Thank you for giving me the chance to look at the memo, and consider the impact that it could have on our company's employees. Of all the organizational changes that a company can go through, changing its computer system is one of the greatest, and if not done in the right way can destroy the company. In the memo that follows, I will detail some of the challenges that Acme could face in this situation. The first part of the memo will discuss briefly how other companies handle similar change, and what results could occur should the memo go out as written. The second part of the memo will deal with some ways to handle organizational change such as that necessitated by the memo. The third part of the memo will discuss a method of evaluation that we can use to determine the efficacy of the transition. At the conclusion of the memo, there is a suggested rewrite.
2. How does the change process evolve
In general, companies undergo two very specific types of changes: evolutionary and revolutionary. The "evolutionary" is typified by gradualness, much the same way that the current HR department has grown. I am certain that 12 years ago, you didn't spell out a plan and say that I will have a department of 24 people and we will all be computerized. The evolutionary growth is compared to the revolutionary growth by considering several factors -- impact, cost, technology, and so on. It is as Newman and Nollen (1998) say, "With numerous acquisitions and consolidations taking place in the business world today, change management policies can ultimately affect a company's top and bottom line results" (Newman & Nollen, 1998, 47).
To avoid such a negative impact the authors, and numerous other experts, conclude that change must be strategized, and the most effective strategy calls on the input of all people affected by the change. In our case, those people could not only be the employees who will be affected, but Acme's customers, i...