CHANGE MANAGEMENT

CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Section 1

Most organizations in the world are currently experiencing changes in their management systems as a result of the effects of Covid-19. Air Canada is one of these organizations affected by Covid-19. The company laid off 16,000 employees to create room for an affordable wage bill. However, Air Canada later decided to take back the 16,000 employees after serious discussions between the airline, its unions and the federal officials. The airline agreed with the parties to hire back the workers upon receiving 75% wage subsidy as covered under the federal’s Covid-19 aid package (Air Canada to immediately rehire more than 16,000 workers. thestar.com, 2020). The company will only offer full benefits to the workers but not spend on the wage bill. Hence, a change has been discovered in the wage bill management.

This kind of change is classified as happened change as Air Canada was forced to lay off workers due to Covid-19 to minimize wage bill (Different Types of Change. Managementstudyguide.com, 2020). The change was forced by the pressure resulting from the company minimal revenue collection as its operations had been reduced by 90% (Air Canada to immediately rehire more than 16,000 workers. thestar.com, 2020). Hence it could not secure salary payments to the 16,000 workers.
First, the measure taken by Air Canada to relent on spending on the wage bill for the 16,000 workers while they do not work will help it accumulate funds for sponsoring benefits to the workers. For instance, the company has planned to offer somewhat higher financial benefits for the 16,000 furloughed workers. That includes benefits of Employment Insurance payments under the CEWS provisions. Additionally, the workers will be subjected to efficient health coverage from the organization.
According to (Leave in the Time of COVID-19. The National Law Review, 2020) covering non-working staff on various benefits such as health insurance may trigger rejection as a result of excess loss claimed by an organization. The same would apply to the airline’s action.
Organizational readiness include the following levels;
Cultural readiness- this is the nature of orderliness between organizational norms and the expected change.
Commitment readiness- this is the extent to which an organization can manage cultural to meeting business success or objective.

Capacity readiness- this is the extent to which an organization can mobilize supportive and adequate resources to a successful implementation of a change.

Section 2

The Alberta Human Rights Act protects any individual at the workplace from discrimination in all employment process views. The major employment processes covered by the Alberta Human Rights Act include assignments, recruitment, promotions, and termination of employment contracts. Under these employment processes, the following are the protected grounds according to the provisions of the Alberta Human Rights Act; place of origin, religion, gender, colour, race, age, physical disability, mental disability, source of income, family status, marital status, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression (Rights and Responsibilities, 2020).

However, it is the primary role of organizational employers to take charge of the Alberta Human Rights Act on the protected grounds of workplace discrimination. That includes creating a fair environment for the employees to be treated without cases of discrimination. The employers are also obliged to secure all the employee interests by ensuring transparent implementation of organizational change to all workers without discrimination.

For example, the act requires the employees to keep discriminatory data by recording all harassment complaints or discrimination in the workplace. They are also obliged to forwarding the records of witnesses upon complaint proceedings at the Alberta Human Rights Commission.

There are various advantages that a Human Resource practitioner can meet by implementing non-discrimination practices in the office. That may cut across employee level of morale, workplace policies, employee turnover, and employee availability/flexibility at work. Here are two such advantages:
Employees will feel motivated at the workplace as they will be stress-free of their benefits such as health insurance and will focus on embracing their professional capacity to belong to the airline (Employee Benefits | The Importance of Employee Benefits. Virgin Pulse, 2020).
Employees will be eager to venture into innovative and inventive ideas and knowledge sharing to channel their diverse interests into organizational awareness and program change.

Section 3

According to (Four-step formula towards Strategy Execution success, 2020) the following four-step formula will help in the integration of the airline change.
Research- Air Canada is needed to conduct extensive research on the policies that regulate the furloughing of non-working employees and the potential risks associated with failure to comply with the policies. That will help it reduce the gaps in the challenges that may trigger rejection of its partnership interests with other stakeholders involved like the Federal government. For instance, it should be looking forward to understanding the Alberta Human Rights Act policies associated with the employment wage bill terms during and after work contract.
Planning- Air Canada should transform the change into an efficient and cost-effective plan to meet the organization’s financial objectives. Accordingly, the airline will organize a meeting whether, through the internet or face to face and create an open and transparent policy requirement on their recruitment back to the organization.

