People dimension in strategic change management at Family bank Ltd

Abstract

The dynamic and competitive business environment requires a continued change in the strategies. Strategic thinking and translation of its results into action program is fundamental. Successful strategies are those that have prior communication to the implementers and the strong leadership in their implementation. Linking strategy implementation and the human resource factor supports the overall process. It is beneficial to involve all employees in the strategic change process to ensure their commitment, support and reduce chances of resistance. This study sought to establish the people management practices during the time of change as applied by Family Bank Limited. There were two main objectives of the study: first was to establish the people management practices applied by Family Bank Limited during the strategic change process and secondly, to establish the challenges that they encountered in handling the human factor when implementing the strategic change. The study was a case study and the informants included ten (10) employees of the Family Bank Limited. The study involved informants from management and'non-management levels. Five (5) of the informants were from top, middle and lower management levels. The other five (5) informants were drawn from non-management staff. The study used primary data, collected through use of interview guides where qualitative analysis of data was done. For a strategic process to be successful, employees must be involved in one way or the other. However, it emerged that the top level managers were highly involved, second came the middle IV level while the other employees were least involved or generally ignored. However, Family Bank Limited has laid more emphasis on the resources, organizational structure, values and staffing while staff skills and organizational culture were least considered. Strategy implementation and change management require special skill sets and competence. In training middle level managers, emphasis was laid on strategy implementation as that is seen to be their core function in the organization. However management of emergent strategies was least considered. It was also noted that the middle level managers were also sometimes involved in strategic discussions and negotiations. Strategy was also communicated downwards to the employees through middle level managers, departmental heads and branch managers during developmental meetings, managers' meetings and staff meetings. Internal memos, e-mails and circulars were also used in communicating the strategy to the employees. It was established that Family Bank Limited do not follow any particular mode of communication, they use all the above methods either in isolation or a combination but the circulars were found to be dominantly used while a change strategy was being communicated. As much as the organization mostly uses e-mails as=a common media for internal communication, for change strategies other modes are used instead.