Changes in the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Services Company - Essay Example

Executive summary This paper entails a detailed review of change in organization with reference to the statement, whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times. It shows the process of change in the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Company in the United Kingdom. Detailed process in terms of actions, individual responsibility, as well as roles of the employees and the leaders of the organization that the company had used to ensure the change was successful are well discussed. In addition, an evaluation of the effects of the change done on the services, clients as well as the employees has been analysed. Finally, there is a conclusion of the main points as far as the issue of change in any organization is concerned. Introduction Change in whatever environment is very important because it is one of the inevitable factors. Technology is changing, meaning the departments of Lancashire fire and rescue provider of services is one of the areas that need creativity in developing the changes as well as implementing these changes to the employees due to the sensitivity (Arthur, 2003). It is very true that “Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.” The changes are definitely not always gladly welcomed but they are very important hence the need for good leadership, dynamism, participation and involvement of all the members of the department in every organization (Nerina, Deborah, & Victor, 2004). The Lancashire fire and rescue provider of services in the United Kingdom is under great pressure due to the fact that the law requires it to make some changes which will allow it cater for some other emergencies other than the fire. Specifically it is required to deal with the water rescue. It should be noted that this is a great deal of change that will be introduced in the company meaning the employees may have some resistances. However, it is the responsibility of the service provider to meet the needs and expectations of the public who have demanded for the services (Edgar, 2010). The views of the employees need to be changed so that they can be able to embrace the change. Changes in the Lancashire fire and rescue services company Change is as a result of some driving forces, which actually call for the change. In this company, the changes are due to the public demand and the law requirement that needs the services to be extended beyond dealing with fire to water rescue. With all the driving and restraining forces, there is a need for equilibrium to be struck or attained so that the change can be fruitful. The triggering forces both internal and the external must be dealt with so that the people can adapt to the changes to both the people who will welcome it as well as the ones who will resist the change. The changes in the department therefore needed to go through a theory of change by Lewis Kurt namely the unfreezing phase, the changing phase and finally the refreezing phase (Edgar, 2010). The aim is to ensure all economic forces; perception and change itself are adapted. It is the role of the leaders to be inspired by some values like fairness, sincerity as well as honesty to be able to influence their juniors to adapt to change. The unfreezing phase refers to the stage in which the organization or the Lancashire company of fire and rescue services had to get all the methods, means and ways to ensure all of the employees get rid of some of their old ways or practices they used earlier before the introduction of the policy meant to initiate changes in the policy which led to inefficiency and ineffectiveness hence the demands from the public. The employees at this point had to be trained on the requirement as well as the benefits of the new policy or venture to them, the community or clientele and the Lancashire Company (Edgar, 2010). In addition, there is a need for the leaders to lead by example through embracing the changes. Rules and regulation needs to be set showing the penalty and reward for not following rules and following rules. The Lancashire Company had some cultures, which were very familiar and actually were habitual for the employees and so there is a need for the employees to be helped out of the old culture. This is the stage whereby the leaders should be seen practicing the new methods that are required to be used as far as the policy is concerned (Nerina, Deborah, & Victor, 2004). The leaders at this point are also very persuasive to the other employees by trying to show them the advantages of the policy and need them to embrace the new practices. The Lancashire Company should be very vibrant in holding seminars and workshops for the employees all in the effort of trying to get rid of their old ways in the policy, which led to inefficiency and ineffectiveness (Dennis & John, 2002). Communication at this particular point is very important in that what is being communicated especially to the subordinate staff is very important as far getting them to influence positively to embrace the policy. At this point, the Lancashire Company can introduce reward system for the employees. This is because there is a very big relationship between the performance of the organization and its reward system. This will motivate as many as possible to embrace the change (Nerina, Deborah, & Victor, 2004). Motivation has been defined as the combination of one’s