Essay Sample on Public Service Leadership

Introduction

Businesses need to modify their operation strategy according to the trends to remain competitive in the industry. The human resource must effectively engage the employee when planning and executing significant transformations to gain acceptance and support (Belyh, 2018). Right leadership attributes to common strategic direction and willingness of the internal stakeholders. Boxwood struggles with production due to poor leadership and retro system designs that derail routine, which resulted in the employment of Eleana as the new manager to appropriate her expertise in rectifying and improving production strategy. Initially, employees are willing to adapt to the new system but become reluctant after realizing that it has numerous flaws. Therefore, Eleana took another plan to reduce the backlog to influence the new production approach's success. The overall objective will be attained by defining and adopting the corporate strategy, procedures, and technologies affecting personnel and processes while managing implications due to change and thorough employee involvement through training and motivation (Reiner, 2014).

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Implications in Human Resource Management

Any change affects roughly all stakeholders in any scenario, whether in a merger or redesign of the production approaches. It is a useful tool of growth and evolution that ventures to facilitate a smooth transition. Usually, change is met with resistance from the old system's workers and unwilling retrain for new system integration (Reiner, 2014). Communication is the most excellent recipe to change, which lacks unrest and reluctant members to embrace change confidently. In the case scenario, Eleana is taken as distant and uninvolved when the plan to change becomes very challenging to the personnel. Employees need to understand what is going on to reduce the chances of uncertainty, which impedes the workforce. They need to understand updates; otherwise, they misalign with leadership objectives and feel disconnected. A flawless communication plan is of mutual benefit as staff can help the strategies by giving crucial inputs.

Despite Eleana being experienced and successful in evaluating and significant changes on other projects, Boxwood poses challenges that undermine her success. The new electronic system meant to enhance production is prone to many glitches, and the employee system training for adaptability is time-consuming (Parsells, 2013). The organization is unlikely to employ more personnel to facilitate the changes, which requires her to plan changes based on the existing labor force. Though Eleana is adept at the changes and is aware of the redesign challenges, the employees are discouraged. The employees are not confident that her plan will be successful and are not willing to work overtime due to poor working conditions (Reiner, 2014).

Eleana planning was faulty, which is translating into regular flaws in production and integration. When introducing a new system, the leadership must evaluate the compatibility with the old system and transfer information during the transition. Usually, it involves delegation to maximize the potential staff to enhance efficacy ultimately. However, the design Eleana implemented is resulting from transferring the best workers while the firm is unlikely to employ others. The plans for training the staff on the application of the new system take time, and the result is increased backlog undermining production (Smith, 2018). She ought to have covered all duties to create a realistic timeline for change that accounts for downtime, glitches, and unintended consequences. The personnel must be continually briefed and involved in the decision making to legitimize their position to improve their commitment to change (Montgomery & Suino, 2017).

The personnel embraces Eleana's plan, but due to unexpected setbacks, their enthusiasm is not consistent. She failed to set a precedent as a leader and to involve the staff, which result in discord. Personnel would be more willing to give her the benefit of the doubt as a leader, even with the crumbling system if she more involved. Leaders must ensure the best of the staff are made aware of the changes and the ultimate objective; otherwise, risk losing them (Parsells, 2013). Though it is hard to bring everyone on board while implementing corporate changes, the leadership must strive to highlight how the change will improve the organizational and individual yields. Eleana failed to support the staff by continuous reassurance alongside offering new training that gives personnel time to adapt to the change that eases the transition (Smith, 2018). The result was employees' resistance and others opting for other firms.

Eleana, in the venture, to reduce the backlog, get executive permission to order overtime for employees. However, she does not address the system's challenges that make the staff unwilling to continue overtime. She fails to communicate or give a better timeline that might influence the staff to continue working, hoping for glitches to reduce (Reiner, 2014). Eleana ought to have evaluated a better compensatory method to encourage the employees to work overtime and give feedback that might improve the system. The workers are essentially part of the system, and therefore their input is important in debugging a faulty machine. A clear vision through the change phase and personnel promotion enhances the change process (Montgomery & Suino, 2017). The leadership should incline to the strength of the labor force in place and assign the employees to duties that better suit their respective profiles. Functional units are better methods to counter personnel wrangles and disparities.

Change Management Models and Recommendations

In the constant change management of policies, procedures, and business processes, the leadership must understand and formulate specific models and frameworks during the transition. The model must be suitably integrated into its core competencies, culture, objectives, and change goals. Several models exist in change management, such as McKinsey's 7S model, Lewin's model, Kotter's models, etc. In the case of Boxwood, Eleana can effectively appropriate Kotter's change management model for transformation (Jones et al., 2004).

Kotter's management theory is among the most popular and widely adopted globally. It was devised by John Kotter, Harvard Business School Professor, a renowned writer in change management. The model has eight stages that focus on critical principles associated with people change in any initiative.

The model is easy to follow and incorporate since it focuses on preparing the employees for change rather than the change itself. The model mainly focuses on proper workplace communication, which engages the leadership and the labor force hence mostly adopted. However, the process can be time-consuming and requires the thorough appropriation of all the phases for success. Eleana can effectively manage the workers through the entire change process by focusing on the workforce rather than implementing the changes. The model requires the involved stakeholders to understand the change, employees, company culture, and the importance of the change (Jones et al., 2004).

Conclusion

Despite the usual leadership view of change on designs, human resources are essential to consider during such transitions. Communication should be the driving force for any changes that will steer the organization through a successful transformation. The employees might be unwilling and reluctant to change, which requires the leadership to devise motivational approaches to enhance personnel enthusiasm toward transition. Eleana can quickly achieve her intended objectives by continually engaging throughout the change process. She needs to ensure that the employees comprehend the change process and are aligned and committed to the strategy implemented. She ought to consider using Kotter's management theory to enhance her chance to steer the transition effectively. The model takes the employees and communication as the driving force toward transformation rather than the change itself.

References

Belyh, A. (2018, February 19). Major approaches & models of change management. Cleverism. https://www.cleverism.com/major-approaches-models-of-change-management/

Chron. (2019). Barriers & challenges to change implementation. Chron.com.
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/barriers-challenges-change-implementation-30842.html

Jones, J., Aguirre, D., & Calderone, M. (2004, April 15). 10 principles of change management. Strategy+business. https://www.strategy-business.com/article/rr00006?gko=dab72

Montgomery Van Wart, & Suino, P. (2017). Leadership in public organizations: An introduction. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

Parsells, R. (2013). Change and learning in the workplace. Change Management: An International Journal, 12(1), 61–71.
https://doi.org/10.18848/2327-798x/cgp/v12i01/50785

Reiner, C. (2014). Change management. Freiburg Im Breisgau Haufe-Lexware.

Smith, C. (2018, August 16). Challenges faced by leaders during change management. Change! Change Management News & Tips; Change Management.
https://change.walkme.com/organizational-change-management/.