Implementation- While implementing the change, Air Canada should ensure that it follows the policies established by Alberta Human Rights Act on employee recruitment, efficiently simulate the business objectives, and compares those simulations with the original business focus.

Evaluation- The business should conduct an open and transparent follow up of its non-working employee’s full benefits that embrace the airline culture and norm, for example, through a well-planned communication channel.
In the Alberta Human Rights Act, Section 61, an employer is required to ensure that workers are hired, promoted, paid or dismissed according to objective guidelines, applied equally to both genders (Equal Pay. Albertahumanrights.ab.ca, 2020).
As a result of the new status of the 16,000 workers, I expect to see the following positive behaviours;
Both working and non-working employees to show respect to each other.
The employs should be fostering the airline’s values.

The employs welcoming the new change on the wage bill and full benefits.

To minimize the resistance around the benefits offered by the airline, its unions and the federal officials over the non-working employees, I will ensure that the agreement follows the requirements of Alberta Human Rights Act and relate it effectively with the airline’s goals of cost minimization.
I will use the following metrics to implement the change on wage bill compensation;
Employee recognition. Here I will make sure that all genders have representatives who will be in charge of the non-working interests.
Technological metric. I will ensure that the non-working employees are well registered in the digital data storage to make it efficiently and confidentially to retrieve an individual’s credentials when need arise.

Section 4

In this section, I will focus on discussing the management appraisal for the benefits that the non-working employees are entitled to according to the Alberta Human Rights Act. According to the Air Canada scenario, there is no hide and seek game towards the management of the benefits. In fact, (Employee Benefits and Compensation (Employee Pay). Managementhelp.org, 2020) states that the case study in the airline organization contains prominent employee benefits that are risky to avoid following the federal step to compensate the employees. The article lists benefits such as health insurance and bonuses to be subjected to the non-working employees without forms of discrimination. On the other hand, the article has noted that the issuance of those employee benefits should be not subjected to the basis of individual age, occupation, gender, and disability status or health condition among others.

To achieve efficient delivery of the non-working employee benefits, I will comply with the following guidelines:

Planning Employee Benefits Program: For instance, the organization is already aware that the employees’ wage bill will be catered for from the external bodies. It is, however, mandated to offer health insurance, life insurance and bonuses to the teams. Thus, that will be efficiently achieved if benefits plans are well established, and appropriate follow up are done.
Buying Employee Benefits Program: That includes getting into insurance contracts with various insurance companies at economical costs to buy the best health, life and efficient compensation plan covers from trusted companies under the guidelines of the Alberta Human Rights Act.

Establishing general resources for Employee Benefits Program: That involves the methods that the airline will use to mobilize financial resources to facilitate the implementation of the bonuses, health insurance and life insurance.

Section 5

The emergence of Coovid-19 has created a shocking and huge burden on Canadian organizations within a very short-term period. Since the virus was confirmed announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) in early this year, around January, Covid-19 has spread all of over the world. It has led to tension in Canadian organizations, including the airline industry. Subsequently, containment measures have been since then put in action by the governmental and organizational levels across Canada (Leading through COVID-19: communicating with your employees. BDO Canada, 2020).

Meanwhile, announcements are being made on the new cases reported and the flattening curve that has caused an organizational impact on employee concerns. For instance, Air Canada is one of the victims of Covid-19 and has to develop a proper and integrated communication plan for the rehired workers over what is needed from them. The plan can also be used to inform the working employees. The following components of communication plan will help the company to deliver its information to the employees successfully.

