Chapter 6: Navigating Organizational Politics and Culture Chapter Overview • Change leaders need to understand the informal components of organizations—culture and power • Understanding the cultural and power dynamics in an organization is critical to a successful change • Force Field Analysis and Stakeholder Analysis are two key tools to analyze the informal organizational system and how to change it • Change leaders need to know themselves. They are both stakeholder and key actors in the process .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 2 The Change Path Model Awakening Chapter 4 Mobilization Chapters 5 through 8 Navigating Organizational Politics and Culture • Power Dynamics • Perception of change and the change equation • Force field analysis • Stakeholder analysis Acceleration Chapter 9 Institutionalization Chapter 10 .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 3 Power Dynamics: Sources of Individual Power • Position or authority power • Network power • Knowledge power • Expert power • Information power • Personality power .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 4 Power Dynamics: Other Sources of Power • Ability to cope with and absorb environmental uncertainty • Low Substitutability • What you have to offer is scarce and not easy substituted for • Centrality to decision making, resources critical to strategy or survival, or to work that others rely on .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 5 Resource, Process & Meaning Power • Resource Power • The access to valued resources in an organization • Process Power • The control over formal decision making arenas and agendas • Meaning Power • The ability to define the meaning of things. Thus, the meaning of symbols and rituals and the use of language provide meaning power .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 6 Usage Frequency of Different Power Tactics When Managers Influence Superiors Most Popular Tactic Least Popular Tactic When Managers Influence Subordinates Using & Giving Reasons Using & Giving Reasons Developing Coalitions Being Assertive Friendliness Friendliness Bargaining Developing Coalitions Being Assertive Bargaining Referring to Higher Authority Referring to Higher Authority Applying Sanctions .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 7 Toolkit Exercise 6.2 Assessing Your Power 1. What sources of power are you comfortable with and which do you have access to? 1. Consider a particular context that you regularly find yourself in. What could you do to increase the power you have available? What types of power are involved? 1. How do the key players, structures, and systems in the particular context influence the types and amount of power available to you? How could you change this? .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 8 Toolkit Exercise 6.2 Where Does Power Lie in Your Organization? Pick an organization you know well: 1. What factors lead to power? Which departments carry more weight? What behaviors are associated with having power? 1. Think of a change situation it faced. What types of power were at play? 1. In Hardy’s terms, who controlled resources? Who had process power? Meaning power? 1. Who had “yea-saying” and “nay-saying” power? On what issues? 1. If you examine Table 6.1 in the book, what types of power were used most often? What types are you most comfortable using when you are attempting to influence others? .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 9 When Does Change Occur? Change Occurs When: Perceived Benefits of Change Perceived Cost of Change .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 10 Modified Change Equation Change Occurs When: Perception of Dissatisfaction with the Status Quo Perception of the Benefits of Change Perceived Cost of Change Perception of the Probability of Success .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 11 Reactions to Change • People react to change for many reasons • Don’t equate support with friends and resistance with enemies • It may be ambivalence and not resistance you’re seeing • People experience ambivalence and/or resist for many reasons. Listen carefully so you can learn and refine initiatives • Don’t be blind to learning opportunities to refine analysis, avoid problems areas, and strengthen initiatives • The prospects of moving someone from resistance to support increase when they feel their concerns and insights have been understood and received .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 12 Resistance to Change • Resistance to change is normal and there are often good reasons for it • Don’t assume resistance is “bad” or “negative”. It might be helpful • Resistance usually contains information that is useful—people have reasons that they resist change .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 13 Reasons for Resistance • Self-interest • Misunderstanding and lack of trust • Different assessments of the consequences • Low tolerance for change .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 14 Organizational / Individual Consequences & Support for Change Perceived Impact of the Change on the Organization Perceived Impact of the Change on the Individual Direction of Support of the Change Positive Positive Strong support for change Positive Negative Indeterminate, with possible resistance Neutral Positive Support for change Neutral Negative Resistance to change Negative Positive Indeterminate support for change Negative Negative Strong resistance to change .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 15 Perceived Impact of Change 1. Consider the impact of a change on an organization you know and consider the impact on the individuals concerned. a) Were the impacts on the organization and affected individuals both positive? Were they perceived that way? 1. What were the perceived costs of change? Were the perceptions accurate? How could they be influenced? 1. What were the perceived benefits? What was the probability of achieving these benefits? Were people dissatisfied with the present state? What were the costs of not changing? 1. Were significant costs incurred prior to gaining benefits? Why did they take the risk (incurring definite costs but indefinite benefits)? .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 16 Force Field Analysis Desired State Restraining Forces Current State Driving Forces .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 17 Forces For and Against Change Stron g R E S I S T A N C E No Chan ge F O R C E S Discontinuo us Change (Breakpoints ) No change Wea k Sporadi c Change Wea k Continuou s Change CHANGE FORCE .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. Stron g 18 Stakeholder Analysis A stakeholder is… Anyone who is influenced or could influence the change you wish to make happen. A stakeholder analysis is… The process of understanding of the motives, power base, alliances, goals, etc. of all crucial stakeholders. .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 19 Stakeholder Analysis (cont.) • Who are the stakeholders? • What do they want? • Do they support you? Why? Why not? • What prevents them from supporting you? • Who influences these stakeholders? Can you influence the influencers? • Can stakeholders be co-opted or involved in a positive way? .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 20 Stakeholder Management: Savage et al. Stakeholder Potential Threat Lo Hig Hig h Stakehold er Potential For Cooperati on h w Mixed Blessing: Collaborate Supportiv e: Involved NonSupportive: Defend Margina l: Monitor Lo w .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 21 Stakeholder Map Stakeholder # 1 (issues, needs, etc.) Stakeholder # 3 (issues, needs, etc.) Stakeholder # 5 (issues, needs, etc.) Stakeholder # 2 (issues, needs, etc.) Change Agent Stakeholder # 4 (issues, needs, etc.) Stakeholder # 6 (issues, needs, etc.) Stakeholder # 8 Stakeholder # 7 .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 22 Stakeholder Roles in Networks • Central Connectors • People who link most people in an informal network with each other • Boundary Spanners • Who connect an informal network with other parts of the organization or other organizations • Information Brokers • Who join the different sub-groups together (and prevent fragmentation) • Peripheral Specialists • Who have specialized expertise (and need freedom from connections to maintain that expertise) .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 23 Dimensions of Networks • Source of information • Inside or outside of the functional area • Social restrictions • Tenure, hierarchy, and location determining the network • Source of connections • Planned interactions or happenstance hallway encounters • Quality of the connections • Relationship quality (short vs. long term, level of trust and confidence in the information, etc.) .