Develop a change management
strategy
Submission
details
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Candidate’s name |
Phone no. |
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Assessor’s name |
Phone no. |
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Assessment site |
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Assessment date/s |
Time/s |
The assessment task is due on the date specified by your assessor.
Any variations to this arrangement must be approved in writing by your
assessor.
Submit
this document with any required evidence attached. See specifications below for
details.
Performance
objective
The
candidate will demonstrate the skills and knowledge required to develop a
change management strategy.
Assessment
description
Using
the scenario information supplied, the candidate will undertake a cost-benefit
analysis for high-priority change requirements, undertake a risk analysis,
identify barriers, and develop mitigation strategies. The candidate will develop
a change management project plan, assign resources and develop a reporting
process. The candidate will then present their analysis and project plan to
management for approval.
Procedure
1.
Review the simulated workplace
information for Fast Track Couriers.
2.
Develop a change management
strategy for Fast Track, which you will present to management (your assessor)
for approval, by following steps 3–8 below.
3.
Identify change goals and
specify:
a.
who/what is impacted
b.
how they are impacted
c.
when the impacts will be
realised.
4.
Identify the change goals you
have identified are related to organisation’s strategic goals.
5.
Undertake a cost-benefit
analysis of the of the change requirements. Include:
a.
the change requirements
b.
the costs of changes
c.
risks
d.
the possible benefits of each change
e.
assessment of the benefits
against the costs and risks
f.
categorised changes:
i.
feasible (F)
ii.
maybe feasible (MF)
iii.
not feasible (NF).
6.
Undertake a risk analysis of
the change requirements:
a.
identify the risks and barriers
b.
analyse and evaluate the risks
and barriers
c.
identify mitigation strategy.
7.
Develop a change management
project plan. In order to justify your plan, include a brief explanation of the
change management theory/methodology followed to embed change. Your plan must
reflect theory and you must be prepared to explain to management how key
elements of your plan, such as stakeholder management, communication,
education/training plans, show elements of a particular theory.
8.
Include the following
components in your plan:
a.
Stakeholder management:
i.
identify key stakeholders and
roles
ii.
identify commitment level
iii.
identify concerns/issues (and
how can these will be addressed)
iv.
consultation methods for engaging
identified stakeholders.
b.
Communication plan:
i.
audience
ii.
message
iii.
when this communication will
occur
iv.
how the message will be
communicated (e.g. email, face to face, newsletter)
v.
person responsible.
c.
Education/training plan:
i.
participants
ii.
the skills the training will
provide
iii.
when the training will occur
iv.
how the training will be
delivered (e.g. class room, online, on-the-job)
v.
person responsible.
9.
Your project plan should also
include a measuring/reporting strategy. Measurement and reporting strategy
should include:
a.
how you will measure success
b.
how you will report success
including:
i.
format of reports
ii.
when will reports be produced
(weekly, fortnightly, monthly)
iii.
who will receive a copy of the
report.
10. Finally, your project plan should also include a list of resources
(tools, supplies, etc.)
11. Deliver a formal presentation (using PowerPoint) to management (your
assessor) to gain approval for your change management strategy. Your assessor
will approve your strategy based on your completion of this assessment task and
satisfaction of specifications below.
12. Ask for authorisation to implement strategy.
13. Submit all documents to your assessor as per the specifications
below. Ensure you keep a copy of all work submitted for your records.
Specifications
You must
present and then submit copy of:
? One PowerPoint presentation containing analysis and change
management project plan.
Your assessor will be looking for:
? knowledge of change management process or cycle
? knowledge of components of change management project plan
? knowledge of specific organisational requirements
? knowledge of potential barriers to change
? knowledge of a range of strategies for embedding change
? leadership skills to gain acceptance of plan and gain trust
? planning and organising skills
? problem-solving skills to identify and respond to barriers to change
and analyse risks
? verbal communication skills to describe and promote change
management plan.
Adjustment for distance-based learners
Presentation delivery may be delivered via teleconferencing
tool.
Task: Fast Track Couriers Pty Ltd
It is the end of the 2011 financial year.
You are an external change management consultant employed by Fast Track
Couriers. You have been asked by the General Manager to develop a change
management strategy and present the strategy to management for approval.
