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Implementing Change Through Employee Involvement at the Financial Ombudsman Service
Author(s) -
Busby Nicola
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
global business and organizational excellence
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.227
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 1932-2062
pISSN - 1932-2054
DOI - 10.1002/joe.21612
Subject(s) - stakeholder , business , resistance (ecology) , key (lock) , service (business) , public relations , marketing , political science , computer science , computer security , ecology , biology
Implementing change in organizations where interests conflict and powerful groups of stakeholders influence decisions is a risky proposition. Involving stakeholders in all aspects of planning, implementing, and embedding the change can significantly help overcome resistance but is not enough. Leaders of a project to establish an electronic case file system at the United Kingdom's Financial Ombudsman Service learned that stakeholder misgivings can continue to surface postimplementation. Their experiences highlight the need to make the required investments in time and other resources; broadly communicate intentions, policies, and program steps; pay particular attention to the key stakeholder groups that have the most influence on buy‐in; listen to employees’ concerns; and take concrete steps to swiftly address employees fears and complaints—before, during, and after implementation. The key to success, they found, is to contain resistance long enough for stakeholders to become accustomed to and grow to appreciate the change. ©2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.