How to initiate organizational change

How to import scientific management methods?

Question: We are a small electronics manufacturing company. Most of our employees were recruited from schools in the Mainland a few years ago. The grassroots managers are also from among them, with limited experience and vision, which directly affects their work concepts and methods. The company now wants to introduce some modern scientific management methods to improve the vitality of the enterprise. This management concept is in great conflict with the previous one. In this case, how should our change work be carried out? (asked by: Kim 01)

Answer: Changes are often complex, energy-intensive, and sometimes painful. The reality shows that most of the changes have to face many difficulties, and even end in failure, or only achieved partial success. Nevertheless, we can still see many successful cases, these companies through planned change management activities, improve the organization and employees' change readiness, change and motivate employees' thinking and behavior patterns, and ensure that the company effectively implements new strategies .

In our experience, change typically involves a reasonable, predictable, and manageable series of dynamic phases, which we call the "change curve." Along this change curve, the emotional fluctuations of employees can be roughly divided into four stages: from the initial denial, resistance to change, to being forced to start trying new practices, at this time, the company will further motivate these new practices and behaviors . After a period of time, they begin to see or feel the benefits of the change, and then they truly commit to the change, gradually changing their thinking, working methods, and behaviors. When they change, companies can truly enjoy the success of the change, and promote the implementation of the company's strategy and business development.

After understanding this change curve, the senior managers of the enterprise must first pass the "psychological test" when facing the change, that is, be fully psychologically prepared for the change, and do not imagine that it can be accomplished overnight. Of course, not all changes are a vigorous "revolution", and sometimes some "soft landing" methods can also achieve twice the result with half the effort.

For the situation mentioned in similar questions, you can try to start from several aspects: First, train the original personnel to gradually help them change their ideas; The addition of to accelerate the renewal of old ideas. Second, the change can start from some departments first, instead of being rolled out all at once. The main purpose of this is to "let the facts speak". When the performance of a department is improved due to the change, other people's acceptance of the change Naturally it will be strengthened.

Who initiates organizational change?

Question: Should the initiator of organizational change be the board of directors or the general manager? What role does the board play in the change process? In the Chinese environment, how many years should a joint venture transformation period be planned? (asked by: sapphire2001)

Answer: Here, I think the first thing to be clear is the role of the board of directors and the general manager: the board of directors is composed of directors who represent the interests of shareholders. Obviously, its responsibilities and missions will focus on The company's long-term development and sustainable profitability, that is, the shareholders' wealth can continue to grow. The general manager is appointed by the board of directors to manage the company's operations on behalf of the board of directors. He not only has to formulate the company's future development goals, establish a senior management team, but also lead the team to achieve the company's strategic goals.

After clarifying the roles of the board of directors and the general manager, it can be seen that, under normal circumstances, the organizational change is initiated by the general manager, because he bears the major responsibility for realizing the company's strategic goals, and the adjustment of the organization is In order to implement and complete the business strategy, the role of the board of directors is usually to monitor the process of change and approve the plan for change; from another perspective, any change must also be supported by the senior management headed by the general manager, and obtained Only with the approval of the board can it be realized and completed.

In some cases, it is not ruled out that the board of directors initiates changes. This situation often occurs when the board of directors is not satisfied with the general manager's business performance and hopes to readjust the business strategy through changes.

"Without far-sightedness, there must be near-term worries." In a rapidly changing market like China, apart from monopoly industries, few industries can ensure that they can always be in a state of "no worries about food and clothing". Therefore, "change due to the situation" is the key for an enterprise to maintain its evergreen foundation. When talking about "change" here, it is particularly emphasized that it must be combined with "trend". That is to say, whether it is a state-owned enterprise or a foreign-funded enterprise, it must be To understand the market environment in which you are located, in order to adjust your own strategy and progress in time, and make the best use of the situation, you can make the enterprise maintain a competitive advantage and remain invincible.

What organizational structure is suitable for a small software company?

