24ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Organizational Development and Change for Lighthouse Homecare LLCVanessa L. ParkerBay Path University

Executive SummaryThis paper has been created for the purpose of exploring, assessing, and creating a plan to strategically review an organization in order to help improve the way it operates. The organization that I have chosen to create a organization development and change plan for is, Lighthouse Homecare LLC, a homecare agency. After I got to know the agency, I realized that this agency is customer oriented because it is a business based on service, therefore increasing its customer service will improve every department in the business as a whole. In order to improve Lighthouse Homecare LLCs customer service, I had to create a plan to implement the new changes. In order to create this plan in detail, I incorporated the use of many different models, techniques, and theories. To start, I created a client questioner and conducted a interview with Lighthouse Homecare LLC, formed a situational analysis, designed a change model assessment, produced a implementation schedule development, and initiated expected outcomes and benchmarks. The steps in the plan are explained in detail below.Situational Analysis for Lighthouse Homecare LLCIn our society, many people require extra help to do daily activities such as getting dresses, going grocery shopping, and cooking meals. The majority of the population that requires help in fulfilling these daily activities are known as the geriatric population. According to Dictionary.com, geriatrics is, slang for old person, old age, or aged person. Today, many of the geriatric population consists of baby boomers, people born during 1940s to 1960s, that are enduring long-term disease, illnesses, chronic body pain, loss of motor skills, and decreased mental status. Luckily, there is a solution that helps the geriatric population remain in the comfort of their own homes and continued support to enable them to do the things they need and love to do on a daily basis. Companies that help this population with these issues are known as homecare agencies. A homecare agency employs different staff members to provide services to the geriatric population. The staff members that work in the field are employed as nurses, physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech language pathologists, medical social workers, nutritional therapist, orthopedists, certified nursing assistants, and patient care aides. These employees are known as the caregiver team. A company named, Lighthouse Homecare LLC, is a well known, well-liked, and profitable homecare company located in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. This company is the epitome of what a successful homecare company should look like. Although they are successful, they are not perfect. This company has hired me as a Organizational Development Consultant. In order to determine what kind of organizational development and change that Lighthouse Homecare would like to initiate, a meeting of the minds had to happen first. The meeting will help determine the organization's motivation for change, establish a framework for the culture and structure of the organization, identify the decision-making process and key personnel, and help me understand the potential gains and costs and risks of making the organizational changes.The first business in order was to schedule a meeting with my new client. I met with Edward Lombardi, the Homecare Operations Manager at Lighthouse Homecare. Our meeting consisted of a telephone conference. This was the best was to conduct the meeting because I live over 45 minutes away from the client and their schedule was very unpredictable from day-to-day. After speaking with my new client, I realized that taking on Edward Lombardi as a client would be fun, exciting, and challenging. I know that I can help this company in achieving what they desire.First off, Lighthouse Homecare LLCs hired a OD consultant because they are motivated to change. The company is motivated to change because they want to create a workplace environment that is full of positive morale, promotes personal empowerment among its employees to strive for excellence, and focuses on providing the best kind of home care to the elderly population in Southeastern Connecticut. In doing so, I feel that incorporating customer service training within the agency with aid in organizational change. Incorporating customer service training within the agency is the only way to restructure the company to become successful in achieving their goal to become the #1 homecare agency in Southeastern Connecticut.Secondly, Lighthouse Homecare LLC has established a particular culture. The companys workplace culture consists of emphasizing teamwork, a positive attitude, and a real sense of family. To promote this culture, the company approaches homecare as more than a regular business, they use it as a opportunity to reach out to the patients, their family, partners in the surrounding communities, and most importantly the employees that make the business run on a daily basis. This homecare company uses integrity, creating long lasting positive friendships, and the spirit of generosity to showcase their company culture. Thirdly, Lighthouse Homecare LLCs has a particular decision making process and various key personnel in their organization. The chart below displays the levels of hierarchy and current organization structure in the company:

