In Part II of this series, I began to describe the case for developing an organizational change initiative. Initial interviews with employees suggested there may be a need for intentional, structured opportunities for cross-departmental reflection and collaboration. Employees occasionally mentioned that the college culture supported collaboration and change, which reinforced my belief that an organizational learning initiative that leads to action would be a good fit. While it appeared that employees felt comfortable driving change, I needed to confirm this perspective was broadly shared across the college before investing resources in an organizational change initiative.
I recognized that gathering input from all employees would require significant support. First, I prepared a written proposal using the existing data I had gathered, best practices in organizational learning and change, and research from the field. The proposal was structured following Kotter’s 8 steps to leading change (Kotter, 1996), and this approach ensured the inclusion of information framed in a way that would increase support. I shared this proposal with my supervisor, the Chief Academic Officer (CAO), and scheduled time for us to discuss my vision. The CAO was familiar with some of the research I shared in my proposal, and after discussing some operational considerations and making minor adjustments, she agreed to support my vision. I now had a supporter in my corner who was willing to take my proposal to the executive leaders and build support, which is exactly what happened. After the executive team reviewed the proposal, I worked through numerous questions and concerns by reviewing examples in the literature, reflecting on our organizational context, and discussing possible adjustments with the CAO. With significant preparation behind me, I presented my proposal to the executive team. I spent over 30 minutes answering questions and addressing concerns. My biggest priority was to gain support for the next phase of research I would need to gather more input from employees. I also emphasized that the change initiative, whatever model we would develop, would certainly be the first iteration of an evolving organizational change process. It was important to me to ensure the executive leaders anticipated change in the process and recognized that I could not promise one static model to drive organizational change at the college. Ultimately, my proposal was approved!
With leadership support, I initiated the second phase of my action research study in September 2018 and set out to build college-wide engagement through interviews with executive level leaders, focus groups with faculty and staff, and a survey sent to all staff and faculty (including adjunct faculty). Through this research, I explored employee perceptions of current opportunities, support, and need for innovation and reflective practice within the college. Additionally, this was an opportunity to engage employees in the development of the PROPEL initiative for organizational change. By seeking input from all employees, I was able to foster broad support and ground the initiative in employee feedback. Results based on responses from over one hundred employees indicated that employees felt supported in reflecting and suggesting innovative ideas for improvement by direct supervisors, but this support varied by department and was informal and unstructured. Employees suggested there was a need for innovation in higher education and at the college. Additionally, the majority of participants were eager to participate in a cross-departmental reflective action learning group.
Using employee feedback and leadership support, I began developing the PROPEL model for organizational change. PROPEL would provide a structure and process to enable groups of employees to reflect, learning, develop innovative ideas, and turn ideas into strategic action for continuous improvement. By regularly convening groups throughout the year, the college would have a systematic method for adapting to meet changing needs.
In Part IV of this series, I will provide more detail about implementing PROPEL, including developing the PROPEL training and Idea Bank, and eventually, I’ll share examples of several innovations in progress as a result of PROPEL. Stay tuned!
Reference
Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading change. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
