Organizational Change – A Success Story
The Canadian military is constantly evolving to meet new challenges and adapt to social changes (Mcknight, 2017; Storring, 2009). Within the last several years, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has changed their fitness evaluation standard test dramatically including changing the core tasks required of all CAF members (PSP, 2017). From my perspective as a member of the organization, this change process was accomplished successfully. The process began by identifying the requirement to change the standard (PSP, 2017), studying the problem (Canadian Army, 2012) and using the results of the study to determine the required change. There are two things that I believe made this change a success, the willingness to adapt timelines when it was deemed required and the strong communication that was maintained with members of the military throughout the process. Timelines initially called for an implementation of an incentive program in fiscal year 2017/2018. It was determined that there was insufficient data to begin the program that year, so it was delayed one year for additional data collection. Although Al-Haddad and Kotnour (2015) deem that a project is successful only if it is completed within the budget, schedule and requirements, for most change we embody, the most important factor is the requirements. Deciding to alter the schedule to ensure a successful implementation takes strong leadership. Additionally, during the study and the change itself there was significant communication regarding the change itself, the timelines and the change milestones. Communication with members was completed through e-mail, internal journal articles, videos (Canadian Army, 2012) and a website (PSP, 2017). Additionally, fitness staff were very involved in the process and provided additional communication and support.
Organizational Change – A Less Successful Story
I was the Aircraft Maintenance Officer in 407 (Maritime Patrol) Squadron when the Electro-Optical Infrared (EOIR) surveillance capability was introduced on the CP-140 aircraft (“Lockheed Martin will design electro-optical sensors for CP-140,” 2004). Although the change was embodied successfully in the end, due to aggressive timelines there were quite a few bumps in the road. Command was eager to bring the new surveillance capability online as soon as possible, so logistical issues were not sorted out prior to installing the equipment on the first aircraft. Unfortunately, the impact of this was that when a component in the EOIR system became unserviceable, there was a significant delay in fixing it as parts had not yet been entered into the supply system. We have a thorough and effective process for modifying our aircraft. When this change process is not followed, likely the steps that are skipped will cause issues during the implementation. The same is true for any change management process – skip steps at your peril.
Success Stories from my Colleagues
I was fortunate to have the opportunity to interview three of my colleagues who played different roles during successful change management related to digital learning.
My current boss previously lead the Air Force Technical Training team and among other things, he managed the procurement and introduction of digital training and performance support solutions with a budget of approximately $3.8 M annually. His leadership was instrumental in ensuring people understood the vision and possibilities associated with digital technologies as well as ensuring that funding was properly prioritized and projects were implemented. He spoke about several successfully implemented projects in detail including the creation of an interactive training support system with courseware and an electronic performance support tool to develop knowledge and skills required to perform maintenance of the Emergency Breathing System as well as the development of a virtual reality aircraft marshalling serious game.
Another one of my colleagues was involved as a consultant during the creation of learning support centers within the CAF. He specifically emphasized the strong overall vision that was present from the beginning of the project and the challenges associated with refining the details of the change as well as getting senior leadership to commit resources to the change.
Another colleague was involved as faculty (a user of the system changing) in the implementation of a new digital learning management system (LMS) at a civilian college. Her feedback was interesting as from her perspective, there was limited communication throughout the project and almost no faculty consultation (although there was a website and surveys and focus groups were conducted). Despite this, the change was implemented successfully as the old LMS was constantly going offline and causing so many issues that any upgrade/new system would have been welcomed. In this example although the change was deemed successful as it accomplished its objectives, it could have potentially achieved secondary objectives concurrently (such as increasing faculty use of the LMS) if the approach was more participatory.
These three consultations along with my own self reflections have helped me to better understand the role that leadership can and should play in change in the digital environment.
References
Al-Haddad, S., & Kotnour, T. (2015). Integrating the organizational change literature: a model for successful change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 28(2), 234–262. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-11-2013-0215
Canadian Army. (2012). Project FORCE raises bar for Canadian Forces fitness. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luKtMcT4xno
Lockheed Martin will design electro-optical sensors for CP-140. (2004, November). Military & Aerospace Electronics. Retrieved from http://www.militaryaerospace.com/articles/2004/11/lockheed-martin-will-design-electro-optical-sensors-for-cp-140.html
Mcknight, Z. (2017, August). Being transgender in the Canadian military. Macleans. Retrieved from http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/being-transgender-in-the-canadian-military/
PSP. (2017). FORCE – FAQs. Retrieved from https://www.cfmws.com/en/AboutUs/PSP/DFIT/Fitness/FORCEprogram/Pages/FAQs.aspx
Storring, R. D. (2009, December 18). 10 years of change in the Canadian Armed Forces. CBC News. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/10-years-of-change-in-the-canadian-armed-forces-1.833663
