In a world where frequent change has become a way of life, new and more effective and long-lasting change management strategies must be developed. One of the short falls of previously designed change management strategies, is the lack of understanding of "change perceptions" and "change reactions" in those employees who will be most impacted by the change. The Loss of Effectiveness (LOE) Index is a quantitative individual assessment tool which assists in the change management process by bridging the disconnect between the organization and its employees. Sample data taken from independent organizations utilizing the LOE Index are below in Data Sample 1, Data Sample 2, and Data Sample 3.
Data Sample 1: For Profit Medical Facility
The Figure below represents the results for a For Profit Medical Facility that utilized the LOE Index to quantitatively measure the individual reaction of the employees to the integration of new leadership into the organizational environment on two separate occasions.
The LOE Index was administered ten times over two and one half years. The sample size was 100% of the invited participants. The results of each of the ten separate assessment collections were averaged and the combined symptom scores of the participants was averaged and located at each point in time. The significance of the test results is expressed in the curve created by connecting each respective point. The first testing (Sep07) was administered just prior to the arrival of a newly hired office manager, the second, approximately six weeks into the change, the third administration (Jan 08) was approximately four months into the change. The chart shows an escalation of symptoms as a result of increasing tension between the new office manager and the staff—the employees were becoming increasingly disorganized and unfocused. The fourth administration (Apr 08) was taken soon after the departure of the new manager who cited as her reason for leaving irreconcilable differences between her leadership style and the overall work environment—these results reflected the subjective observation that the atmosphere in the office was almost immediately more relaxed.
Over the next year there was general improvement in the test scores indicating a stable office environment—no attempt was made to hire a new manager during that period of time. Between May 09 and June 09 it was announced that a facility had been sold and that the new owner would arrive on July 1, 2009. In late May 2009, an office coordinator was hired to assist in the transition. The LOE Index was administered for the seventh time on Jun 27, three days before the expected arrival of the new owner. At this time the instability of the office was at an all time high. However, over the next year (Jun 09-May10) there was a significant improvement in the stability of the office that can be attributed, among other reasons, to the agreeable nature of the new owner, the efforts of the coordinator to listen and also keep everyone informed, the an agreement with the previous owner to remain in the practice for at least two years—the previously "leaned on" object was still available, albeit on a reduced-time basis, and the fact that no other policy or personnel changes were implemented since the new owner's arrival.
Data Sample 2: Federal Government Organization
The organizational change for this Federal Governmental Agency was a process/structural change. The change impacted two distinctly different departments as well as the management staff of both departments. The sample size was 62% of the invited participants.
The interesting component about the graph below is the contradiction in perception that was realized with the quantitative data gained through the administration of the LOE Index as an integral component of the change initiative. In fact only a few other employees in the entire organization had higher scores than the three of the longest term managers, and one of these managers was the director of the agency. The qualitative verbal survey conducted before the administration of the LOE Index indicated that these managers would be most receptive to the change, and preliminary planning was directed with these expectations in mind. However, when the scores were tabulated and these results discovered it provided critical information that encouraged the outside consultants to re-evaluate the plan and customize a response to those long term managers. This appropriately designed intervention lead to the allocation of additional resources to address the symptoms of the organization's leadership, a step that provided positive reinforcement for the employees. The result was a significant savings in costs and an improvement of productivity and performance of all employees.
Data Sample 3: Not For Profit Medical Facility
This data sample is a non-profit healthcare facility. The organizational change was the introduction of a new technology. The LOE Index was administered twice. The sample size was 95% of the invited participants. While there were no statistically significant changes in LOE scores from the first test to the second test from a cumulative perspective, there are differences apparent in the data specific to the employee positions. The introduction of the new technology to business, clinical, and corporate staff had been 3 months prior to the first administration. This resulted in an improvement in their scores between the first and second administration since they were continuing to stabilize during this time period. On the other hand the "providers" did not begin using the new technology until after the first administration. This meant that they were in the period of maximum instability during the second administration, and thus had higher scores. The providers in this sample were the doctors who were now, for the first time, were required to use electronic tablets instead of pen and paper to record all medical notes; their average LOE score represented an overall 23% increase in "loss of stability".
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