desires as well as energy, which are all directed in achieving a certain goal. In other words, it is what causes a certain action to be taken. In order to influence people’s motivation then it means to get them to do what you actually want them to do. It should be noted that not all people are motivated by the same things to perform. This is whereby the issue of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation comes in The change phase is embracing change in the mind, feelings as well as through the behaviour. This is whereby the employee’s actions are seen to change and reflect what the policy entails. The employees are seen trying to behave as per the expectations of the policy. The old practices are stopped as well as the communication also changes. At this point, the employees are seen positively talking about the changes. The evidence is in the attitude with which the employees are seen doing their duties (Edgar, 2010). They can be seen being very enthusiastic with what they are doing or rather being sluggish in their duty performance. In addition, the rates at which they work can easily be an evident behaviour of the reception and acceptance of the new change (Nerina, Deborah, & Victor, 2004). At this point, they can be asked to write their views about the new policy and what they think. This will enable the management to understand. The individual productivity at work can also be very useful is showing their behaviour, feelings and thoughts as far as the new changes are concerned. Finally, the refreezing phase is whereby the employees as well as the leaders establish the changes by making them their new habit. The practices of the employees are found to be up to standard with what the policy entails in all ways. This stage is very important because it will ensure the old ways of nursing practices are not resumed. There is harmony, readiness and easy with which the employees respond and execute their duties as per the changes brought about by the new policy. The relationship of the subordinate staff and the managers at this point is very important in showing the impact of change. This is because if the employees accepts the changes willing and are ready to work then it means that their relationship with the managers will be very good unlike when they have not accepted (Hill & Jones, 2007). This is because they will be blaming the managing for bringing about unnecessarily changes, which will eventually interfere with their relationship with their managers. There a sense of responsibility at this particular stage because each employee is trying to do what is expected of him or her. In addition, they are seen to trying to find solutions for any problem or challenge that may arise due to the implementation of the policy. The clientele are also very comfortable withy the changes that have been brought in the way the organization are functioning (Nerina, Deborah, & Victor, 2004). This phase is also dominated by so many meetings which ensure that there is freedom of expression for the employees to be able to give their views on the areas they think should be improved as far as the implementation of the policy is concerned (Furst & Cable, 2008). The communication at this point is vertical and horizontal, vertical because the management is confident that the employees or the employees can share knowledge with each other for the purposes of improving their performances. Moreover, both the leaders and the subordinate staff are actively seen to participate in the change, which means that the leaders are leading, by example and the employees are emulating from them the right things. This stage ensures that the behaviour, practices, thoughts and attitudes associated with the old policy are gotten rid of. Change cannot be effective unless there is full participation from the leaders as well as the subordinate staff. This is because it is the responsibility and roles of the Lancashire fire and rescue company leaders to be actively involved in the process of shaping future of the services provision practice to ensure the communities are satisfied (Furst & Cable, 2008). This was be done by the help of knowledge derived form the present and the past. It is the responsibility of the Lancashire fire and rescue company leaders to acquire leadership styles and skills, which are up to date with reference to the new policy (Volkoff, Strong, & Elmes, 2007). It is also the responsibilities of the employees as leaders in their profession to use all the knowledge they had acquired through their practices following the old policy to overcome any challenges that they may experience with the new policy (Mike, 2007). They are also expected to encourage and inspire the new registered employees who are joining them in the company since the policy is a different one in that particular company. They are expected to apply all of their knowledge as leaders in the process of making decision. The leader especially them that are involved in the process of changing the policy should be very active in trying to let the other employees understand the importance of the changes to them, the institutions as well as the patients. This means that they are not supposed to force them or rather manipulate them into doing what is required of them by the new policy (Furst & Cable, 2008). Since the employees are expected to lead, manage and at the same time follow, then it is their responsibility to acquire some personal