Reference no: EM133043344

BSBLDR601 Lead and manage organisational change

Task Written Report

Task summary

Part A requires you, in the role of Operations Manager, to prepare a briefing report to assist in guiding change at Samson Media. You will be required to:
- Develop a Change Management Plan
- Develop a Communication and Education Plan
- Write a brief for the human resources department to guide human resources personnel regarding organising change management team building training
- Develop a staff communication to promote the benefits of the upcoming training, to assist in to overcoming resistance to change.

Part B requires you to review information about changes implemented, and to evaluate the change management process.

Carefully read the following:

Samson Media is a publisher of several upmarket fashion magazines. It has strong links with severalhigh-profile fashion houses whose products are featured in the magazines and provide a significant source of advertising revenue. Readers of the magazines are predominantly 35 - 54-year-old women.

Readership has fallen over the last two years. This is due in the most part to due to competition from a range of other fashion magazines and consumers switching to digital media. Due to the decline in readership, profits have also fallen by 20% and there has also been a decrease in the share price.

Therefore, the new CEO, Amir Johnson, has been appointed. Amir was the former Marketing Director for a well-known successful media business that included a national newspaper, magazines, and a subscription television channel. Those publications are focused mainly on sport and celebrity gossip. It can undercut its competitors with low prices, enabled by a ruthless approach to achieving high levels of efficiency.

Amir and his team of Managers have developed a Strategic Plan that includes the following objectives.
• Increase return on capital to 8% within 2 years.
• Enact a transformational change of the company that will convert all magazines to a digital format.
• Close the printing and distribution site.
• Achieve cost efficiencies through relocating the head office to a smaller office.
• Restructure head office staff through moving to a smaller core of permanent staff and more contract staff.

It is intended that the new digital magazines will have the following features:
• Focus on health and beauty, fashion, and celebrity gossip.
• Some free content but full access available only on a subscription basis.
• Additional features available to subscribers such as video clips, podcasts, and discussion

Current staff information is as follows. All staff are full-time permanent staff and their total salary costs per annum to Samson Media are also included below.
• General Manager: $200,000
• Finance Manager: $150,000
• Marketing Manager: $150,000
• Customer service manager: $100,000
• Customer service assistant: $240,000 (total salary costs for each journalist is $80,000) (2) - $100,000 (total salary costs for each assistance is $50,000)
• Online Marketing Coordinator: $120,000
• Human Resources Manager: $110,000
• Editor: $85,000
• Art Editor: $80,000
• Journalists (3): $270,000 (total salary costs for each journalist is $90,000)
• Graphic designers (2): $240,000 (total salary costs for each journalist is $80,000)
• Editing Assistant (2): $120,000 (total salary costs for each assistance is $60,000)
• Photographer (2): $150,000 (total salary costs for each assistance is $75,000)
• Senior Designer (2): $260,000 (total salary costs for each journalist is $120,000)
• Senior Production Controller: $95,000
• Printing and distribution (20 staff): Total $1,000, 000

The cost of running the printing and distribution site, plus staff costs is currently approximately $1,500,000 per annum. It has been identified that, given the change to the new medium of publication, it will be an immediate priority to shut down the site and make all the staff redundant.

The current office rent is $500,000 per annum.

Employment contracts are in place for all staff members employed in Head Office. Printing and distribution workers are employed under an award. The CEO has indicated that he is interested in moving towards an enterprise agreement arrangement for all remaining staff and would like to have this reviewed as part of the change management process.

Current human resources policies and procedure include a recruitment, selection and induction policy and procedure and a termination policy and procedure. There is an ad-hoc performance review process in place which occurs as issues arise. There are no formal processes for training needs analysis or professional development.

As the General Manager, you have been asked to lead the development and implementation of the change management plan, with the first step being to consult with an organisational change expert to discuss issues and strategies for change management for the company.

It is anticipated that, while there will be some cost savings in making the change, there will also be costs involved including:
• Redundancies: anticipated cost is $300,000
• Upskilling staff: $100,000
• Consulting with experts: $100,000
• Communication throughout change with key stakeholders: $100,000

Complete the following activities:

Part A - Develop and implement change management strategy

1. Research best practice change management strategies
Thoroughly review the case study information provided above. Analyse the company's organisational objectives and consider the strategic changes that will need to occur based on strategic objectives.

Review Samson Media's current human resources policy and procedures, their strategic objectives, and the need for change. In the light of the changes required to the organisation, consider changes that may need to be made to the human resources policies and procedures. Make notes for use in your briefing report.

Using the Internet, research change management, issues, and practices, including barriers that can impact on change, and best practice change management strategies. Make notes for inclusion in your briefing report and to assist you in identifying best practice change management strategies for Samson Media.

You will also need to identify the sources of the information you access for your briefing report to show that you have identified expert guidance on change management. So, make notes on all the sources of information you identify and use. You should identify at least three sources of information that could be expert sources.

Monitor Samson Media's external environment by researching and analysing trends in magazine publishing and online magazine readership, and their impact on Samson Media's organisational objectives as set out in the scenario information. This should also include a PESTLE analysis, reviewing political, economic, social, technology, legal and environmental factors. Make notes on the sources of information and your general findings for inclusion in your briefing report.

