Employee Relations Change Management Plan

Executive Summary

Entrenched into Australian lives, Telstra (Telecommunications first player) not only is huge and important company to this country but needs to change to evolve along with its population realising success of a long-term nature, needs to change along with the times,in the here and now of today. Diversity is what Australia is best known forand with anever-evolving meaning to what this term is made up of (education, skills, socio-economic, languages, LGBTQI, Disability, Faith, Sexuality), embracing it culturally into organisation like Telstra, is not something that happens easily nor quickly. It is through carefully executed change management plan that sees diversity embraced and continually evolve to meet the quality and expectations expected from such an organisation in order to deliver best service to the stakeholders for organisational success. a goliath readjusts policy and procedures to see through the challenges that change brings.

Introduction

Entrenched into Australian lives, Telstra (Telecommunications first player) not only is huge and important company to this country but needs to change to evolve along with its population realising success of a long-term nature, needs to change along with the times, in the here and now of today. Diversity is what Australia is best known for and with an ever-evolving meaning to what this term is made up of (education, skills, socio-economic, languages, LGBTQI, Disability, Faith, Sexuality), embracing it culturally into organisation like Telstra, is not something that happens easily nor quickly. It is through carefully executed change management plan that sees diversity embraced and continually evolve to meet the quality and expectations expected from such an organisation in order to deliver best service to the stakeholders for organisational success. The change process requires the company to shift from the traditional practices by embracing new ways in making sure that diversity continually achieved. The problems with the hiring process can be linked with the inability of the employees to embrace flexibility, be open to and understand other people’sdifferences. Australia is home to 24million people in 2016 of which 49% “were born overseas, or who had at least one parent born overseas” speaking more than 300 languages (www.ABS.gov.au,2019). Diversity is very broad with socio-economic, education, sexuality, faith and many more ways people are different. Embracing diversity in any organisation is beneficial but for a large organisation it is essential as it helps in developing a better understanding of different customer segments within the market, taps into skills and abilities increasing opportunities and organisational capabilities. This requires change in the organisation way of doing things. If employees do not have a understanding of diversity, then conflicts are likely to arise due to differences in individuality amongst one another. As a result, leadership in the workplace should spearhead the change process to ensure that employees are well aware of the changes needed when embracing diversity. Telstra management, in this case, should ensure that efforts are structured in a way that all stakeholder needs are addressed. By embracing diversity, Telstra aims to foster an environment where employees not only have understanding of a diversitybut also ensure theyare motivated and have the capacity to develop interpersonal relationships. Through this Telstra will be able to avoid a situation where employees’ unity is compromised due to their inability to understand other people and embrace individuality or at least being respectful when participating in organisation policies, values and culture.

Recruitment process should be adjusted to ensure that the diverse teams have been recruited by Telstra. As a result, the first step is to ensure that the company incorporates the society in the recruitment process through referrals to ensure that diversity goal has been achieved. For instance, in the recruitment change process should include the manner in which interviews are conducted to help in making sure that the applicants have understanding and perhaps experience of diversity and its importance to the organisation (Carroll, 2018). Once the recruitment process is adjusted to incorporate achieving diversity, other internal processes also need to be adjusted as part of a multiple. This includes job designing and redesigning to ensure that it meets the diverse needs. The process should also incorporate changes in job management as well as training and development to ensure diversity is a part of the organisation goals.

Updating and/or creating company policies around culture, diversity and sprit of differences unite will aid in written communications highlightingguidelines and suggestions to employees to help in making sure that Telstra can embrace diversity in the process (Guillaume et al., 2017). The organisational values and the message this send to employees is a great first step towards making sure that diversity within the workplace is achieved. It is the role of the leadership to ensure an environment has been established which has the climate to integrate diversity in the process. Company value cards, training modules and internally placed signage would play a vital role in the change process and should be incorporated to ensure that the employees existing and newalign with the company objectives that have been established in the company. The organisation culture, in this case, should be able to discourage aspects such as cyberbullying, physical, social and verbal abuse which may compromise the change process and achieving diversity in the workplace. Therefore, employees should be trained to know the values, identify appropriate and inappropriate behaviours and what to do about issues or question they may have where they arise with a recourse path for solution. This willempower employees so that conflicts can be avoided and the importance of achieving organisation goals far greater to succeed.

