Nine Reasons Organizations Need To Change

Overcoming resistance to changes is often one of the biggest challenges for continuous
improvement practitioners.
Why Organizations Change
Organizations change for a number of different reasons, so they can either react to these reasons
or be ahead of them. These reasons include:
1. Crisis: Obviously September 11 is the most dramatic example of a crisis which caused
countless organizations, and even industries such as airlines and travel, to change. The
recent financial crisis obviously created many changes in the financial services industry
as organizations attempted to survive.
2. Performance Gaps: The organization's goals and objectives are not being met or other
organizational needs are not being satisfied. Changes are required to close these gaps.
3. New Technology: Identification of new technology and more efficient and economical
methods to perform work.
4. Identification of Opportunities: Opportunities are identified in the market place that the
organization needs to pursue in order to increase its competitiveness.
5. Reaction to Internal & External Pressure: Management and employees, particularly
those in organized unions often exert pressure for change. External pressures come from
many areas, including customers, competition, changing government regulations,
shareholders, financial markets, and other factors in the organization's external
environment.
6. Mergers & Acquisitions: Mergers and acquisitions create change in a number of areas
often negatively impacting employees when two organizations are merged and employees
in duel functions are made redundant.
7. Change for the Sake of Change: Often times an organization will appoint a new CEO.
In order to prove to the board he is doing something, he will make changes just for their
own sake.
8. Sounds Good: Another reason organizations may institute certain changes is that other
organizations are doing so (such as the old quality circles and re-engineering fads). It
sounds good, so the organization tries it.

9. Planned Abandonment: Changes as a result of abandoning declining products, markets,

or subsidiaries and allocating resources to innovation and new opportunities.

What Organizations Can Change

What organizations can change fall into the following broad areas:
1. Mission, Vision, & Strategy: Organizations should continually ask themselves, "What is
our business and what should it be?" Answers to these questions can lead to changes in
the organization's mission (the purpose of its business), its vision for the future (what the
organization should look like), and its competitive strategy.
2. Technology: Organizations can change their technology (for example the way they
produce whatever they sell) in order to increase efficiency and lower costs.
3. Human-Behavioral Changes: Training can be provided to managers and employees to
provide new knowledge and skills, or people can be replaced or downsized. As result of
the recent financial crisis, many organizations downsized creating massive
unemployment that continues to this day.
4. Task-Job Design: The way work is performed in the organization can be changed with
new procedures and methods for performing work.
5. Organizational Structure: Organizations can change the way they are structured in
order to be more responsive to their external environment. Again to be more responsive
to the marketplace, this also includes where decisions should be made in the organization
(centralized or decentralized).
6. Organizational Culture: Entities can attempt to change their culture, including
management and leadership styles, values and beliefs. Of all the things organizations can
change, this is by far the most difficult to undertake.
These are the major elements that organizations can change. It is important to note that changes
in one of these elements will usually have an impact on another element. As an example,
changing technology may require changes in the human-behavioral area (new knowledge and
skills on how to use the technology).

Why Is Change Important in an Organization?

Why Is Change Important in an Organization?
Change is important for any organization that wants to continue to grow and prosper.

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Benefits From Change in the Workplace
Any business in today's fast-moving environment that is looking for the pace of change to slow
is likely to be sorely disappointed. In fact, businesses should embrace change. Change is
important for any organization because, without change, businesses would likely lose their
competitive edge and fail to meet the needs of what most hope to be a growing base of loyal
customers.
Technology
Without change, business leaders still would be dictating correspondence to secretaries, editing
their words and sending them back to the drawing board, wasting time for all involved. Change
that results from the adoption of new technology is common in most organizations and while it
can be disruptive at first, ultimately the change tends to increase productivity and service
Technology also has affected how we communicate. No longer do business people dial a rotary
phone, get a busy signal, and try again and again and again until they get through. No longer do
business people have to laboriously contact people, in person, to find out about other people who
might be useful resources - they can search for experts online through search engines as well as
through social media sites. Today's burgeoning communication technology represents changes
that allow organizations to learn more, more quickly, than ever before.
Customer Needs
Customers who were satisfied with conventional ovens many years ago are sometimes impatient
with the microwave today. As the world evolves, customer needs change and grow, creating new
demand for new types of products and services -- and opening up new areas of opportunity for
companies to meet those needs.
The Economy
The economy can impact organizations in both positive and negative ways and both can be
stressful. A strong economy and increasing demand for products and services will mean that
companies must consider expansion that might involve the addition of staff and new facilities.
These changes offer opportunities for staff, but also represent new challenges. A weak economy

