BSBINN601 Lead and manage organisational change | Australian University Assignment

Identify change requirements and opportunities

Assessment description

Using the scenario information supplied, you will identify strategic change needs, review existing policy, monitor trends in the external environment that impact on an organisation’s objectives, identify operational change objectives, prioritise change requirements and consult experts or specialists to assist in identification of change requirements and opportunities. You will then write a report to management outlining the change requirements.

Procedure

1. Review the scenario information provided (in the Appendix of this task) for Fast Track Couriers.
2. Prepare to write a report on change requirements for Fast Track by following steps 3–10 below.
3. Analyse the organisational objectives provided in the scenario to identify the following change requirements for Fast Track Couriers.
   1. Identify requirements for change.
   2. Prepare an explanation of how your identified change needs to link to the organisation’s strategic plan goal/s.
4. Review the organisation’s current state to understand how the current policies, practices and operations deliver against the organisation’s strategic goals.

   Review the organisation’s performance against objectives with regards to its:

5. 1. people
   2. policies and processes
   3. technology
   4. structure.
6. Monitor external trends to identify events or trends which may impact on the achievement of the organisation’s strategic plan goals.
   1. Identify two external trends.
   2. Develop an explanation of how the trends currently impact or will impact organisational objectives.
7. Identify major operational change requirements.
   1. Identify changes due to performance gaps.
   2. Identify changes due to business opportunities.
   3. Identify changes due to threats.
   4. Identify changes due to management decisions.
8. Identify specialists to be consulted to assist with identifying change needs.
   1. Identify specialists you will engage to help identify change requirements, and be prepared to explain your reasons for engaging these specialists.
   2. Identify what consulting model you would adopt to engage the specialists, and be prepared to explain why you would use this model.
9. Assume your assessor is a specialist/expert of the kind you have identified in step 7. Consult with your assessor to assist with identification of change management requirements and opportunities.
10. Identify the managers that need to be informed. Prepare a plan that identifies who, when and how stakeholder managers will be engaged to review and prioritise change requirements.
11. Assume your assessor is a manager you have identified. Consult with your assessor to review the changes you propose and to help you prioritise changes. Suggest and justify the priority you have assigned to each change you recommend.
12. Prepare a 3–4 page report detailing change requirements for the organisation. Include all of the information you identified and the explanations that you prepared in steps 3–10.
13. Submit all documents to your assessor as per the specifications below. Ensure you keep a copy of all work submitted for your records.

Specifications

You must provide:

• one 3–4-page report detailing change requirements for the simulated organisation.

Your assessor will be looking for:

• a 3–4-page report including all information identified in the procedure above
• how you use problem-solving skills to identify and analyse issues or barriers, and develop responses
• how you develop and incorporate new ideas into your report on change requirements
• planning skills to organise engagement with manager stakeholders and implement activities to achieve priorities and outcomes
• verbal communication skills to describe, support, and negotiate change requirements and priorities with stakeholders.

Adjustment for distance-based learners

• No changes to the assessment procedure or specification are required.
• Documentation may be submitted electronically.
• A follow-up interview may be required (at the discretion of the assessor).

Appendix

Fast Track Couriers Pty Ltd

Task

It is the end of the 2015 financial year. You are an external change management consultant employed by Fast Track Couriers. You have been asked by the General Manager to prepare a report to identify opportunities and requirements for change for the organisation in the coming year.

You have been given some information about the organisation and the organisation’s strategic goals. Specific operational and human resources goals were developed to support the strategic goals.

The strategic goals were developed as a result of external market research indicating an opportunity for Fast Track Couriers to build market share in Sydney. The business has the opportunity to increase Sydney market share by 7.5% on the back of increased efficiency and shorter delivery times from larger truck fleet and improved distribution systems.

You have also been given some information about employees and some background information regarding the organisation’s workforce relations.

Before submitting the final report, you will need to review your proposed changes with all relevant manager stakeholders. The General Manager is very concerned about identifying change requirements in close consultation with key management stakeholders within the organisation in order to ensure the least resistance to implementation.

About Fast Track Couriers

Fast Track Couriers is a courier company that has been operating in New South Wales for the last 15 years. Its primary business function is delivering medium to large size packages across metropolitan Sydney.