Organisation culture should be structured in a way that it can integrate diversity. Through this, Telstra should be able to address the employees’ needs and ensure that the measures in place do not violate the traditions of different groups within the company. For instance, the company should ensure that traditions such as dress codes are adhered to however also allow for traditional garments for employees of faith. Telstra should ensure that the employees that have been recruited have distinct values matching the culture integrated in the company day to day operations. Such values like, Team Work asks employees to be respectful listen and communicate with each other in achieving tasks and goals. The company should ensure that legislativeworkers’ rights are as well as industrial regulated agreements are met in day to day operations of the company.

Employee hiring process

The first change that should be highlighted in the company is the focus on the employees hiring process. Hiring is one of the critical components in the company especially with the sector that the company operates in. Appreciating and understanding diversity is essential in the hiring process. Diversity is essential in examining the employees and the customer's needs (Russell, 2018). There is always a need to ensure that the right balance between the employees and the people management within the institution. Through this, the company should come up with strategies to ensure that the recruitment process embraces diversity, have negotiation strategies in place which does not affect the employee's unity and at the same time come up with motivation strategies to ensure that employees can perform as per the required standards. On the other hand, the firm management should incorporate the workplace policies, change management as well as ways to measure the performance of the organisation.

The hiring process is essential since it helps in managing the change management. This is the most critical aspect of the change process especially with the need to ensure that Telstra can select the employees that meet the company values and have the capacity to embrace diversity. The company should lay the foundation to help in establishing the right balance between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The change process, in this case, should incorporate monetary awards, promotion as well as personal satisfaction.

There is a need to ensure that the change process is integrated into the hiring process to ensure that the organisation can tap into a wide range of talents available in the market. Due to the competition in the employment sector, the company should come up with ways to help in overcoming the employee’s turnover as well as ensure that employee retention has been achieved. However, this is only possible if the employees are adequately satisfied and have the capacity to overcome the challenges that the market possesses to them. Hiring for diversity should be the visit motivation considering that Australia is a multicultural environment. Through this, the company should be able to ensure that employees with diverse sexual orientation, ethnicity, race, and gender are well integrated into the company. This requires the company to adjust the culture and execute adequate training to employees on issues such as diversity. Furthermore, this helps in guaranteeing that the employees are well integrated into the company.

Big Hairy Audacious Goal

Embracing diversity may be seen as a big hairy audacious goal (BHAG), but it is necessary if the company is to succeed in the long run.

Kotter's 8 step Model [58]

In Telstra, change is needed to help in embracing diversify due to market dynamics. Kotter’s 8 step model of change assist to explain in the change implementation plan of Telstra realigning it’s past, present and future to achieve diversity broadening opportunities to set up for long term triumphs whilst accomplishing in the short-term also by embracing people in the diversification process.

Creating a sense of urgency [970]

The first step senior leaders with human resource may identify is creating a sense of urgency from the knowledge and statistical data, they can see a strategy of diversity is necessary. By communicating a strategic plan which was developed as a result of seeing the Australian population change, Telstra needs to understand and embrace new differences in the population by understanding them. With audits carried out and data in arm along with statistical data and comparison of sales and consumer shift, a sense of urgency is not hard sell to show the other leadership in the organisation. Whenmanagement understand the importance of the change process in respect to hiring and managing employees, then the organisation can embrace the change process (Hajro, Gibson, & Pudelko, 2017). Through open conversation about the change process there is a need to ensure that all employees, management included, are convinced (bye-in) to the vision and need if the strategic path to embracing diversity. This will help in advising opportunities available in participation withthe change process whilst embracing and, any threats that exist to the proposed plan are voiced and can be heard and revised within the plan whilst working with the employees to reach mutuality.

