Empowering Employees For Broad-Based Action Generating Short ✓ Solved

Empowering employees for broad-based action Generating short-t

Module Overview: As previously stated in Module One, the best-researched model to lead organizational change effectively is John Kotter’s eight-step model (Kotter, 2012). Kotter’s eight steps are: 1. Establishing a sense of urgency 2. Creating the guiding coalition 3. Developing a vision and strategy 4. Communicating the change vision 5. Empowering employees for broad-based action 6. Generating short-term wins 7. Consolidating gains and producing more change 8. Anchoring the new approach in the organizational culture. Once again, we concentrate our focus on applying Kotter’s steps, but in this module, we apply steps 5, 6, 7, and 8 in the diagnosis of a change effort, specifically the change effort of penguins searching for a new home, as we conclude our reading of Our Iceberg Is Melting by Kotter and Rathgeber.

Once again, the issues facing leaders in organizational change efforts will emerge as we review these steps. To gain a better understanding of Kotter’s steps 5 through 8, we will explain each step’s importance and define what the step really means. Kotter’s steps 5, 6, 7, and 8 are: · Empowering employees for broad-based action · Generating short-term wins · Consolidating gains and producing more change · Anchoring the new approach in the organizational culture. Let’s review each.

Empowering employees for broad-based action is step 5 of Kotter’s eight steps. Many leaders make the mistake of wanting employees to simply be implementers of the change effort. Good leaders want employees who keep their eyes and ears open to see what needs to be changed for the change effort to succeed. Too often leaders want employees to act as “drones,” whereas what is needed are employees who are valued for their knowledge and expertise to take the needed actions to help make the change effort a reality—in other words, real empowerment of employees to take needed actions in the change effort. We will cover this in more detail in Module Seven.

Generating short-term wins is step 6 of Kotter’s eight steps. Short-term wins have multiple positive effects in an organizational change effort, but the two most important effects are (a) they document the success of a step toward the larger goal, acting as a milestone of ongoing success toward the goal, and (b) they can be communicated to the greater organization to demonstrate that the change process is ongoing and strong and the “ball has not been dropped.” Remember, complacency is the enemy in a change effort. Short-term wins help to maintain the collective will to succeed in the change effort. We will cover this in more detail in Module Seven.

Consolidating gains and producing more change is step 7 of Kotter’s eight steps. One thing that consistently happens in an organizational change effort is that it affects the operating system of the organization. As that occurs, gains toward the change effort need to be integrated into the fabric of the organization’s operations, but this always requires more change. In particular, the areas of processes and systems need to be revisited to incorporate the demands of the change effort. We will cover this in more detail in Module Nine.

Finally, anchoring the new approach in the organizational culture is step 8 of Kotter’s eight steps. Most leaders do not understand or appreciate the power organizational culture has on the actions of employees and the day-to-day processes in an organization. To maintain and sustain an organizational change, it has to become part of the organizational culture; it has to become “the way we do things here.” If leaders lack the needed diligence in this area, it is easy for “backsliding” toward the old ways and methods to occur, thus dooming the change effort. Sustainability and maintaining the change effort often requires infrastructure support, but it is usually incorporated into the fabric of the organization once the majority of employees believe that the organizational change has become “the way we do things here.”

Assignment Details: In our text Our Iceberg Is Melting, Kotter provides a story-based scenario of a situation needing a change intervention. Review the reading from our text and state how Kotter’s last four steps (5 through 8) were applied in the story (2 paragraphs), and then reflect on an organizational change effort that you are familiar with from the past (you can use the same organizational change effort you used for Module One) using Kotter’s last four steps (5 through 8) to diagnose the strengths and weaknesses of the change effort. Make sure to include what was done well, what was done poorly, and what was lacking in the change effort (2 paragraphs). The journal assignment should be a total of 4 paragraphs. Journals are private between the student and the instructor.

Paper For Above Instructions

John Kotter’s eight-step model for organizational change serves as a robust framework to facilitate effective transformations within organizations. In his book, "Our Iceberg Is Melting," Kotter illustrates the application of the final four steps of his model through the imaginative narrative of a colony of penguins confronting climate change and the pressing need for a new home. The fifth step, empowering employees for broad-based action, is demonstrated as the penguin group acknowledges the necessity for collaborative efforts to confront the looming challenge. By inviting input from all members, the leaders empower the penguins to find innovative solutions and engage in the change process actively. This dynamic highlights the importance of fostering a culture where each member's voice matters, resulting in a stronger commitment to the collective goal.

As the narrative unfolds, the sixth step, generating short-term wins, becomes evident when the penguins celebrate their initial successes in finding and mapping new territories. These victories reinforce the change process, motivating others in the group to participate and reaffirming their shared vision. The penguins' collective experiences underscore how acknowledging successes, no matter how small, fosters resilience and determination. In the seventh step of consolidating gains and producing more change, the penguins learn to adapt their new strategies and incorporate feedback, thus evolving their methods. By achieving critical milestones in their transition, they embed the changes deeper into their practices, showcasing the necessity of continual adaptation for sustained success. Finally, the eighth step, anchoring the new approach in the organizational culture, is illustrated as the penguins adjust their behaviors and routines to embrace the new reality fully. They incorporate the lessons learned from their journey into their culture, ensuring the change is lasting and truly integrated into their way of life.

Reflecting upon a relevant change effort within my experience, I recall the implementation of a new digital inventory management system at a previous organization. Applying Kotter’s steps, we began with step five, empowering employees for broad-based action. Although the initial phases involved intense training, many employees felt disconnected from the process, as their insights were not solicited, inhibiting their engagement and the overall effectiveness of the change. This lapse emphasizes the importance of actively involving all staff members in the process to cultivate ownership of the change.

In evaluating the sixth step, generating short-term wins was somewhat achieved when early adopters of the new system reported increased efficiency. However, without a structured means to share these wins across the organization, the broader team remained unaware of these successes, leading to skepticism. As we moved to the seventh step, consolidating gains proved challenging due to insufficient support for follow-up training. The lack of continuous feedback loops diminished the enthusiasm for the change and hindered long-term effectiveness. Lastly, anchoring the new approach in our organizational culture fell short, as many employees reverted to previous systems despite the initial enthusiasm. The disconnect between leadership’s vision and employee experience illustrates that clear communication and ongoing support are critical for sustaining change in an organizational context.

References

• Chan, J. (2021). Amazon workers detail disturbing work conditions in complaint filed to the national labor relations board. CNN Business.
• Kotter, J. P. (2012). Leading change. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
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• Latpate, R., Kshirsagar, J., Gupta, V. K., & Chandra, G. (2021). Simple Random Sampling. In Advanced Sampling Methods (pp. 11-35). Springer, Singapore.
• Others references should be filled in accordingly with proper citations and credible sources.