attributes like self-awareness, management of their own emotions, self-motivation, being very empathetic and being in apposition to handle relationships. All of the above attributes enables them to be able to handle all the situations synergistically due to their great capacity credibility (Volkoff, Strong, & Elmes, 2007). Another very grate responsibility of the employees is to be able to see the big picture in the sense that they should be able to think through all the challenges and come up with the solution. An example is the fact that due to the efficiency of the policy, it is expected that many people will be crowded in the company to be able to receive the quality services (Mike, 2007). This is a big challenge and so the employees must be ready with solutions to cater for the challenge. Any change that has been introduced must be very well evaluated and monitored to ensure the intended goals and objectives are met (Furst & Cable, 2008). Monitoring means to have a closer and considerate scrutiny of the organization with reference to a particular project or area of interest. While evaluation, means to review the outcomes of a project to see the success of the project. The success of the policy that has been introduced in the company after revision can only be proved by having strategies of evaluating the results (Mintzberg, 1979). The following are the three strategies that could be used to monitor as well as evaluate the outcome. The company can collect information as a way of getting feedback in the form of interviews and questionnaire filling (Volkoff, Strong, & Elmes, 2007). This is whereby the patients who are being attended to are requested to fill up some questionnaire written down for the purpose of the company trying to find out if they are contented with the services that are being offered to them after change. In addition, they can help the management to get to know the area in which they should make some changes. This method will also enable the organization to know if they are meeting the target as far as their goals and objectives are concerned (Mintzberg, 1979). The company can review the number of attendance and the profitability of the company since the time the project became functional. This can be done in the record books whereby the number of attendance on daily basis is checked. In addition, it will help the management to know the number of people who are attending the company for their services every day since the implementation of the new policy (Fernandez, & Rainey, 2006). It will also help the management to understand if the patients return for services after the first time in case they are ill again. This strategy can be very useful to evaluate the quality of services. The other strategy is getting to evaluate the reactions of the employees in the company who have just been introduced to the new policy (Furst & Cable, 2008). The new policy demanded complete and partial change in the way some things were done initially. By getting to learn how well the employees have adapted to the changes, then the organization can easily get to know the extent to which the policy has worked (Volkoff, Strong, & Elmes, 2007). It will also help the organization to improve on any gap that may be there when introducing the change to them. Conclusion It is evident that change is inevitable. This is because there are both external as well as internal forces acting towards the organization, which causes the change. It is the responsibility of ach and every single person in the organization may it be the employees or the leaders to ensure they individually embrace the changes being introduced in the organization for effective and efficient implementation of the changes. This means that they are all required to participate be totally be involved in the process of change (Edgar, 2010). The aim is to ensure all economic forces; perception and change itself are adapted. It is the role of the leaders to be inspired by some values like fairness, sincerity as well as honesty to be able to influence their juniors to adapt to change. Reference Arthur, E. (2003). Organizing for fire and rescue services. Oxford: Oxford university press. Dennis, C & John, A. (2002). Managing fire and rescue services. New York: John Wiley & sons. Edgar, H. (2010). Organizational Culture and leadership. New York: John Wiley and sons. Fernandez, S., & Rainey, H. (2006). Managing Successful Organizational Change in the Public Sector. Public Administration Review, 66(2): 168-176 Furst, S., & Cable, D. (2008).Employee Resistance to Organizational Change: Managerial Influence Tactics and Leader–Member Exchange. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(2): 453-462 Hill, C. & Jones, G. (2007). Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach (8th Ed.). California: Cengage Learning. Mike, D. (2007). Fire attack: An integrated strategy. Pearson Education Limited, England Mintzberg, H. (1979). The Structuring of Organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA: Prentice-Hall. Scientific management of this story Nerina L., Deborah J., & Victor J. (2004). A longitudinal study of employee adaptation to organizational change: The role of change-related information and change-related self-efficacy. American Psychological Association, 9(1): 11-27 Volkoff, O., Strong, D., & Elmes, M. (2007). Technological Embeddedness and Organizational Change. 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