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About Change

A generation has grown up since the scientist and novelist C.P. Snow wrote that, until this century, social change was "so slow that it would pass unnoticed in one person's lifetime. That is no longer so. The rate of change has increased so much that our imagination can't keep up." Two of the most critical elements of leadership are the introduction and management of change. Many leaders have little or no training in the process. Most organisations rise or fall based on how well they manage the introduction of change and the control of uninvited changes in their environment.

Leaders must fully understand the change process to move their organisations successfully through the turmoil of today's economic environment into the future. Many corporations faced with a lack of, or diminishing resources, find that this exerts increasing pressure on their leadership to respond to planned and unplanned changes. A key determinant of the future success of an organisation is senior management's ability to assimilate change, then formulate and articulate a clear vision, accompanied by implementation of succinct strategic goals and objectives.

Organisational stress

Change is the primary cause of personal and organisational stress. There is a direct relationship between the amount of change in an organisation and physiological changes in the people who work there. The more changes introduced into a shorter period of time, the more stress people and the organisation, as whole, experience. Organisational stressors which surface during a major change process have been found to cause chronic health conditions in people, and negatively affect perceived work effectiveness, satisfactions, and growth.