Question

How could you use a diagnostic test for immunity to change the process to better understand employees' immunity to change? Provide examples for two employees (either employee in a current change situation at your work, from a situation you find on the internet, or some hypothetical example. Please type out your answer.

Answer 1

Change management has always been a challenging process, specifically for large organizations with multiple departments, subsidiaries, and organizations. A diagnostic test is often used to measure the effectiveness of a change or the change management process post-implementation.

Here's how the diagnostic test for immunity to change can be carried out to gain more clarity on employee resistance or immunity to change

• The diagnostic test could involve feedback from employee or focus groups comprised of key stakeholders

• The test could also measure the output of a specific business unit or a department by comparing its current performance with its previous performance or KPIs (Known performance indicators) pre and post-implementation. Another way of carrying out using a diagnostic test would

• An organization can compile a list of historical data on employee immunity for a specific sample size of employees that comprise of key stakeholders in a project and calculate the average rate of compliance or non-compliance towards organizational change in order to measure employee immunity to change

• Data on employee immunity to change can also be collected from various levels of the organizational hierarchy such as senior management, middle management, and grassroots employees and their manager. This will give a clear overview of which areas or levels of the organization are the most and least resistance to change, thus, giving a clearer picture of the degree of employee immunity to change at various levels of an organization.

Here's an example of a diagnostic test using EOS or employee opinion survey pre and post-implementation in order to measure employee immunity to change

Let's take a hypothetical example where an organization A is in the process of acquiring an organization B through a strategic acquisition. The reason why A would like to acquire B is that they have matching value and strategic synergies and acquiring B would help A grow its market share significantly. A is a modern organization that uses digitization at every level, right from production to sales & marketing, etc. A is highly digitized and a data-driven organization that likes efficiency and the ability to measure every process and action in order to make more informed decisions and operate efficiently. B, on the other hand, is a traditional organization but has been in business longer than A and uses legacy systems and processes and doesn't use digitization at every level. Instead, B uses simple systems like Email, Phone, and Fax for day to day communication. A, on the other hand, uses enterprise-wide communication tools like Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zoom in order to work with increased collaboration and efficiency.

In order to help B transition into a digital organization, A implemented a change management program that involved changing or transforming B's

Digital Strategy

Organizational Structure

Legacy Systems

Style of communication

Proficiency in using new technology

Post-implementation A found out that B hasn't fully embraced the digital culture A intended. In order to measure B's employee's immunity to change, A conducts a diagnosis that involves a Top-down enterprise-wide survey from various levels of the organizational hierarchy such as senior management, middle management, and grassroots employees and their manager. The survey showed that 80% of B's senior management embraced digital culture while only 50% of B's middle management embraced digitization while only a mere 20% of B's grass root level employees embraced digitization. Since the company's operations rely on these grass-root employees, B found it difficult to function and operate in this culture. The key reason for employee immunity was that they were not given enough time to train or operate with the digital tools that they had to use on the job and they were expected to do so outside their paid working hours.

This is how the diagnostic test for immunity to change can be carried out to gain more clarity on employee resistance or immunity to change