Knoster: Managing Complex Change Leadership

Leadership is a process of influence leading to the achievement of desired purposes. Successful leaders develop a vision for their schools based on their personal and professional values. 

They articulate this vision at every opportunity and influence their staff and other stakeholders to share the vision. The philosophy, structures and activities of the school are geared towards the achievement of this shared vision.’ Bush and Glover 2002 ‘Leaders are people who shape the goals, motivation and actions of other.’ Cuban 1988 ‘While managing well often exhibits leadership skills, the overall function is toward maintenance rather than change.’ Cuban 1988 Vision 

• ‘A shape of the future that an individual or group desires, a set of ambitions.’ Rhinesmith

• ‘An expression of a desirable direction and future challenging state for the school.’ 

• ‘Vision constitutes partly the sensing by an individual of what the organisation should look like, how it should work, how it should be taken into the future – based on a web of beliefs, supported and mediated by each individual’s values and beliefs.’ Sowell 

• ‘Vision is useless if it is merely straplines and catchphrases which have no foundation.’ Hamel 

• ‘Vision must generate action, must involve change.’ 

• ‘An effective vision provides a perspective, an ambition of how the people in the organisation will operate, in philosophical terms, in terms of decision making, in terms of serving others, in adding value to society.’ 

• Building a shared vision is a critical factor in managing change. 

• The vision process, creating the vision, can be more important that the vision itself allowing stakeholders to join in, feel strong ownership in order to buy into it and promote it as their own. 

• Vision creates the big picture – needed by everyone if they are to have a sense of where change is leading them. 

• Without the big picture the staff do not have a sense of direction. Absence – confusion – created by a lack of vision and therefore lack of direction. Consensus 

• Co-operation – agreement on ideas, valued, purposes, shared understanding. 

• Collaboration – working together in an atmosphere of support and encouragement. 

• Collegiality – development of a learning community gaining skills and expertise together. Absence – sabotage – where the unwilling or unconvinced can actively work against the willing; – negativity of counter arguments drags everyone down and prevents action. Skills • Identify of whatever knowledge or expertise is required to move forward. 

• The capabilities to implement new plans. 

• The means to act in new ways, explore different ways of working, negotiating, collaborating. • The abilities to try out different strategies, developing skills as teachers and within pupils. Absence – anxiety – in those who feel they do not have the necessary knowledge or expertise to cope with or to implement new situations; – have little faith in training to provide them with knowledge / skills. Incentives 

• Intrinsic or extrinsic. 

• What is in it for me, additional payments, self-esteem, sense of achievement. 

• Reasons to change, intellectual excitement, opportunities for collaboration in planning and delivery, to try new things. Absence – resistance – from those who see nothing in the changes for them, no moral meaning, no personal meaning, no benefit; – conviction that things are all right as they are, no need to change. Resources 

• Physical resources. 

• Any items which people feel are necessary to enable them to make the required changes. • Use of existing knowledge or expertise within the organisation or outside it. 

• Existing staff used as a resource including management team members, collegiality. 

• Emotional or social support / collegiality. 

• Development of knowledge, expertise, skills through effective training programmes. 

• Extra staffing. 

• New equipment. 

• Time given to development, planning, reflection. Absence – frustration – if resources are not supplied to adequately implement the changes – to ensure success. Action Plan 

• Steps worked out to direct actions towards future goals. 

• Process shared by participants, understanding what needs to be done and how. 

• Identified leadership, timescale, resources, monitoring processes. 

• Committed leadership. Absence – treadmill – doing what we have always done in the way we have always done it and therefore not succeeding in working in new ways, not achieving new goals. 

Culture 

• Our way of life. 

• The way in which we do things. 

• Cultural change required by new curriculum proposals: – focusing on the learner rather than on the syllabus; – using collaborative approaches in curriculum development and teacher planning; – building in different focuses.

Leading and Managing Complex Change

Leaders know that Organisations are a complex organism with a life of their own. To fully implement change, an understanding of the components of systemic reform requires experience, people skills, and extreme patience. Knoster (1991) suggested that when the components of vision, consensus, skills, incentives, resources and action plan are collectively inherent in the system, then change will likely take place. 

