Analysis Using Kurt Lewin’s Change Model/force Field Analysis

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per cent.

The driving forces or supporters for this change were the owners of C&Wand senior management lead by Phil Green, whose specific assignment was to implement the change for profitability purposes and subsequently moved on after only 16 months with the company. The main resistors to the change were the Unions and the remaining employees from the old regiment who were fixed in the previous culture, anxious about the new technology and product offering and had their psychological contract broken by the redundancy of 99 of their colleagues, creating job insecurity.The Unions also accused LIME of breaching the 2011 Memorandum of Understanding that stipulated there would be no staff cuts and saw the action as disrespectful to the government, workers and unions(Johnson, 2013)

LIME weakened the resistance to change by focusing on communication through the unions and on existing employees’ training and development. Jheff Houston, 2009 Country Manager, in the March 2009 Annual Report stated:

Recognising that the situation called for improved communication and consultation, we proactively engaged the Unions and Staff Associations and a Consultative Committee was established to provide a forum for on-going dialogue. The leadership of the Unions did their part to preserve the spirit of collaboration even when Management was forced to take tough decisions with regard to their members. (pp. 17)

The Annual Report also stated that, “In recognition that highly skilled employees are integral to our customer service promise, were providing training through external courses, on-the-job training, attendance at seminars and workshops, work shadowing, and internal initiatives.”

FREEZING/ REFREEZING

In Lewin’s final stage Freezing, sometimes referred to as Refreezing, it symbolizes the act of reinforcing, stabilizing and solidifying the new state after the change. The changes made to organizational processes, goals, structure, offerings or people are accepted and refrozen as the new norm or status quo. Lewin found the refreezing step to be especially important to ensure that people do not revert to their old ways of thinking or doing, prior to the implementation of the change(Education Portal, 2012). Efforts must be made to guarantee the change is not lost; rather it needs to be cemented into the organization’s culture and maintained as the acceptable way going forward. Positive rewards and acknowledgment of individualized efforts are often used to reinforce the new state because it is believed that positively reinforced behaviour will likely be repeated.

LIME incorporated the Refreezing Stageby integratingthe new methods and services into the organization’s culture, ensuring that the staff are knowledgeable of the electronic systems, restructuring processes and services being implemented and offered as the new norm. It was further reinforced by the introduction of new products, such as 3G Broad band, Netspeak, online bill payment, a wider variety of cell phones, and various promotions such as reduced call rates to customers so they can continue to provide excellent customer service. LIME has continued to focus on product development and cost cutting venturesin an effort to increase the company’sprofitability. Thereis also continuous improvement in service levels in their contact centres.

Performance appraisals are done on a regular basis to ensure that the staff is continually aware of the new systems and procedures implemented, are performing atexpectedlevelsand are meeting the organization’s objectives. LIME’s management team also recognized the efforts made by their staff members to learn and use the new systems and processes implemented by establishing various rewards schemes, commendations, continuous on-the-job training and various workshops. LIME implemented a Consultative Committee to fostercommunication and feedbackregarding the changes made and future ones to be implemented. This is also done through weekly staff meetings.

All these processes are implemented on a continuous basis to ensure that the new brand LIME Jamaica will not revert to the “old way” of operating as Cable and Wireless Jamaica Limited.