Forming a powerful coalition

This is the second step in the change process and requires cooperation from many key stakeholders internal to the organisation (Riccucci, 2018). Idea is to gain key members among the organisation who can identify the weak areas needing more insight, considerations and identification of resources that may be required to ensure that diversity plan will be adopted. Through this, Telstra should ensure that it identifies the people who will aid the change process and, at the same time should focus on the team building process. Leaders can ensure that stakeholders within the organisation should adhere to the emotional commitment which is needed to assure that the change process is a success. The selected leaders should also be deemed capable of influencing other internal stakeholders on the need for change and shed light on the long-run rationales for adopting diversity and sound recruitment processes within the company.

Creating a Vision for Change

The vision for change is pivotal in laying the foundations for areas such as hiring process, employee’s motivation and embracing diversity within the company. The selected team to steer forth such operations should thus develop mastery of understanding, of the primary need for change since they are the agents for that change. Additionally, the team ought to formulate strategies for change and indeed a champion for the adoption of such policies through sensitising and motivating the involved stakeholders. In the domain of motivation, various incentives are applied to optimise the outcomes. For instance, the team can opt to drive the leaders through recognition, empowerment, self-motivation, material rewards, redesigned job tasks, and compensation as motivation factors (Carbery & Cross, 2015).

Abraham Maslow’s model is instrumental and can provide a robust framework and sequence by which the employees and leaders can be motivated. According to Maslow, employees’ needs are deemed capable of invoking persistence, action and attention within an organizational context; and notes that these needs do vary in urgency, which made him classify them into five typologies namely; the physiological needs, safety needs, security needs, social contact, esteem and self-actualization needs respectively. Such that; these needs in the context of organisational thrive should be satisfied chronologically; from physiological to self-actualisation needs; based on the proposition that physiological needs such as the need for thirst and food hunger cannot be postponed. It is through the satisfaction of the lower needs in the pyramid according to Maslow that one can achieve self-actualization and abilities to perform excellently in the arena of office (Maslow & Lewis, 1987).

Besides Maslow five areas of motivation, Clayton Alderfer's presents three tenets of needs including existence, relatedness and growth needs as vital areas which can ignite organisational performance if well handled. Unlike Maslow, Alderfer instead branded physiological and safety requirements as existence needs; external esteem and social needs as relatedness needs; and self-actualization and internal esteem as growth needs. The existence Relatedness Growth model takes into cognisance of the premise that the order of urgency of human needs is subject to variance on employees, and that employees can possess multiple demands simultaneously (Alderfer, 1969). The managers of Telstra ought to rekindle the spark of employees’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivation domains.

Communicating the Vision

The communication of the company vision follows its identification, with its potential volunteers enlisted within the organisation. In the context of Telstra; the leadership ought to lead by example while incorporating the needs for having diversity, informed hiring strategies and training processes. The company leadership should be champions for communicating the company vision to the entire fraternity and echo the significances and merits therein, to lay the foundation for receptivity and ownership of the idea. In this process, the leadership is entrusted with the responsibility to create awareness, always to remind all internal stakeholders about the impending plans and merits underlying diversity in the workplace. Additionally, the leadership ought to open room for clarifications upon anyone in need, and set a rapport for collateral understandings towards a similar course.

Eliminating the Obstacles

This is the fifth phase, which seeks to ascertain that the company’s leadership can identify loopholes and obstacles that can actively hinder the adoption of change within the company. In this phase, the late adaptors of change within the company are also inspired to uphold the newly introduced proposals and further reminded of possible advantages to be accrued from such plans. Besides, the company in this phase finds a need to motivate the stakeholders for a more rate of adoption of change. In the context of Telstra, successful implementation of reforms can be realised by making sure the compensation and performance system and job descriptions and evaluated to make sure that fit the established standards in the organisation. In this context, the leadership in place should identify the hierarchies as well as the process that may be considered as inefficient to ensure that the change process is a success.