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 24 Stages in the Change Process Initial Awareness Interested in the Change Wanting the Change to Happen Ready to Take Action .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 25 General Orientation Towards Change • Innovators • Early Adopters • Early Majority • Late Majority • Late Adopters Similar to consumer adaptation profiles in marketing, except you are urging the adoption of a change, not a product or service • Non-adopters .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 26 Type of Commitment Exhibited • Opposed to the change • Let it happen • Help it happen • Make it happen .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 27 Managing the Strategic Consensus High Understanding Low Understanding of of the Change the Change High, Positive Commitment to the Change Strong Consensus Blind Devotion Low, Positive Commitment to the Change Informed Sceptics Weak Consensus Negative Commitment to the Change Informed Opponents Fanatical Opponents .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 28 Analysis of the Stakeholders’ Readiness to Take Action Predisposition to Change: innovator, early adopter, early Stakeholde r’s Name majority, late majority, laggard Current Commitment Profile: resistant, ambivalent, neutral, supportive or committed Jon es Smit h Dougl as Gree n Et c. .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 29 Toolkit Exercise 6.3 Force Field Analysis Consider an organization change situation you are familiar with: • What are the forces for change? Who is championing the change? How strong and committed are these forces (Who will let it happen; who will help it happen; who will make it happen)? • How could these forces be augmented or increased? What forces could be added to those that exist? • What are the forces that oppose change? • How could these forces be weakened or removed? What things might create major resentment in these forces? • Can you identify any points of leverage you could employ to advance the change? .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 30 Stakeholder Analysis Checklist 1. Who are the key stakeholders? 1. Is there a formal decision-maker with authority to authorize or deny the change project? What are his/her attitudes to the project? 1. What is the commitment profile of stakeholders? Do a commitment analysis for each stakeholder. 1. Are they typically initiators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, or laggards when it comes to change? 1. Why do stakeholders respond as they do? Does the reward system drive them to support or oppose your proposal? What consequences does your change have on each stakeholder? Do the stakeholders perceive these as positive, neutral or negative? .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 31 Stakeholder Analysis Checklist (cont.) 6. What would change the stakeholders’ views? Can the reward system be altered? Would information or education help? 6. Who influences the stakeholders? Can you influence the influencers? How might this help? 6. What coalitions might be formed amongst stakeholders? What alliances might you form? What ones might form to prevent the change you wish? 6. By altering your position, can you keep the essentials of your change and yet satisfy some of the needs of those opposing change? 6. Can you appeal to higher order values and/or goals which will make others view their opposition to the change as petty or selfish? .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 32 Summary • Change agents need to understand the power structures and people in their organization—much of which may be informal and emergent in nature • Ambivalence to change is a natural reaction. Resistance to change is likely (but not inevitable) and there is potential to use ambivalence and resistance in a positive way. People react to change for good reasons and change agents need to know those reasons. • Force field analysis helps plot the major structural, system and people forces at work in the situation and to anticipate ways to alter these forces. • Stakeholder analysis helps us understand the interactions between key individuals and the relationships and power dynamics that underpin the web of relationships .Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 33 Chapter 7: Managing Recipients of Change and Influencing Internal Stakeholders Chapter Overview • This chapter deals with those on the receiving end of change • View recipients as stakeholders and revisit assumptions and approaches to ambivalence and resistance if or when it occurs • Changes that alter people’s sense of their psychological contract need to be approached with care • When disruptive change occurs, recipient stakeholders go through a predictable series of reactions to change • Recipients often respond emotionally to change and their view of change are influenced by their personalities, experiences, their peers, and by the change leaders • The present-day challenge is to make change the norm and encourage recipients to be change leaders and implementers Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 35 The Change Path Model Awakening Chapter 4 Mobilization Chapters 5 through 8 Recipients and Internal Stakeholders • Responses to change: +ve, ambivalence, and –ve • Psychological contract • Stages of reaction to change • Impact of personality, experience on change • Managing forward with recipients and internal stakeholders Acceleration Chapter 9 Institutionalization Chapter 10 Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 36 Recipients • Reactions vary from positive to negative, and ambivalence often comes first • Recipients do not always react negatively—it depends on how they perceive the change • Recipients will have questions and concerns, as they attempt to make sense of the change • Resistance is not inevitable—listen, work to understand and respond in ways that build understanding and support • Do this early and often—don’t wait for ambivalence to become resistance Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 37 Channeling Feelings for the Change • Channel energy in positive ways, not letting enthusiasm overwhelm legitimate concerns • Recognize mixed feelings and seek to understand them • Use respected, positively oriented individuals in positions of influence concerning the change • Pace the change. Remember that going too slow can lose enthusiastic support and going too fast will choke those who are doubtful. Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 38 Ambivalence to Change Is No Surprise • Mixed feelings are common as recipients try to make sense of the change • Ambivalence generates discomfort as they seek to resolve a multitude of issues about the change: • People find it easier to voice concerns about conflicting beliefs than about conflicting emotions • Once they resolve their ambivalence, feelings solidify and subsequent change to attitudes become more difficult to change again • Invest the time needed at the front end of the change to respond to ambivalence positively—or prepare to face a more difficult task later, when it turns to resistance Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 39 Responding to Mixed Feelings About the Change • Focus on helping people make sense of the proposed organizational change • Listen for information that may be helpful in achieving the change • Constructively reconcile their ambivalence • Sort out what actions are now needed Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 40 Common Causes of Negative Reactions 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Negative consequences perceived to outweigh the benefits Flawed communication process Concern that the change has been ill conceived Lack of experience with change or locked into old habits Prior negative experience with a similar change Prior negative experience with those advocating change 1. The negative reactions of others that recipients trust and/or with whom they will have to work in the future 1. The change process seen to lack procedural or distributive justice and breaching their “contract” Fear that they lack skills they’ll need to perform well 1. Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 41 Perceptions of Fairness & Justice • Perceptions of Fairness & Justice • Will influence how recipients view and react to the change • Procedural Justice • Was the process managed in a fair and equitable way? • Distributive Justice • Was the end decision a fair one? Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 42 Is It Resistance... or Is Something Else Going On? • We often misinterpret impediments to change as caused by resistant recipients • Impediments are much more likely to come from problems related to the misalignment of structures and systems than from individuals engaged in resistance • Blaming individuals rather than addressing misaligned structures and systems will worsen the situation Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 43 Managers as Recipients • Recipients of change are not just those in front-line roles • Supervisors, middle, and even senior managers are often recipients of the organizational change • Managers often try to manage up, down, and laterally to cope with change; they try to shape it and deal with implementation on their own terms • Coping with change while trying to link, influence, and implement is difficult • If you are a change recipient in these middle roles, be aware of how this can affect your judgment Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 44 Toolkit Exercise 7.3 Personal Reactions to Change 1. Think about times when you have been a recipient of change: a. b. c. d. What was the change and how was it introduced? What was the impact on you? What was your initial reaction? Did your attitudes change over time? Why or why not? 1. Was there a pattern to your response? a. Under what circumstances did you support the change? When did you resist? What can you generalize from your reactions? b. If you experienced ambivalence, how did you resolve it and what happened to your attitudes toward the change? 1. Have your experiences with change been largely positive, negative, or mixed? Have they colored your expectations about the future? Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 45 Psychological Contract • The psychological contract represents the sum of the implicit and explicit agreements we believe we have with our organization • It defines our perceptions of the terms of our employment relationship and includes our expectations for ourselves and for the organization, including organizational norms, rights, rewards, and obligations • Changes often disrupt recipients’ psychological contracts • When unilateral changes are made to psychological contracts, negative reactions can be expected Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 46 Toolkit Exercise 7.5—Disruption of the Psychological Contract Think about a change initiative that you are aware of: 1. What was the psychological contract? 2. How did the change disrupt the psychological contract? 3. What were the reactions to these disruptions to the contract? 4. What steps could have reduced the negative effects stemming from the disruption? 5. How should a new psychological contract have been developed with affected individuals? 6. If you were a recipient, what steps could you take to better manage your way through the development of a new contract? Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 47 Stages of Reaction to Change Before the Change During the Change After the Change Anticipation & Anxiety Phase Shock, Denial, & Retreat Phase Acceptance Phase Issues: Coping with uncertainty and rumors Issues: Coping with the announcement and associated fallout, reacting to the new “reality” Issues: Putting effects of change behind you, acknowledging the change, achieving closure, and moving on to new beginnings— adaptation and change 1. Pre-change Anxiety 2.Shock 2.Defensive Retreat 2.Bargaining 6.Acknowledgment 6.Adaptation & Change 2.Depression, Guilt, and/or Alienation Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 48 In the Midst of Change, Change Is About... • Ambiguity • Risk • Denial • Anger • Fear • Resentment • Excitement • Exploration • Determination & Commitment • Tension • Satisfaction • Pride • Lots of Other Potentially Conflicting Emotions Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 49 Toolkit Exercise 7.4—Your Normal Reaction to Innovation & Change When you find yourself dealing with matters of innovation and change, how do you typically react? 1. Do you fall into the category of innovator or early adopter? 1. Or do you generally fit into the early majority category? If the experiences of early adopters are positive, you take the risk. 1. Or are you in the category of the late majority? You wait until the innovation has been tried and tested by many before adopting. 1. Or do you avoid adopting until the vast majority have done so? In other words are you a late adopter or even a non-adopter, until forced to do so? Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 50 Recipient’s Past Experience with Change & Perceived Risk Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 51 Personality and the Change Experience Change Experience Little Individuals with High Tolerance for Ambiguity and Change Individuals with Low Tolerance for Ambiguity and Change Some Frequent Chaos Boredo m Energiz ed Negative Stress Effects Comfo rt Stress Discomfort Rises Severe Distress Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 52 Personality & Change P E R F O R M A N C E Low AMOUNT OF CHANGE High High Need for Change Individuals Low Need for Change Individuals Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 53 What Is Your Tolerance for Change? 1. What is your tolerance for change? What level of turbulence and ambiguity at work do you find most stimulating and satisfying? 1. How do you react when the rate of change is likely to remain quite low? 1. How do you react when the rate of change is moderate? What constitutes a moderate for you? Are your tolerance levels lower or higher than others you know? 1. What price do you find you pay when the rate of turbulence and ambiguity exceed what you are comfortable with? 1. Have you had to cope with prolonged periods of serious upheaval? Have these affected your acceptance of change? Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 54 Influence of Coworkers on Change Recipients • Coworkers and Work Teams will greatly influence Change Recipients’ views toward the organizational change. • Coworkers who are trusted will have greater influence. • Cohesive teams will tend to become more cohesive when threatened. • Cohesive teams will be influential. Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 55 How Trusted Peers Influence Recipients Opinions of Those Trusted by Recipients* Recipients' Initial Attitude to the Change Positive Toward the Change Positive Toward the Change Negative Toward the Change Possible Implication Very motivated to support Negative Toward the Change Initially opposed but may move to support due to new information from trusted others + peer pressure Positive Toward the Change Support of the change may be weakened or silenced due to information offered by trusted peers + peer pressure Negative Toward the Change Opposition to the change is reinforced by the views of trusted peers * As the cohesion of coworkers increases, so too does their influence Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 56 Feelings About Change Leaders Matter • How people react to change is also influenced by their perceptions of the change leader • They are more likely to respond positively to the change if: • they trust and respect these leaders • they believe their perspectives and interests are recognized Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 57 Minimizing Cynicism Toward Change 1. Meaningful engagement of recipients with decisions that affect them 1. Emphasize and reward supervisors who foster two-way communications, good working relationships, and show consideration and respect for employees 1. Timely, authentic communications—keep people informed and include honest appraisals of risks, costs, benefits, and consequences 1. Keep surprises to a minimum via regular communications about changes, anticipating questions and concerns Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 58 Minimizing Cynicism Toward Change (cont..) 5. Enhance credibility by: a. using credible spokespersons who are liked and trusted b. using positive messages that appeal to logic and consistency c. using multiple channels and repetition 6. Acknowledge mistakes and make amends 7. Publicize successful changes and progress 8. Use 2-way communications to see change from employees’ perspective—this will aid planning & future communications 9. Provide opportunities for employees to express feelings, receive validation and reassurance. Address their concerns Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 59 Toolkit Exercise 7.6—Leadership & Change Recipients Think of an example of change leadership: 1. How was leadership exercised? 1. Was the leader trusted? 1. Did he/she deserve the trust given? 1. What kind of power did the leader use? 1. How were change messages conveyed? Were they believable? Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 60 Toolkit Exercise 7.6—Leadership & Change Recipients (cont..) 6. Did systems and processes support, or at minimum, not impair the change leader’s messages? 6. Was there a sense of continuity between the past and anticipated future? How was this developed and communicated? Impact? 6. What can you learn about the impact of the leader on people and stakeholders as a result of your responses to the above? 6. What can you learn about the impact of organizational systems and processes on the people and stakeholders? 6. Talk to others about their experiences. Can you generalize? In what way? What cannot be generalized? Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 61 Strategies for Coping with Change Recipients’ Strategies Change Leaders’ Strategies • Accepting Feelings as Natural • Rethinking Resistance ▪ Managing Stress ▪ Giving First Aid ▪ Exercising Responsibility ▪ Creating Capability for Change Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 62 Strategies for Coping with Change (cont..) Recipients’ Strategies Change Leaders’ Strategies Accepting Feelings as Natural Rethinking Resistance ▪ Self-permission to feel and mourn ▪ Taking time to work through feelings ▪ Tolerating ambiguity ▪ As natural as self-protection ▪ As a positive step toward change ▪ As energy to work with ▪ As information critical to the change process Managing Stress Giving First Aid ▪ Maintaining physical well-being ▪ Seeking information about the change ▪ Limiting extraneous stressors ▪ Taking regular breaks ▪ Seeking support ▪ Accepting emotions ▪ Listening ▪ Providing safety ▪ Marking endings ▪ Providing resources and support Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 63 Strategies for Coping with Change (cont..) Recipients’ Strategies Change Leaders’ Strategies Exercising Responsibility Creating Capability for Change ▪ Identifying options and gains ▪ Learning from losses ▪ Participating in the change ▪ Inventorying strengths ▪ Learning new skills ▪ Diversifying emotional investing ▪ Making organizational support of risks clear ▪ Providing a continuing safety net ▪ Emphasizing continuities, gains of change ▪ Helping employees explore risks, options ▪ Suspending judgment ▪ Involving people in decision making ▪ Teamwork ▪ Providing opportunities for individual growth Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 64 Roles for Middle Managers • Linking—with Above, Below, and Across • Offering—as a Top, Bottom, and a Link • Influence Up • Championing Strategic Alternatives • Synthesizing Information • Influence Down • Facilitating Adaptability • Implementing Strategy Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 65 Working Through the Phases of Change 1. Consider a significant and disruptive change situation. Can you identify the different phases of change? What phases are you aware of? 1. Can you identify strategies that recipients used or could have used to help them work their way through the different phases? 1. Can you identify strategies that change leaders used or could have used to help recipients work their way through the different phases? Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 66 Working Through the Phases of Change (cont..) Aware Strategies Strategies Change Yes/No Recipients Can Use Leaders Can Use Pre-change Anxiety Shock Defensive Retreat Bargaining Depression, Guilt, and Alienation Acknowledgment Adaptation and Change • Does the model hold? Why or why not? • What other consequences of change can you identify? Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 67 Closing Advice for Change Leaders Thinking About Recipients • Avoid coercion as a change strategy, if at all possible • Align systems & processes with the change— when not aligned they can send conflicting signals • Reduce the intensity of change by making change the norm • Work to increase your tolerance for change, become a change agent yourself, and avoid the recipient traps Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 68 Walking the Talk—Why? • It’s all about trust and authenticity in the person’s competence and character! • Trust in change leaders creates confidence in the proposed path • Trust provides an environment for others to take risks • Remember—every change is a risk! Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 69 Walking the Talk – How? • Get out there—don’t hide! • Act as if you’re always on display • Communicate clearly the why, what, how, when & who of the change • Talk about your personal responses to the changes • It’s ok to be excited, uncertain, determined, frustrated, relieved • Acknowledge missteps & mistakes—they will happen • Be empathetic—actively support and coach others, show your willingness to listen and learn Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 70 Assessing Recipient Openness to Change Think of change you know of or are involved with. How are the recipients likely to rate the following factors? Score 1. Past experience with change, particularly changes similar to that advocated Very 2. Normal rate of change that has been experienced by the organization Very Low -10 -5 0 +5 +10 Mod 3. Recipients' general predisposition to change as reflected in their personality 4. Recipients believe they understand nature of the change and the reasons for it -10 -5 0 +5 +10 Very ___ -ve +ve ___ or Very High High Late -10 -5 0 +5 +10 Early Adopter Adopter Low -10 -5 0 +5 +10 High Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. ___ ___ 71 Assessing Recipient Openness to Change (cont..) Score 5. Recipient’s personal belief about the need for this particular change 6. (a) Reactions of coworkers to the change Very -ve -10 -5 0 +5 +10 Very Very -ve -10 -5 0 +5 +10 Very ___ +ve +ve Multiply #6a by #6b (b) Strength of coworker relations (norms) Weak 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.7 1.0 Strong ___ 7. Leader credibility Low -10 -5 0 +5 +10 High 8. Leader gains compliance through fear versus gains commitment through understanding & empathy Fear -10 -5 0 +5 +10 Support ___ Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. ___ 72 Assessing Recipient Openness to Change (cont..) Score 9. Organizational credibility (i.e., will it follow through on commitments related to change) Low -10 -5 0 +5 +10 High ___ 10.Congruence of systems and processes with the proposed change (or confidence that they will be brought into congruence) Very -10 -5 0 +5 +10 Very ___ Incongruent Congruent Predisposition to Change Index: Scores can range from -100 to +100 Overall Score Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. ___ 73 Summary • This chapter deals with how recipients respond to change. • Resistance isn’t inevitable —don’t assume as much • Ambivalence often precedes resistance & influence is easier at this point • Understand reasons for resistance & put knowledge to work (e.g., the impact of change on the psychological contract) • Factors affecting how recipients view change & their change reaction to disruptive change are discussed • The chapter considers how recipients & change leaders can better manage the process & minimize the negative effects Deszca, Ingols & Cawsey, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, 4th ed.. © 2020 SAGE Pub. 74 Toolkit Exercise 7.6 489 Leadership and Change Recipients Think more specifically about an example of change leadership that you know. 1. What was the nature of that leadership? 2. Was the leader trusted? 3. Did he or she deserve the trust given? 4. What kind of power did the leader use? 5. How were the messages about the change conveyed? Were they believable messages? 6. Did organizational systems and processes support, or at minimum, not impair the change leader’s messages? 7. Was there a sense of continuity between the past and the anticipated future? How was that sense of continuity developed and communicated? What was the impact? 8. What can you learn about the impact of the leader on people and stakeholders as a result of your responses to the above questions? 9. What can you learn about the impact of organizational systems and processes on the people and stakeholders? 10. Talk to others about their experiences. Can you generalize? In what way? What cannot be generalized? Please see study.sagepub.com/cawsey4e for a downloadable template of this exercise. 