Change and performance
Change and learning are inextricably linked. Learning brings about change in people and organisations. Organisations seek to learn – to become learning organisations – so they can both foresee the need for new products and new operations and be flexible and change-ready when change is required. This theme looks at the links between change and development.
Managers have a key role in facilitating learning and development in their teams. Here we look at competencies and why they are important. Competencies focus on the performance required – what people need to be able to do. You will be able to review how organisations can use defined competencies to develop the skills of the workforce for the future and to keep pace with change.
In this theme you will:
Explore ways of finding development opportunities when tackling change
Identify how employee competencies can be linked to high performance.
The challenge of change
We know that people learn from daily activity, from reflecting on their experiences, and from developing an understanding of the way things work. Kolb's learning cycle demonstrates this process – see Figure 4.1.
Figure 4.1 Kolb's learning cycle
Source: Kolb (1985)
The cycle shows that learning is about gaining experience, which over time gives us the mental models that we then use when tackling new problems. We take positive steps to check out these mental models, then take action using these models. The Kolb cycle contains two important messages when we are looking for development opportunities in a situation of change:
People prefer to focus their learning, and hence development, at different stages in the cycle. The focus for many people is around action taking and they then spend very little time on the other stages.
The value that is attributed to learing from the various stages of the cycle will depend on the work context and the experience of the individual in that job.
Opportunities for development occur whenever the team faces change, be it incremental or radical. As a manager, you can encourage staff to use the learning cycle by using the stages when leading the team in problem-solving, task-setting and review situations.
Reg Revans (1982), another well-known writer on change and learning, makes the following important points about learning and change:
When individuals are learning faster than the changes are occurring, then they stay ahead of the game
When events change faster than individuals can learn, they will eventually be unable to respond.
In the latter case, where change is greater than learning, individuals will tend to avoid opportunities to learn and their development and performance will be damaged as a result.
As a manager, your job is to help your staff use change as an opportunity to learn and develop, and to prevent them from becoming submerged by the learning that is required. Sir John Harvey-Jones, former Chief Executive of ICI, states:
Management is not about preserving the status quo, it is about maintaining the highest rate of change that the organisation and people within it can stand.
Source: Harvey-Jones (1990)
Linking development and change
Here is an example of how change and development were linked in one organisation.
A large engineering company had an old mainframe computer with terminals in every office. The mainframe had many limitations and, as the costs of upgrading it outweighed the benefits, the company decided to invest in PC technology with servers/desktop terminals. This meant that every design engineer (some three hundred staff) would have their own PC on their desks rather than one mainframe terminal per workstation of four to six people. Top end computer-aided-design (CAD) PCs were also purchased and placed on each group of workstations so the engineers could make use of them when needed. The company fully understood that the design engineers would need to learn how to operate the CAD system, and a training programme was planned and implemented. However, what it had not fully understood was the flexibility and potential afforded to the engineers by the Microsoft® Windows and Office software applications on the PCs.
Individuals began to write their own letters, compile their own spreadsheets and plan their own presentations. This meant secretaries, desk-top publishing (DTP) support staff and design assistants were not doing as much work as previously because the engineers found it quicker and simpler to do it themselves.
To maximise this opportunity, the company implemented a wide-ranging series of self-learning packages on the applications in which the engineers learned at their own pace. Secretaries were re-skilled as team administrators, and design assistants absorbed other design functions. The company also conducted a cost–benefit analysis, to ensure that design engineers were not being distracted from their primary function, and found that overall productivity had improved.
Change – an opportunity
When an individual moves to a new or different situation, there is an opportunity for learning and development. For the manager and the individual, it is difficult to predict whether the change will be perceived as positive or negative.
We are all creatures of habit and many of us want control over the pressures and stresses associated with work. We have preferred ways of doing things and prefer to seek changes rather than have them forced on us. When faced by sudden or unexpected change, people normally react in one of two ways:
The change is regarded as threatening
The change is regarded as an opportunity.