Inform: This is the initial component that needs to be put in place. It helps organizations to send updated, accurate and internalized information to employees concerning policy updates in an organization. For example, when used, Air Canada will be able to update its laid-off employees on the hiring back, what flexible policies will be implemented upon them coming back towards Covid-19 containment and what instructions will accompany those polices.
Reassure: After delivering the information in the first component above, it is now the time to give the employees a chance to react. The company will listen to their opinions and reassure them the existing anxieties around the new policies like on the wage bill. However, this plan needs to conduct with transparency and empathy for it to deliver a mutual dialogue conversation.
Direct: After all, the airline needs now to constantly pass messages to the employees on trending policies to limit chances of misperception from the employees. Hence, anxiety among the employees shall have been dealt with, and the employees will be now ready to receive any directive upon how to move forward amid Coovid-19 pandemic.

Section 6

Gantt Chart Implementation Timeline for Air Canada

Implementing the changes on wage bill policy and the upcoming full benefits to the non-working employees shall follow the above Gantt chart’s timeline. The implementation timeline will kick off from 5^th November this year to 26^th December. During the course, various processes shall be performed in given time limits to give room for efficient time for subsequent process-process assessment. The following is the layout of how the procedures will be conducted within the implementation period:

5^th November 2020 – 13^th November 2020 (Research)

Air Canada shall conduct extensive research on the policies that regulate the furloughing of non-working employees and the potential risks associated with failure to comply with the policies. That will help it reduce the gaps in the challenges that may trigger rejection of its partnership interests with other stakeholders involved like the Federal government. For instance, it should be looking forward to understanding the Alberta Human Rights Act policies associated with the employment wage bill terms during and after work contract.

15^th November 2020 – 23^rd November 2020 (Planning)

Air Canada, through its accountants and the financial department, shall transform the wage bill and benefits change into an efficient and cost-effective plan to meet the organization’s financial objectives. Accordingly, the airline will organize a meeting whether, through the internet or face to face and create an open and transparent policy requirement on their recruitment back to the organization.

25^th November 2020 – 9^th December 2020 (Implementation)

Air Canada shall instruct a team of stakeholders to do a follow up on the implementation to ensure that it follows the policies established by Alberta Human Rights Act on employee recruitment, efficiently simulate the business objectives, and compares those simulations with the original business focus.

9^th December 2020 – 26^th December 2020 (Evaluation)

The airline shall structure and instruct an evaluation team to conduct an open and transparent follow up of its non-working employee’s full benefits that embrace the airline culture and norm. For example, the team shall use the communication plan established above to assess this action.

Reference

Air Canada to immediately rehire more than 16,000 workers. thestar.com. (2020). Retrieved

24 October 2020, from https://www.thestar.com/business/2020/04/07/air-canada-to-immediately-rehire-more-than-16000-workers.html.

Different Types of Change. Managementstudyguide.com. (2020). Retrieved 24 October 2020,

from https://www.managementstudyguide.com/types-of-change.htm.

Leave in the Time of COVID-19. The National Law Review. (2020). Retrieved 24 October

2020, from https://www.natlawreview.com/article/leave-time-covid-19.

Rights and Responsibilities. (2020). Retrieved 23 October 2020,

fromhttps://www.albertahumanrights.ab.ca/employment/employee_info/Pages/employee_rights_and_responsibilities.aspx#:~:text=The%20Alberta%20Human%20Rights%20Act,source%20of%20income%2C%20and%20sexual

Employee Benefits | The Importance of Employee Benefits. Virgin Pulse. (2020). Retrieved 24

October 2020, from https://www.virginpulse.com/glossary/employee-benefits/.

Four-step formula towards Strategy Execution success. (2020). Retrieved 24 October 2020,

from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/four-step-formula-towards-strategy-execution-success-al-abbadi

Equal Pay. Albertahumanrights.ab.ca. (2020). Retrieved 24 October 2020, from

https://www.albertahumanrights.ab.ca/publications/bulletins_sheets_booklets/sheets/protected_grounds/Pages/equal_pay.aspx.

Employee Benefits and Compensation (Employee Pay). Managementhelp.org. (2020).

Retrieved 24 October 2020, from https://managementhelp.org/payandbenefits/index.htm.

Leading through COVID-19: communicating with your employees. BDO Canada. (2020).

Retrieved 25 October 2020, from https://www.bdo.ca/en-ca/insights/advisory/human-resources/leading-through-covid-19-communicating-with-your-employees/.

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