Tag Archives: change management

Building successful and sustainable HR interventions

2

Topic: Change Management, Strategic HR
Publication: Journal of Business and Psychology (JUN 2011)
Article: HR interventions that go viral
Authors: Yost, P. R., McLellan, J. R., Ecker, D. L., Chang, G. C., Hereford, J. M., Roenicke, C. C., Town, J. B., & Winberg, Y. L.
Reviewed by: Alexandra Rechlin

Why do some HR interventions fail while others succeed? In this article, Yost et al. (2011) attempt to answer that question by using three different methods: a literature review, a case study, and interviews with senior I/O and HR professionals. The authors provided a case study of a successful HR intervention. They noted five important characteristics of the intervention:

  1. It was strategic. Resources and tools were written in alignment with business strategy.
  2. It was systemic. The intervention complemented and enhanced other company initiatives.
  3. It was simple. Resources and tools were simple, easy to read and understand, and written in the language of business leaders (not that of HR).
  4. It was sustainable. The intervention was created with the explicit intent to sustain it for a long time.
  5. It was sneeze-able. It was designed to be interesting and passed on to others.

The authors also reviewed the literature and interviewed 16 senior I/O and HR professionals about both successful and unsuccessful HR interventions.

Continue reading →

Getting Emotional at Work

Reply

Topic: Stress, Change Management
Publication: Journal of Organizational Behavior (MAY 2011)
Article: Stability, change, and the stability of change in daily workplace affect
Authors: Beal, D. J., Ghandour, L.
Reviewed by: Larry Martinez

Have you ever noticed how some people are just more emotionally volatile than others?  A coworker that comes to work happy as a clam one day and down in the dumps the next?  Researchers call this affect spin, which refers to an individual characteristic that reflects the extent to which people experience more than one emotion over time.  For example, in the picture above, each point represents one’s levels of positive and negative affect of any particular day (so four days in total).  So, since the points fall all on different parts of the circumplex, the figure represents someone with high affect spin, or several varying emotions on different days.  Beal and Ghandour (2001) examined this concept with positive and negative emotions and task motivation in the midst of a major natural disaster: Hurricane Ike.

These researchers examined several different aspects of emotional reactions.  First, they found support for a weekly cyclical cycle such that emotions are most positive during the weekend and most negative around Wednesday.  Also, for people who were high in affect spin there was a relationship between task motivation and positive emotions and motivation on one day influenced positive emotions next day.  This was not the case for those low in affect spin.  Finally, those high (but not those low) in affect spin experienced more negative emotions after Hurricane Ike than before.

So, the results show that most employees experience a predictable pattern of emotions throughout the week.  In addition, some employees are more likely to have stable variability in the extent to which they oscillate between emotions over time, over and above the weekly cyclical pattern.  Finally, some employees will recover emotionally from catastrophes than others.  This information can inform workplace human resource management decisions.

 

Beal, D. J., & Ghandour, L. (2011). Stability, change, and the stability of change in daily workplace affect. Journal of Organizational Behavior. 32, 526-546.

human resource management,organizational industrial psychology, organizational management

Practical advice for designing a 360-degree feedback process

2

Topic: Feedback, Change Management
Publication: Journal of Business and Psychology (MAY 2011)
Article: When does 360-degree feedback create behavior change? And how would we know it when it does?
Authors: Bracken, D. W., Rose, D. S.
Reviewed by: Alexandra Rechlin

Have you ever participated in a 360-degree feedback process that seemed pointless and didn’t appear to change anything at all? If so, you’re not alone. However, a 360-degree feedback process, when well designed, has the potential for lasting behavioral change. This article discusses critical design factors of a 360-degree feedback process used to create sustainable behavioral and organizational change. The authors also provide questions for future research and practical advice for making the process successful. Four critical design factors are discussed: relevant content, credible data, accountability, and census (organizationwide) participation.

Relevant content: The authors recommend using custom surveys rather than standardized tools, but they acknowledge that there’s quite a bit of debate about this. They argue that custom surveys can increase motivation and engagement due to their meaning and relevance.

Credible data: You need to have reliable data, but your stakeholders also need to perceive your data as being reliable.