However, if any one of the components was missing, then the “Change Process” may be inhibited or may not take root. A unique feature about Knoster’s model for change is its surgical approach. In assessing the condition and climate of an organization, this model offers a potential remedy by identifying the symptom and then restoring the missing component (link). Quite often leaders may sense what is wrong, but do not understand how to resolve or determine the root of the problem. 

As an example, if the change agent senses or anticipates sabotage as a symptom from within the organization, then the ability to work through consensus through collaboration is paramount. If there is a high level of resistance, then the leader needs to identify the incentives and determine what will personally motivate an individual to change. 

The problems are so severe that multiple missing links have created a hostile environment that is difficult to sort through. Although the model below may appear to be simple, it is a powerful tool to connect the symptom with the components of change. Unless a leader is able to connect with the people of the organization through empathic listening, they will never understand the emotion behind the concerns of their clients. 

Developing this trust through relationship building may draw out the essential missing link. Then the change process may continue to develop and help the organization arrive at the desired results.

Leading and Managing Complex Change

Vision + Consensus + Skills + Incentives + Resources + Action Plan = Change
    ?    + Consensus + Skills + Incentives + Resources + Action Plan = Confusion
Vision +    ?              Skills + Incentives + Resources + Action Plan = Sabotage
Vision + Consensus +    ?    + Incentives + Resources + Action Plan = Anxiety
Vision + Consensus + Skills +    ?            + Resources + Action Plan = Resistance
Vision + Consensus + Skills + Incentives +    ?             + Action Plan = Frustration
Vision + Consensus + Skills + Incentives + Resources +        ?           = Treadmill

Adapted from Knoster, T. (1991) Presentation in TASH Conference. Washington, D.C.
Adapted by Knoster from Enterprise Group, Ltd.

Glassdoor Names HR Manager a Best Job for 2016

The position of HR manager might not have the same cachet of Hollywood film director, professional athlete or U.S. ambassador to Monaco, but it’s one of the best jobs in the country, according to a recent Glassdoor Inc. study.

Glassdoor ranked human resources manger as the sixth best job in America for 2016, according to the study released last week. The jobs were ranked based off earning potential, number of job openings and career opportunity ratings.

With 3,468 job openings, a median salary of $85,000 a year and a career opportunity rating of 3.7, HR manager scored a 4.6 on a 5-point scale on Glassdoor’s survey.

READER REACTION VIA LINKEDIN

Bryan Baldwin: As with any statistic, it all depends on how its being measured. Looks like this is based on salary and opportunity, not the nature of the job. HR managers have a very challenging job that requires a diverse skill set ranging from interpersonal to data science. Challenging? Yes. Best? Depends on the day. :)

A skilled HR professional is especially critical to an organization now because of how much more dynamic organizational cultures have become, said Matthew English III, vice president of human resources at energy company Exelon Corp.

“As more millennials and post-millennials enter the workforce and the Information Age fully takes hold, organizations’ cultures are shifting.” English said. “The pace of change today is greater than any time in my 24-year career in HR. Organizations need more skilled and more innovative HR professionals to attract, develop, engage and retain future leaders who can thrive in this environment.”

The role of HR managers has evolved, he added. They’re expected to have a deeper understanding of the business than ever before, and more than ever before they’re seen as people who shape organizational culture.

The top five jobs on the Glassdoor list were: data scientist, tax manager, solutions architect, engagement manager and mobile developer.

Key Competitive Business Strategies that relates to HR Policies

Good day,

For those who have passion to lead Human Capital as a Strategic Business Partner, below are some of the key competitive business strategies and its relations with Human Capital Policies for your reference. the summary is taken from Schuler and Jackson.

Strategy	HR Policies and employee behaviors
Cost Reduction	Structures that emphasize control and low investment in training Usually with narrow job descriptions and career paths Short-term, result oriented performance appraisals and close monitoring of market pay levels for use in making compensation decisions.
Quality enhancement	Fixed and explicit job descriptions High levels of employee participation in decision making relevant to work, short-term and results-oriented appraisal Extensive and continuous employee training and development
Innovation	Structures that encourage co-operation and creativity e.g. an emphasis on project-based team performance appraisal, which recognizes developmental and team-based activities. Considerable investment in training and career development Compensation that emphasis internal equity