Transcript Initiating Change at the Workplace Some Tips

Dr. Margarita R. Cojuangco, DSC, MA, MNSA
President, Philippine Public Safety College
The Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) is
the premier educational institution for the training, human
resource development and continuing professional
education of the police, Fire and jail personnel (Section 66
of Republic Act 6975) .
PPSC Constitutive Units
National Police College (NPC)
Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA)
Police National Training Institute (PNTI)
(18 Regional Training Schools)
Fire National Training Institute (FNTI)
Jail National Training Institute (JNTI)
National Forensic Science Training Institute (NFSTI)
What makes PPSC different
from other Colleges?
As an educational and training institution, the
PPSC offers mandatory training programs and
specialized/technical courses to the uniformed personnel
of the Department of the Interior and Local Government
geared towards public safety.
The PPSC System’s multifaceted education and
training programs is reminiscent of the National Defense
College of the Philippines (NDCP), Philippine Military
Academy (PMA), Armed Forces of the Philippines Joint
General Staff College (AFPJGSC).
What people say about change?
If there is one thing that
is constant, it is
change…
What people say about change?
“Change is a big part of life
and never easy”
Dianne Stacy
Tips for Change Management
What people say about change?
“Change will happen, it's a sign of
the times. It's just a question of
when, and how much change is
going to happen”
Emil Ala
Tips for Change Management
What people say about change?
 “Changes are always difficult to cope with because they
threaten our usual routine, they take us out of our
comfort zones and they make us feel vulnerable and
insecure until we get used to them again.”
 “…not everyone copes with…changes in the same way.
Some have a better predisposition and readiness for
change than others do.”
Elain Sihera
Tips for Change Management
What people say about change?
“In business as in life, the only certainty is change.
A business that remains the same in a fast-paced
changing environment is doomed to lose its
competitive edge and may face the risk of
extinction…”
Barry Marcus
Tips for Change Management
Change Initiatives at PPSC
 Strengthening of faculty corps through upgrading of faculty
qualification standards at PPSC requiring professors and
instructors to be Master’s Degree holder or at least with 20 units
earned in Master’s Degree; Continuing monitoring of
performance of professors and instructions, and conduct of
trainors’ enhancement program and Development for
Instructors.
 Conduct of Client Satisfaction Feedback (CSF) to constantly
monitor and evaluate the training services provided by PPSC
institutions nationwide.
Change Initiatives at PPSC
 Proposal for PPSC Charter establishing a Corps of
Professors for the three (3) uniformed bureaus.
 Creation
of
the PPSC
Faculty Rank
Classification Board (FRCB) to enhance rank
classification, course/subject rating nationwide.
Change Initiatives at PPSC
 Institutionalization of Disciplinary
and Appellate
Machineries to address administrative and academic
appeals of Philippine National Police Academy cadets and
all PPSC Constitutive Units students ranging from the rank
of Inspector to Senior Superintendent, through updating
our operations manual.
 Creation/activation of the Center of Special Pubic
Safety Services (CSPSS), under which are the Access to
Justice for the Poor Program catering to the vulnerable
sectors and the Antiterrorism Office, with the aim to
enhance the capability of the PPSC in research, records and
information management, databasing, and evaluation
system.
Change Initiatives at PPSC
Institutional Partnerships
 Establishment of linkages with educational
institutions, LGUs, members of the judiciary, active
and retired Chief Superintendents nationwide to
avail of competent teachers.
 Training of Trainors and Stress Management
Seminars with Ateneo School of Governance (funny,
no change because I took them out of their comfort
zone, the adjustment had to come from the PPSC
leadership to adjust and change according to their
employees qualifications being civil servants).
Types of Change
 In terms of employee-management attitude regarding :
 Planned changes … resulting from fundamental internal
or external drivers
 Unplanned---resulting from contingency (e.g. Pregnant
basic recruits vis-à-vis pregnant officers, August 23,
2010Hostage Crisis in Luneta)
 Unwanted ---forced changed, beyond management or
employees control or both (e.g. PPSC 50-year lease at Fort
Bonifacio)
Types of Change
 In terms of magnitude of impact
 Incremental change: organizational efforts to
gradually improve basic operational and work
processes (e.g. Curriculum, Operations Manual,
Daily Time Record)
 Transformational Change: review and redesign the
entire organization (e.g. Proposal to give PPSC a
Charter)
Drivers of change
 External Drivers
 Change in the work environment---higher competition,
external pressures
 New technology
 Changing demands of Clientele (e.g. Change of
leadership in Bureau Directorates and therefore change
of demands)
 New law, new Mandate (e.g. Anti-insurgency and Antiterrorism)
Drivers of change
 Internal Drivers
 New policy thrusts (e.g. No issuematics-forced purchases
demanded from students)
 Resulting from regular performance review and
evaluation (e.g. The use of indigenous mechanism of
settling disputes based on traditions and customs)
 Efforts to re-engineer---improve effectiveness, efficiency,
productivity, demand for responsiveness (e.g. E.O. 366 –
Rationalization Program for a lean and mean staff)
The Change Process
Where are
we
Today?
