Change Management Practice of EnQuest PLC †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Change Management Practice of EnQuest PLC. Answer: Introduction Managing change can be identified as one of the most importantmanagement tasks to meet the organisational goals and objectives to attain long-term sustainability in a target market (Have, 2017). In this particular study, thechange management practice of EnQuest PLC, a United Kingdom-based oil and gas producing company, has been described identifying the required changes to achieve the corporate objectives (Enquest.com, 2017). The study also elaborates the criteria that will be useful to draw the most appropriate change implementation model for EnQuest PLC. Furthermore, the study examines the contemporary role ofleadership and management in case of performing successful change management. Besides, the paper discusses the challenges that have been dealt by the modern leadership regarding issues of sustainability, ethics, and corporate social responsibility. By evaluating the challenges in the business environment, the study further describes the problem-solving techniques that must be taken into account by the management of EnQuest PLC in order to implement the change management process swiftly. After illustrating the problem-solving techniques, some recommendations have been lined up in the study to be followed by the management of EnQuest PLC to address the change models. Identification of required change In the contemporary business environment of EnQuest PLC, identification of changes required and the change solutions to be utilised by the corporation have been presented in the study. In order to meet the organisational objectives of EnQuest PLC, changes in the human resource management can be identified as one of the leading aspects accelerating the process of organisational change management. Precisely, EnQuest PLC is going through a transition in terms of human resources (Enquest.com, 2017). Most of the senior engineers have to be replaced as they are going to retire sooner. Therefore, in order to fill the boots of the senior engineers, the management must identify best recruitment strategies to perform the transition within the company. Furthermore, over the last decade or so, technological advancement has fuelled the foundation of technological changes. In the recent time, the entire oil and gas exploration projects can be monitored via using VSAT technology and internet. In 2017, the total work orders of EnQuest PLC have to be reviewed and the production levels must be monitored using modern satellite monitoring techniques and the internet. Therefore, the management of EnQuest PLC must implement the change instead of remaining static (Enquest.com, 2017). Moreover, inhospitable environment and evolving drivers in the businesses must be reviewed time to time by the management of EnQuest PLC to avoid any market-related risks. Change implementation model Before applying the change implementation model, identifying of the criteria must be taken into account. First of all, diagnosing human resistance towards the change can be identified as one of the vital points. Most of the cases, the efforts to change have been diluted due to employee resistance. Although managers are aware of the importance of analysing the change resistance, they have ignored to assess the circumstances (Greener and Hughes, 2016). Instead of thorough assessment, the managers have preferred to tackle the scenario by following previous experience and guidelines. As a matter of the fact, the implementation of change model has to deal with significant challenges in the form of employee resistance. Hence, to identify the reason behind the human resistance, an adequate analysis must be required. According to the research, some of the basic reasons for change resistance are parochial self-interest, a misunderstanding with the management, low set of change tolerance, and wrong assessments (Griffith, 2011). Other than the change resistance, the style of leadership and management can be termed as other criteria to be overviewed before selecting the change implementation model. Different leadership styles such as autocratic, transactional, transformational, participative, and Laissez-Faire create different types of impact on the human resources (Graetz, 2010). Depending on the organisational infrastructure and business environment, leaders have followed distinct leadership style and management techniques to influence and motivate the employees. Clearly, the outcome of different leadership approaches will be different as well (Pollack, 2015). Hence, it is one of the most formidable factors to be considered before choosing best change implementation model out of the three i.e. Lewins Change Management Model, Kotters 8 Step Change Model, and McKinsey 7-S Model. Each of the models follows different change management theories to implement the best change model according to the need (Czichos, 2 014). The contemporary role of leadership and management Change management is primarily driven by the top management and leadership of a firm. Hence, change management implies that organisational leadership and management are convinced about the inevitability of transformation. Precisely, successful change management relies on the leadership as the organisational leaders have got the authority to implement and execute change (Gill, 2012). In a contemporary business environment, support of the leaders is mandatory to drive change in a successful order. First, leaders can be termed as the major sponsor of a change management process. Therefore, by using their political capital leadership can advocate the change. In addition, leadership acts as a role model influencing the change instruments. By demonstrating right behaviour and attitude towards change, leaders and management have set the platform (Bush, 2015). Thus, self-awareness and deliberate