Generating Short-Term Wins

This is the sixth phase which introduces ways that justifies the communication, collection and recognition of wins accrued over time within the organisation. The essence here is to make sure that the volunteers are motivated and inspired to execute their daily responsibilities (Triguero-Sánchez, Peña-Vinces, and Guillen, 2018). In this phase, the internal stakeholders of the company who have exhibited exemplary concerns and performances for the company regarding embracing diversity ought to be awarded, to develop more affinity with the rest. Through this process, the leadership along with the change team should be able to identify the advantages and disadvantages on the set targets to ensure that they have the possibility of achieving the set goals.

Sustain Acceleration

Telstra Company in this stage should endeavour to establish to account for the little achievements underscored within the short period, to lay the foundation for identification of strengths and weaknesses. Assessment tools and reports are instrumental in this phase to bring to the limelight of truth the progression underway against the setbacks therein. Notably, in this stage; implementation of the intended change has been done, and thus it is vital to evaluate the progress and identify the setbacks for a course of action. The identified strengths and achievement lay further foundations to strengthen the diversity strategy for more positive outcomes. The assessment conducted in this phase provides for areas which need new development or diverted attention to rectify the condition.

Implementation of Change

This is the last phase which encompasses the actual instating of change and ascertaining the diversity amidst other anticipated changes are incorporated across the company. The implementation of expected plan sets the ground for rigorous checkups and evaluation process to identify the effectiveness of laid strategies, and correction measure to areas where things are not working as anticipated. The implementation phase is crucial once the blueprint for the change process has been identified within the organisation.

Strategic Human Resource Management Model

This model is pivotal in the quest for change in the company. This framework incorporates vital elements such as human resource personnel, ethical practice, communication, relationship management, leadership, critical evaluation, consultation, global and cultural effectiveness business acumen, and critical evaluation; all towards a common objective. The adoption of change embracing diversity rests on the threshold of the afore-mentioned tenets. The consultations within the company should be conducted openly, and meaningfully; to help instil the relationships in the company. Besides, it is crucial for Telstra to ensure that there is a critical evaluation before the change process has been initiated. In the change process, there is always a need to elaborate the small accomplishment to ensure that all employees are engaged in the process and can achieve the set goals. The transformation objectives in place and the winning culture that has been put forwards are instrumental for the achievement of the long-term goals.

Conclusion

Telstra can institute a change process within the company to completely embrace diversity in the process. However, adequate employees training is necessary since it helps in avoiding issues such as conflicts and establishing a culture where all employees have the capacity to embrace diversity. Change management within an organisation is necessary to ensure that long term success has been achieved. Companies such as Telstra has a wide range of market and large sets of employees in different areas including, pay television, internet access, mobile, and other telecommunication sectors. Telecommunication sector is one of the most volatile sectors due to changes in technology, customers’ demands as well as an increase in competition which requires a company to adjust its way of doing things from time to time. In order for the company to remain competitive in this case, there is a need to focus on the implementing value models as well as the working around the corporate restructuring to ensure that the company remain competitive in the long run.

Task List

Input more content at start about Telstra and direction, set the scene for this paper.

Links to policy change

Input sentences and key words highlighted in the brief

Find and input example of change about agreements, policy, reference to fair work act, other working legislation

Review wording of the paragraphs so far and make succinct, tighter.

Input context better into point. Challenges. Benefits. Solutions and benefits. Risk or pitfalls to watch out for.

References

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• Riccucci, N 2018,Managing Diversity in Public Sector Workforces: Essentials of Public Policy and Administration Series. Routledge.
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• Triguero-Sánchez, R, Peña-Vinces, J & Guillen, J 2018,‘How to improve firm performance through employee diversity and organisational culture.’RevistaBrasileira de Gestão de Negócios, vol, 20, no, viewed 19th January2019, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326486344_How_to_improve_firm_performance_through_employee_diversity_and_organisational_culture