The Difficulties of Organizational Change
Change
is difficult to bring about. We find comfort in routine and tradition, and so
we often fight against it. Just as people resist change so do organizations. But
why do so many organizations fail to successfully change? A key reason is that many
organizations have dysfunctional cultures that hinder their ability to adapt (Rosenberg
& Mosca, 2011). There is often a lack of trust between the employees and the
management trying to implement the change. Without this trust there is not
likely to be a shared commitment to the change being made. With no shared
vision across the organization, change has little chance of succeeding.
Nonprofit
organizations also face additional challenges that typical companies do not. Their
reliance on outside sources of funding means that they often must consider a
vast array of stakeholders (Renz, 2016). This makes undergoing significant
changes rather difficult and potentially risky, as donors may not agree with the
changes in the organizations direction. Furthermore, funding is often provided mainly
for program support, thereby limiting investment in innovation and proactive
solutions (Gowdy, Hildebrand, La Piana, & Campos, 2009). While this may
make change seem extremely difficult, there is still hope. Below are some tips
that will help any nonprofit organization respond and adapt in a more efficient
manner.
Overcoming Barriers to Change
Empower employees:
Leaders of high performing
organizations focus on employee empowerment and inclusion (Moynihan, Pandey,
& Wright 2014). While changes designed by only a few individuals are often
not successful, changes designed by a broad group of employees are often much
more well received (Blank, 2016). An organization looking to undergo
significant shifts will do well to receive input from a wide spectrum of its
workers. Tools such as consensus decision making are beneficial because they
give employees a sense of inclusion and value to the organization.
Create a Shared
Vision:
Organizational change is most likely
to work if there exist a shared vision across employees (Moynihan, Pandey,
& Wright 2014). This means that the organization’s leaders must be able to
clearly articulate their goals and how they will arrive at them. As described
above, empowering employees will help them be committed to the organizational
vision. Leaders of a nonprofit must also reach out to donors and volunteers,
making sure they understand the direction of the organization and its purpose
for changing.
Have a Flexible
Strategy:
Nonprofits resource-dependent nature
puts them in a precarious position when attempting to undergo major changes.
Using strategic intent, top managers should be specific about the “ends” but
not so specific about the “means” (Hamel & Prahalad, 1989). This means that
managers should have a flexible strategy when it comes to achieving the
organization’s final goals. Not only does this allow the organization to navigate
around unforeseen contingencies, but it may also encourage more innovation and
creativity (Hamel & Prahalad, 1989).
Examine
Potentials for Collaboration:
Leaders of nonprofits should always
be open to the idea of collaboration and working as part of a network. This can
be especially useful for struggling organizations that may lack the necessary
internal capacity to achieve their goals on their own (Renz, 2016).
Technological development has increased the potential effectiveness and ease of
collaboration exponentially in recent years as well (Gowdy et al, 2009), giving
managers another reason to consider working in networks.
Train Strong
Leaders:
Leadership plays a huge role in
determining how successfully an organization can make difficult transitions
(Cameron, 1991). Transformational leaders are those who are the most adept at
creating change. They have been shown to instill developmental cultures in
their organizations, allowing employees to be more creative and adaptable
(Pandey, Coursey, & Moynihan, 2007). Importantly the characteristics of
transformational leadership are highly trainable (Cameron, 1991). Organizations
should ensure that those who are given leadership positions have been trained
in consistency with the transformational leadership model, rather than other
less effective leadership models such as the transactional leadership model.
Sources:
Blank, R. (2016). Implementing Change in
Big Public Institutions. Public
Administration Review, 76, 2, 217-218.
Cameron, K. (1991).
Transformational Leadership. In Whetten, D.A. & Cameron, K.S. (Eds). Developing
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Gowdy, H., Hildebrand, A., La Piana, D., &
Campos, M. M. (2009). Convergence: How five trends will reshape the social
sector. The James Irvine Foundation.
Hamel, G., & Prahalad, C. K. (1989).
Strategic intent. Harvard Business Review. 63-76.
Moynihan, D., Pandey, S., & Wright,
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Administration Reformation Market Demand from Public Organizations: New
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Pandey, S. K., Coursey, D. H., & Moynihan,
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398-425.
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Renz, David O. The Jossey-Bass handbook of
nonprofit leadership and management. John Wiley & Sons, 2016.
Rosenberg, S., & Mosca, J. (2011). Breaking
down the barriers to organizational change. International Journal of
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