Fourthly, a strategic plan needs to be composed in order to have a road map to organizational change. The strategic objectives of Lighthouse Homecare LLC are to: Gain market share locally of 25%. Provide the highest quality of home care services to the "geriatric" population 24/7 for 25% of the state of Connecticut. Sustain a customer satisfaction rate of 98%. Expand home care services to more areas outside of Southeastern Connecticut to attract more customers. Have a sufficient amount of in the field employees to accommodate the increase of home care services that need to be delivered to clients.Fifthly, Lighthouse Homecare LLC has made me aware of what their potential gains, costs, and risks of making organizational change is for their company. They potentially hope to gain an increase in clients and want to continue to grow as a company by hiring more employees to provide services to the future influx of new clients. The costs for the organizational change has been evaluated as to what the company can afford without affecting their revenue. A monetary budget of $10,000 has been allocated to a secure account that I will have access to in order to secure resources to help strategize the organizational change. There are a couple of risks to consider when making organizational change for Lighthouse Homecare LLC because the employees may view the intensive customer service training as unnecessary and may not take the change seriously. These risks include: loss of employees, a high turnover rate of new employees, and going over budget to train new employees. Lighthouse Homecare LLC is concerned that the employees will view the organizational changes as overbearing and negative: thus causing employees to quit.In conclusion, Lighthouse Homecare LLC is in need of organizational change. As the OD consultant I have been informed that I have 100% control in making low-risk decisions. On the other hand, I also have 15% control, the Homecare Administrator has 25% control, and the Board of Directors has 60% control in making high-risk decisions. Lighthouse Homecare LLC. I have one year from the start date to implement and track my strategic plan for organizational development. I plan on scheduling a monthly meeting on the first Wednesday of every month at 12 oclock noon with the Homecare Administrator to ensure proper communication, support from the company, and continually measurement of progress and success.

Lewins Management Model of Change for Lighthouse Homecare LLCTo begin, I have a firm understanding of what Lighthouse Homecare LLC needs. I have been hired as an Organizational Development Consultant to help develop a plan and implement the plan of change within this homecare agency. The agency wants to be the #1 homecare agency in Southeastern Connecticut. In order to this this, restructuring within the company has to happen In order to be #1, the company has to focus on what matters the most: their clients and their employees. The main way to make their clients and employees happier is to incorporate better customer service so that everyone receives better service and care. In order to create this change successfully, it has to be planned carefully. One way to create a successful plan is to create a outline. There are many various types of outlines that can be used but in the realm of business, using a reputable model to create an outline of change is the best way to be organized and successful. I have explored three model options to help create a plan for organizational plan. The three models are Kotters 8 Step Change Model, Lewins Change Management Model, and a combination of Kotter and Lewin. Furthermore, I have chosen to exclusively use Lewins Change Management Model. Lewins Model was named after the original founder.Thompsons (n.d.) article states the following:The concept of "change management" is a familiar one in most businesses today. But, how businesses manage change (and how successful they are at it) varies enormously depending on the nature of the business, the change and the people involved. And a key part of this depends on how far people within it understand the change process. One of the cornerstone models for understanding organizational change was developed by Kurt Lewin back in the 1950s, and still holds true today. His model is known as Unfreeze Change Refreeze, refers to the three-stage process of change he describes. Lewin, a physicist as well as social scientist, explained organizational change using the analogy of changing the shape of a block of ice (p.1)Next, the elements of Lewins Change Management Model have to be examined and studied before creating the specific model of change for Lighthouse Homecare LLC. Lewins model contains three main elements.Thompsons (n.d.) article states the following:If you have a large cube of ice, but realize that what you want is a cone of ice, what do you do? First you must melt the ice to make it amenable to change (unfreeze). Then you must mold the iced water into the shape you want (change). Finally, you must solidify the new shape (refreeze) (p.1).