can create even more problems as companies find themselves needing to make difficult decisions
that can impact employees' salaries and benefits and even threaten their jobs. The ability to
manage both ends of the spectrum are critical for organizations that want to maintain a strong
brand and strong relationships with customers as well as employees.
Growth Opportunities
Change is important in organizations to allow employees to learn new skills, explore new
opportunities and exercise their creativity in ways that ultimately benefit the organization
through new ideas and increased commitment. Preparing employees to deal with these changes
involves an analysis of the tools and training required to help them learn new skills. Training can
be provided through traditional classroom settings or, increasingly, through online learning
opportunities. Importantly, organizations need to do a good job of evaluating employees'
capabilities and then taking steps to fill the gaps between current skills and the skills required to
respond to growth.
Challenging the Status Quo
Simply asking the question "Why?" can lead to new ideas and new innovations that can directly
impact the bottom line. Organizations benefit from change that results in new ways of looking at
customer needs, new ways of delivering customer service, new ways of strengthening customer
interactions and new products that might attract new markets. New employees joining an
organization are especially valuable because they can often point to areas of opportunity for
improvement that those who have been long involved in the company might have overlooked.
But even existing employees should be encouraged to question why things are done a certain
way and look for new ways to get work done faster, better and with higher levels of quality and
service.

Ways to Improve Company Productivity

by Bonnie Conrad, studioD
Improving productivity can boost your profits.

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No matter what your company does, improving the productivity of your work force can boost
your bottom line. Doing more with fewer resources is a fact of life in today's competitive
business environment, and that dynamic is not likely to change anytime soon. That means the
companies that can get the most productivity from every worker and the best results from limited
resources are the most likely to succeed in the long run.
Computer Technology
Adding computer technology to your small business is an excellent way to boost the productivity
of your company and help each worker get more done in less time. When evaluating your
business and your need for computer technology, examine the manual processes your firm uses
and think about how those time-consuming manual processes can be automated with the right
computer technology.
Empowered Employees
Giving the front-line employees the tools they need to do their jobs more effectively can be good
for productivity. Allowing workers on the floor the flexibility to solve customer problems frees
up supervisors and managers to do more important tasks, such as planning for the future of the
department and addressing training needs.
Flexible Schedules
Requiring all employees to stick to the same rigid schedule regardless of job function or actual
company needs is bad for morale and company productivity. Allowing your workers to have
some flexibility with their schedules and working hours actually can enhance productivity, build
loyalty and encourage workers to do more for the company. Allowing some employees to work
from home also can enhance productivity and boost morale. A 2010 study conducted by IBM and
reported by the Telegraph found that workers who have the flexibility to work at home actually
clock more hours and suffer from less stress than their office-bound counterparts.

Internet Filtering
The Internet can be a powerful tool for business, but it also can be a major time drain for
companies of all sizes. Allowing your employees unfettered access to the Internet can be a real
productivity drain--you might find that your workers spend more time on FaceBook and eBay
than on their actual jobs. While proper management can mitigate these time wasters somewhat,
blocking popular non-work related sites can be just as effective.
Use Communication Tools
Modern workers are quite comfortable with all kinds of communication tools, from text
messaging and online chats to older style electronic formats such as email and bulletin boards.
Companies can harness the power of communication to enhance productivity by simply
providing workers with the right tools. Adding a work-friendly instant messaging program
allows employees to communicate with one another without wasting time with desk visits and
missed connections. Using the calendar features of an email program makes scheduling meetings
faster, easier and more productive. By harnessing these tools, business owners can enhance
productivity and cut costs.