These two reactions describe opposite ends of a continuum, with many more subtly different reactions in between. You should be able to recognise different reactions in your team members when faced with change. Organisations and managers may consider that they have communicated the need for change well. They have communicated well in advance of the change, and have been honest, open and forthright. Often what they fail to do is to gauge the reactions of people. A key question to ask when communicating change to staff is: ‘How do you feel about this?’
It is a question that needs to be asked several times as people's reactions to change vary and individual reactions also differ over time. Many people initially react to change negatively or suspiciously. It will take time for them to work through the options in their mind, sometimes after discussions with family, friends, their co-workers and manager. As the leader, you need to make time to show your staff where there are opportunities to be found in embracing the change. For example, there may be opportunities to raise the level of performance and, hence, reward and satisfaction.
Here is an example of how one organisation used a major change in strategy and operations as an opportunity to improve performance:
In 2000, BMW announced the sale of the UK Rover Car Group to another company, but that it was retaining the new Mini car (still in design stage) which would be built at the BMW plant in Cowley, Oxford, and distributed globally. Some people may have perceived the announcement as threatening – perhaps because they didn't want to work on a new model car, they didn't enjoy the idea of breaking away completely from the Rover way of operating, or they perceived that their jobs might be at risk because of the reorganisation. However, most of the Cowley staff perceived this information as an opportunity to remain in work, and be involved in a new and exciting project with large investment and long-term commitment to Cowley.
In a period of just over a year between 2000 and 2001, the following occurred at the BMW plant at Cowley:
BMW sold most of the Rover group to a new company
The Cowley site and many staff were retained to build the new Mini car
Existing Rover car assembly lines at Cowley were dismantled and transported to the new Rover company in Birmingham
New Mini assembly lines were designed and installed at Cowley.
The Cowley buildings were comprehensively overhauled – much of the work was undertaken by assembly-line workers, who would otherwise have been out of a job
Assembly-line staff went on extended leave and some went to work at other BMW plants in Germany while the new lines were being built
The new BMW culture began to permeate the plant
Pre-production Minis received rave reviews from the motoring press in June 2001
First sales to customers were scheduled for July 2001
Staff and managers received extensive technical, personal, management and team development to help them cope with the new technology and new ways of working.
Development in a change environment
Development within a change environment is not very different from planned development. Both move people and organisations forward, and often the process is identical but the cycle time varies. Figure 4.2 shows the typical stages of the development process in organisations.
Figure 4.2 Stages in development
Change may mean that development takes priority over operations or production. A change, such as introducing new technology or processes, cannot occur until development has been undertaken.
The organisation will seek to plan for development but individuals always have responsibility for change.
Individual responsibility
Much of the responsibility for learning and development rests with individuals. This is especially so within a change environment. Many people sit back and say, ‘If the company wants me to do something new or different, it's their responsibility to develop me.’ Change is often complex and chaotic. Senior managers will be relying on a flexible, co-operative and proactive approach from all involved – managers and staff. What's more, although development planning may have been undertaken within the overall change plan, it is often the case that not all staff development needs are known from the outset. Sometimes development needs are identified only after changes have been implemented and their effects are better understood. In such circumstances, managers must seek to be in tune with what is happening in and around their areas of responsibility to keep pace with changes.
There is no use whatever trying to help people who do not help themselves. You cannot push anyone up a ladder unless he be willing to climb himself.
American industrialist
(1835-1918)
Change and development
Objective
This activity asks you to identify a change that is occurring, or which is planned, and chart the development needs associated with this change.
Task
1 Complete the chart by describing a change you are facing in your workplace.
The Change – Give a brief description:
Impact on people – What are the likely impacts of this change on the people involved?
How are you and the organisation geared to deal with these impacts, bearing in mind the range of individual reactions to change?
Benefit – List the benefits to the organisation and the people involved. Don't forget to list your suppliers and customers, as well as internal staff – if appropriate.
Organisation benefits |
People benefits |
Development needs – What staff development needs to be undertaken to enable the change to occur or to ensure its success? List in terms of outcomes.