490 Travelink Solutions* By Noah Deszca, Teacher Durham Board of Education Gene Deszca, Professor Emeritus Lazaridis School of Business and Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, CA Sixteen months had passed since Will had joined Travelink Solutions’ Call Center. It had been both a fulfilling and frustrating employment experience. Now he was facing a decision concerning what to do next. Should he remain and try to make a difference or should he follow through on his plans to leave? Rather than let the experience simply fade, he had documented events, hoping it might be helpful to him and maybe even to the firm. He had submitted his resignation on Monday, but his call center manager had asked him to reconsider and Will was scheduled to meet with her on Friday. On Wednesday of that week, Will met with Robert, his close friend and a marketing manager at Travelink. Robert had been with Travelink for three years. Will told him about his looming decision and he shared what he had documented. Robert’s first job had been in the call center and he remained keenly interested in its operation, due to its impact on customer relations. He winced as he read. The writing captured what had been happening and left him pondering not only what Will should do, but what he ought to do with the concerns it raised. It was a topic he’d been thinking about for months but had yet to move on. Change was urgently needed if “the ship was to be righted” and it would not be easy. He turned to Will and shook his head. “Fascinating—let me read this once again.” 491 Will’s background Will was enthusiastic when he started at Travelink Solutions Canada: a service company that provided travel assistance to global travellers on a 24/7 basis. Its core product had been emergency roadside automobile assistance, but over the years Travelink had expanded into other areas of travel help, such as medical coverage, legal assistance, and emergency travel arrangements. The company did this for both its own individual customers and for other firms that offered related services but who had outsourced the product design and/or post sale customer service function to Travelink. Will had completed his final university course requirements while working full time as a baker on the midnight shift at a Tim Horton’s franchise, a fast food outlet. After eight months of beginning his workday at 11 pm, he looked forward to more normal working hours. He knew that there would be occasional night and weekend shifts at the Call Center, but Will had been told that it would be no more than one week or weekend per month. That would be fine, reasoned Will. He was confident that the challenge of this new job would prove more satisfying than slinging dough at 4 a.m. The application process had been an intensive experience. At the age of 23, Will had never applied for a position that demanded a lengthy series of interviews, references that were verified, and tests designed to document his computer literacy and interpersonal and problem-solving skills. He felt very positive about having made it through their rigorous selection system. It suggested to him that this firm must be serious about the quality of the people it hired. 492 Call Centers: How They Operated A number of call centers were located in Will’s home region. The presence of three universities, a college, and the ethnic diversity of the area provided call centers with access to a literate and multilingual labor pool. Further, office rental costs and labor rates were moderate by provincial standards and there was an excellent telecommunications infrastructure. As a result, several of Will’s friends had worked or were working for other call centers. Their experiences, however, had generally been negative—particularly for those working in outbound call centers, where employees made unrequested solicitations for everything from rug cleaning services to cell phones and charitable donations. Friends who had worked in this type of business told him that there were attractive sales-related performance bonuses but that the base pay of around $15 per hour was what most had to rely upon to pay the rent. In addition, his friends reported that there seemed to be few employment benefits (e.g., dental plans) available in these firms and that a number of the positions were essentially permanent part-time positions, in order to fit the need for labor in the late afternoon and early evening periods and reduce benefit obligations further. They were almost unanimous in their descriptions of their outward bound call center jobs as quite stressful, characterized by hang-ups, call recipient abuse, and performance pressure. Travelink, however, was an inbound call center that responded to customer requests for help with services they had already purchased. Furthermore, the people Will knew who had worked for the firm spoke very positively about the work atmosphere. Robert, for example, had started on the phones but had been promoted three times over a two-year period, most recently to a marketing management position. Robert was the person who had urged Will to apply. At that time, he had commented on the supportiveness of coworkers and his boss, the decent pay, and the satisfaction derived from helping a customer sort through a difficult situation. Will’s new position came with comprehensive health benefits, paid holidays that exceeded legislated standards, and special rates for things such as local gym memberships, theme park passes, and concerts—discounts that the human resources department had negotiated for Travelink employees. It seemed to Will that his new employer had thought about how to make the firm an appealing company to work for. “Wow! A living wage, combined with such benefits—what a pleasant change.” (See Exhibit 1 for compensation and benefit details.) 493 Building a Business Travelink was founded in 1987, in Jackson, Mississippi, to provide roadside assistance to car owners. It had grown from a tiny office space of fifteen employees to a billion-dollar, global service firm with offices based in Europe, Asia, and Australia. In 2002, a Canadian office of 20 employees was established in Will’s home town. Sixteen years later, Travelink Solutions Canada had grown. Two hundred of its employees and its Canadian call center were located in two stories of a ten-story office building. Travelink’s offerings had been extended over the years to include insurance policies that provided emergency support for national and international travelers facing a variety of perils, including medical emergencies, the theft of personal property, automobile breakdowns, accidents, legal assistance, travel interruptions, and emergency travel related concierge services. Policies were modular in nature and were designed for the traveler who wanted to avoid unpleasant surprises. Travelink’s Canadian call center was located on the lower of the two floors it occupied and involved approximately 150 of the 200 employees located in the building. A reception area on the upper story led into office space for underwriting and marketing employees, the human resources and training department, IT, accounting, supervisory personnel, and senior administration (see Exhibit 2 for a partial organization chart of the Canadian Division). Call center activities were supported by a website that provided customers with valuable travel-related information, advice,and links to other relevant websites. 494 New Employee Orientation and Training Training for Will commenced December 1st and lasted one month. On his first day, Will joined eleven other new employees, all of whom were university arts graduates. Some (Will included) had been referred to the company through friends that worked for the firm. As a recruitment incentive, a bonus of $500 dollars was offered to any employee who referred a potential employee who was hired and successfully completed the training. Travelink Solutions tried to coordinate its hiring so that a group of 6 to 12 began training at the same time. Will’s trainers, Luther and Marie, seemed approachable and knowledgeable. They worked diligently to accommodate any questions that were asked about work procedures, customer service, company policies, or the call center industry. Will found himself quickly integrated into a comfortable training environment where dialogue occurred openly and people seemed to be genuinely helpful. The training program was quite structured and occurred in a classroom environment. The first two weeks focused on industry and firm specific information that would be relevant to those who would be addressing customer questions and concerns. It included information related to specific products and services, what associates could expect from the customer and their employer, and what was expected of them. The second two weeks included additional content related to products, corporate policies, and workflow procedures, as well as call center simulations and role plays. These latter activities were designed to develop employee competence with the firm’s customer service strategies and effective work practices. At one of the first training