IDIP  - What is "change enablement"

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Change is not a something that happens only once with neat and tidy start and endings, also, people’s, experiences with change vary with individual circumstance. Change is therefore not a trivial exercise. Change is normally disruptive and traumatic. Nevertheless we have to embrace it.

Political change happens all the time. Its not only politics that change. Look beyond national, provincial or local government to see how much change has happened around us. Most of today’s industries are very different from the businesses of the 1980s or even 1990s. Agribusiness. Air travel. Manufacturing. Banking. Biotechnology. Computers. Electronics. Everyone of these established communities have undergone one or more massive structural changes in the past few years. If government and industry has changed so drastically clearly the organisations within them have experienced their own unique upheavals. Even enterprises as small as the local music shop has had to change how they operate. And those that don’t are bound to stagnate or fail. We cannot anticipate change, the only thing we know is that it is something we can expect and should plan for.

There are different types of change initiatives. These include structural change, efficiency (eg cost cutting), process change and cultural change. The change processes we are leading are a combination of these.

IDIP calls for a tempered organisational change process. It is our intention to create improved performance by enabling a strong culture and capable employees. Our process has a higher level of employee participation and flatter organisational structure. We aim to strengthen the bonds between the different Departments. [There is another more radical change approach that aims for a dramatic and immediate increase in shareholder value. Driven top-down it relies heavily on cost cutting, downsizing and asset rationalisation]. Our approach has a much longer time perspective.

Organisations need to be “change-ready”. Three conditions are usually present: Respected and effective leadership, staff feel motivated to change and the organisation has a structure conducive to collaboration, innovation and not entitlement attitudes.