Challenges in the Workplace and Possible Solutions to Remedy the Situation

The resistance to change is a huge challenge in the workplace. No matter how big or small the changes are, whether business processes, change in management, structural changes or the operating model; all of these will affect staff in their professional capacity. For the purposes of this paper the focus will be on corporate restructuring and how the lack of collective buy-inn and communication can hamper the success of the project.

This is one of the most daunting tasks for any organisation.

The organisation has adopted six strategic imperatives as part of its strategy over a period of five years. One of the results necessitated the need for the organisation to embark on a restructuring process to align the structure and operating model to improve efficiency, service delivery and drive down costs for our customer base. As a total overhaul of the structure was prevalent the process was divided into three phases.

Phase one was the exclusive participation of executive members and management. Part of the process was to communicate the outcomes to staff and after the first road show to head office staff it was evident to the Chief Executive Office that there was a gap in the process. The resistance from staff could mainly be attributed to a lack of participation and a final message being communicated to them.

The CEO immediately admitted to this as an oversight and amended to the project plan so collective buy-in could be obtained from staff, which would greatly contribute to the success of this initiative, the organisation and the customers could derive the maximum benefits from this process.

During the roll-out of phase two, staff were afforded an opportunity to workshop proposals, conduct impact analysis and submit proposals to the Executive Committee. This was a lengthy process, but with collective participation a swift change in attitude, moral could immediately be noticed. A proposal for availing Voluntary Severance Packages (VSP) was opened to staff. The intended retrenchment of three hundred staff members only six was affected and two hundred and ninety four VSP's was approved.

Phase three included change management processes and aligning business processes to the new operating model.

One conclusion one can draw is that