sessions, Marie explained that the Travelink Solutions Call Center offered uniquely satisfying service opportunities. As Marie said, “You are not merely the voice on the end of the line. You are the help line. You are someone’s lifeline during an experience that will vary from the simply inconvenient to situations that are frustrating and, at times, frightening. If a customer is involved in a serious accident in Mexico, has a medical emergency they need to deal with, or gets mugged or arrested in a foreign land, you are one of the first persons they turn to for help.” Luther told Will’s training group that the average cost of recruiting and training a new call center employee was approximately $8,000. Will learned that Travelink Solutions employed approximately 200 people in the Canadian office, 75% of whom were directly involved with the phones in the call center. Direct sales of Travelink’s services were done through brokers, agencies, and the internet. Travelink Solutions had a team of underwriters and marketers who crafted and promoted automobile, medical, and travel-related service policies throughout Canada, via its distribution systems. This group was also heavily involved in the design and delivery of similar services for other firms (e.g., banks and insurance companies), under their clients’ brand names. This accounted for approximately 75% of Travelink’s gross billings, profitability, and call center volumes. Trainees were told that Travelink was considered a leader in customer service quality. Industry benchmark data rated them in the top 10% in customer satisfaction and quality and it was reported that they had almost never lost a corporate account once the business was won. Business volumes and profitability had been growing by more than 20% per year since 2002. 495 At the end of the month-long training period, each new employee was required to write a three-hour comprehensive exam, dealing with the information that they had been exposed to. If a grade of 90% was not achieved, then an employee was required to retake the test before being permitted to field calls. Although he was nervous, Will believed that his training sessions had been effective in transferring the needed knowledge, and he passed the exam with flying colors. Out of his training group of 12, two people needed to retake the exam before receiving a desk within the call center one week later. 496 The Work Began When he graduated to the phones and live customers, Will was initially apprehensive. He often consulted online and paper manuals to ensure that he was providing callers with the proper information and advice. For the first few weeks, Luther and Marie were available on the floor to answer trainee questions that arose. Beyond the presence of the trainers, team leaders encouraged new employees to discuss any questions or concerns with experienced associates. Will was directed to Yolanda, a senior associate who said that she would be happy to help. She had been working at Travelink Solutions for over three years and the supervisors allowed Yolanda to log off her phone whenever new associates approached her with questions. Overall, it seemed to Will that the call center was a smooth and efficient operation. The friendly and helpful environment gave him confidence that he would be able to effectively assist callers. Initial supervisory checks and feedback during his first month on the phones further honed his competence and reinforced his confidence. Marie’s comments during the training session concerning the importance of the services that call center employees provided to customers proved true. Offering assistance to distressed travelers was quite satisfying. Will deepened his familiarity with policy details and advisory support materials to ensure that he was providing callers with the correct information, useful advice, and effective service. Of course, there were occasional complaints and angry callers who vented their unhappiness with the quality of service (e.g., tow truck operators who were slow to respond or rude) or the answers they received concerning whether or not they were eligible for the requested coverage. Will quickly learned that it was not helpful to dwell on such calls. Instead, through the guidance of the trainers and Yolanda, he developed techniques that calmed customers and helped to defuse difficult situations. By and large, Will received positive feedback from the callers and this increased in frequency over his first three months on the phones. Will’s experience within the call center was not an anomaly. Comments from fellow trainees echoed his reactions. He noticed that there was far less turnover and absenteeism than what friends at other call centers had led him to believe were the norms in the places they worked. Employees at Travelink voluntarily participated in and seemed to enjoy company events such as potluck lunches. Friends employed at other call centers told him that this was not the case within their firms. One person reported that her firm had made participation mandatory at its corporate social events, leading her to post a message stating that management had decided the floggings would continue until morale improved. 497 The changes After about five months of employment, Will began to notice changes in his workplace. For example, senior managers were voicing concerns related to the need for greater efficiency and new business at the monthly company meetings and team leaders seemed more stressed than they had been earlier. Robert, the marketing manager and Will’s friend, explained to him that Travelink had ramped up its staff levels within the call center in anticipation of obtaining new business that had not materialized. As a result, management was under pressure from the head office to improve its financial performance. Robert commented, “I’ve been working 60-hour weeks for the past several weeks, exploring new opportunities, and drafting proposals related to potential contract bids, and there are rumours that senior management is considering layoffs.” Will was shocked by Robert’s candid comments. Sure, the phones had been less busy lately, but this was also May, a month in which clients were no longer faced with the winter elements that breed traffic accidents and mechanical breakdown. May was also a month in which vacation travel was typically down, resulting in fewer travel-related emergencies. Was this not a time when the phones were supposed to be quieter, allowing staff to follow up on the claims that had arisen earlier? Within the next four weeks, four of the people who had trained with Will left the firm. In their places were empty cubicles. Every time an employee was laid off or quit, the human resources department would send an email to all employees, notifying them of the person’s departure. For example, one day Will came into work to find that Linda, a friendly woman who sat in the cubicle next to him, was no longer there. Within two hours, he received a company message that read, “We regret to inform you that, as of today, Linda Jameson is leaving Travelink Solutions. Please join us in wishing Linda all of the best in her future endeavours.” Within an hour, Will received a second email that read, “Please be advised that the door security codes have been changed to 25678. Thank you for your cooperation.” Over the following weeks the number of empty cubicles grew. He was surprised that the departures were almost never discussed on the floor. It was as if the employees who had once filled the space had never been there in the first place. The loss of people also seemed to be associated with declining morale. People’s willingness to help one another decreased, as did the overall friendliness of the workplace. Will began to save his money to ensure that he would have something to carry him through in the event that he too “went missing.” 