Stability and change for sustainability

Employee withdrawal of commitment or disengagement is an unforeseen hurdle to change implementation. This difficulty entails a lack of initiative and interest in the change as a result of behavioral resistance during implementation. Another unforeseeable change is the failure or collapse of the executed change as a result of factors such as implementing all changes without phases or short-term and long-term gains. Organizational structures that require new sets of rules, policies, and procedures to guide the process of monitoring and evaluating change may be a hurdle to implementing change (Burchell & Kolb, 2006). These frameworks stymie the process of change. Commitment is a recipe for sustainability of change and lack of engagement, follow up and willingness for change causes disorientation that hinders sustainability. Lack of commitment causes mistrust and loss of accountability hence hurting sustainability. Failure or collapse of implemented change means halting the change process, and the remedy is turning to alternative change strategies. The bureaucratic structures hinders sustainability through slow process such new rules and policies monitoring and evaluating the implemented change (Burchell & Kolb, 2006). Whenever the rules and procedures apply in the change process, chances of change sustainability reduces with the additional of time to create the procedures and rules governing the required changes.

There are some ways that managers can prepare for such outcomes such as through proper planning. For instance, prepare for collapsing changes with alternatives and implement the changes in piece-meal or phases. For lack of commitment, managers can prepare via effective communication ensuring awareness of the change, motivation, and adequacy of abilities and skills in the implementation process (Greenwood, Hinings & Jennings, 2015). Organization structures require support of the changes by top management and the use of feedback to identify and correct mistakes in the process.

References

Burchell, N., & Kolb, D. (2006). Stability and change for sustainability. University of Auckland Business Review, 8(2), 33-41.

Greenwood, R. G., Hinings, C. R., & Jennings, P. D. (2015). Sustainability and organizational change: An institutional perspective. Leading Sustainable Change: An Organizational Perspective, 323-55.