approach of leadership set examples to the rest of the human resources participating in the chang e management process. On the other hand, organisational leadership has to take the final call regarding change management resources i.e. budget, equipment, and human resources to be involved. Invariably, by selecting the best options supportive for the change initiative can increase the strength of the process (Smid, van Hout and Burger, 2016). In the meanwhile, setting communication with the rest of the change agents must be controlled by the leadership of a firm (Abbasi, 2017). Thus, the ethics, corporate social responsibility, and primary targets to change management have been retained during the process of change implementation. In terms of sharing change related information, communication with the rest of the employees can determine the fate of the process. Decisively, transparent and to the point, messages must be delivered to the human resources so that relevancy of the process can be maintained (Gharehbaghi, 2012). Most importantly, the leadership and management must deliver the motivation to chan ge so that the organisational human resource can fluently get involved in the change process. The engagement of leaders has been essential to show the commitment and intent. Challenges in change management It is important to note that the change management team of an organisation needs to face different challenges while planning, implementing and communicating the changes (Kirton, 2013). On the basis of the change management principles, the four major challenges that will be faced by the management of EnQuest PLC are discussed in details herein below: Planning: The step by step planning is a major challenge for initiating the identified changes. It is important to note that a change in the organisation may lead to more problems as compared to the benefits. The risk related to the changes must be identified during the planning phase. There are several uncertainties that are unknown is nature and cannot be forecasted (Have, 2017). For example, the change in the price of using innovative technology and hiring new employees may lead to financial risk or failure of budget for initiating the changed (Kirton, 2013). Hence, it is important for the management to understand what exact changes are required and how to initiate those changes after considering the major uncertainties in order to effectively plan the changes. Lack of Consensus: It is important for the change agent to note that failure of convincing everyone in the organisation to corporate change may lead to the failure of implementing the change. The decision of implementing the changes must come from the top level executives of the organisation. Furthermore, the resistance of the top level management may create problem during the planning phase (Diefenbach, 2017). Therefore, it is important for the change management team to develop the mission and vision that are to be attained by the identified changes to convince the top level executives with the change process. Resistance of the employees: Resistance of the employees is another major problem for the change management process. The employees feel comfortable with the ongoing process of the business and new changes initiated by the management become difficult for the employee to take up (Murthy, 2017). Furthermore, any major changes may disrupt the motivation level of the current workers and impact the organisational commitment. Introduction of new employees and innovative technology will change the current operations strategy that may create resistance among the old employees. Hence, it is important for the top level management to involve the employees in the change process to effectively initiate the changes. Communication: The failure of communicating the changes with the workers leads to fear and rumours among the workforce. The rumours and fears mainly occur during the time of major changes such as merger or downsizing (Murthy, 2017). Employees would like to know whats going on and whether the new change is beneficial or negative for the workers (Alas and Vadi, 2016). Hence, it is important for the change management team to effectively communicate the changes with the employees and make them aware of the benefits of the proposed changes. The supportive of the employees is the key factor for the successful implementation of the planned changes. Problem solving techniques Different problem solving techniques can be used by the management of EnQuest PLC to identify and mitigate the issues of change process in the organisation. For instance, the Osborns method of creative problem solving has been presented in the paper to solve the issues of change process in EnQuest PLC (Shaw, 2015). The framework suggests the use of brainstorming and creative thinking in solving the problems of change process. Hence, the Osborn method of creative problem solving has been presented in details herein below: Fact Finding Problem Definition: The problems related to the changes must be identified and discussed with the higher level executives. Interviews and surveys can be conducted to collect the feedback of the employees to effectively identify the problems (Greef and Reinecke, 2013). Preparation: The collected data regarding the challenges of change management must be analysed in order to know the current status of the proposed changes. Idea Finding Idea Production: During the second phase, the change management team needs to think up the ideas of mitigating the problems. Idea Development: During this phase, the change management team need to select the most appropriate ideas to mitigate the problems of change process (Greef and Reinecke, 2013). Solution Finding Evaluation: The identified ideas must be verified by discussing with the higher level executives and taking the feedback of the lower level managers. Adoption: Finally, the problem solving strategies must