and innovativeness and capabilities to adopt the change in the strategies. It will also help in increasing the performance of the company. The change management process will be successful by the continuous involvement of the employees. Managers need to identify the ways by which the employees can involve themselves in the change management process and support the business operations (Jick, 2001).

Discussion with stakeholders: The stakeholders of the company can be employees, managers, shareholders and customers. The stakeholders are the most important part of the company and they play an important role in developing and improving the performance of the company in the market. Stakeholders give effective and new ideas to overcome from the issues and barriers which rise in the business operations. Thus, it is very necessary to discuss with the stakeholders while performing change management process within the company (Cennamo, Berrone & Gomez-Mejia, 2009).

Taking Approval for the Change Process

Communication Plan: For performing well and successful implementation of change management plan, the managers of Australia Post need to develop a strong communication plan to communicate with the employees as well as customers about the change process. It is very important to inform the employees and customers about the changes which are going to take place in the future. By the further information, employees as well as customers will be able to adjust according to the changes. Communication can be done through some ways such as face to face meetings, social media, email etc. Another thing can be done by managers to arrange the required fund for the communication plan and for overall change management plan.

Strategies for implementing change within the company: To develop the effective communication plan and reduce the negative impact of the change process, managers of the Australian Post need to adopt some strategies. These strategies will be helpful to promote the benefits of the changes done by the company. There are three steps which are required in developing effective communication plan i.e. organizational pre-posting, implementation of change management plan, and consolidation and ongoing process.

• The first step named ongoing process focuses on the communication with employees and stakeholders for making changes in the company. It also includes job analysis, proper description of the job profile, proper structuring of the organization, and proper training and development sessions for the employees. These all steps are used for the proper implementation of change management and managing the risk and issue while implanting the change within the company.
• Second step is implementation of change management plan. The main focus of this part is to make the changes in the company against the current strategies so that company can be able to achieve the decided goals and objectives. There should be proper observation of the progress and impact of the changes by the senior management or higher authority and by the stakeholders.
• The third step is ongoing support and consolidation. This part focuses on giving support and motivation so that they can be able to adjust themselves in the changing environment. By giving training and communicating, managers will be able to motivate the employees for adopting new work culture of the company. Managers can give the proper knowledge about the change and benefits of changes to the employees.

It is necessary to create awareness among the employees about the changes that why the change management process is important and what would be the benefits by the change management process. It would be helpful in improving the performance level of the employees. Organizational pre-posting is very important for the company to deliver required knowledge to the employees for creating awareness and changing strategies for future results. Along with this, the strategy of change management plan is to focus on to design the effective training and development sessions. The training plan is designed to ensure that every employee in the Australia Post get full knowledge and information about the change management process. Managers of the company have to provide sufficient data to the employees regarding their job profile. Along with this, company’s business objectives are the main area on which the change management plan is focusing (Fleming & Senior, 2006).

Project Timetable: Project timetable is decided by the giant chart. It includes the timetable of projected works such as what process would be done and in what time.

The giant chart will be helpful for managers to divide the time according to the activities.

Staff and the employees are the most important part of any organization for getting success. In the case of the company Australia Post, the managers need to communicate the employees about the changes which they are going to make in the business activities. For the effective communication, managers need to identify the methods so that they can develop effective communication plan for the employees. The strategy of the company Australia Post is to communicate all the employees at every time when the change is takes place in the company. There is also a strategy of training and development program for the staff so that they can easily adopt the changes. Along with this, providing new raw material to the production department is also a strategy included in the change management process (Szamosi &  Duxbury, 2006).

There are some main barriers in the company Australian Post:

• Shortage of funds in the company for making changes and starting for training and development sessions. Company uses all the funds in promotional activities and production of products. Company has to arrange the proper fund for the change process.
• Lack of proper communication system and plan for the employees in the company. Employees always have a fear regarding change and they do not want to make changes in their daily routines and habits (Smith, 2015).
• Shortage of knowledge in the employees about new technologies can be main barrier in the change management process. It is because of the shortage of proper training for new developments.
• Shortage of managers to provide training is also one of the most serious issues. There is no proper senior staff to give proper training to the employees. Company has to hire the trainer from outside for the training sessions. It will require time and money.
• There is no infrastructure and organizational structure for implementing the changes. Managers need to set whole organizational structure in a proper way so that they can implement the change management process successfully (Brown, 2006).

The strategies in change management plan of Australia Post to overcome from the barriers are-

• There is a strategy to communicate with all employees at time to time about the changes. CEO or higher authority of the company should not make strategies by themselves. Managers of the company should tell the employees that how the change process will impact on the success of the company and how they will adapt the change in their daily routine and work style.
• A notice is given to the managers by the senior authority to implement the changes in effective ways. For the implementing of changes, managers need to focus on the critical thinking and analysis of the objectives that are to be achieved.
• There is a strategy for the training and development session that they should be implemented strictly. By giving proper training, employees will be able to know that how to use new technologies and now raw material for the production purpose.
• There is also a strategy for the production department that the new raw material and new technologies will be provided to the production team. By providing new raw material on time will be helpful for the production managers to produce the innovative products.

