The Process of Successful Change

The Process of Successful Change Norma Taylor HCS 325 July 10, 2012 The Process of Successful Change There are many responsibilities involved with the title of manager. Implementing and rolling out change to your employees can be overwhelming. There are different techniques used to ensure a smooth, uneventful transition to change. Some techniques are not as useful and successful as others, depending on what type of change is involved. Motivational techniques to implement change in a company are not an easy task, but it is possible.

Expectancy theory, two-factor theory, goal-setting theory, and equity theory are a few different techniques that I would use in my company. The expectancy theory is a unique way to motivate employees during a time of change. Victor Vroom’s expectancy theory suggests that “people will do what they can do when they want to do it” (Lombardi & Schermerhorn, 2007). This theory depends on three different factors: Expectancy, Instrumentality, and Valence. Expectancy is the belief that working hard will result in a desired level of task achieved.

Instrumentality is defined as a person’s belief that successful performance will be rewarded and has other good outcomes. Valance is the value a person assigns to the possible rewards and other work related outcomes. There are pros and cons to the expectancy theory. One pro is that this theory is a commonly recognized for supporting an employee’s decision-making method. A shortcoming of this theory is that it has numerous elements that may make this theory not as successful. For example, this theory does not take the emotional state of the individual into consideration.

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The individual's personality, abilities, skills, knowledge as well as previous experiences are factors that may affect the outcome of this model. The expectancy theory of motivation is a "perception" based model. The manager needs to guess the motivational force (the value) of a reward for an employee. The theory can be difficult to implement in the group environment (Leadership-Central. com, 2012). As a leader using the expectancy theory, I would set realistic goals for the employees. In addition, I would also ensure that they are setting realistic goals for themselves.

Failure to set a realistic goal will result in a low motivation as the expectancy will yield a low result. Rewards are a form of motivation to everyone and I would set realistic rewards. As a leader I need to understand what my employee’s value and I would link the reward with the goal. The trick here is to ensure that you operate within your constraints as well as make sure not to exaggerate the reward in comparison to the effort they will need to express. High reward with low effort will create an expectation effect and may work against you.

I believe the expectancy theory technique would work well in a small office. Implementing change and offering a reward to committed employees with positive results will give effective outcomes. The two-factor theory is another motivational techniques used in the workplace developed by Frederick Herzberg. This theory states that there are certain factors in the workplace that cause job satisfaction as well as a separate set of factors that cause dissatisfaction. This theory used as a motivational technique can cause great outcomes in the workplace. Job satisfaction can be achieved in the simplest ways.

Acknowledging great performance would give employees a sense of job satisfaction at their workplace, thus creating a positive outcome. According to Herzberg job satisfaction can be a sense of achievement, feelings of recognition, sense of responsibility, opportunity for advancement and feelings of personal growth (Lombardi ; Schermerhorn, 2007). Job gratification can indicate a great degree of incentive or productivity with workers. J. Stacy Adams developed the equity theory, which assists in the explanation that wages and environments do not conclude motivation to employees.

His theory indicates that the perceived unfairness is a motivating state. When people believe they have been inequitably treated in comparison to others, they will try to eradicate the discomfort and reestablish a sense of fairness to the situation (Lombardi ; Schermerhorn, 2007). As a leader this type of motivation is essential to a work environment. According to Adams’ prediction, he believes that employees would deal with unfairness by changing their work contributions and decreasing their labor.

He also believes that employees will ask for incentives, or simply terminate their position in the company because of unfair or unjust treatment compared to fellow employees. Treating everyone equally and fair is a practice required in any type of work environment. Using this tool as a motivation to implement change would be necessary. It would aid in the impartiality of rewards for doing an excellent job during the change as well as the reprimands needed for employees not embracing the change as necessary.

In 1960’s, Edwin Locke put forward the goal-setting theory of motivation. This theory states that goal setting is essentially linked to task performance. The theory states that specific and challenging goals along with appropriate feedback contribute to higher and better task performance. In simple words, goals indicate, and give direction to an employee about what needs to be done and how much effort is required. This is one of my favorite theories because I believe that it is the most effective theory to use when implementing a change in a work setting.

There are numerous important features in this theory. For example, Edwin Locke states that the employee’s willingness to work toward the attainment of a goal is a main source of job motivation. A clear, difficult, and specific goals are greater motivating factors than having easy, general and vague goals. Specific and clear goals lead to greater output and better performance (Management Study Guide, 2012). Goals ought to be reasonable and challenging to give employees a sense of gratification and accomplishment when attained.

The more challenging the goal, the greater the reward, and the higher the employee’s desire are for achieving it. Feedback is a means of gaining reputation, making clarifications and regulating goal. There are many theories to implement change and motivate employees; some may work while others may not. Change in a workplace is a process. As a leader I would start with what would benefit the company. Once the notice of change has been communicated, setting up training would be the next step.

Using the goal-setting theory I would let the employees know clearly what is expected from them and continue to implement the change. To motivate the workers and make the change a little more pleasant, I would reward them once the goal is achieved. Change is not always bad, but it is definitely a challenging task, because of the various needs and desires of each individual. References In-Tuition. (2012). Follow These Strategies for Managing Change. Retrieved from http://www. practical-management-skills. com/strategies-for-mamaging-change. htm

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