After reading this I created a more detailed explanation of what Lewins model is and how to create a step-by-step model outline. 1. UNFREEZE I can determine what changes in customer service need to be made within the homecare agency based on my interview with the Homecare Operations Manager. I will use a Stakeholders Analysis and Stakeholders Management to win support of the key players in the homecare agency. Use a vision and strategy to create a award winning message as to why customer service training needs to be incorporated. Remain open to constructive criticism from the employees.2. CHANGE Describe the benefits of customer service training for the homecare agency Create productive customer service training classes and schedules for every employee to attend training I need to openly and honestly answer questions. Make sure I make it apparent that incorporating customer service training is necessary for the homecare agency. Have managers/supervisors for each department provide day-to-day direction in lieu of the new customer service training for all employees.3. REFREEZE Make sure I identify all the barriers that affect the sustainability of incorporating customer service training. Create a exciting reward system and feedback system during the customer service training period. Provide ample training and support to help employees adapt and enforce the new customer service training. Celebrate the companys success!

In conclusion, I feel that Lewins model was the best model for me to use for various reason. I chose it because it was simple, easy for me to understand, and would be easy for me to communicate what the elements of this model are with the homecare agency. Ive learned from my personal experience that less is more when it comes to policies and procedures in the medical field because you dont have a lot of time to focus on academics due to the nature of the medical field consisting of mainly hands-on-training in the field. Lewins visual model starts as a cube, unfreezes to become a puddle, changes into a pyramid form, and refreezes to stay that way. A visual cue like this can be committed to memory for a nurse, home health aid, occupational therapist, etc. in the field. Implementing the Plan for Lighthouse Homecare LLCFirst off, planning is a crucial to create success. Therefore, creating a detailed plan is the next required duty I have to fulfill as an organizational development consultant. I have developed a plan in detail that follows Lewins Management Change Model. Following this model has helped me create a list of recommendations as to how Lighthouse Homecare can implement a positive change in customer service for their organization.I have devised a professional way to communicate the plan. I will announce the launch by creating a memo and sending it electronically via email and physically post the memo in every Lighthouse Homecare office bulletin board. I will promote the benefits of changing the way Lighthouse Homecare LLC incorporates customer service into their organization regarding their employees. Overall, I have found memos to be the best way to announce various launches of organizational developments with other businesses I have worked with. Windermeres (2014) article states the following:Memos are used to keep employees informed on the latest happenings, either company-wide or in a specific department. For example, when management issues a change in corporate policy, a memo is used to explain the change Companies might issue a memo to address a problem that has come to the attention of management. A memo like this might describe any information obtained through investigation that brought the problem to light, and address the severity level. Problems addressed in memos might include employee tardiness or absence, customer dissatisfaction.Below is an example of the memo I will be using to launch the change within the agency.

+ Lighthouse Home care LLC

129 Main StreetOld Saybrook, CT 06579Phone: (860)395-2990Fax: (860)383-4300E-Mail: vparker@empoweredconsultantfirm.comWeb: www.empoweredconsultantfirm.comMemoJune 19,2015

To:All Lighthouse Homecare LLC Employees

From:Vanessa L. Parker, OD Consultant

CC:Edward Lombardi, Homecare Administrator

Date:June 19,2015

Re:5 Star Customer Service Meeting

Good morning. Im sending out this memo in order to clarify some key points concerning our change in customer service at Lighthouse Homecare LLC. As everyone knows, we have been receiving a lot of complaints from clients and their family members about our inability to deliver 5 Star Customer Service. This year, we will kickoff a new customer service-training program. The first meeting concerning our new customer service initiative will occur on Wednesday, July 2,2015. The purpose of this meeting is to provide all Lighthouse Homecare LLC employees with an opportunity to contribute to the change within the organization and introduce the new program. The details for the, 5 Star Customer Service meeting are as follows:This meeting is mandatory for ALL employees (Employees will be paid for attendance)Dress Code: Business casual attire.If you are unable to attend please email Ed Lombardi.Attending this meeting is necessary and will allow all Lighthouse Homecare LLC employees to start their new journey to improving their customer service skills and keeping the agency as the top homecare company in Southeastern Connecticut. For example, last year the agency administered customer service surveys to every client from January 1st to December 31st 2014 and 7 out of 10 surveys stated they would be less likely to recommend Lighthouse Homecare LLC to a friend or family. If everyone attends these meetings and participates we can avoid the same mishaps that happened last year and the agency will continue to grow and be successful!Lighthouse Homecare LLC has been a fabulous agency that provides quality care to the geriatric population. This company has helped over hundreds of people on southeastern Connecticut continue to live a fun, healthy, and independent. Im proud to work with a company that has improved the quality of life for many people in the community.The meeting is in Room A1 on the main campus at 12 oclock noon on Wednesday, July 2,2015.Thank you for your cooperation,Vanessa L. Parker, Empowered Consulting Firm. Organizational Development Consultant