Question: The scale of the company is about 20 people. Considering the three-tier management structure of general manager, deputy general manager and department manager, how should the responsibilities of supervisors at all levels be positioned? Where should industry consultants be placed? The company's products are mainly software engineering projects and system integration, and the development direction is to gradually form its own products. What is the scope of the product department? Should demand research and analysis be placed in the product department or the R&D department? (Questioner: Ming Wang)

Answer: First of all, it needs to be explained that which organizational structure the company chooses and how to adjust the structure depends entirely on the changes in the company's business strategy, because any organizational change is for the enterprise to implement its operations. Strategies serve to achieve business goals.

Usually, in the initial stage of a company, it is always hoped to be able to grow rapidly. Under such development requirements, complex management levels are generally not set up, especially in the software industry where a large number of knowledge workers are concentrated, more attention should be paid to giving employees greater development space to stimulate their creativity to the greatest extent. with positivity.

Therefore, we make two recommendations.

The first is to clarify the company's business strategy and development goals, and set up departments accordingly, but special attention should be paid to the fact that departments cannot be divided into separate "small groups", and the company should vigorously Promote cooperation between departments. It was mentioned in the question whether the product department (for the time being, we position the function of this department as finding appropriate sales channels for the company's products) or the R&D department is responsible for demand research and analysis. In a company that encourages teamwork, in fact, the product department and the R&D department should share this responsibility, but the focus of the two departments will be different. For example, because the product department directly deals with the market and customers, it can obtain more Information on product requirements in different industries; while the R&D department may pay special attention to developments in the technical field. It can be seen that the two departments have their own strengths, and the result is the same goal, which is to provide strong support for the company's future product leadership.

The second suggestion is that the management level should not be complicated. With a scale of about 20 people, basically it is enough to set up two levels, that is, the general manager and the department manager. If the rank of deputy general manager needs to be established, it can be used as a means of motivating and retaining key employees, but it still needs to undertake the work of some important department managers. For example, the head of the R&D department is a key talent that the company needs to retain, and can be promoted to deputy general manager when necessary.

How to plan the corporate culture system?

Question: I am planning in a company, and now I am facing a very troublesome problem - planning corporate culture. Because the company is a state-owned enterprise restructured, there are three or four kinds of identities of employees, and the senior leadership changes from time to time. In addition to the problems of the original state-owned enterprise, I would like to ask experts, how should I start to plan and establish a cultural system that is suitable for the company's current situation ? (Questioner: Lang Ye)

Answer: Corporate culture is not "groundless", it is the common belief of employees on corporate goals, values and behaviors, and it can also be said to be employees' attitudes and methods of doing things. The behavior and values of employees are inevitably affected by various factors such as the company's rules and regulations, work processes, leadership styles, etc. Therefore, it cannot be simply considered that corporate culture is only a spiritual thing and has nothing to do with material construction.

Since it is related to material construction, then in an enterprise, various management rules and regulations are the clearest "reflection" of the corporate culture. Taking the reward system as an example, if in a company, everyone is determined according to the level The basic salary and bonus of the company, not linked to its performance, the subconscious message of this approach is "doing good and bad". Therefore, although the company constantly calls on everyone to work hard and work hard to achieve performance, and hopes to use the "whip" of "culture" to motivate employees, it is ultimately found that there will be no obvious effect. Therefore, although many companies very much hope to establish a strong corporate culture, it is often separated from the process transformation or organizational change of the company, and it is only a one-sided approach from culture to culture.

We believe that what is urgently needed to solve the enterprise situation mentioned in the question is to stimulate the enthusiasm and creativity of employees by establishing a series of human resource management systems on the basis of clear enterprise management strategies. For example, there are multiple identities of employees in the enterprise. This is actually a problem left over from history. If these employees with different identities have grudges between them, it is difficult to imagine that they can maintain sincere cooperation at work. Therefore, it is crucial to gradually tone down this concept of identity within the company. There are many ways to do this. For example, when considering the bonus system, it is mainly based on performance rather than identity. At the same time, give all employees the opportunity to train and pay attention to their career development... Only through these practices can employees have a "sense of belonging", which in turn stimulates their initiative and creativity, and forms cohesion within the company.

——This article is organized by Cindy Bin. For more questions and answers, please visit the World Manager website.