Strategic plan goals

The organisation’s strategic goals are:

• to expand business in the metropolitan area so that small to medium package deliveries market share increases by 7.5%
• to develop an integrated approach to distribution management, utilising technology such as PDA devices and GPS
• to develop and maintain a cohesive and well-motivated workforce.

Strategic goals are supported by the following operational and human resources goals.

Operational plan goals

• Testing of the distribution management system is to cease and allow implementation within the first quarter of the 2016 financial year.
• The truck fleet will need to be expanded by 8 trucks within the 2016 financial year.

Human resources goals

• Incorporating a Human Resources function to facilitate the changes in workforce management in the first quarter of the 2016 financial year.
• Introducing professional development and training to achieve organisational goals and promote understanding of organisation’s strategic goals in the first quarter of the financial year.
• Eliminating industrial relations problems in the financial year. Concluding negotiations with employees and union.
• Eliminating lifting injuries.

Employee profile

Fast Track Couriers employs the following people.

• General manager (GM) – Generally on the road; never in office.
• Chief financial officer (CFO) – Reports to GM and keeps office hours; 9–5, Mon–Fri.
• Accountant – Reports to CFO and keeps office hours; 9–5, Mon–Fri.
• Truck drivers (x20) – Report to office.
• Office team manager – Reports to GM and keeps office hours; 9–5, Mon–Fri.
• Office team members (x5) – Perform administrative, sales, customer relationship management duties. Monitor truck drivers and handle enquiries. Report to office team manager.

Head office employees

• Covered under individual contracts.
• Salary range is $32,000–$75,000 annum.
• Small team of mainly female employees, ranging in age.
• Lots of opportunity to participate in learning and development programs due to management support; however little desire to participate.
• High employee engagement scores. Employees cite team work and opportunities as motivating factors affecting the business success.

Drivers

• Covered by an award.
• Salary $45,000 per annum.
• Heavily unionised.
• Employee demographics: all male employees aged 25–65.
• Little opportunity to participate in learning and development programs due to being on the road; however, little to no interest in participating in development opportunities.
• Large number of workplace injuries due to heavy lifting.
• Low employee engagement scores. Drivers cite pay as an issue.
• Currently experiencing low turnover.
• History of industrial disputes regarding pay and previous change initiatives.

Background to workforce management and relations

The company communicates with employees via email for head office employees, and a printed monthly newsletter for drivers. The company provides information regarding policies and procedures through documented manuals that are held in each truck as an employee manual. Office-based staff can access copies of these manuals at the office.

All trucks are fitted with a GPS system to assist drivers with navigating to each pick-up and drop-off location. Trucks are also assigned a PDA that provides drivers with the details of each pick-up and drop-off, and records when a job starts and finishes. The data from this device is sent back to head office to monitor job progress but is not used to complete productivity reporting. When this device was introduced, drivers were not happy, as they felt the organisation was saying that it did not trust the drivers to manually record the time spent on each job. Many of the drivers also resented having to learn how to use the device and thought it was a waste of time.

Head office employees work very closely together and are a very cohesive and motivated team. They are positive about the organisation’s direction and respond well to change.

Drivers have historically reacted negatively to change. Change implemented in the past has met with resistance and was therefore difficult to implement. Drivers have in the past done their best to block any changes from being implemented, even going to the lengths of threatening strike action and having the union involved to assist with resolving the issue.

Fast Track Couriers currently allocates two drivers per truck to ensure that drivers are able to load and unload heavy packages. The strategy going forward is to remove the need for having two drivers per truck by installing an automatic lift gate on the back of each gate at a cost of $10,000 per truck. This will mean that only one driver is needed per truck as no heavy lifting will be required.

It is Fast Track Couriers’ intention to use these surplus drivers to drive the new trucks that will be purchased to enable the company to extend its services to regional NSW.

Drivers are currently happy with the work environment, as they enjoy working as part of a two-man team. The organisation typically leaves the drivers alone and lets them do their job as this is what seems to make them happy. Management has tried in the past to have drivers participate in organisational activities. These activities were not received positively and the drivers complained and asked not to be involved. The drivers’ view is that their preferred team is their two-man driver team and they only see the benefits of that specific working arrangement. There is a high value placed on communication with trucking team members.