Employment Contracts in Pakistan

An employment contract is an agreement between an employer and employee and is the basis of
further employment relationship. A contract of employment regulates the terms and conditions of
employment between employer and employees.
After completion of your (undergrad or grad) studies, you must be looking for employment.
While you may have already received advice on interviewing, during your studies, you must also
know how to examine your employment contract or appointment letter.
Do labour laws in Pakistan require an employer to provide employment contract at the
start of employment?
After you have applied for a job and in response to written test, interview, whatever the case
may be, you may be offered employment in an organization. You must know that Constitution of
Pakistan affords every one of us with the right to enter upon any lawful profession or occupation
(Article 18). The Standing Orders Ordinance, promulgated in 1968, also requires every employer
to provide every worker an employment contract, showing terms and conditions of his/her
service. Your employer is responsible to provide this contract at the time of your appointment,
transfer or promotion.
Your appointment letter (employment contract) must state the nature of your employment
(permanent or temporary, nature of duties i.e. job description, terms and conditions of service
etc.
What are different types of employment contract, as specified under the labor laws?
If you are working in an establishment, you will be classified in one of the following six
categories.
1. Permanent
2. Probationers
3. Badlis (Alternate)
4. Temporary
5. Apprentices
6. Contract worker
You become permanent worker if you have been on work of permanent nature for the last 9
months and have satisfactorily completed the probationary period of three months.

You will be a probationer for the first three months of service, after provisionally employed for a
permanent position.
You will be considered a Badli if you are appointed in the post of a permanent or probationer
employee who is temporarily absent.
You should consider yourself a temporary employee if you are hired for a project ending within 9
months
An apprentice is a person undergoing training through the system of apprenticeship.
Lastly, you will be a contract worker if you are employed to work on piece rate basis for a
specific period of time. You will not be given overtime for hours worked above the normal
working hours.
What should I look for in my employment contract?
While examining your appointment letter, you must consider following factors.
1. Job Description/ responsibilities - are these the same as were advertised and talked about
during the interviews or job description has been expanded to include some other
responsibilities
2. Salary- what is your basic and gross salary? Your consolidated or gross salary must be
equal or greater than Rs. 9,000 per month (in Punjab, KPK and Balochistan) or Rs. 8,000
( in Sindh province). Your gross salary will include certain allowances like house rent
allowance, conveyance/utility allowance.
3. Probationary Period - what is the required probation period before your service is
confirmed. In private sector, this probationary period is usually three to six months.
While in public sector, the probationary period is one to two years. Another things to look
for is that whether the probationary period is extendable or not. You must know that your
services can be terminated during this time without any notice or without giving any
reason.
4. Termination of service - after confirmation of your service, on expiry of probation period,
your services can be terminated by your employer at any time by giving you a 30-day
notice or providing 30-day pay in lieu of that notice. You also have the right to resign
from your service after giving 30-day notice or surrendering 30-day pay to your
company.
5. Transferability of services - whether your services can be transferred to other
sections/departments of your organization. This can be both good and bad depending on

your experience. Transferability of your services will give you diversified experience
however you may not be able to specialize in your desired field.
6. Confidentiality agreement - Your employer may require you not to associate, directly or
indirectly, with a similar business during the course of your employment with the
organization and that you would not divulge any information relating to the organization
to its competitors (even after termination of your employment)
7. Leaves, retirement benefits, medical facilities - you must check whether these provisions
are in accordance with labor laws or company policy.
Other than the above mentioned factors, your employment contract/appointment letter must also
clearly indicate whether your employment will be governed by general or some specific labor
laws like mining labor code, newspaper employees act or road transport employees act.
Moreover, if your employment contract is negotiated on terms different than those provided in
labor laws, this will take precedence over the labor law. So, you must examine whether your
employment contract is in accordance with the provisions in the labor laws or is different.
Related content
Bonded Labour in Pakistan
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Employment Termination Worldwide

10 Keys to Creating a Culture of Innovation

Most organizations recognize the importance of innovation in advancing their competitive
position or improving their business operations. However, many do not recognize that successful
innovation is built on a series of key components, not simply generating a lot of new ideas. The
biggest element to success in becoming an innovative company is to create a culture of
innovation, an environment that encourages creative ideas and discovery on an ongoing basis.
Here are ten areas that can help build a culture of innovation within your firm:
Keys to Creating a Culture of Innovation

1. Define Innovation - One of the most basic elements of creating a culture of innovation is
the definition the enterprise wishes to adopt or outline for itself. This can vary
dramatically from enterprise to enterprise, but ensuring your definition is understandable
and relatable throughout your organization is key. Each enterprise needs to create a
definition that is aligned to the objectives that their innovation program is targeting; and
deliver some positive outcome whether it is tangible value, creation of new markets, or a
competitive advantage. Truly innovative companies communicate their vision clearly and
make their messaging simple, repeatable, and relatable, which enables their employees to
think expansively.

