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November 2013
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 * can be defined as” the practice of changing people and organisation’s, for positive growth”

Managing Operational Change in Employee Policies & Practice during Local Government Reform in Northern Ireland
Background

The Northern Ireland Executive launched the Review of Public Administration in June 2002 with the remit of revising the arrangements for the accountability, development, administration and delivery of public services in Northern Ireland. The process is to be completed by April 2015. This is the most fundamental reform of local government in Northern Ireland since 1972. The reform programme will see the reduction of 26 unitary councils to 11.

The new council districts are:

•	Antrim and Newtownabbey District

•	Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon District

•	Belfast District

•	Causeway Coast and Glens District

•	Derry and Strabane District

•	Fermanagh and Omagh District

•	Lisburn and Castlereagh District

•	Mid and East Antrim District

•	Mid Ulster District

•	Newry, Mourne and Down District

•	North Down and Ards District

In addition to covering a larger geographic area and serving a bigger population base, each new council will also deliver significant new functions, including a range of service delivery functions transferring from Northern Ireland Executive departments and other public bodies. Moreover, the 11 councils will operate within a new statutory governance, ethical standards and performance management framework Powers of the new local authorities will include planning, roads, urban regeneration, community development, housing, local economic development and local tourism. The transfer will also include some elements of the delivery of the EU Rural Development Programme, spot listing of buildings and greater involvement of local government in local sports decisions.

The two overriding key benefits relate to service provision and long-term cost savings:

1. Improved service provision

Councils will be given new responsibilities and a broader range of powers. Combined with partnership working with other Departments and agencies operating in their areas, this will make councils stronger, more effective and flexible to local need. They will be able to better co-ordinate service delivery and avoid duplication, leading to more efficient, high quality services.

2. Long-term cost savings

The potential long term financial benefits are substantial as amalgamating 26 councils into 11 brings with it economies of scale. The costs and benefits of reform are currently being examined to take account of the 2015 programme timetable, the sector’s Improvement, Collaboration and Efficiency proposals and the current economic climate in which reform is now being taken forward. The key benefits above will clearly impact on service delivery and performance management.

Innovative leadership and management will be required to create a performance driven culture in the new councils that seamlessly incorporates the transferring functions and new powers and duties to deliver services to meet the needs of the communities served. A fresh vision and strategic direction for local government will be essential to implement continued improvement; utilising best practice, motivating a multi-disciplined workforce, and engaging elected representatives and the public. These transformational changes will occur within a new governance regime and must provide value for money for ratepayers, citizens, business and visitors alike.

Need for change within the review

Organisations rarely make policy changes with the intention of creating chaos in the workplace, but often, even when changes are required to improve operations or create a safer or better environment for employees, employees' initial reaction is often resistance. Until employees accept the need for policy and practice change, organisational performance may be adversely affected. Operational changes occur within private sector organisations all the time. These changes are mostly unplanned and gradual, but every so often planned operational changes take place. Continuous improvement, and operational excellence in functional management are considered essential in today’s local government.

Operational change will be as much about structures and processes as it is about values, attitudes and behaviour. Promoting sustainable change in council operations is a process of adaptation characterised by strategic steps taken by the organisation to deliver competitive in and cost effective services in the reorganised environment. The change process will involve: knowledge of the current services, reasons for changing the services, identifying the changes to be made, obtaining feedback and buy-in from all those affected and ratepayers, as well as gathering data and introducing systems to measure the effectiveness of the change.

The need to improve operational performance is the biggest incentive for having a council operating in a manner that allows it to implement effective, rapid, sustainable and necessary change. Organisational development and thus operational change can be defined as” the practice of changing people and organisation’s, for positive growth” French, WL and Bell, C. (1999) Organisational Development

Local government reform will require a long term effort led by senior management to improve vision, empowerment, learning and problem solving. Burnes (2004) defines organisational development as a “one of a kind refinement strategy that developed into a structure or system of practices proficient in solving most of the HR issues faced by organisations”.

