Constantly Seeking To Improve Its Performance Management Essay

Any organisation needs to be constantly seeking to improve its performance, products, services and processes. It is part of the ongoing change process. Innovation and change are more than just words; they are critical challenges in today’s workplace. It can make the difference between success and failure.

Leaders and managers may experience some challenges when leading and managing innovative changes in multicultural and diverse organisations. One of these challenges may be that staff may not support the innovative idea. In an organisation in which staff are use to performing daily tasks in certain ways, there might be resistance when an innovative idea or change is introduce. Staff and others are afraid of change because of the increase in work demand and afraid of change in their daily routine in the workplace and the insecurity they may possibly have regarding innovation, it may cause increased level of stress, and such stress may affect the individual health of the staff. Because of the stress and feelings of insecurity that may come with an innovative idea, employees may find themselves against an innovation or change. Another challenge to managers are some staff may have difficulty in adapting to the new change may be because of their cultural backgrounds. Some staff may learn the change faster than others; yet, consideration must be given to those who may be slow in understanding the new idea but such behaviour is natural human response. Managers and leaders must consider how employees will adapt to new changes.

Managers and leaders need to involve staff in the innovative process to avoid certain challenges that may encounter from implementing new changes. If the staff is introduce to changes that may occur in the future, they more possible accept the changes because they have been informed. Participation in the innovation process may enable staff to understand the need for such innovation and change and also may provide information of how to introduce the innovative idea to their customers.

This assignment will discuss the understanding and importance of innovation and change in the organisation. It also covers the propose innovative solutions to improve organisational performance and leading and managing change within the organisation.

UNDERSTAND THE NEED FOR INNOVATION AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT WITHIN AN ORGANISATION.

Explain the importance of innovation for own organisation.

According to the economist innovation is the application of new ideas to the products, processes, or other aspects of the activities of a firm that lead to increased value. It focused on two main types: product and process. (The nature and importance of innovation, p 1, Princeton.edu).A product innovation is the act of bringing something new to the market place that improves the range and quality of products on offer, for example in the nursing home bringing the updated equipment such as hoist, lifting or mobility aids. A process innovation is a new way of making or delivering goods or services, for example the services provided by the organisation such as the activities and resources needed to accomplish the work. Innovation is different from creativity because innovation is adding something new to an existing product while creativity is a process that produces an original product, service or process.

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As an aspiring manager innovation in the organisation like in the nursing home is important as it is the primary way to differentiate services to competitor. Innovative ideas is needed to make the organisation stand out or improve to enhance quality of care for Clients/ Service Users, reduce staff turnover and stimulate/motivate staff with interest and challenge of working.

Alexander Court ensures that equipments such as hoist, lifting and mobility aids, etc are updated; it attracts the customer because it is hard to compete if using obsolete one. They also ensure staff have the necessary knowledge, skills and competencies by attending continuous programme of personal and professional development such as training and further study to provide the highest standard of care to every Service Users. Service Users are also provided with available resources and access to independent advocacy services. There is also technology that available within the organisation like introduction of electronic information system such as electronic Clients/Service Users record. This technology aimed to increase quality of care, reduce healthcare costs or solve workforce problem. The benefits of innovation to the organisation are making the staff more effective to provide quality care, which improve productivity and efficiency of the organisation by gaining new customers and receive recognition of the value of services like by word of mouth from loyal Clients/ customers. Innovation also leads to improvements in the way organisation operates and improves financial profit.

The most common barrier to innovation in organisation is inadequate fund, even though the manager has some innovative ideas but because of lack of support from the management due to financial constraints the new ideas cannot be implemented. Another barrier to innovation is the time and resources because staff are so busy doing their regular work due to shortage of staff, they have insufficient time to create new ideas and they used to the old tradition and routine activities. There are some more barrier innovation can face such as lack of leadership, lack of cooperation, lack of technology and poor communication. The most effective way to overcome barriers is to have a group discussion and find out how to be able to work through problems. Working together to solve problems is an effective way to establish essential networks.