I have created a step-by-step implementation of the plan.1. Identify Lighthouse Homecare LLCs clients needs by administering customer service satisfaction surveys.2. Evaluate each employees customer service skill and skill level.3. Design and create a customer service training method customized to support Lighthouse Homecare LLCs mission statement, core values, and culture.4. Start the in-house customer service training sessions.5. Reevaluate each employees customer service interactions on a regular basis.Next, I have created a concrete time frame for implementing the change in customer service with Lighthouse Homecare LLC. The schedule for each step of the plan is as follows:DatesAction

July 20155 Star Customer Service meeting for ALL Lighthouse Homecare LLC employees

September 2015Administer, collect, compile data for all customer service surveys.

November 2015Employee evaluations and creation of customer service training.

January 2016Weekly customer service training sessions.

March 2016Weekly customer service employee evaluations.

May 2016Compile all data and create a presentation.

July 2016Submit all documentation to Ed Lombardi, Lighthouses Healthcare Administrator.

There are a few key personnel that will have many responsibilities during the organizational change within the agency. I will delegate many duties to all of the lead supervisors and managers in each department. The nursing supervisor, director of therapy services, and director of human resources are the key personnel I will be delegating the main duties to. These duties will include handing out necessary paperwork, conducting customer service training pertaining to their departments, implementing the customer service training on-the-job, conducting client surveys, conducting employee evaluations, and leading by example every step of the way.Lots of employees in various departments will be affected by the change some more so than others. I have carefully prepared for the employees that will be affected by the change in customer service more so than others. I will use a brainstorming method to help employees express how they think we should implement new customer service techniques into their job. I will use a popular technique called, Green LightingUniversity of Washington (2011) website states:Structured Brainstorming Brainstorming is a tool used to ensure that the group has explored a broad range of options before a decision is made. Individuals are encouraged to express all possible solutions, even if they seem implausible at first. No discussion, judgment or criticism of ideas is done during the brainstorm, though this sort of discussion can follow the brainstorming session.

Green-lighting is a structured form of brainstorming with the goal of generating a large number of ideas in a short time. Everyone is encouraged to participate, and the structure of green-lighting prevents a few individuals from dominating the discussion or the group.

How To Use the Tool: Green-lighting is ordinarily done as follows: Decide in advance how many times to go around the group: o Small groups continue around until one complete turn has occurred with no new ideas o Larger groups go around the group two or three times Each person in turn, gives one idea only A participant can pass No questions or comments are allowed Clarifying questions may be asked by the group; only the contributor of the idea may answer Record all ideas for later discussion Overall, I am very confident in my abilities to implement the new change in customer service for Lighthouse Homecare LLC. Promoting 5 Star Customer Service is key to creating organizational change throughout every department.