498 A New Assignment But Will did not go missing. One afternoon in June, he was surprised to find that his employment situation was about to change for the better. He was invited by his team leader and the director of information technology to participate in the “Datasmart” project, as the individual who would be in charge of drafting and editing the standardized company correspondence forms that would be used by employees in Canada. He would be entering these documents into a new corporate database that was under development. He was excited about the opportunity to advance within the company and use some of the writing skills he’d developed at university. As part of his new assignment, Will was offered a pay increase that would kick in after his next performance review which he anticipated would be held within a few weeks. He was given a quiet workspace away from the call center where he could concentrate on his writing and editing tasks. The company correspondence project was part of a larger organizational undertaking that involved the revamping of their information systems. In order to pave the way for a new work flow management system called Datasmart, all company information, standardized documents, reports, and work flows were to be charted, reviewed, and revised to reduce error rates and enhance operational efficiency and effectiveness. While working on the project, Will was to report to the Datasmart project manager and was involved in weekly meetings with the IT staff who were overseeing the implementation. Shortly after moving into his new role, Will was sent on his first business trip to attend a training seminar at the parent company’s U.S. headquarters. However, supervisory guidance in Canada was quite limited. His new supervisor was always very busy with more pressing tasks and had minimal time to discuss questions that Will had regarding the content of specific documents or due dates. “Sorry, but I can’t meet with you this week. I’m drowning in work. Can we reschedule? Just use your judgment—you seem to be making good progress,” was the usual response he received from his supervisor. All members of the 10-person Datasmart project team seemed to be very busy with the components that they were individually responsible for. Will could not help but feel somewhat out on a limb as he revised company forms and documents that were to be housed in the Datasmart system. People were beginning to use some of his revisions, but had he understood the implications of the wording and made the right changes? He was concerned that one day, he would be terminated as the result of something he had written that opened the firm to unanticipated liabilities or created serious difficulties with one of the firms for whom Travelink supplied services. The processes related to approving document changes had been fairly informal over the years, with the individuals processing the claims handling these elements largely on their own. A number of other events over the next three months caused Will additional concerns about his future prospects at Travelink. Will knew that the firm had invested a lot of time and money developing Datasmart. However, the launch date for this software solution had come and gone on two separate occasions. Each time that Datasmart appeared ready to go live with some of its modules, an email would come out advising that the launch would be postponed to a later time. The emails 499 that Will received, as a member of the project team, suggested that both the U.S. and Canadian offices were having implementation problems. Eventually, no new emails concerning the release date were sent out. By mid-September, Will was noticing that there was a new topic on the embargo list. No one in management was discussing the new software. In June, all employees had received two hours of training on the basic purpose and planned functions of the new software, and staff had been told that detailed training related to the use of the software would follow. In the beginning there had been some excitement generated concerning the benefits that the new system would bring and special Tshirts had been distributed to celebrate its anticipated benefits. Will wondered if others were wondering what had happened to Datasmart but were afraid to ask. Robert told him that it looked like the project was going to be halted and that the Americans were planning to bring in consultants to sort out the underlying problems. Will was not surprised by the rumors, but he took pride in the fact that a number of his rewritten documents were being put to use on a daily basis. 500 Frustrations Deepen Will had still not received his performance review and promised raise by the middle of September. The Travelink Solutions employee handbook stated that each call center associate would receive an appraisal review after six months of continuous employment. Once a successful review was completed, an employee would be entitled to a pay increase. He had checked with the remaining members of his training group and none had been approached yet, regarding their six-month reviews, despite the fact that they were now into their tenth month of employment. The initial feelings of frustration that Will experienced concerning this were slowly turning into anger. After all, he believed that he had performed very well. He had taken the initiative to learn about the office structure, the policy and procedure intricacies underlying different types of services, and different service techniques that went well beyond the competence required of a phone operator. When asked to join the Datasmart team, he had willingly volunteered and worked hard to understand and improve standardized documentation templates and corporate correspondence and had done so under minimal guidance. Yet, ten months had passed and there had been no formal review and no increase in pay, despite his attempts to remind his supervisors that such a review was overdue. There had been consistent supervisory comments that he was doing a terrific job and that the performance review would be looked after soon. However, managers were very busy and nothing was ever scheduled. By October, Will’s correspondence and documents project was three quarters of the way to completion, but the phones in the call center were busy again—very busy! Robert had told him in mid-August that they had won a major new contract. While management was pleased to have obtained the new business, Robert was apprehensive. As a marketing manager, he was delighted that his hard work had contributed toward obtaining this new account. As a former employee in the call center, however, Robert was frightened that the additional call volume would greatly exceed the current resources available. Robert told Will that he had argued to have new employees hired and trained in advance of the start dates for the new contracts but senior management said no. Robert said “the word from upstairs was that they would scale their capacity to handle an increased volume of calls closer to when the new revenue began to flow. Even crazier, a number of senior managers seem to believe that fewer new employees would be required once the call center was organized to better respond to volume patterns and leverage existing technology. I don’t see how this approach can work.” Robert’s concerns became a nightmare for the employees within the call center over the next few months. The phones started ringing and there were simply not enough hands to pick them up (see Exhibit 3 for call center volumes). In addition to the spikes in call volume generated from the new contracts, Travelink was now entering its busier season. Just a few months ago, the phones had been relatively quiet—to the extent that employees found time in between calls to provide extra service steps for their clients, such as arranging billing for insured expenses or expediting alternative hotel and flight arrangements. Now, there was no time between calls. From his new workspace, Will overheard managers discussing that it was not uncommon for clients to be placed on hold for up to five minutes while waiting for an available agent. Travelink provided a contractual guarantee that 501 clients would only be on hold for a maximum of three minutes, and Robert told Will that account managers were finding themselves having to explain to their contract representatives why individual customers were forced to hold for extended periods of time. One day in early November, Will was asked to move back to the phones. The increase in call volume necessitated his reassignment to his old position, without even a formal “thank you” for the work he had been doing. With the lack of available trained employees to service the increasing volume of incoming calls, the customer service managers were scrambling to ensure that the hold time was eased as much as possible. The following Monday morning, Will entered the call center and noticed that Luther, the trainer, was sitting beside him in the cubicle Linda used to occupy. Marie was sitting directly behind him. As he looked around the office, Will realized that other staff members were also in the call center, answering calls. When asked why he was there, Luther simply shook his head and said, “I worked here and earned my way to a training position. Now, I’m back where I started.” Marie overheard the conversation and simply threw her arms up in frustration when Will nodded to her. All available hands were now busy answering calls rather than providing their usual support services. Will noted that there were now almost no company events being