An organisation may attempt radical and incremental innovation in both its process and product. For example, the process of doing nursing care plan to the disabled Service User instead of giving him/her an ordinary cutlery, they will provide the “Good Grips” designed utensils for him/her to be easy to use; good grip utensils would be the incremental innovation because it does not change his activity. On the other hand, radical innovation is like when encoding client’s information before we have to write on paper but because of advance technology we encode it on computer, so computer or the new technology is the radical innovation.

Explain the importance of managing change within own organisation.

Change Management is an organized, systematic application of the knowledge, tools and resources of change that provides organization with a key process to achieve their business strategy. – Lamarsh

Change management is not an easy way of making changes in the organisation, a consultant or expert within this area is needed. The consultant will select area that needs attention and certain models, methods, techniques and tools are used for making these changes necessary for the organisation. It also requires a broad set of skills like analytical skills, people skills, system skills and business skills.

Managing change is important for any organisation because, without change, businesses would lose their competitive edge and fail to meet the needs and requirement of the customers. It is also important to allow staff to learn new skills, explore new opportunities and exercise their creativity in ways that organisation benefit through new ideas and increased commitment. However, organisation should consider the pros and cons and effectiveness of change. Change management strategy or planning process should put into place before, during and after the change. Before the change organisation should make a survey if managers are ready to lead change, staff confidence level in ability to adapt change and staff confidence level in ability to determine short and long term career plans. During and after the change organisation should provide support and development for managers to lead staff through the change, provide coaching for managers who still need help and evaluate if they achieved their goals and objectives. To effectively manage change the organisation should implement a process that includes leadership support, development, effective communication and success measure. Prepare staff to deal with these changes involves analysis of the tools and training required to help them learn new skills.

In the nursing home there are some factors that drive change like increasing complaints from Clients and their family, staff performance, high managers’ turnover and high competition. Changing management style is necessary to be able to solve those problems. Leadership style and management procedures must shift and adapt, and ways of relating with customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders need refining. Technological advances and capabilities must be introduced, and preparation of the team to work with the new structure. Organisations benefit from change results in new ways of looking at customer needs, new ways of delivering customer service, new ways of strengthening customer interactions.

BE ABLE TO PROPOSE INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE.

Assess an opportunity for innovation and improvement in own organisation.

Innovation and improvement approaches can be useful in the implementation of strategic planning goals and strategies. It is important that those in the organisation view improvement and innovation as approaches to move the organisation from where it is to where it wants to be.

Alexander Court aim is to provide a high standard of individualised care to all its Service User in well invested facilities, seeking to be the home of choice in local community in which it operates. They provide opportunities for the staff to study and train for further personal and professional development and improvement. So to meet this goal the organisation strives for innovation and improvement because Care Quality Commission inspection rating is not good. As an aspiring manager, I assess the characteristics of the organisation by identifying their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT). I also examine the impact of the environment in which it functions such as political, economical, social, technological, environmental and legal (PESTEL). The SWOT and PESTEL analysis of the organisation are listed in the table. (See appendices 1and 2 on page 11- 12)

Justify the improvement identified, in the context of organisational objectives.

To successfully build a culture for continuous improvement and innovation initiatives, people in the organisation need to be engaged and part of the process. As I have identify in the SWOT analysis the weakness of the organisation is more on the people in the organisation such as shortage of staff, managers’ turnover, lack of motivation, and financial constraints. A year ago the company who owned the Care Home is under financial chaos so they were affected by the crisis. Managers’ turnover increase and they have different leadership style so there is no familiarisation. This problem cause shortage of staff and increase staff turnover due to pressure, confusion and fear of losing their jobs so they are not effective in performing their duties. There is lack of motivation in the sense that supervision and appraisal for staff improvement is not regularly follow, although the organisation provide opportunities for staff to study and train, for me it is not enough because evaluation of performance and guidance is essential to be able to know if we do things right.

If given a chance to be a manager of the organisation, one of my main focuses is how to manage staff, it is important to ensure that the team have three factors knowledge, skill and motivation to be the most efficient and the best that they can be for the organisation. Knowledge and skill is important to improve performance by conducting training for each member of staff with the competencies that they need to have and achieve. Keep them updated to the latest training courses and accreditations available if needed. Motivating staff is more difficult because everyone is motivated by different things. Some are motivated not only by personal gain but also by feeling part of the team and contributing to its goals. Communication is also essential to establish a friendly, collaborative work environment.