Measuring the Success of Customer Service Training for Lighthouse Homecare LLCLets begin by diving into what it takes to measure the success of incorporating customer service training into the new organizational change plan for Lighthouse Homecare LLC. Ultimately, I will be measuring how successful I was at using Lewins Unfreeze- Change-Refreeze Model to create organizational change by incorporating customer service training within Lighthouse Homecare LLC. Incorporating customer service training into Lighthouse Homecare will help Lighthouse meet their business goals. Achieving these goals using Lewins Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze model will help the agency reach their goals of success.The strategic objectives of Lighthouse Homecare LLC are to: Gain market share locally of 25%. Provide the highest quality of home care services to the "geriatric" population 24/7 for 25% of the state of Connecticut. Sustain a customer satisfaction rate of 98%. Expand home care services to more areas outside of Southeastern Connecticut to attract more customers. Have a sufficient amount of in the field employees to accommodate the increase of home care services that need to be delivered to clients.My job is to incorporate a plan to include customer service training within the organization to help their employees improve their approach in dealing with co-workers and clients in order to help the agency achieve success. Customer service is all about teaching employees skills and competencies that will enable them to provide better service in order to increase customer satisfaction. Better service and increased satisfaction for the agencys clients will help Lighthouse Homecare reach their strategic objectives.Dale Carnegie & Associates (2015) website states the following:Customer care training is crucial for any organization that works with customers or clients. Not only does each interaction between employee and customer affect the number of customers retained, but also employees with effective customer service skills will feel a greater sense of engagement and commitment to their job. These skills make a positive impression in the minds of current and future customers. Our training provides advanced customer service tips for your organization based on the content area or competency you want to improve. Learn about what are customer service skills, building customer loyalty, creating effective first impressions, managing customer expectations, and more by filtering through our training and development workshops.Customer service training can have many positive benefits but it would be hard to measure the success of all the wonderful benefits it provides without measuring its success. How will we know if it is a success? Success can be determined by establishing benchmarks and defining expected outcomes that are key tools to measuring the effectiveness of my change plan.Next, I will describe in detail the desired outcomes from the change, benchmarks to measure results, and how to gather information to measure results. Once this is determined, I will describe in detail how to effectively communicate with key personnel, how to adopt the plan, and how to adjust the plan. The desired outcomes from incorporating customer service training while using Lewins Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze Model to implement it are as follows:UNFREEZE Successfully created a vision and strategy to create a award winning message as to why 5 Star Customer Service training needed to be incorporated.CHANGE Successfully created productive customer service training classes and schedules for every employee to attend training and learn from the training.REFREEZE Successfully provide ample training and support to help key personnel in each department adapt and enforce the new customer service training.The benchmarks to measure the results of incorporating customer service training while using Lewins Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze Model to implement it are as follows:UNFREEZE Have I remained open to constructive criticism from the employees regarding the new implementation of the 5 Star Customer Service training?

CHANGE Have I successfully made it apparent that incorporating customer service training for each and every Lighthouse Homecare LLC employee is necessary for the homecare agency to become the #1 homecare agency in Southeastern Connecticut?REFREEZE Have I successfully created a exciting reward system and feedback system during the customer service training period? Have I successfully celebrated the success of 5 Star Customer Service training?There are many ways to gather information in order to measure the results of incorporating customer service training while using Lewins Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze Model to implement it. I will use a six-step process to effectively measure the impact of change. The University of Wisconsin (2006) states the following:As you go about making change in your organization, there are a few questions that naturally arise: (1) How will you know which changes worked and which did not? (2) How will you know which changes resulted in an improvement? (3) Which change(s) is the most important and resulted in the most significant improvement?It is therefore important to set up systems that allow you to answer these questions. By collecting data before, during, and after the change you implement, you can measure, evaluate, and compare your agency's progress with respect to the goals you set out. The process of measuring change should speed the improvement process; you should begin with simple measures rather than spending time developing a complex measurement system. This primer provides you with a six-step process for the effective measurement of the impact of change.

