Hcs/587 Week 6 Dq 2 - How Would You Determine If a Change Has Been Successfully Implemented? What Rewards Would You Put into Place for a Successful Change?

How would you determine if a change has been successfully implemented? What rewards would you put into place for a successful change?

Organizational performance involves the recurring activities to establish organizational goals, monitor progress toward the goals, and make adjustments to achieve those goals more effectively and efficiently. Assessments of change may use tools, such as comprehensive questionnaires or SWOT analyses. SWOT is an acronym for strengths, weaknesses, opportunity, and threats. A SWOT matrix is used as a guide and viewed to create an action plan to address each of the four areas. It can be subjective, and two people rarely come up with the same final version. It is an excellent tool for looking at the negative factors in order to turn them into positive factors (RapidBI, 2007).

Balance scorecards are another tool that focuses on four indicators, including customer perspective, financial performance, internal-business processes, and learning and growth. They allow decision making, especially when deciding how to manage firm assets during periods of change, to be more precise and helpful. According to Spector (2007, 149-150), balanced scorecards can help guide managerial decisions concerning which customers to target and which product and service offerings provide desired returns. Finally, benchmarking is a standard measurement to compare with other organizations to gain perspectives on organizational performance.

The most widely accepted explanation for why people are motivated to work, perform, learn, and change is rooted in what psychologists call 'expectancy theory,' which suggests that people will seek change if it leads to receiving valued rewards. All too often, organizations reward stability more than change, seniority more than performance, and job size more than skill development. Organizations that reward stability run the error of setting annual performance goals and developing bureaucratic job description systems that are resistant to change. Seniority builds loyalty and individuals spend their entire careers with the same organization; however, this form of reward fits very poorly in organizations that need to change. Finally, rewards based on job size focus attention more on promotion but do little to motivate individuals to learn new skills that support change (Lawler & Worley, 2006).

Bonuses, stock, and person-based pay (when designed properly) can help organizations be flexible and effective. Bonus pay is particularly effective in retaining new employees and provides a powerful incentive for individuals to perform well and change their behavior when a new strategic intent calls for change. Organizational broad-based stock ownership can be particularly useful when it comes to leading change, and providing broad-based stock can be a real positive in encouraging people throughout the organization to take on leadership roles and behaviors