Evaluation – How will you evaluate the success of the change and the development which contributed to it?
Evaluate the change |
Evaluate staff development |
2 If development is needed, discuss this with your manager and with staff.
Feedback
It is often easy to forget staff development needs in change events because a lot is occurring, much of which is new or different. People may be threatened by the changes occurring around them and over which they have little or no control. Your attention to their development needs may help to reassure them and should ensure they are capable of delivering what is needed.
Competencies
A competence is the ability to do a specific task to an acceptable level – to be competent. For example, to write a competent letter or to be a competent speaker. Competences may include skills, knowledge and attributes. A competency, on the other hand, is used in training and development to describe a set of knowledge, skills and behaviour that a jobholder needs to utilise in performing the job's tasks and responsibilities with competence.
Look at the following example of competencies at BMW.
BMW is one of the world's best-known brands. It manufactures and sells cars of high quality, most of which are the benchmark in various market segments. The BMW Leadership Model describes the range of behaviours which all managers must develop and demonstrate. While the description remains constant, BMW accepts that, being an international company, some flexibility is needed to cater for different cultural environments.
BMW Leadership Model
Personal performance: Leadership is about personal performance, contribution and risk taking, not just applying policies, procedures and systems
Realistic visions: Leaders inspire and motivate by creating and communicating realistic visions
Act as a role model, high standards: Leaders act as role models and earn respect through integrity and credibility. Leaders set high standards and apply such standards to themselves
To concentrate on achieving business goals: Leaders ensure the focus of attention is on achieving business goals and not on themselves
Objectives agreement/to encourage the willingness to change: Leaders establish agreed objectives and define the scope of their team members’ autonomy and responsibility. They encourage and support initiative, creativity and willingness to change. Leaders revise objectives if conditions change
To communicate effectively/to build sound relationships: Leaders communicate effectively and build sound relationships
To create a working environment which stimulates enthusiasm and enjoyment: Leaders create a working environment which stimulates enthusiasm and enjoyment as well as focusing on business results
Confidence/consequences: Leaders build confidence through trust, if it is necessary they intervene decisively. They provide support and take on rather than evade responsibility for achieving the desired results
To achieve excellent team results: Leaders build efficient teams and actively develop all individuals. They encourage everyone to reach their full potential. True leaders do not hold people back
To operate effectively in different cultures: Leaders are able to operate effectively in different cultures and lead multicultural teams
Linking competencies to performance
Organisations may use competencies as part of their performance management system to align individual and team performance with the wider business goals and organisational strategy. See the example from Standard Chartered Bank below. The competency framework is a series of linked processes that includes identification of competencies, job descriptions, individual and team objectives, staff development, coaching and feedback. Its success in helping to promote high performance hinges on the active involvement and support of the manager.
Within the competency framework, the definitions are:
A competency – a set of knowledge, skills or behaviour needed in a business to ensure its success. Some competencies may be shared across all units in an organisation, but some may relate to job families or specific jobs, for example sales administration, project planning.
Core competencies – those competencies that apply across all units of an organisation, for example customer focus.
Competency level – the level at which a competency needs to be demonstrated to ensure success in a particular job.
Job competency profile – a summary of the different competencies and competency levels required for success in a particular job.
Personal competency profile – a summary of a person's level of attainment in each competency.
In Standard Chartered Bank, for example, a competency framework is used to identify the competencies at four different levels, where Level 4 relates to an entry-level job, typically junior staff who are task orientated, and Level 1 relates to an expert practitioner or business head with strategic responsibilities. The example below is taken from Standard Chartered's description of the core competency required of a change agent. The competency is divided into two areas:
openness to change and innovation
commitment.
This breakdown shows how the scope of responsibilities broadens from Level 4 through to Level 1.