Regular Staff appraisal and supervision is also important to talk about their performance and if there is improvement and guidance needed. By having a more efficient team, it is likely to have a more efficient output of the business as a whole.

2.3 Use a range of techniques to generate innovative options to deliver the improvement identified.

Feasibility study is an analysis of the ability to complete a project successfully, taking into account legal, economic, technological, scheduling and other factors. It also allows project managers to investigate the possible negative and positive outcomes of a project before investing too much time and money. Therefore, feasibility study is an effective way to safeguard against wastage of further investment or resources.

FEASIBILITY STUDY

Alexander Court considers its management team and staff to be the key ingredient in the delivery of a quality service and believe the future success of the organisation is dependent upon its skilled and educated workforce. While AC’s number of Service Users gone down and lose potential Clients due to some problem that the organisation encountered such as complaints from service users and their family, increase manager’s turnover and shortage of staff. Even though the company continue to provide opportunities for staff to study and train for further career enhancement but still, it is not capable of solving the problem because manager’s are not staying for a longer period of time. Managers have the important role in managing staff in the organisation. They should take on more of a coaching role with their staff. Significant relationships exist between the effective provision of coaching and guidance by the manager and levels of employee satisfaction, commitment and motivation. As an aspiring manager, I make a Feasibility study as a possible solution to solve the stated problem of the organisation. (Feasibility Study see appendix 3 on page 13-15)

2.4 Evaluate options for generating the proposed improvement to determine feasibility and viability.

Management experts agree that the most important factor for success in any business is the management team that makes the decisions; yet it is the factor most often overlooked in determining the feasibility of the idea.

A feasibility study is usually conducted after discussing a series of business ideas. This helps to “frame” and “fresh out” specific business options so they can be studied in depth. During the feasibility process you may investigate a variety of ways of organising the business and positioning the product or service. If the study indicates negative feedback it does not mean that the proposal can be abandon we need to look for alternatives to meet the goal. We have to explore things to ensure it appeals to the customer.

The need for primary and secondary sources of information is important to determine feasibility of the proposed improvement. Secondary information is information that has already been collected and available to the organisation from internal or external sources. Examples include information published in websites, newspapers, magazines, trade journals and information about customer details that has been collected. Primary is information that gathered specifically for a project; the most familiar primary research methods are focus groups, surveys like telephone, questionnaires and feedback from stakeholders. This information is essential to evaluate the pros and cons in making decision.

BE ABLE TO LEAD AND MANAGE CHANGE WITHIN AN ORGANISATION.

Change management is the process, tools and techniques to manage the people aspects of change processes, to achieve the required outcomes and to realise the change effectively within individuals, teams, and organisations. (What is change management, project laneways.com/au)

To effectively lead change, a project manager must ensure that change is accepted and implemented by a confident workforce. This means that staff must be aware of the change and the reasons behind it as well as fully informed and trained on what the change means to them. The project manager also has to be aware of the different ways stakeholders in the organisation prefer to deal with change.

When expectations of the stakeholders are managed, the change gets higher chances of success. It is important to ensure stakeholders are engaged with the change and they are aware of the status of the change and they are provided with support level and the change can be implemented as expected. It is also important to generate action plans when conflicts are arise.

3.1 Create a change management plan that is designed to meet stakeholders’ expectations.

Stakeholders are the people that are directly involved in and affected by the change project. They need to understand the reasons why the change is happening and its benefits. It is important that both internal and external stakeholders are kept informed and provided with messages and information that allow them to feel engaged, thus paving the way for involvement and adoption. Communication is the key way that stakeholders are engaged in the change.

Stakeholders in the organisation should be aware of change because each stakeholder has different ideas about the change and its importance. The key stakeholders in the nursing home for example are the Service Users and their family, Staff, management, and professional staff. The Service Users and their family expectations are for quality service and satisfaction and low cost. The staff’s (nurses, healthcare worker, chef, domestic, etc) expectations are primarily related to high quality and adequate support services and equipment. The expectations of management (owner, manager, deputy manager) cost containment, profitability and institutional leadership. The primary concern of professional staff’s such as GP’s, occupational therapist, dietician are also quality and availability of services and facilities.