This six-step plan is flawless in its detail. I will use it as follows:1. Define Your Measures Measure time from 1st contact with Homecare Operations Manager to the assessment of employees customer service skills Measure 5 Star Customer Service employee training completion rate, level of training classes given, and number of customer service survey cards filled out by Lighthouse Homecare LLC clients. Measure the continuity of care. How many Lighthouse Homecare LLC clients have continued to retain services from the agency, cancelled, and referred the agency to their friends and family.2. Collect Baseline Data Dont start the 5 Star Customer Service training without collecting baseline data. Gather 2 months worth of information about Lighthouse Homecare LLCs customer service training they have previously implemented. 3. Establish a Clear Aim Increase Lighthouse Homecare LLC clients satisfaction with the agencies services from 65% to 98%.4. Consistently Collect Data On a weekly basis every department head/manager/supervisor on Friday at 12 oclock noon will contact each employee individually to collect every customer service survey. There will be a follow-up on the following Monday via email, text message, and phone call with every employee if all of the surveys havent been collected.5. Chart your Progress I will use Microsoft Excel to track the progress over time and create a simple line graph. Decide if the measurements will be weekly or monthly.6. Ask Questions Ask myself, What is the information in the chart telling me abut the success or the lack of success in the new implementation of the 5 Star Customer Service training Ask myself, Does the information from the data collected show that client satisfaction has increased from 65% to 98%? If so, Why?While measuring the success of the change in customer service for Lighthouse Homecare LLC, I have to devise a plan that allows me to effectively communicate the success of using Lewins Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze Model to key personnel. I will use technology to help me communicate the success of the 5 Star Customer Service training. Updates of the successful training will be posted on Lighthouse Homecare LLCs Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and company website pages.After I measure how successful the change in customer service training is while using Lewins Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze Model, I have to determine what can be adopted or adjusted. If the plan is deemed to be successful and the change is accepted, there are specific steps that I can recommend to ensure continued success. For instance, I will recommend that Lighthouse Homecare LLC mandates the 5 Star Customer Service training be included in orientation for each new hire. This will ensure that each new hire will start off on the right foot when servicing clients and creating new relationships with their co-workers in the workplace. If the plan is deemed unsuccessful, there are actions that I can recommend to make specific improvements. For instance, if the 5 Star Customer Service training failed to improve client satisfaction from 65% to 98% I would recommend that Lighthouse Homecare conduct a company wide annual performance review for each individual employee to determine if there are other factors that are contributing to a decrease in client satisfaction.In conclusion, as the Organizational Development Consultant for Lighthouse Homecare it is my responsibility to accurately manage the success of implementing the new 5 Star Customer Service training. In doing so I will accurately describe in detail the desired outcomes from the change, benchmarks to measure results, and how to gather information to measure results. Once this is determined, I will successfully describe in detail how to effectively communicate with key personnel, how to adopt the plan, and how to adjust the plan. This is one of the last major steps in creating organizational changes for Lighthouse Homecare LLC.In conclusion, there were many steps taken to create a plan to help revamp Lighthouse Homecare LLCs implementation of customer service. To start, I created a client questionnaire to get to know the organization better so I could assess their need for change. The I conducted a interview with Lighthouse Homecare LLCs Healthcare Operations Manager to determine what their strategic objectives and goals are for the business. Next, I formed a situational analysis presented my findings from the interview. After, I designed a change model assessment to effectively create a Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze model to help create a change in customer service. Then I produced a implementation schedule development that described in detail how the 5 Star Customer Service training will be administered and communicated with all employee. Finally I initiated a proposal to describe in detail the expected outcomes and benchmarks to determine if the implementation of the 5 Star Customer Service training was a success or failure. Overall, I feel that this plan that I have created for my client, Lighthouse Homecare LLC, will be successful because the company is a service based agency and revamping the way all employees interact with their customers will help this agency become the #1 homecare agency in Southeastern Connecticut. Providing better customer service will keep customers and providing bad customer service will cause customers to leave and receive service from another agency. If Lighthouse Homecare LLC wants to stay in the game, implementing my plan to revamp the organizations approach to customer service training will help make the clients happy. In return, lifelong relationships within the community will continue to grow and provide a better lifestyle for the geriatric population and their loved ones in the community. A strong sense of community is important for the business and citizens residing in the same area.ResourcesDale Carnegie & Associates, Inc.. (2015). Customer Service Training Modules. Retrieved from http://www.dalecarnegie.com/customer-service-skills-training/.

Geriatric. (n.d.). In Dictionary Reference online. Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference. com/browse/geriatric?s=t

Thompson, Rachel. (n.d.). Lewins Change Management Model, Understanding the Three Stages of Change. Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_94.htm

University of Washington. (2011). Green-Lighting. Retrieved from http://www.washington.edu/research/rapid/resources/toolsTemplates/Green_Lighting.pdf

University of Wisconsin. (2006). How to Measure the Impact of Change. Retrieved from http://www.advancingrecovery.net/Content/ContentPage.aspx?NID=125

Windermere, Anna.(2014.). What is the Purpose of Issuing a Memo. Retrieved from http://work.chron.com/purpose-issuing-memo-9962.html