How Policy or Practices Changes can Impact Councils

Existing council practices are very traditional in their structure and performance. Even when change is positive, it requires modifying entrenched behaviors and ideas., These modifications under the Review of Public Administration (RPA) will affect a number of people, all of whom may react differently. Until new policies or practices become established, organisational performance may be affected, often negatively, as employees become accustomed to new ways of performing job tasks or different expectations for personal behaviour. In his article ‘Managing Success Change' (3) John Edmonds clearly identifies the ‘people’ part of change as being one of the most challenging. It is important to communicate with all stakeholders the necessity of the change proposed and the part they can play in influencing the process. Not completing this fundamental task may lead to decreased morale, a demotivated workforce and higher resistance.

Graetz et al (2006) suggested systems of change that employees resist:

•	Physiological perception: personalities and needs

•	Systems: those influenced by status, money or comfort

•	Institutionalised : change that they perceive as being unnecessary

•	Organisational: beliefs and expectations

•	Considering the above, Graetz suggests that sources of resistance overlap.

In delivering successful change, resistance may need managing. Mooketsi (2009) advocates seven elements to address.

1.	Education/Communication 2.	Foster Communication 3.	Participation/Involvement 4.	Facilitation/Support 5.	Negotiation/Agreement 6.	Manipulation and Co-optation 7.	Implicit/explicit coercion.
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The above list is be considered a hierarchy of elements dependent on the organisation's cultural belief. The practices/procedures adopted by the new local authorities depend on the requirement for change and the need for the outcomes clearly defined at the beginning so that all parties realise the potential outcome. The Ineos Grangemouth refinery dispute shows the need for this clear definition of outcomes required against the consequences of failure to reach agreement both on local and national levels. The timescale set for local government reform to be delivered by 2015 means that the window for change is getting ever smaller.

It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones who are the most responsive to change  Charles Darwin

Operational Policy Changes

When operational policy changes are made, it is not unusual to expect organisational performance to be impacted until employees become familiar with new practices. Implementing new procedures, instituting different operational systems, transitioning to a new employer, equipment or software as directed by policy -- any change that affects how employees perform daily tasks can be expected to impact organisational performance. Performance may dip while employees are trained in new practices or equipment/software, and may further be affected while employees become familiar with the new procedures, systems, or organisational areas.

The new local authorities will be required change or adapt what they want to achieve and how. Some organisations change because of external circumstances and others because they decide to change. In this case the change is due to legislative pressure.

Over 30 years ago Burns & Stalker (6) conducted their famous enquiries in the management of innovation and identified mechanistic and organic types of organisations.

Change does not always imply innovation of introducing something new. Change is one part of an organisation that invariably affects the people and processes in another part.

RPA will influence the Councils mission and strategy, structure, products and processes, its people and culture and the nature of its technology. These features are themselves affected by the stakeholder needs.. The internal changes have to be planned and communicated beforehand in a very limited timescale. Other general issues arise include the resistance to change, the use of individuals as agents of change and the costs of implementation.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter believed that it was not only the introduction of new products and new technology but also the implementation of new ideas and practices using innovation to improve the organisations ability to meet and satisfy customer needs. This will clearly be relevant over the next few years of development of the new council structures. To survive and succeed, every existing council will have to turn itself into a change agent.

The most effective way to manage change successfully is to create it and adapt to it.. This is often referred to as ‘Kaizen’ which is Japanese for ‘improvement’ or ‘change for the best’ (8)

Even before the Global Financial Crisis in 2007, commercial organisations continually strived to minimise upheaval when they were trying to implement changes to their operations. They knew the simplest of change could cause havoc among the smallest workforce if not handled correctly. This is often down to fear of the unknown and also believing that it is more of “the same old”. This is where the role of operational manager becomes vital. The manager’s role in this process it that of a change agent. (11) They are there to act as a catalyst to aid and handle the process both of the change and also the reaction and acceptance of the staff/employees. RPA will require two types of change: Strategic and Operational. Strategic being the broad and long term issues and operational change related to new systems, procedures, structures and technology that will have an immediate effect on working arrangements within part of the council. (9)

