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Based on more than two decades of hands‐on experience in the field of organizational change management consulting, this paper seeks to reflect on the most common misunderstandings and mis‐steps that can derail executives as they manage their companies through complex, multifaceted change journeys.

The paper focuses on six key imperatives that can enable executives to overcome resistance to change, sustain workforce performance through difficult challenges, provide effective leadership and support the new workforce behaviors necessary to propel an organization faster and more effectively toward its business goals. When discussing each area, the authors explore the right mindset to see and understand the issue, the skills needed to be effective and the initiatives that can be put in place to support the change programme.

New mindsets, skills and execution capabilities are important if executives and managers are to bring about successful change within their organizations. Successful implementation of change requires an understanding of the human response to change. Resistance to change is real, and is a barrier that can stop an organization from reaching its goals. Because response to change is predictable, however, an organization is not helpless in dealing with the people aspects of change. Proven approaches, tactics and initiatives exist that can improve an executive's chances of successfully managing the organization and its people through complex, ongoing portfolios of change.

Using real‐life experience of organizations across both the public and private sectors, the paper presents practical advice to meet today's challenges at a time when the pace and scope of change appear to be virtually unprecedented.

Human Resource Management

Postgraduate business students

The learning objectives to be drawn from the case are as follows: To discuss the challenges of a leader within a resource-constrained environment. Students are required to highlight aspects of transformational leadership and assess the leader against those criteria. To highlight the connection between employee mindset, actions, and organisational performance. Students need to identify the key issues underlying the personnel challenges facing the leader. To explore the influence of leadership on employee engagement. Students should identify the actions taken by the leader to engage employees and analyse the intention behind them, as well as the actual outcomes. To discuss the potential solutions that the leader may institute to achieve the overall transformational objective for the organisation.

This case puts students in the shoes of Siya Zwane, the newly appointed principal of Green Acres Primary School in the South Africa’s Eastern Cape. Having recently completed her PhD in education after 10 years of teaching, Zwane is well versed in the best practices for organisational development and eager to apply them in a public school setting. Her leadership is particularly relevant in the context of a struggling school system that faces, among other issues, an economically disadvantaged population, overcrowding in classrooms, poor infrastructure, and a general lack of resources, including qualified staff. As a newcomer to this school system, Zwane learns quickly how these systemic issues manifest in her teaching team and realises that her first priority must be to empower her staff and enhance employee engagement.

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CSS 1: Accounting and Finance