Critical analysis and evaluation of change initiated by the CEO of the Australian coal mine with relevant application of change and leadership theory

The CEO of the Australian coal mine applied a new system of appraising work performance and he didn't make any consultation before applying the change which lead to implement a performance appraisal system that is so simple and lacks main components relevant to HRM such as pay, performance and others. Miners were in need for a union official and this should have been regarded by the CEO and other managers as the miners should be job satisfied in order to do well at work as the lack of their needs made them refuse such change and just accept it by law and by force. This lead to reduced productivity and low performance as according to Wittig, (2012) the lack of understanding the occupational culture by managers can lead to not regarding the needs of workers which occurred with miners, the rating process also wasn't fair and was not accepted by miners. Lack of regarding needs and complaints of miners lead to their feeling of a lack of respecting them. Miners feel that they are abused by such appraisal system as they need to feel safe which is lacked in such a system. Another problem is that miners complained of being unfairly scored as this lead miners to work harder but not smarter which reduced the level of performance. Miners identities and the culture forming them were not understood by the CEO before applying the change which lead to problems and refuse to change as legitimating the process of change implementation lead to isolating miners and making them perform without the correct supervision of managers.  Pryor et al, (2008) discussed the reasons that make change fail referring to theories of change management such as using the change model that is suitable to the organization needs and nature of employees and their needs as they discussed organizational change versus organizational transformation; they explained that change should pass some steps in order to succeed as there should be a transformation not a change to occur, this was confirmed by Nickols, (2016) who added that preparing for the change is a very important stage and that change should be studied well and tried before its last implementation as employees' reactions to change should be studied and their needs must be considered when applying the change. Cummings and Worley, (2014) discussed how Lewin's model of change can be effective when it is applied by management as it consists of three stages that are unfreezing which includes preparing for the change and then change which refers to implementing it and refreezing which means to stress the change in the organization, this is useful as it can help managers adapt and modify the change in the unfreezing phase to the needs of employees and the nature of the organization to improve performance as a main goal. This was confirmed by Hiatt, (2006) who referred to ADKAR model of change that involves five phases or main components for implementing the change which are awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement.

Critical explanation and analysis of miners' general views

Miners views show that they have fears of threats to their occupational community as one of the miners said that he had a problem with the rating process as he thought that he is rated without real understanding for his work abilities, performance and outcomes as he mentioned that he is rated before he goes into the rating room and there is no chance for changing the score he gets; this leads to reduction in the level of miners' performance as according to Thomas, (2014), effective leadership is the one that regards employees' needs and complaints about any new change otherwise they will resist change and find ways to work against the organizational goals. This occurred in the current case and many miners feel threatened in such work environment as a miner commented that the place they work in is dangerous and that leadership doesn't consider safety measurements for miners as if their safety is not regarded by the organization or managers. Adamshick, (2007) explained how risky work environment are in need for safety measurement applications rather than any other work environment as safety climate can raise the employees' morale and make them feel appreciated and respected by the work organization and managers which in turn can improve performance and productivity. Samuel, (2013) explained that change management is a crucial process that leaders and managers should understand before implementing any change as they should realize how far employees regard change and if they have different needs that change can't apply because this can lead to making the needed change instead of a change that will lead to passive results and negative outcomes in relation to performance. In the current case, one miner explained that he was very proud that he expressed his opinion to the manager and that he was able to change his score which tells how far the work environment in threatening to employees and may lead to high turnover rates because it lacks effective communication as it is clear that when one employee had negotiated a problem and was able to communicate it with the manager, he sees this is a great thing to do and not a common thing. This is very dangerous as it makes employees feel not respected or regarded by managers which was another opinion of another miner. Another opinion of miners show that change is not fairly implemented in the organization as some miners are low rated while others are highly rated without clear explanations for reasons for such unequal rating system as the miner expressed that he will react as other miners who work smarter not harder in a hint of not correct actions with managers. Farell, (2009) discussed this problem and he referred to equal and fair implementation for rating systems that can bring in the best results in performance of employees; this was confirmed by Mone and London, (2014) who stressed the need for avoiding errors of rating by managers via using successful rating systems that can satisfy all employees and really measure their performance.

Communication plan  

Erskine, (2013) confirmed the importance of communication plans in change management as he focused on two types of communication which are the communication that can discuss the change with employees and the communication that can get information when needed either from employees or managers. This was confirmed by Newton, (2012) who added that communication plans can help in managing change step by step.

Communication type	Objectives	Medium	Frequency	Audience	Owner	Deliverable
Meetings with managers	To make managers understand how to apply change with a model	Face to face	Weekly	Manager	Trainers and consultants	Agenda
Project team meetings	To make employees understand change and express opinions	Face to face By reports By e-mail	Weekly	Miners	Trainers and managers	Agenda
Reports about miners' satisfaction by managers	Realizing needs of miners and modify change to them	Written Reports Questionnaire Interviews	Monthly	miners	Managers consultants	Performance Reports
Reports about managers' performance	Monitoring managers implication for change	Written reports	Monthly	Managers	Supervisors and consultants	Performance reports

Source: https://www.csu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/187430/Research-Office-Communications-Plan.pdf

The plan can be achieved according to what was reported by Biech, (2016) as he reported that change management needs training for both employees and managers and this can be reached by implementing a communication plan for managing change and as confirmed by Attong and Metz, (2016) who asserted that to make a business change succeed, there should be a communication plan that can be updated to match the needs of the project applied as a change.

The current communication plan is set to focus on both managers and miners as managers are in need for understanding the process of change and to realize that it needs to pass different stages before implementing and there are right ways for the correct implementation of change. The plan has four types of communication which are meetings with managers, project team meetings, reports about miners' satisfaction by managers and reports about managers' performance in applying change. This can be done by the help of some trainers, consultants and supervisors who can provide managers with training needed for change implementation in order not to fall in errors as the occurred before. Supervisors and consultants can monitor managers' performance and report it in order to be estimated and to evaluate change. Miners' opinions and complaints should be listened to by the reports or via the meetings with them that can strengthen the communication process between miners and managers. The plan can be adapted and updated according to the needs of the miners, managers and the organization. The communication plan can be effective when needs of miners are met and when they have a supportive performance appraisal system that can help them have their rights, feel better and perform better in the work which can raise productivity and profitability as well as raising miners' moral which ensures better work environment as the communication process will reveal many opinions and complaints the miners may have which is helpful in meeting their needs and making them job satisfied.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important to refer to the importance of understanding change management process and how to implement change properly in the business organization. As seen above, the CEO of the coal mines in Australia has committed mistakes as he didn't prepare for the change or make analysis for miners' needs which resulted in great failure and resistance to change as well as a reduction in the level of miners' performance that reflected on the organizational productivity. The organization should give much interest to miners' opinions in order to raise their morale and make them job satisfied and this can be applied by implementing a communication plan that focuses on both managers and miners in order to establish a work environment where communication is well applied as this will help in recognizing needs and complaints of miners and apply a new change that can satisfy them.