To successfully implement change, organisations need to support the performance of the staff with the change. To reinforce and sustain change, organisation must develop staff with skills that align with the change goals and to determine staff skills deficits that require development and strengthening. Organisation also need to implement on the job training, mentoring and classroom or computer based training strategies to improve competencies, and encourage professional development by setting aside budget for training.

3.2 Implement the change management plan, monitoring progress against agreed targets.

Change originates within the organisation itself. Much of this change is part of natural process for example, as material resources such as buildings, equipment or machinery deteriorate or lose efficiency, or as human resources such as skills and abilities become outdated. Some of this change, can be managed through careful planning for example, regular repairs and maintenance, choice of introducing new technology or methods of work, effective human resource planning to prevent a large number of staff living at the same time, and management succession planning – training and staff development. However, the main pressure of change is from external forces. The organisation must be properly prepared to face the demands of a changing environment. It must give attention to its future development and success and this includes public sector organisations.

Every organisation concedes the importance of transforming their culture in order to survive in a competitive environment. Time, energy and money are invested to redirect the organisation through new systems and structures. The solution is to have a process to be follow when in need to make change. A process that will ensure you plan, test and incorporate feedback before committing implementation. A popular tool is the Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycle. This is often referred to as the Deming Cycle. It describes the activities a company needs to perform in order to incorporate continuous improvement in its operation. The circular nature of this cycle shows that continuous improvement is a never ending process. (The cycle chart see appendix 4 on page 15)

PLAN

Planning is a vital part of the process. Managers put more time and consideration into this stage. They assess current situation and make plans based on any problem they find. They need to collect data, identify problems and document all current procedures like the impact and potential problem of the change may encounter and identify methods to measure the outcome.

DO

In this stage the managers try out the change on the agreed sample and measure the impact. If the change is having a positive effect, they will implement the change, however if things are not doing well like resistance from other staff because they quite satisfied with the status quo. In this case, this will be valuable to consider the next steps.

STUDY

During the study phase of the cycle, managers need to evaluate the data collected from the previous phase, to see whether they have achieved the desired outcome establish in the plan phase.

ACT

The last phase of the cycle is to act on the basis of the results to other members in the organisation and then implement the new procedure if it has been successful. Note that it is a cycle; the next step is to plan again. After we have acted we need to continue evaluating the process planning and repeating the cycle again.

To overcome the barriers and other problems in implementing change, strong communication strategy together will help avoid misunderstanding that can hinder the best-laid plans. Planned organisational change will not be effectively implemented unless it is communicated to an organisation’s staff in such a way that resistance is overcome, fears are prevented, confusion is minimised, and buy-in by all affected individuals is secured. Communication about change aids in the unfreezing of old behaviours, the transition during which new behaviours are adopted, and the refreezing of the new behaviour into habit. In fact, Ford and Ford (1995) claim that change does not occur except in that it is mediated by communication; in other words, communication is the context within which change occurs.

CONCLUSION

Leaders and staff are vital in moving the organisations forward. Without them, the foundations of organisation would be unbalance. Leaders influence followers, but followers also have some influence. They are both lead success to the organisation.

As an aspiring manager, to be able to lead innovation and change I will ensure team members are aware of the changes and they receive training before implementing change. Explain that there is learning curve and they will be given full support during the process to avoid resistance. Effective communication with staff regarding change is essential to the success of implementing change. Managers also must be firm, yet fair in their approach because staff must see confidence. Confidence in team’s ability to implement change and confidence in time scale set.

REFERENCES

Change management – change management training from mindtools.com (2012) (online) Available at: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_87.htm

Change management principles, process, tips and change theory and models (2012) (online) Available at: http://www.businessballs.com/changemanagement.htm (Accessed 28/06/2012)

Change management theory (2012) (online) Available at: http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/changemanagement.html (Accessed 29/06/20120

Definition of change management (2012) (online) Available at: http://www.change-management-coach.com/definition-of-change-management.html (27/06/2012)

Feasibility Study Template (2012) (online) Available at: http://.www.projectmangementdocs.com/template/feasibility-study-template.html (Accessed 05/07/2012)

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Leading innovation and change, ILM level 5 Qualification in Management Workbook (2008) Kent Learning Resources

Management and Organizational behaviour 8th edition P 734 (2007) by Laurie J Mullins