Continue reading →

Trading Voice for Service: The Impact of Perceived Voice on Organizational Commitment During Periods of Change

Reply

Topic: Change Management, Organizational Commitment, Potential, Trust
Publication: Human Resource Management (JAN 2011)
Article: The influence of perceived employee voice on organizational commitment: An exchange perspective
Authors: E. Farndale, J. Van Ruiten, C. Kelliher, and V. Hope-Hailey
Reviewed By: Allison B. Siminovsky

Everyone likes to feel important on occasion, whether through achieving a major goal or being recognized for an accomplishment.  The workplace is no exception to this rule, as employees like to feel as though their decisions impact the actions their organizations take.  During major corporate change, leadership and culture can be shaken up dramatically and as a result, previous levels of perceived employee impact (“I make a difference”) might not remain intact.  What benefits does an organization reap if employees feel they have a voice, and how is this impacted through the change process?  This article attempts to answer these questions.

The researchers found that when employees perceive themselves as having impact on organizational decisions, they show higher levels of organizational commitment.  This sense of voice is inferred through relationships with line managers and, to an even stronger extent, with senior management.  Employees were found to react positively to organizational change when their perception of having voice was not compromised during this often tumultuous period. 

Continue reading →

The Employee Network: to Keep or Not to Keep Under the Radar

Reply

Topic: Organizational Performance, Change Management
Publication: Harvard Business Review (MAR 2010)
Article: Harnessing your staff’s informal networks
Authors: R. McDermott, D. Archibald
Reviewed by: Liz Brashier


Communities of practice are voluntary, informal employee networks where experts
can share knowledge and information, and it’s in these groups that employees form innovative solutions to real organizational problems. While in the past, these informal networks have succeeded on their own, this is no longer the case; these networks function best when they have management on board. McDermott and Archibald (2010) examine the status of communities of practice at companies including Pfizer, Fluor, and Conoco Phillips, and have concrete directions for guiding the once under-the-radar employee network.

The authors provide principles to lead management in designing effective communities, though these sound like no-brainers: 1) focus on important issues for the organization, 2) establish goals, 3) provide governance, and 4) set high management expectations. Maybe harnessing these communities isn’t too challenging after all! A differentiation that is a bit more interesting is one that the authors make between communities and teams. As managers, it is easy to view these groups as one in the same, even though they’re not.

Communities focus on long-term issues, peer collaboration, and knowledge
management, while teams focus on short-term deliverables and problems. The authors also offer suggestions for maximizing community impact. So, while communities of practice – and the solutions that come with them – used to be free and self-governing, they now need structure and guidance to maintain expert contributions to their organizations. Just as the business world has become more complex, so has the (informal) employee network.

McDermott, R. & Archibald, D. (2010). Harnessing your staff’s informal networks. Harvard Business Review, 88(2), 82-89.

Ashes, Ashes, Organizations All Fall Down!

Reply

Topic: Change Management, Organizational Reputation
Publication: Academy of Management Journal (DEC 2008)
Article: Good fences make good neighbors: A longitudinal analysis of an industry self-regulatory institution
Author: M.L. Barnett, A.A. King
Reviewed By: Katie Bachman

In these “interesting” economic times, it seems like every company is struggling to overcome challenges within their organizations. Bad news: You need to be worried about what your competitors struggle with too! In a recent article in the Academy of Management Journal, Barnett and King describe the influence of reputational spillover on organizations. The nuts and bolts of their argument is that a) consumers have a hard time telling similar companies apart and b) when something goes wrong in one company, it can taint others by association. For example, if you think back to the months after 9/11, Americans didn’t just stop flying on United Airlines, they stopped flying on airplanes. Tragedies that garner negative publicity are likely to hurt many companies within their industry.

Interestingly, there is a way to ameliorate the negative consequences when something like this happens and it may not be what you think. While companies may want to differentiate themselves from a tainted company (a short-term option), in the long term, companies would do well to band together. By keeping tabs on each other and forming some sort of self-regulatory institution, companies can keep away from bad publicity by keeping their competitors from making errors. Everyone benefits when no one’s screwing up.

Barnett, M. L., & King, A. A. (2008). Good fences make good neighbors: A longitudinal
analysis of an industry self-regulatory institution. Academy of Management Journal, 51(6), 1150-1170.