be developed on the basis of the evaluation of the identified solutions (Greef and Reinecke, 2013). Recommendation The management of EnQuest PLC is suggested to use the Kotters 8 Step Change management model to implement the changes effectively. The explanation of the 8 steps of Kotters change model has been presented herein below: Create urgency: Firstly, the management must focus on effectively planning the identified changes and communicate the idea of change with the top level management to get their approval (Campbell, 2014). Form powerful coalition: In the second phase, the management must focus on developing a powerful change management team that can proceed with the planned strategies (Lawrence, 2015). Develop vision for change: In the third step, the change management team must develop vision statement that portrays the future benefits of the changing the technology used by the organisation and employing new workers (Lawrence, 2015). Communicate the vision: The fourth step is to communicate the vision with the different level of employees. The benefits and drawbacks of the planned changes must be communicated with the employees in order to motivate them towards the change (Campbell, 2014). Effective communication of the changes will increase the employees participation in the change process that will ensure the success of the initiative. Remove obstacles: The fifth step is to identify the obstacles and remove them by effective involvement of the stakeholders. The management must consider the uncertainties and resistance to change process while planning the change. The involvement of the primary stakeholders such as higher level executives, board of directors and lower level employees can be helpful in mitigate the resistance among the stakeholders towards the change (Campbell, 2014). Finally, it is recommended to the management of EnQuest PLC to use effective problem solving techniques such as brainstorming and critical thinking methods to mitigate the challenges of change process. Create short term wins: The management must set short term goals and objectives and the short term progress must be evaluated to know whether the change management system is going towards the right direction or not (Lawrence, 2015). If the changes are found to be successful, the team must celebrate it with the entire organisation. Build on the change: In the next step, any drawbacks in the change management process must be checked and rectified to avoid occurrence of such mistake in the future (Campbell, 2014). The change management team must set long term goals and continue with the change process. Make the change permanent: In the final stage, the management must communicate the outcomes of the change process with all members of the firm (Lawrence, 2015). Finally, the management must develop long term plans to make the changes permanent. Conclusion By considering the above analysis, EnQuest PLC needs to make changes in the workforce in order to solve the issue of retirement of well aged and experience engineers in the firm. Additionally, the company needs to introduce innovative technology to improve its efficiency and productivity. The implementation of the identified changes may lead to several challenges that need to be met by using various change management models and effective problem solving techniques. Conclusively, the management of EnQuest PLC must focus on stakeholders involvement in the transformation process and better communication of the proposed changes in order to successfully implement the alterations. References Abbasi, B. (2017). Transformational leadership and change readiness and a moderating role of perceived bureaucratic structure: an empirical investigation.Problems and Perspectives in Management, 15(1), pp.35-44. Alas, R. and Vadi, M. (2016). The impact of organisational culture on organisational learning and attitudes concerning change from an institutional perspective.International Journal of Strategic Change Management, 1(1/2), p.155. Bush, T. (2015). From Management to Leadership.Educational Management Administration Leadership, 36(2), pp.271-288. Campbell, H. (2014).Managing organizational change. Philadelphia, PA: Kogan Page. Czichos, R. (2014).Change Management. 3rd ed. Freiburg im Breisgau: Haufe-Lexware. Diefenbach, T. (2017). The managerialistic ideology of organisational change management.Journal of Organizational Change Management, 20(1), pp.126-144. Enquest.com. (2017).EnQuest. [online] Available at: https://www.enquest.com/ [Accessed Aug. 2017]. Gharehbaghi, K. (2012). Leadership in Management Situations of Rapid Uncertain Change.Leadership and Management in Engineering, 2(2), pp.29-30. Gill, R. (2012). Change management--or change leadership?.Journal of Change Management, 3(4), pp.307-318. Graetz, F. (2010). Strategic change leadership.Management Decision, 38(8), pp.550-564. Greef, A. and Reinecke, R. (2013). Problem solving using artificial intelligence techniques.ORiON, 4(1). Greener, T. and Hughes, M. (2016). Managing change before change management.Strategic Change, 15(4), pp.205-212. Griffith, J. (2011). Why change management fails.Journal of Change Management, 2(4), pp.297-304. Have, S. (2017).Reconsidering change management. 4th ed. New York: Routledge. Kirton, M. (2013).Adaption-innovation. 4th ed. London: Routledge. Lawrence, P. (2015).Leading change. London, United Kingdom: Kogan Page Limited. Murthy, C. (2017).Change management. 3rd ed. Mumbai: Himalaya Pub. House Pvt. Ltd. Pollack, J. (2015). Understanding the divide between the theory and practice of organisational change.Organisational Project Management, 2(1), p.35. Shaw, D. (2015). Managing dualities in organizational change projects.Journal of Change Management, 16(3), pp.201-222. Smid, G., van Hout, E. and Burger, Y. (2016). Leadership in organisational change: Rules for successful hiring in interim management.Journal of Change Management, 6(1), pp.35-51.