These strategies will be helpful for the company to implement the change management plan successfully (Kotter & Cohen 2008).

A well-defined change management plan leads to the successfully implementation of the changes within the company. With proper communication and effective training process, the company Australian Post would be able to give knowledge about the changes which are going to take place. There are some benefits of the implemented change management plan in the Australian post:

• Motivation of the employees: By the strategic change management plan, Australian Post will be able to identify the targets and objectives which are to be achieved. The change management plan pushes the company to get success during the critical time and motivates the employees and staff to achieve the set and desired goal and objectives.
• Position of existing resources: The key element of the change management plan is to use the existing resources at the right place for the future vision. By the effective change management plan, the Australian Post will be prepare to best use of resources with the new strategies and changes which are being implemented the company.
• Managing operations on daily basis: Australian post will be able now to maintain the business operation in daily basis. The proper and effective change management plan will improve the efficiency and capability of the company in the competitive market. By the implemented change management plan, company will be able focus on day-to-day operations of the business by eliminating negative aspects. It will also be helpful in attracting new customers.
• Focus on employees concerns: By involving the employees in the change management process, the company will be able to focus on the employees concerns regarding the changes. Focusing on the concerns of the employees, company will be more effective. By the change management plan, company will make the ways of communication with the employees so that they may feel free to express their thoughts and views.
• Reducing risk: Effective change management plan reduces the risk and barriers and saves the time which can be utilize in implementing new strategies. Proper change process will lead a successful attempt to change in the company.
• Increment in morale: Change management plan supports and motivates and give right information to the people in the company so that they bound to perform and get more involved in achieving objectives.
• New opportunities: Change management plan of the company will enable the employees to contribute their best in the innovation of new products and services. Company will be able in developing the best ways to maintain the growth of the business as well as employees (Saphiro, 2010).

Measuring the change process is very important for identifying that the change in company is on right way or not. By setting the targets and measuring the result is the good way for measuring the change process. There are some ways by which the company Australian Post can measure the change process:

Customer Satisfaction: This is the important measure of the company. Customer satisfaction is the key indicator company’s success. The change process in the customers can be measured by taking feedbacks via survey and questionnaire and evaluation the improvement over the time.

Performance evaluation: The main aim of the change management plan is to improve the performance of the employees so that they can be able to achieve the objectives of the company. If the employees are improving their performance and they are involving themselves in the change process then it can be said that change is taking place.

Increasing brand image: Change management plan focuses on the new strategies to achieve the set objectives and provide better quality of products and services to the customers. Because of the better quality services, company would be able to increase its brand image among the customers in the market.

Change in culture: The effective change management plan includes change in the culture of the organization. This focuses on the life the level of the workers and promoting corporate social responsibility in the Australian Post. The changing environment of the company indicates that the change is taking place within the company.

Achievement of goals: The change management plan of Australian Post is made to achieve the set organizational goals because the past strategies were not able to achieve them. The changes which are done in the company should be matched to the short term goals and objectives of the business. So, if the company is achieving its objectives then change process is successfully implemented.

Increasing operations:  Effective change management plan will be helpful to provide best services to the customers. It will increase the operational efficiency of the company. Change management plan will also be helpful in expanding the business in more areas. If the company is able to expand its business operations effectively, it means that the change management plan is implemented successfully (Pasmore & Woodman, 2007).

So, it is very important to measure the change management process so that company able to know that the change it has implemented in the strategies are going on the right way or not. Managers of the company need to create benchmark of the process of the business to compare with the similar companies to know the best practices. Along with this, gap analysis by the managers will also be helpful to know that where the company is currently standing and how much the implemented new strategies are effective in achieving the objectives set by the company (Patton, & Michael, 2008).

Conclusion

This report is basically described about the importance of the change management plan and the implementation of the changes in the strategies of the company Australian Post. Australian post is the famous company in the Australia. There were some unsuccessful strategies which were unable to achieve the objectives of the company. For the future growth, the company has to adopt some strategic changes in its strategies such as changes in human resource management department and in production department. For implementing the effective changes, managers need to take approval from the higher authority such as CEO and managing director of the company. Along with this, the managers need to communicate with the employees as well as customers about the changes which are going to take place in the company. From the above discussion, it has been analyzed that for effective implementation of the change management plan, managers need to identify those employees who are not comfortable and who need training and development sessions. It is important to provide the training sessions to the employees so that they can get knowledge about the new technologies and new raw martial. Training sessions will also be helpful to the employees in expressing their views and thoughts freely regarding the change process.

By the above discussion in the report, it has been analyzed that the proper and effective change management plan is also helpful in reducing the risk and barriers which can be raised during the change management process. It will improve the efficiency of the company in attracting new customers and retaining the existing customers. Form the above report, it can be said that the company Australian Post is initiating many training programs for the growth and development of the staff of the company. This will directly give strong impact on the brand image as well as growth of the company. The managers of the company need to judge the growth and profit every time after implementing the change management plan.

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