Organizational change management (OCM) is a methodology that helps companies navigate the complexities of change. All organizations should undergo reform to remain competitive and scale up. To successfully implement new operational processes, technologies, organizational hierarchies, cultural shifts and other transformations within a company, leaders must encourage their people to side with change.
What Is the Meaning of Organizational Change Management?
Change enables organizations to remain up to date, seize opportunities and address problems. Organizations only transform when the people within them also change, making employees a critical factor in OCM.
Change management is how you rally your employees to deliver results during times of improvement, empowering them to be successful throughout the transformation journey. Significant phases of this experience include communication, preparation, training, change readiness, implementation and follow-through.
Technical vs. People Side of Change
Organizational change has both a technical and people side.
The technical side helps you design, develop and deliver the change. The people side focuses on moving from the current situation and transitioning to the future state by encouraging your employees to embrace and use change.
Organizational improvement cannot succeed without individuals adopting change, staying engaged and feeling heard about the obstacles experienced during the transition phase.
Types of Organizational Change
Two types of organizational change are adaptive change and transformational change.
Adaptive organizational change includes the small, systematic modifications companies undergo to meet emerging needs. Transformational change includes major shifts and large-scale operational moves in strategy, mission, hierarchical structure, performance and processes. Due to substantial reorganization, transformational change requires more time, energy and resources to help lead the workforce.
Why Is Organizational Change Management Important?
Change is challenging and necessary to help an organization grow and succeed. You attain your goals and expand the company’s agility by successfully managing organizational change. OCM helps your workforce embrace, adopt and use the transformation you introduced to ensure it works efficiently.
Ineffective change management causes disengagement, unpredictability, stress and anxiety. In turn, these issues can cost you resources, time and talent. How well your organization adapts to and implements change can impact stakeholder, investor, supplier and prospective talent relations. As a result, effective change management underpins your company’s success.
Partner With Us for a Successful Organizational Change Management Strategy
The Center for Leadership Studies (CLS) has over 50 years of experience and is at the forefront of innovation in organizational development. We have trained over 15 million managers in over 35 countries and deployed our groundbreaking Situational Leadership® approach in 70% of Fortune 500 companies.
Contact us to learn how we will help with your organizational change management.