Level 4 |
Level 3 |
Level 2 |
Level 1 |
Operates within established practices, accepting change and providing practical job-level feedback |
Actively seeks improvements in day-to-day work and makes incremental change within agreed parameters |
Manages and implementation of change in own area of accountability |
Leads business level change and complex reorganisation |
Openness to change and innovation |
Openness to change and innovation |
Openness to change and innovation |
Openness to change and innovation |
Able to understand need for change and willingly accept it |
Able to look for ways of making improvements to existing services, work or operations |
Able to contribute to the design of change at business level and to translate business level change initiatives into local action |
Able to display and communicate a vision for change for a large part of the Group |
Commitment-gaining |
Commitment-gaining |
Commitment-gaining |
Commitment-gaining |
Able to provide contructive feedback on the practical impact of changes in own job |
Able to provide constructive feedback about change processes in part of own business and to demonstrate commitment to change to other team members |
Able to gain commitment to new ideas and initiative which have an impact across the business area |
Understands and is able to address the issues involved in promoting major change in multinationl organisations |
Source: Standard Chartered Bank (used with permission)
Generic competencies
Some organisations apply generic competencies which are issued by lead industry or sector agencies, sponsored by government. For example, the Management Standards Centre (MSC) is the standards setting body for the National Occupational Standards for Management. The management standards are available in vocational qualification format to enable individuals to work towards a nationally recognised qualification.
The management standards and qualifications apply at these levels of management:
1 Level 3 – junior managers/supervisors /team leaders.
2 Level 4 – middle managers.
3 Level 5 – senior managers.
The purpose, roles and examples of areas of competencies are described in detail.
In the US, the Department of Labor and Education formed the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) to study the kinds of competencies and skills that workers must have to succeed in today's workplace. The survey identified five key areas of competency:
resources – identifies, plans and allocates resources
interpersonal – works with others
information – acquires and evaluates information
systems – understands complex interrelationships
technology – works with a variety of technologies.
Investors in People
Another source of support and guidance in the use of the competency framework is the government sponsored group called Investors in People (IIP). This is sometimes referred to as a model for determining an organisation's competencies for developing people. It is the UK national standard which sets the level of good practice for training and developing people to help organisations achieve their business goals. The standard was developed in 1990 in conjunction with the Confederation of British Industry, the Trades Union Congress and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, and with the support of the Department of Employment.
The standards provide a national framework for improving business performance and competitiveness through a planned approach to communicating business objectives and developing people to meet these objectives.
There are 12 standards against which organisations can compare their current level of commitment and performance. These standards are based on four key principles:
commitment to invest in people to achieve business goals
planning how skills, individuals and teams are to be developed to achieve these goals
taking action to develop and use necessary skills in a well-defined and continuing programme directly tied to business objectives
evaluating outcomes of training and development for individuals' progress towards goals, the value achieved and future needs.
Recap
This theme examines individual and team development in the context of a changing environment and the employee competencies required in the organisation.
Explore ways of finding development opportunities when tackling change
As a manager your job is to help your team use change as an opportunity to learn and develop and, at the same time, to prevent them being overloaded with learning.
Your role is to show your team members ways to embrace change and identify development needs in line with new objectives or changes in circumstances. Your focus on their needs will help to reassure individuals of their ability to cope with and benefit from, the change.
Identify how employee competencies can be linked to high performance
Competencies set a standard for performance for which everyone needs to aim.
Organisations may use competencies as part of their performance management system to align individual and team performance with the wider business goals and organisational strategy.
More @
Thomson, R. (2002) 3rd edition, Managing People, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann
Managing People addresses the perspective of the individual manager whose role includes the management of people, as well as issues concerning the organisation as a whole. See particularly Chapter 11 ‘Managing in a changing world.’
Torrington, D. and Hall, L. (1998) 4th edition, Human Resource Management, FT Prentice Hall
This book is written from a practical management perspective. It explores change and human resource issues and provides a clear definition of competencies, showing how they can be used by organisations to help improve performance.
Investors in People – www.investorsinpeople.co.uk
For more information about the standards associated with the Investors in People awards, visit the group's website.
Management Standards Centre – www.management-standards.org
For more information about management standards and competencies, visit this organisation's website.
Full references are provided at the end of the book.