Management has identified the following
high-priority change requirements:
? Goal A: Implement PDA/ GPS usage (productivity function) on truck fleet
in the first quarter of the 2012 financial year.
?
Goal B: Implement one person/truck
policy using automatic lift gates in the first quarter of the 2012 financial
year.
Achievement of these goals should increase
net profit in the next financial year by $200,000 due to increased efficiencies
and increased business.
Goal A is essential to the business to
ensure (in priority order):
1.
Most efficient use of resources
to cover market needs. Management will look at more than the raw hours spent on
job and consider all factors such as job difficulty, traffic conditions in
order to optimise fleet usage.
2.
Job performance measurement for
training needs.
3.
Recognition of outstanding
performance (bonuses for exceeding targets; advancement/ leadership
opportunities).
Goal B is essential to the business to
ensure:
? Most efficient use of resources to cover market needs.
? Reduced need to hire external truckers; use present employees as
much as possible.
?
Reduced possibility of lifting
injury.
The change management strategy, once
approved by the General Manager, should be implemented immediately.
People/structure
Fast Track
Couriers has implemented and recruited the people required to fill the roles in
the following organisational structure:
Managerial duties/role description
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General manager/CFO |
Oversees company; approves major business |
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HR manager |
Oversees and implements change management |
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Sales manager |
Coordinates sales team; provides sales |
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Trucking /operations manager |
Coordinates activities of trucking team; |
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Office manager |
Coordinates activities of accountant and |
Resourcing/budget:
The budget for implementing the change
strategy (excluding cost of new trucks, technology and lift gates, lost
productivity from truckers) is $25,000. Overruns must be approved by General Manager.
You will be employed for two weeks full-time
(40 hrs/week) and 8 hours a week until end of the first quarter.
Resources:
The following
resources are available for your use:
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Resource |
Cost |
Availability |
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Project analyst/manager (you). |
$100/hour |
Length of project, as needed |
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Trucking manager (Bob Rogers). |
– |
Length of project, as needed |
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Sales team member with high-level oral and |
– |
Length of project, as needed |
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New Human Resources manager Peggy |
– |
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PDA/GPS trainer (Jack MacDonald). |
$150/hour |
Length of project, as needed |
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Lift gates trainer (Erin Mitchell) |
$150/hour |
Length of project, as needed |
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Head office training rooms equipped with |
– |
2nd week of July 2011 only. |
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PDA/GPS device, based at office. |
– |
Length of project, as needed |
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One new truck with tail gate based at |
– |
Length of project, as needed |
Other resources
must be requested for approval by General Manager.
Education/ training
? Goal A: Implement PDA/ GPS usage (productivity function) on truck
fleet in the first quarter of the 2012 financial year. Requires a half-day
training session.
? Goal B: Implement one person/truck policy using automatic lift gates
in the first quarter of the 2012 financial year. Requires a half-day training
session.
Project management reporting
The General Manager would like you to
report to her on a daily basis in the initial week of the project and then
weekly until the end of the first quarter. The HR manager should receive a copy
of this report.
Template
Fast Track Couriers policy mandates the use
of the following project management template.
? Green: completed
? Amber: in progress
?
Red: not completed.
Reporting element |
Measures |
Status |
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Change goal |
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Project management |
Delivery of project activities as per |
Overall status: |
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Stakeholder Management |
Stakeholders engaged and comfortable with |
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Communication |
Communication plan activities on schedule |
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Education |
Education plan activities on schedule |
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Cost benefits |
Project budget on track |
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Cost benefits on track to be realised |
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Risk Management |
Risk management plan effectively managing |
Background information: Fast Track Couriers Pty Ltd
About Fast Track Couriers
Fast Track
Couriers is a courier company that has been operating in New South Wales for
the last 15 years. Its primary business function is delivering medium to large
size packages across metropolitan Sydney.
Strategic plan goals
The
organisation’s strategic goals are:
?
To expand business in the
metropolitan area so that small to medium package deliveries market share
increases by 7.5%.
?
To expand the business to
include small and medium package deliveries to regional NSW.
?
To develop an integrated
approach to distribution management utilising technology such as PDA devices
and GPS.
? To develop and maintain a cohesive and well-motivated workforce.
Strategic
goals are supported by the following operational and human resources goals.
Operational plan goals
?