Change
Process
Where do
We want to
Go?
Vision or direction
Strategic Question when initiating
change
 Why?----the reason behind the change? (e.g. Client
satisfaction, mandate from the new administration)
 Are we in crises/perceived or real. What do you think?
 Performance gap---actual vs. desired performance
 What?----defining the purpose of change; determining goals
in measureable terms (e.g. How many graduates can we turn
out to satisfy the needs of the community?)
 How?---strategies to bring about change; action plan to
achieve goals (e.g. through the Field Training Program of the
Basic Recruits as for the Officers, to be humble leaders of the
non-commissioned officers).
Strategic Question when initiating
change
 When?---when to start and when to
end, time frame
 Who?---who will be involved; define
the roles of those who will participate
in the change process and tasking
Important considerations in
Initiating Change
1. Need to Plan for change
–
–
–
–
Anticipate
Analyze
Get prepared
Be systematic (e.g. Immediate, Medium-term, Long-term)
Create an action plan to implement the proposed change
a. Where are you right now?
b. What is your vision for the best possible outcomes of the changes taking place?
c. What benefits will accrue to those affected as well as to the organization?
d. What are the possible negative outcomes of the change and how will you lessen their
impact?
e. What are the strengths of your unit in undertaking this change?
f. What are the strategies that will help you more effectively manage the change within your
unit?
g. What are the most likely causes of resistance and how can they be overcome?
h. What new skills, knowledge, and attitudes are needed to make these changes?
Max Beaton
Tips for Change Management
Important considerations in
Initiating Change
2. Need for Open Communication lines---most
fundamental aspect of change management--- articulate
why change needs to happen and why it needs to happen
within the planned timeframe--– Gets everyone on deck
– Transparency and accountability in the organization
– Decreases uncertainty and fear, removes doubt, increase staff
–
–
–
–
security
Avoids speculation and suspicion
Enable affected people to effectively adjust and adapt to
change
Communication plan needs to be put in place early
Honest conversation---discussion rather than lecture
Important considerations in
Initiating Change
3. Need for Inclusiveness and Empowerment---first,
identify the people who has something to lose or gain
in the change process
– Enlist the support of the staff
– Seek out participation of employee in the entire change
process for no-one knows the business or the
bureaucracy better than the people that work in it
– The more people are involved in creating the future, the
more ownership of the change they have and the more
committed they will be to making it work.
Important considerations in
Initiating Change
4. Need to Build and Include Change Management Team from
the Start--- whatever change is required, change management
should be built into the project plan right from the start. The
change management process should begin even before work
begins on any new initiatives.
5. Enlisting help from professionals
– Advice on what to do during transition
– Give counseling service to employees---particularly the losers in the
change process
– this may seem expensive in the short term, but this should be
contrasted with the cost of loss of productivity and de-motivation of
staff caused by a badly managed change programme.
6. Understand risks and barriers to Change
Barriers and Risks to change and
Change Process
• Implementation is hindered by negative attitudes---
people afraid to leave their comfort zones (secure
relationships, established routines and learned
procedures)
• Productivity falls---new learning curves, low staff
morale as people become insecure about their future
(e.g. Flexi-time)
• Increased staff turnover includes losing the best
employees
Barriers and Risks to change and
Change Process
 Lack of understanding or trust by those affected by
the change initiative
 Different assessment of the need for change
 Different appreciation of “desired” goals;
sometimes conflicting goals exists
 Perceived loss of Power, Prestige, Pay that may
result from the change initiative
Some Recommendations
 A good change management strategy must focus on
the people affected by the change to make them part
of the solution
 In initiating change, secrecy is not only
unnecessary - it could place the entire organization at
risk.
 Need to open lines of communication to
remove/minimize fear of the uncertain
Some Recommendations
• When enlisting employee support--a top-down
and bottom-up implementation of change process is
desired. Purely top-down approach may be met with
fierce resistance and a may lead to lowering of
employee’s morale.
When people are involved results are better.
• Be transparent---the best way to get people to
support change is to let them know what is
happening. Costs and benefits for both organization
and employees.
Some Recommendations
• In communicating change, it is helpful to be specific
about the actions that are necessary to make the
change happen to learned and unlearned employees.
• Important to make it very clear to the employees that
there limitations but there can be choices and
compromises in areas of change.
Some Recommendations
• For the management, take negative reactions
positively ---resistance to change process must be
expected. But, resistance is not always a sign that
the employees are trying to make the change
harder to implement, it is also a sign that the
employees are actually involved with the change.
• Remember that people need time to adjust
Concluding Notes
• Change does not always benefit everyone, there are
always winners and losers.
• Whenever possible, change must be initiated
gradually, step by step, or one at a time to give
employees time to embrace change and to accept new
roles
Concluding Notes
 As top bureaucrat or CEO, never assumes that he is
the only one who has wisdom; wisdom is
cumulative and resides within the collective
 Document the results of the change process (Did
we succeed in our change initiative?)
Dr. Margarita R. Cojuangco, DSC, MA, MNSA
President, Philippine Public Safety College