Making Organizational Changes
Making decisions in any organization can sometimes be tedious and complicated. However, decision making can have its negative and positive effects. The way one handles this will determine how successful or unsuccessful the change will be. For change to be a success one must utilize precision when it comes to decision making. According to White, decision making is “A future-oriented perspective where foundation decisions are made based on an analysis of external and internal trends and data”. (2006)
In this paper one will find information on my current organization and their decisions making style. Also, included are decision making traps that the organization fell into. Lastly, one will find solutions and alternative methods that could have been utilized if better decision making methods had been utilized.
It would be safe for one to assume that my organization just jumped right into things without making a sound decision or gathering all of the proper facts. They should have utilized some of the decision making tools such as framing, gathering intelligence, coming to conclusions, and learning from their experience. The major decision that is being spoken of is the decision to utilize contractors. This new decision worked for a brief moment but the victory did not last long. According to Russo & Shoemaker, “Someone who employs a poor decision process but is met with world class success, deserves neither praise nor promotion for this fortunate individual and is simply the recipient of dumb luck” (2001).
If my company had used framing they could have looked at the different issues contractors could have potentially caused the company before hand. Additionally, they could have set parameters to offset the issues. They could have determined what jobs would have been more suitable for contractors and which ones more suitable for our employees to most meet the needs of the business.
Secondly, if gathering intelligence had been factored into the equation the organization would have been able to seek what works and what doesn’t work when it comes to the contractors. They would have been able to avoid certain problems that occurred. However, being overconfident in what they believed was going to work caused them to lose money in the long run.
Coming to conclusions is another important step that should have taken place. According to Russo & Shoemaker, “People cannot consistently make good decisions using seat of the pants judgments alone even with excellent data if front of them” (2001). I believe we should have used information that we had gather from the future and the past and came up with better conclusions before making the decisions to utilize the contractors.
Lastly, learning from experience is something we definitely could have used. We have utilized general contractors in the past and have concluded that it was not feasible for the company. However, some felt the need to give it another try and once again it failed.
In addition to some of the decision making tools my organization should have used while making this decision, they also fell into a very common decision making trap. This trap is the escalation of commitment. According to Jeffrey, “This trap happens most frequently because changing a course of action involves an implicit admission that the path you were on wasn’t the right one and admitting to a mistake is difficult for most of us”(1990). Once we realized that our plan was not working we just continued right along with it and believe it or not we still utilize contractors today.
If appointed as a major decision maker within my organization I would go about making decisions differently. I would extensive research and weigh the good with the bad. As the paper goes on one will find the reasons why I would eliminate contractor how, some of the effects it would have on the company and how I would transition my employees into effectively accepting my decision.
A major change in my company that should take place is the elimination of contractors. I am employed by one of the leading telecommunication companies in the United States. We have thousands of employees however; we still utilize the services of contractors. The use of contractors can be beneficial at times but, they can also be costly for the company. As an executive of the company, I would definitely stop the use of contractors. By making this change it would definitely increase the workload on my employees but, in the end we would be able to save money over time. I understand this change will be drastic on some departments nevertheless; it is up to me to make sure the transition runs smoothly.
As an executive I may be questioned as to why contractors are not what the company need. There are several reasons I believe we should utilize all in house employees. First, my company has received an abundance of negative feedback from our customers. After careful research it has been found that 80 percent of the negativity stems from contractors. The reason for this is because contractors are paid by the amount of jobs they complete and not by the hour. Therefore, they tend to rush through the customers installation to make room for more work to be added to them. This results in repair techs having to come out sometimes the next day which cost the company more money.
Secondly, we spend more money on office space and equipment. Before occupying a new office building my company has to take contractors into consideration because they do not utilize there own office space. In the end we spend more money because we need larger offices to accommodate them as well as in-house employees. In some offices there are more contractors then employees so, if we eliminated them we could definitely save money by renting a smaller office. In addition, we spend more money every quarter on extra office supplies. Contractors have access to all of our supplies such as paper for the copier, computers, and all other supplies. In return, this also adds the cost of added maintenance fees on the office equipment because of extra wear and tear.
Lastly, contractors do not give the company a good image at all times. They are not required to wear the company uniform therefore; sometimes they arrive at customers home looking unkempt. They do not use the company vans and sometimes pull up to customers homes leaving oil spots in there driveways which also, leaves a negative impact on the company. Conversely, they do not have a vested interest in the company and do not treat the facilities with the same amount of respect as a vested employee.
In order to effectively map out the changes to remove the contractors, I will implement the five phases of planning change to make it a success. I will use this form of change to make sure that we transition smoothly. Some employees will not be as willing to adjust to the change because it will mean more work for in-house employees. Fortunately, in the end it will be beneficial to the company which makes it beneficial to all employees.
The first phase of my change will consist of aligning which is preparing the employees for the change. I will share my vision for future once the change has been implemented. Then they will be debriefed on how the change will affect them and their current positions. And as the executive of the company I will have to look at my team readiness to ensure this is the proper time to make the change.
Secondly, I will start to plan out my changes to eliminate the contractors. I will factor in all “what if’s”, such as the over abundance of work on in-house employees and figure out solutions for them. I will investigate and research how the extra workload would affect the employee performance and set a timeline to employ the change. At this time in the process I will be open to all employee input.
Thirdly, I will start the design process which is transitioning the structures. I would restructure my leadership team to ensure employees had the proper help they needed from management and determine their new roles and responsibilities. After this has been completed new policies would then be put into place. Then I would make sure the new work load was evenly distributed within the prospective departments.
Implementing the change would be next on the list. This process will include training on the new responsibilities everyone will be taking on. There will be a close monitor on the new process and all negative and positive effects it has on the company and or the employees. I will also give feedback to let everyone know how the change is coming along.
Lastly, once the change has been put into operation and running smoothly we can enjoy the rewards of the transition. For instance, with the help of management we can create incentives for the employees such as, extra time on their lunches or lunch on behalf of the management team for good work. Equally, we can celebrate the success and acknowledge the results as a whole.
I chose the five phases of planning change to administer the new changes to ensure a smooth transition. Also, it ensures that all measures are taken and nothing is left out. It covers all aspects of the change and makes it easier to adjust or revaluate any problems that may occur. I would definitely avoid not using this or any other plan to govern any changes within an organization. I say this because a major change in any company can be detrimental the success of the company and it helps to keep the employees happy. It is said the happier the employees are the more successful the company will be.
In conclusion, decision making is detrimental to all organizations. It can make or break a company that is striving to succeed. As an executive, one must keep the needs of the business as their number one priority and not fall prey to the decision traps. Most importantly, one must always be mindful of the useful decision making tool. I believe if these practices are used one will be able to succeed in all of their decision making endeavors.
References
Russo, J., & Shoemaker, P. (2001) Winning Decisions. New York, New York.
Doubleday Publishing.
White, D. (2006) Decision Theory. New York, New York. Aldine Transaction
Publishing.
Jeffrey, R. (1990) The Logic of Decision. Chicago, IL. University of Chicago Press
Publishing.