organized by the human resources department. Social events and birthday celebrations were cut from the schedule due to work pressures and the monthly management-staff noon hour corporate update meetings were postponed. When an event did occur, added pressure was placed on employees to partake. It seemed to Will that managers desperately wanted to believe that employees were still enjoying their work and feeling good about the firm. By mid-February, customers’ hold times had increased from five minutes to, at times, thirty minutes or more. On one occasion, Will talked to a man who had been on hold for over an hour waiting for someone to arrange for a tow truck. Team leaders sent out emails that reminded agents to apologize to customers who were required to wait for periods of ten minutes or longer. “Please apologize profusely,” the messages read. At this point, Will was so frustrated that he would often forget to apologize. After all, it was not his fault that the company he worked for had not made the proper arrangements to service their clients. Why should he apologize when he and his coworkers were suffering too? Will found himself making less use of some of the techniques that contributed to customer service excellence, such as empathy, friendliness, and attention to detail. The lack of appropriate planning and implementation related to heightened call volumes was having a visible, negative impact on the performance of all call center associates. For example, anytime that an agent logged off the phone to document a call, they were required to go on “not ready” status. This status was employed in order to write the required case notes into the Travelink database. According to the employee manual, agents were allowed to go on “not ready” for an hour each day, in addition to scheduled break times. With so many calls flowing into the call center, however, acceptable “not ready” time had disappeared. Team leaders were able to see agents who were not taking calls and they began sending out emails that read, “Please log in. Several calls are waiting.” Out of frustration, Will began counting the number of emails he had received that were titled “Please log in.” Within one week, the tallied amount was 32. 502 Eventually, team leaders stopped using emails to ask agents to log in and began phoning their direct extensions every time they were not prepared to take a call. On one occasion, Will received a call from his team leader asking him to log in while he was documenting a call that he had received from an elderly couple that had been in a serious automobile accident in Mexico. From that point on, he attempted to type his notes for one case while he was on the phone with the next client. He questioned the efficacy of the new shortcuts that he was employing, but there was nothing that could be done. Every time that Will or any of the other operators tried to log off of their phones to document a call, they were messaged to log back in. Scrambling to keep one’s head above water had become the new normal. To make matters worse, the claims department, which was in charge of reviewing the documented cases, was growing increasingly frustrated with the customer service agents over the increasing number of mistakes. The workload related to correcting errors in claims that had been opened by operators had essentially quadrupled. Travelink began to actively recruit new phone agents in January, with the first ones arriving in the call center on February 1st. Melanie, a new agent, moved into the empty desk in front of Will. She was friendly and a hard worker, but she noted that she was feeling overwhelmed and ill prepared. She explained that some of the new employees were being hired on a contractual basis and that her contract was for a period of three months. Will could not understand the rationale behind hiring new employees for short-term contracts. The volume and complexity of the work was not going to go away. Furthermore, the fact that the new hires had only received two weeks of training made them unaware of several elements, including workflows and basic policy terms and conditions that were essential to the proper decision making and documentation. Will believed that the impact in errors, added costs (e.g., authorizing services the customer was not entitled to), and service failures would become all too apparent. By this point, employee turnover and absenteeism had risen markedly (see Exhibit 4). Robert was equally distressed by the fallout that was occurring due to growing call volumes and a lack of properly trained customer service agents. Some of the companies that had placed their customer service contracts with Travelink Solutions call center were now threatening to pull their contracts because Travelink was not honoring its service delivery promises. The operations department noted that 10% of all calls were now being lost due to the lengthy response time. In other words, 10% of all customers were not getting through to a representative, even though this might be a time of great need. 503 Considering His Alternatives One evening in early April, Will sat down to consider his future with Travelink Solutions. He was thankful for the training and job experience that he had received —competencies that would undoubtedly be useful in many other positions—but he was unsure how much more turmoil he could endure. He had saved enough money to, at the very least, pull himself through until a better opportunity came along. One thing seemed certain: Travelink Solutions no longer fit well with his goals. Will submitted his resignation on Monday of the second week of April, to take effect on April 30, sixteen months after he had commenced employment. On the day after he submitted his resignation, Will received an email, apologizing for his long overdue performance appraisal interview. In the email, his manager applauded his performance, rated his potential as excellent in all categories, and asked what it would take to get him to reconsider and stay. The manager requested that they meet Friday. As Will thought about the offer, the words that came to mind were these: Too little, too late. Will, however, bit his tongue: Before confirming his decision to quit, should he meet and hear what his manager had to say? If he did meet, should he discuss his concerns about how the call center was operating, including possibly sharing his written comments and thoughts concerning possible solutions? As he sat discussing his options with Robert, his friend was pondering similar questions. 504 Questions to Consider What is your assessment of the situation at Travelink at the end of the case? What are the underlying problems in the organization? If you found yourself in Will or Robert’s situation, what would you do? Why? If Will and Robert both decide to stay and try to advance needed changes, what changes would you recommend they focus on and how would you recommend they go about it? Would you, for example, share Will’s documentation of the problems within the company? Why or why not? Have you ever been in a situation where you were a recipient of change and things went poorly? How did it affect you and others in the organization? Exhibit 1 Travelink Solutions Compensation Package for Full-Time Customer Service Representatives Exhibit 2 Partial Organization Chart for the Canadian Operations 505 Assumptions: Call staff answering norms are 15 minutes per call or 26 calls per 8-hour shift (1 hour is allocated for post call documentation and follow-up work + two 15minute breaks) It takes approximately 2 months (1 month of training and 1 month on the phones) before an operator is fully able to operate at capacity, handling both direct customer contact and call documentation with < 1% error rate One full-time, trained employee equates to approximately 18 availing working days per month. Absenteeism is estimated at 5%. Since all non-statutory holidays are taken in the July-August period, available days during the winter remains at 18 days Further capacity could be created by scheduling overtime and statutory holiday work. A maximum of 80 call cubicles are available, leading to a maximum shift capacity of 2,080 calls per 8-hour shift. At a staffing level of 140 full-time employees on the phones, total call volume capacity per month = 65,520. Exhibit 3 Call Center Call Volumes by Month Exhibit 4 Call Center Turnover Data by Quarter and With the Year-End Total * © Noah Deszca,Teacher, Durham Board of Education and Gene Deszca, Professor Emeritus, Lazaridis School of Business and Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University, 2019. Not to be copied or reproduced without permission. 506 507 
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