Consider major operational change requirements and recommended order of priority based on your review of the scenario information and human resources policy and procedures. Make notes for use in your report.

2. Develop change management briefing report
The purpose of the change management report is to identify change requirements and opportunities and to inform the development of the change management plan.

The report will also include a section on risk management to ensure that the company is ready for all contingencies. (Use the Briefing Report Appendix A to guide your work).

Your briefing report must address:
• An overview of the current situation facing Samson Industries including:
o Analysis of the company's organisational objectives and identification of strategic changes needs.
o A review of the current human resources policies and procedures and practices at Samson Media against strategic objectives and report on required changes.
• An analysis of the external environment relevant to Samson Media and its objectives, including events/trends that impact on strategic objectives, including trends in magazine publishing, as well as trends in on-line magazine readership. Your analysis should reflect a PESTLE analysis approach, reviewing political, economic, social, technology, legal and environmental factors.
• An outline of the major operational change requirements for Samson Media based on your analysis and review, as well as recommended priorities for change.
• Sources of information you identified about best practice change management strategies, as well as an overview of best practice change management strategies. Summarise each source of information and briefly outline how it has assisted in identifying major change requirements and opportunities.
• A cost-benefit analysis of the high priority change requirements and opportunities. Research and document any costs for the change requirements you are recommending.
• Recommended communication and education strategies to inform all stakeholders of the change, as well as promote the benefits of the change.
• Risk analysis of the potential risks/barriers to change for Samson Media and strategies to overcome risks and barriers to change. In identifying risks and barriers to change and solutions to address these, you must demonstrate high-level problem-solving skills to identify all possible risks, as well as innovative approaches to risk mitigation.

3. Write a Change Management Plan
Your plan should set out all aspects of the recommended changes, and include the following:
• An introduction: project background, links to the company's strategic goals and other changes that are occurring in the company
• The project sponsor
• The project's objectives
• What the change process will achieve
• Principles that underpin the change plan
• Ethical issues that need to be considered
• Main elements of the Change Plan
• Change drivers, constraints, and risks
• Key shareholder analysis
• The company's readiness to change
• Key change messages
• Change elements
• A change plan
• Project reporting arrangements
• How the changes will be consolidated
• How the changes will be evaluated

(Use the Change Management Plan Appendix Bto guide your work).

4. Write a Communication and Education Plan
Develop a communication and education plan to be used in conjunction with the change management project plan. This plan should show how the change will be managed, including the provision of information to staff about the proposed changes and benefits.

Ensure that the strategies you develop are designed to promote the benefits of change to staff and to reduce the likelihood of a negative response/adverse outcomes. Your communication and education plan should also show the reporting process to senior management, which will be required on a regular basis.

(Use the Communication and Education Plan Appendix C to guide your work).

5. Send an email to the CEO and Senior Management.
Assume you need to gain input from and approval of the CEO and Senior Management.
Send an email that introduces and summarise the contents of the draft change management plan and your draft communication and education plan and ask for their input and approval for the to move forward with the project.

6. Assume that the change management plan that was adopted by Samson Media includes training and development for staff in several areas. One of these training areas is change management team building, which is especially important during the change management process. The training is to be delivered over an eight-week period for approximately 2 hours a week. You have also identified that experts such as motivational speakers could also be hired for this.

You have also been given the task, in the role of Operations Manager, to send a brief to the human resources department. This brief will be used to guide human resources personnel regarding organising the change management team building training and to give your ideas about the content that should be included in the training.

Assume that, as you also believe there may be resistance to the training due to a general resistance to the changes, that you also develop a staff communication to promote the benefits of the upcoming training and assessment to assist in overcoming resistance to change.

a) Develop a human resource brief
Using your research develop a short one-page brief to send to the human resources department outlining the requirement to conduct the training as part of the change management process and the timing of the training. Your brief should include, as a minimum, the following:
• The benefits of change management team building
• Ideas for the content of the training that will take place
• Experts who could assist in providing training
• Ideas for team building exercises. Provide at least two exercises
• How best to promote the training to staff
• Timing
(Your brief should be no more than one page. Use the Human Resources Brief Appendix D to guide your work).

b) Send an email to all staff
To inform your staff email, consider how you could best promote the training to staff to overcome resistance to change. Review change management literature to inform your response. Outlining the rationale for the training, as well as the benefits of the training. Use the ideas that you have researched to overcome resistance to change. Briefly outline some of the proposed ideas for the training.

Part B - Evaluate change management strategy

Assume that the following change management objectives are included as part of the change management process for Samson Media:
• Employees satisfied with information provided as part of the change management process.
• Communication occurred through multiple channels.

Assume that the following communication activities were implemented:
• Weekly staff meeting
• Newsletter updates through staff email

Assume it is 1 month into the change process and a Staff Survey of the remaining staff has been conducted.

1. Write a change management review.

Review of the change management objectives, communication activities implemented, and the Staff Survey Results. Evaluate the effectiveness of the change management process and provide recommendations for improving communication activities.

Develop a short brief for the CEO of the organisation that includes your review. It should also recommend updates to the change management plan through relevant communication activities.

Your change management review should include the following:
• What the change management objectives are
• What change management communication activities took place
• Recommended changes to the change management plan and the communication and education plans

Attachment:- Lead and manage organisational change.rar