Testing of the distribution
management system is to cease and allow implementation within the first quarter
of the 2012 financial year.
?
The truck fleet will need to be
expanded by 8 trucks within the 2012 financial year.
?
Small distribution hubs will be
positioned at Maitland, Goulburn, Nowra and Bathurst each manned by two
employees within the next eighteen months.
?
Fast Track Couriers will
complete 20% of deliveries to regional locations in the next three years.
Human resources goals:
?
To incorporate a Human
Resources function to facilitate the changes in workforce management in the
first quarter of the 2012 financial year.
?
Introduce professional
development and training to achieve organisational goals and promote
understanding of organisation’s strategic goals in the first quarter of the
2012 financial year.
?
Eliminate industrial relations
problems in the 2012 financial year. Conclude negotiations with employees and
union.
? Eliminate lifting injuries.
Employee profile (pre-changes)
Fast Track
Couriers employee the following people:
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General manager (GM) – Generally
on the road; never in office.
? Chief financial officer (CFO) – Reports to GM and keeps office hours;
9–5, Mon–Fri.
? Accountant – Reports to CFO and keeps office hours; 9–5, Mon–Fri.
? Truck drivers (x20) – Report to office.
? Office team manager – Reports to GM and keeps office hours; 9–5, Mon–Fri.
? Office team members (x5) – Perform administrative, sales, customer
relationship management duties. Monitor truck drivers and handle enquiries.
Report to office team manager.
Head office employees
? Covered under individual contracts.
? Salary range $32,000–$75,000 annum.
? Small team of mainly female employees, ranging in age.
? Lots of opportunity to participate in learning and development
programs due to management support; however little desire to participate.
? High employee engagement scores. Employees cite team work and
opportunities as motivating factors affecting the business success.
Drivers
? Covered by an award.
? Salary $45,000 per annum.
? Heavily unionised.
? Employee demographics are all male employees aged 25–65.
? Little opportunity to participate in learning and development
programs due to being on the road; however, little to no interest to
participate in development opportunities.
? Large number of workplace injuries due to heavy lifting.
? Low employee engagement scores. Drivers cite pay as an issue.
? Currently experiencing low turnover.
? History of industrial disputes regarding pay and previous change
initiatives.
Background to workforce management and relations
The company
communicates with employees via email for head office employees and a printed
monthly newsletter for drivers. The company provides information regarding
policies procedures through documented manuals that are held in each truck as
an employee manual. Office-based staff can access copies of these manuals at
the office.
All trucks are fitted with a GPS
system to assist drivers with navigating to each pick up and drop off location.
Trucks are also assigned a PDA that provides drivers with the details of each
pick up and drop off and records when a job starts and finishes. The data from
this device is sent back to head office to monitor job progress but is not used
to complete productivity reporting. When this device was introduced, drivers
were not happy as they felt the organisation was saying that it did not trust
the drivers to manually record the time spent on each job. Many of the drivers
also resented having to learn how to use the device and thought it was a waste
of time.
Head office employees work very closely
together and are a very cohesive and motivated team. They are positive about
the organisation’s direction and respond well to change.
Drivers have historically reacted negatively
to change. Change implemented in the past has met with resistance and was
therefore difficult to implement. Drivers have in the past done their best to
block any changes from being implemented, even going to the lengths of
threatening strike action and having the union involved to assist with
resolving the issue.
Fast Track Couriers currently allocates two
drivers per truck to ensure that drivers are able to load and unload heavy packages.
The strategy going forward is to remove the need for having two drivers per
truck by installing an automatic lift gate on the back of each gate at a cost
of $10,000 per truck. This will mean that only one driver is needed per truck
as no heavy lifting will be required.
It is Fast Track Couriers intention to use
these surplus drivers to drive the new trucks that will be purchased to enable
the company to extend its services to regional NSW.
Drivers are currently happy with the work
environment as they enjoy working as part of a two-man team. The organisation
typically leaves the drivers alone and lets them do their job as this is what
seems to make them happy. Management has tried in the past to have drivers
participate in organisational activities. These activities were not received
positively and the drivers complained and asked not to be involved. The
drivers’ view is that their preferred team is their two-man driver team and
they only see the benefits of that specific working arrangement. There is a
high value placed on communication with trucking team members.
