CHANGE (Weekly Contest #147)

Hello #queercommunity, I am excited to contribute to this week’s write-up. I am excited by the challenge to think deeply and present our views on themes shared on this platform as we keep #hiving.

“Change, they say, is constant” It is always exciting when the right change happens. You will agree with me that some “change” ends up bad. This is because the cause of that change was not well-driven. Some change also started well but ended up negatively.

Therefore, the question, “How many people do you think it takes to bring about change is very dynamic. Depending on the vision and mission of the desired change, it may start as a movement or a personal charade/agenda.

Secondly, for change to happen, what matters most is a holistic commitment, resilience, patience, good communication, a willing heart, and set goals to drive the change.
Nelson Mandela single-handedly initiated a change movement in South Africa many years ago and was very committed to the change. Today, generations before and after him have continued to attest to the enormous impact the change brought.

In July 2023, I was invited to an interview for the role of a change agent in a manufacturing company that has never achieved the expected goals of the owners. At that point, the productivity was a mere three tonnage, a factory that can produce between ten to fifteen tonnage of finished goods. It was believed that some employees were resisting the needed change to turn the company’s fortune around through increased production.

When it was my turn, the interviewer requested to know my strategies to turn things around within my first six months, and I simply said “change”. They adjusted their seats, and I rolled out my hundred-day strategic plan. On my way home, the Managing Director contacted me and I repeated my plan to him.

Convincingly, I got the job and was onboarded. I hit the ground running. Carried out a tour of the factory and assessed the organisation’s material and human resources. Furthermore, I organised an employee engagement where I informed them of the organisation's plan for restructuring through change management.

Surprisingly, while some welcomed the idea, others didn’t believe in the change. To make matters worse, some resisted the change. As events unfolded, a performance evaluation was conducted. Feedback was given to all stakeholders on the progress report through dedicated communication channels.

Within three months, I introduced new policies to tackle absenteeism and punctuality issues. Amended certain policies and put up a replacement for outdated ones. While this was ongoing, employees who could not adapt to the new change structure resigned, while those who were performing below standard were identified through the performance evaluation exercise and placed on a performance improvement plan.

Additionally, I conducted new recruitments to replace the disengaged employees. New machines were purchased to increase the optimal performance of the production team. The outcome was overwhelming; the factory at the point of my onboarding (July 2023) was recording an average of three tons in production as finished goods. However, in my sixth month of onboarding, which marked the end of my probation period. Things took a drastic and positive turn, and change happened. The company began recording ten tons of output in production.

This earned me an immediate confirmation letter, a salary review and an award during the annual award celebration. Though we are still evolving and strategising to reach our maximum optimal production. The achieved feat was possible because change happened.

Conclusively, while change is constant, the way and manner it is driven can either make it successful or a failure. While some change may end up the wrong way, if there is a clear roadmap (vision, mission, goals, objectives) driven by commitment, resilience and willingness, the change will be positive, successful and impactful, no matter how long it is resisted.

#Hivians, have you tried to implement change and were resisted? I would like to learn from your experiences.