Forces that work against the change process—such as complacency, resistance, and structural barriers—never disappear. However, following Kotter’s eight-stage process can mitigate these forces enough for a new culture to form. Culture is important because it affects the behavior of individuals within it—when you change the culture, behavior will continue to change as well. For example, think about how an organization’s culture impacts the way it recruits and trains new employees. It would be difficult to ensure lasting change if the organization continues its hiring practices based on a former way of operating.
Cultural change comes at the end of a long process, a continuum of meaningful quick victories that finally results in lasting change. Kotter’s eight-stage process is not meant to be accomplished quickly, but, rather, it is a step-by-step process that is structured to ensure continual motivation, enthusiasm, and worthwhile results.
This week, you will continue working on your Change Plan, focusing on Step 8 of Kotter’s eight-stage change process. For this stage of your Change Plan, you will need to consider the culture of your organization. As you make the changes you have outlined in your plan of action, there are likely to be areas where the new changes will conflict with existing cultural standards and traditions.
To complete Step 8 in your Change Plan, compose a cohesive document that addresses the following:
Illustrate how you plan to make your changes permanent within the chosen organization or community.
Identify the greatest obstacle to making changes permanent within your culture. Demonstrate how you will address this.
Apply the methods you think will keep stakeholders informed of the progress and effectiveness of changes you implemented.
Apply the necessary changes to artifacts, espoused beliefs, and values and/or underlying assumptions in order to anchor the culture change.
Demonstrate how the changes to performance appraisal, compensation, promotion, and succession planning can be applied to the employee handbook to sustain change.