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Process of development
An initial high-level literature review of seminal texts in the field of organisational development known to the authors was completed to identify commonly deployed ‘approaches to change’ and ‘change management tools’ within the field of organisational development. An advisory group that included representatives of individuals who access services, wider partners, service providers and commissioners provided insight into change within adult social care and the principles that should underpin it. These insights were used to develop a short-list of approaches and tools for further review. Consultation was undertaken with experienced change practitioners and national social care leaders on the emerging principles and short-listed approaches and tools. This led to the selection of four overall approaches to change and a number of change management tools which were subject to further literature review. Finally, additional consultation with the advisory group and the change practitioners helped to identify change scenarios commonly encountered by adult social care managers which could be used to illustrate the practical application of the approaches and tools.
Principles of change in adult social care
Organisational change management involves assisting people moving from arrangements that are familiar and predictable to a future scenario that is often uncertain and unfamiliar. This may result in anxiety and stress being felt by individuals, their families, and staff who work in the services. As a consequence leading a change process can be difficult, particularly when there are a range of options and a lack of agreement about which is the best one to take. In such situations it can be helpful for those responsible for leading organisational change to have a set of principles to guide the process that they follow and the decisions that they make. Principles have the potential to act as a common binding vision of what is important, a compass to guide direction in complexity, and a standard by which those leading change can evaluate their practice. They help to clarify how underlying values (or ‘what people commonly believe is worthy or valuable’) can be applied, including situations which are contested and unclear (BASW 2012). Common principles held in adult social care include: the need to uphold the rights of all, to promote the welfare and inclusion of those who are disadvantaged, and to recognise and build on the assets of individuals and their communities (Waine et al 2005). These reflect those held by the field of organisational development, which arose out of a recognition that people who work in companies are more than resources to be deployed and that they have a right to be treated with respect by senior managers (see e.g. Jones & Brazzel 2006).
For this project, principles were required to enable the assessment of different change approaches and their relevance to adult social care. However, whilst those involved in such initiatives may have had an implicit personal understanding of what these principles will be, there was at the time of the compendium's development' no agreed national set of organisational change principles. Building on previous work published by Skills for Care (2009), SCIE (2007) and the perspectives of change experts and wider stakeholder groups, we