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Overcoming the Barriers to change in healthcare system (2012) (online) Available at: http://www.isixsigma.com/implementation/change-management-implementation/overcoming-barriers-change-healthcare-system/htm Accessed 13/07/2012)

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What is Innovation? (2012) (online) Available at: http://toolkit.smallbiz.nsw.gov.au/part14/69290 (Accessed 21/06/2012)

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APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1

SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGHTS S

Updated equipment

Well-trained staff

Resources

Good customer care

WEAKNESSES W

Shortage of Staff

Lack of motivation

Increase Manager’s turnover

Financial constraints

OPPORTUNITIES O

Quality improvement

High aging population

Use of technology to improve service

Training and development

THREATS T

Economic / financial crisis

Increase staff turnover / loss of key staff

Competition

Changes in policies, regulations, procedures and legislations

APPENDIX 2

PESTEL ANALYSIS

POLITICAL

Government policies

Stability and change

Following regulations and legislations

ECONOMIC

Budget/ Financial

Labour cost

Tax increase

Inflation and growth

SOCIOLOGICAL

Customer attitudes and opinions

Ethnic / religious factors

Population size / structure

TECHNOLOGICAL

Availability of technology

Communication services

Advances in equipments

Increase automation

ENVIRONMENTAL

Proper disposal of waste

Use recycled items

Proper storage of chemicals

Use of eco-friendly resources

Global climate change

LEGAL

Documentation

Policies and procedures

Health and safety quality standard

APPENDIX 3

FEASIBILITY STUDY

Alexander Court aim is to provide high standard quality of care to all Service Users. They are committed to provide Service Users with a safe, comfortable and caring environment which addresses their needs and preserves their individuality, choice, rights, dignity, privacy and independence. Feasibility study is facilitating to meet this goal and improve quality service.

Purpose / Description of the idea

Staff management is the most important job that managers do in the organisation. Manager need to understand and perform the staff practices that keep them motivated, inspired, develop and attain goals with their guidance. Manager should controls the key environmental factors necessary to motivate staff. The most important factor manager control is his or her relationship with each staff. The second most significant factor is manager should create a work environment and organisational culture that foster staff motivation and engagement. Inspire and reward staff by training, appraisals, promotion and career progression to encourage staff to meet and exceed performance. Involve staff in decision making and try to create an open and mutual working environment. The organisation culture foundation is on trust, teamwork, and communication and shared goals.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the propose system/services/idea

For a business to be successful, it has to not only offer products and /or services that meet customers’ needs and wants, but also have staff that is loyal and committed.

The advantages of leading and motivating staff helps the organisation bring about higher staff retention, higher levels of productivity, more innovation and creativity, higher profits and better reputation both among potential employees and customers. However, increase dependency of staff on to the manager lead to more supervision required and dissatisfaction in staff if bad decisions are made are the disadvantage

Staffing

Staff is required to attend training sessions organised during working hours to enhance quality of work and training skills. To ensure the safety and well-being of the Service Users and to comply with statutory obligations, staff must attend any relevant statutory training sessions. Failure to comply may lead to disciplinary action, including dismissal. To meet the legal requirement care staff must be trained to at least NVQ 2 or 3. Staff supervision and appraisal must be done regularly to assist, guide and motivate staff as part of home performance improvement plan.

Competitive Advantage

Investing in advanced education and training for employees’ benefits employers in many ways such as having competent staff and have impact on staff retention and satisfaction. Well-educated and highly trained staff/employees can be an incredible asset and are likely to bring new ideas and increased creativity into the workplace, which can be a positive impact on different aspect of any business.

Business Model

Employee continuing education can have direct, beneficial impact on the bottom line of any organisation in several ways. For example, staff who have a high degree of job satisfaction and loyal toward their employers are likely to have a high degree of productivity, which contribute to improved financial performance for the organisation and reduce turnover costs.

Marketing Strategy

Market strategy apart from promoting thru networking site, referral sources is important, word of mouth is powerful so make sure environment is attractive and then hold an extravagant open house for the resources. Train staff on proper communication to the referral sources like doctors, family and friends of the client, hospitals, etc. When doctors come in and visit your home, “roll out the red carpet”. That way they will send more clients