8
SCHWERPUNKT
_INTERVIEW
PERSONALquarterly 02/15
and more globalised environment where people are having
several careers spanning a number of industries. In my ex-
perience – and to keep it simple – you have three different
organisational approaches to change. You have the confi-
dent, proactive and courageous Leaders with a clear identi-
ty, purpose and drive, with high levels of change readiness
that are constantly focusing and prioritising what it takes
to deliver and stay ahead of the pack. Then you have the
Copy Cats that are actively trying to emulate the success
of the Leaders. The third and final group of organisations
are the Drifters who are incapable of making any decision
and taking any risk. They are even incapable of emulating
others because that in itself requires decisions to be made.
The difference in how we handle change-related issues
comes down to people at all levels within the organisation.
Are you confident and courageous as an organisation and as
an individual? Are you able to make timely decisions even
when these are difficult ones? Are you willing to take risks?
Remember, the biggest risk of all is not taking any risks …
Are you trusted and supported in doing your job, and do you
trust and support others in doing theirs? Do you share and
feel proud of the vision and mission of your organisation?
PERSONALquarterly:
It seems impossible to protect executives,
managers and employees from organisational changes.
Nonetheless, do you see a way that these three groups could
deal with problems in change management? What would
you recommend them to do?
Rune Todnem By:
Change is nothing to be protected from be-
cause it is part of life. It’s like wrinkles: bound to happen.
Creams, Botox and plastic surgery can’t turn the clock back
– it will as best delay the inevitable. So why not embrace it
and turn the change into a strength?
What I do recommend though is for us all to learn how to
work better together. If we are working in the same or-
ganisation we are all on the same team with a shared re-
sponsibility for success. We need to stop talking about ‘us’
and ‘them’; ‘employees’ and ‘managers’. The vast majority
of managers are also employees. What we need is to be-
come better at communicating with each other, sharing
information, and creating opportunities for conversations,
interaction and constructive conflict (see Margaret Heffern-
an on
ll organisations are experiencing
ongoing challenges, and for most the solutions are to be
found in-house. However, the executive or senior manage-
ment groups do not have monopoly on solutions. As well as
establishing shared ownership of the organisational pur-
pose, we need to create shared ownership of questions and
answers. This is only possible with leaders who are happy
in their own skin and don’t feel the need to be in possession
of all the answers themselves.
PERSONALquarterly:
For more than 50 years we have talked
about change management; and there are hundreds of
books and articles about it. Organisations have invested tre-
mendous amounts of money in tools and trainings. However,
statistics show that the majority of organisational change
processes fail. What are the reasons for this?
Rune Todnem By:
This is an ever-occurring question. It is true
that much literature suggests that the vast majority of chan-
ge initiatives fail. However, when tracing figures stating a
70% failure rate for example there is little or no evidence in
support. The figures also become problematic because we
don’t necessarily know how success or indeed change has
been defined nor how it is measured. So, personally I am not
so interested in the different figures of failure. I am much
more interested in understanding how we can create shared
journeys of change where we all have an active role to play
in achieving success. Change management needs to focus
on performing rather than conforming behaviour, and part
of this process will be to enhance the emphasis on creating
and increasing levels of change readiness (see work of Ar-
menakis & Harris), stopping the tsunami of unnecessary
and unjustified change for the sake of change, and ensure
that when change is required we really do change.
Most organisations will make a major step in the right direc-
tion just by implementing the use of Beckhard and Harris’
Change Management Model which suggests the following
steps: (1) Internal organisational analysis/diagnosis – Iden-
tifying the forces for and against the change and the current
organisational situation; (2) Why change? – Determining
the need for change, determining the degree of choice of
whether to change and defining the vision; (3) Gap analysis
– Defining the current state of the organisation versus the
desired state; (4) Action planning – Assessing the present
in terms of the future to determine the work to be done;
and (5) Managing the transition – Implementing the plan
through effective collaboration and role assignment.
PERSONALquarterly:
Some employees show resistance to change.
How would you conceptualise resistance to change? How
does it affect a change project?
Rune Todnem By:
As human beings we all resist certain de
velopments and events in life. At any moment in time I can
initiate and lead one change, support someone else’s initia-
tive, and resist a third. What does that make me?
Of course, resistance to change can sink a crucial initiative,
but it is important to acknowledge that resistance exists
at all levels within an organisation, and sometimes such
resistance is well justified. Managers can resist as much
– or even more due to the resources available to them –
as non-management employees. Again, communication is
essential. There will always be some level of resistance,