2. Leadership - The role of leadership cannot be underestimated either. Creative innovation

can be stifled when team members dont feel their contributions are valued, or even
worse, when leaders discourage risk taking. To truly foster a culture of innovation,
leaders must weave innovation into the values, norms, unconscious messages, and subtle
behaviors of the entire workforce and reinforce them regularly.

3. Use Metrics - Successful innovation thrives on execution, but if it can't be measured, it

can't be acknowledged, promoted or supported. Once business owners have defined what
they mean by innovation, it's time to establish numbers to measure it. This could be an
increase in customer satisfaction as a result of new hypotheses or ideas, more efficient
implementation of quality ideas, improved quality of ideas in general, or improved
success achieved from the implementation of improved products, services, or programs.

4. Eliminate Fear - Innovation is about trying things that have never been done before.
Encourage employees to run with their ideas through a controlled discovery process
(ideation, evaluation, selection, development, and implementation), and do not criticize
failure. Great ideas often need to be honed, and even when an interesting idea fails upon
first execution, it may prove groundbreaking with some modification. Failing fast and
embracing lots of little experiments with the idea that some will work and grow and
others will fail is a key component to building a culture of innovation.

5. Increase Autonomy - The best products, requirements, and designs emerge from selforganizing, autonomous, or empowered teams. These teams stimulate participation and
involvement, and choose how best to accomplish their work. An effect of this is increased
emotional attachment to the products and services of the organization, resulting in greater
commitment, motivation, and desire for responsibility. This leads to greater creativity,
helpful behavior, higher productivity and greater service quality.

6. Build Regularity - A culture of innovation is most effective when it becomes a regular

part of business. Employees should feel comfortable exploring new ideas on an ongoing
basis, not just once in awhile for the sake of special projects. It is important to make
innovation a normal part of business without allowing it to become too routine or stale.

7. Implement Process - Contrary to common perception, process is not the antithesis of

creative innovation, but the glue that holds it together and gives order to the random and
unstructured ideas that continuously erupt within the enterprise. A well-architected
innovation program, built on a relevant, enterprise-aligned framework greatly increases
the probability of achieving meaningful results and overall success.

8. Diversity - Great innovation comes from collaboration with peers and co-workers.
Bouncing ideas off each other and brainstorming together helps everyone explore faster,
take risks together, and fail early in order to learn what might work and might not. A
famous proverb notes that, None of us are as smart as all of us and numerous studies
have shown that diversity is a key driver for innovation. A diverse set of backgrounds,
experiences and viewpoints is essential for generating new ideas.

9. Unstructured Time - Innovation needs time to develop and employees are often
consumed with putting out fires and chasing short-term targets and therefore dont have
the opportunity to think about the future. Provide team members with free time to

experiment with new ideas or to take idea days, paid days off to work on any problem
they want.

10. Communicate - Good communication is an essential tool in achieving productivity and

maintaining strong working relationships at all levels of an organization. Employers who
invest time and ensure open and clear lines of communication exist, will rapidly build up
trust amongst employees, leading to increases in innovation, productivity, output and
morale in general.
Conclusion
Organizations that develop a culture of creative innovation are more likely to experience
longevity and success. If you seriously want your business to innovate, you have to establish
innovation as a strategic imperative. You can help do this by weaving these key components
across your enterprise and embracing them as a part of your operations. Ensuring innovation isn't
just a management pitch, but a true commitment is essential. Once this culture is established,
companies can enjoy the benefits of having loyal employees who feel encouraged to think, plan
and develop in creative ways that can take their business in a new and even more successful
direction.

