Organizational Change. The Why, When & How

• Individual- Changes at the individual level rarely affect the whole organization.  For example, training programs are often implemented because other competitors are implementing them and in order to stay competitive, the company must conduct them as well.  One way that an organization can change at the individual level is through recruitment, selection, replacement, and displacement.  This category deals with placing employees in the right position to facilitate the larger change effort.
• Group- An effective way to change at the group level is through team building activities.  Team building activities are typically needed when there is difficulty between the team leader and members of difficulty among team members.  A smoothly operating group of people, particularly in management, all pulling in the same direction can be very beneficial to the overall organization change.
• Larger System- This system level usually initiates with individual or group change.  Rarely does an organization change at the larger system level without first focusing on the individual or group levels

The Magical Number

150 is the tipping point of the number of employees that can make up an effective organization. Malcolm Gladwell explains that when a group is larger than 150, people become strangers and the efficiency of group management dissipates. Transactional leadership creeps into the organization as well with a large number instead of transformational. Transformational leadership allows an organization to flow more freely, with an impactful role for every employee. Everyone will have input into the company which then creates and improves motivation.