In leading the change required managers need to use their efforts to lead the way to ensure successful implementation of RPA and use John Kotters 8 Step method for change showing in Fig below(10)

Employee Policy Changes

Changes to employee terms and conditions, such as attendance, leave or education or training, often affect organisational performance even when the link between job tasks and the policies affected is not linear. When the change to employee policies is viewed as disciplinary or reactionary, the result is often disgruntled employees who are resistant to change, even if these changes will ostensibly create a better working environment. Employee dissatisfaction and low morale are well-recognized as detrimental to an organisation's performance, and policy changes -- especially unpopular changes -- can be expected to affect both morale and satisfaction. “Change is inevitable. Change for the better is a full time job."  Adlai Stevenson

Since the 1940’s Kurt Lewin has used the Lewin Three Step Model(7) for change which is the force that supports or promotes change and those forces that oppose to resist it, the force field analysis. Lewins Three Step Model for change is;

1.	Unfreezing

2.	Presenting a new alternative

3.	Refreezing

This model implies that the introduction of change does not ensure the elimination of the pre-change conditions or that the change will be permanent.

Why do we change? Why do we subject our workforces to change?

The reality is that our current work practices and efficiencies which were acceptable in the past are now not enough. Political will and cost pressures have created and stimulated the need for change. There are many methods of change, for example the “Calm Water” Metaphor(11)which Kurt Lewin’s three step model illustrates the more traditional method of change which was more predominant in the 1950s through to 1970s. In this instance the current methods and process have to be upset in order to introduce change. Once the change is established it has to be refrozen in order for it to be accepted.

This process would be totally unacceptable by today’s work force as they expect to be rewarded in some way for their flexibility towards change. With this is mind, we must consider other strategic tools to aid in the managing of change. One such strategy which is being used to aid in managing change is TRACC(12). This is an Integrative Improvement System (iis) provided by CCI, which is a global operations excellence management company. TRACC is simply a methodology which integrates a company’s improvement processes and systems (World Class Operations, Total Quality Management, Total Productive Maintenance, Lean, Six Sigma, Supply Chain Optimisation) into one cohesive system, rather than treating and having them as separate ‘swim lanes’ so to speak. This process aligns practices to Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which ensures sustainable results for local authorities. These results are gradual small steps which are noticeable in the long run. By using this system, the employees can work along with managing and understand what they must do in order for their company/business to succeed. By having the KPIs and a possible reward system for encouraging ideas, employees may embrace change easier.

Lessening the Impact of Change

Policy and practice changes for local authority employees in Northern Ireland are inevitable, but decreased performance as a result does not have to be. Including employees in the process of planning new council structures, new policies and practices can help foster the buy-in that's essential to employee acceptance of change.

"Executives need to involve employees in establishing new operating procedures," writes Mitchell Lee Marks for the "Wall Street Journal." Soliciting employee input when making policy and procedure changes not only opens executives up to perspectives from those actually implementing these policies and procedures, but also improves morale and job satisfaction, both of which can improve performance. This will be a key requirement if RPA is to deliver the performance outcomes as set by the Northern Ireland Executive. Bibliography

1. French, WL and Bell, C. (1999) Organisational Development 2. Burnes, B. (2004) Managing Change. Prentice Hall Inc 3.John Edmonds (2011). Managing successful change. Industrial and Commercial Training. 43, pp. 349-353 4.Agboola, A and Salawu, R (2011). Managing Deviant Behaviour and Resistance to Change. International Journal of Business and Management. 6 No.1, pp.235-242. 6Cole, G.A.. “Management Theory & Practice 6th edition p204/205. 7.Rue, L.W. Ibrahim, N.A. Byars, L.L. “Management Skills and Application” 14th Edition. p371. 8.Drucker, P.F. “Managing in the next society”. 9.Armstrong, M. (2011). “How to be an even better manager”, 8th Edition. p144/150. 10.http://www.kotterinternational.com/our-principles/changesteps 11.Robbins, Stephen P.Management Third Edition, Chapter 17 Managing Change page 529 - 557 12.Reference http://www.etracc.net/index.php?page=98&l=e