7 Pitfalls of Process Automation to Avoid at All Costs

In recent years, many businesses have lived by the notion automate or die when it comes to
their processes. With the growing ease of business process automation software, many
companies and consultants feel their job is not done until every inch of the office is covered with
automation.
BPA software has undoubtedly helped companies cut down costs and improve efficiency. By
minimizing human error and allowing systems to speak to each other, business process
automation has given some significant improvements to the way business is done.
However, a blanket approach to automation can leave a trail of wreckage and a bitter taste for
business owners. Automation is not a one-size-fits-all solution to fix business problems, and
when applied to every situation, it can create more problems than it solves.
Shockingly, some processes can even run better when freed from restrictive business process

automation software. Productivity can suffer when processes are subjected to improper
automation, thereby negating any perceived benefit. And with the cost of most automation tools,
these struggles are more than just an annoyance.
Here are seven pitfalls to watch out for when you are implementing automation.
1. Dont Overspend

Process automation is designed to cut costs and time. So when the software you choose ends up
costing more than its worth, only to result in employees trying to hack their way around the
process, you know you have a big problem. This is when automation becomes a liability instead
of an asset.
When companies spend big for a large automation initiative, they want to get their moneys
worth and apply automation to as many processes as possible. However, when applied
incorrectly, automation is going to hurt a company much more than it helps it.
2. Watch Out for Insufficient Gains
A companys reasonable expectation out of any business process automation initiative is to
deliver results that surpass the previous manual processes. But many companies dont gather the
data to substantiate this claim. Anautomated process can give the feeling of speed only because it
is digital, but if you are not getting the right results, or if you spend most of your time trying to
fix the process, youve wasted your time and money.
Automation can take some time to show significant improvement as people get used to a new
system. However, if you cant demonstrate a clear time and efficiency advantage after a few
months, you need to either make changes to your automated process, or consider going back to
manual. The gains from any automation initiative should not only show in terms of improving
efficiency, but also justify the cost it takes to implement the solution in the first place.
3. Dont Let Dehumanization Kill Intelligence
In the customer service sector, automated voice service has become so ineffective that many
customers will give up at the thought of going in circles and not finding a solution. One key is
that most automated voice services dont have any intelligence built in. They are merely a
catalogue of resources searchable by voice. The system cant deal with nuances or make quick
adjustments. In many situations of dealing with customers, manual processes involving human
interactions give a better experience.
The key lesson here is not to miss out on the opportunity to optimize workflow by draining out
intelligence from a process. Automation trumps human errors, but some processes must have a
bit of human inefficiency built into them to ensure that the final experience is positive. Processes

can lack accountability when human intervention is out of the equation. Customers/partners
might feel ignored if they are left at the mercy of going through an automated process.
4. Automation Can be Inflexible
Depending on the type of software you use, automation solutions can create a rigid structure
where, if one thing goes wrong, the result might be a series of errors that might take time to
discover and fix. Similarly, some small changes might also be difficult to implement.
All these can be a source of employee dissatisfaction and discouragement if not addressed.
Automation is great for an organizations overall efficiency; however, it also risks adding useless
steps along the way that are very difficult to change later on.
5. Automation Requires Expert Teams
In addition to the lengthy process and sizable budget required to implement automation in an
organizations process, a company needs to appoint a dedicated team to monitor and maintain it.
Members of the team will need to go through training to understand the implementation and how
it works.
As an investment, the process is necessary and is usually worth the cost. However, it can have
repercussions like employee replacement issues, lack of a talent pool, etc. When you are
spending more to maintain and optimize an automated solution than it provides in value, there is
a big problem.
6. Change is Difficult
Automation is a fixed process applied to repetitive, structured tasks. When there is a change in an
organizations core business processes, it is difficult for the company to replicate the change in
its automation. BPM, in a way, is a form of change management and cannot resist change in
processes. Similarly, human processes can easily adapt to changes in the environment and can
create improvised solutions.
Reshuffling automation can be a tough challenge for an organization and teams within it when a
there is a requirement for transitioning a business.
7. Automation Cannot Fix Everything
Companies often seek automation for processes that are better off being human-driven. Even if
an automation process is customized to fit a companys needs, it can be counterintuitive to apply
something to a process that is better left unruffled.
In enterprises, automation cannot capture every process correctly. If 70% of process is
automated, for example, the remaining 30% might not be fit for automation, creating disorder in
the existing organizational process. The forced automation might required a high cost of quality
assurance and maintenance expense, adding to the woes of the C-suite management.
Also, automation cannot fix office politics, poor infrastructure, insufficient training, and bad
management.
One way to overcome most of these challenges is to choose a human-centric software solution.
You can find reasonably priced software that make it easy for business leaders to create, edit, and

optimize their own automated business processes. This significantly reduces a lot of the cost
issues and the inability to quickly change a process.
If you are considering using a business process automation tool, be aware of the dangers of
trying to apply automation to everything. You will end up in worse shape than you began.