ABSTRACT

Public sector effectiveness necessitates planned change; however, many initiatives fail. For planned change to be successful, employees’ mental models need to be amended to support new behaviours. One mechanism to achieve this is employee performance conversations, which can elicit behavioural change through introducing new ideas to an individual’s reality. However, many conversations fail to create shared understandings of the need for change. Ford and Ford's [The role of conversations in producing intentional change in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 541–570] typology identifies different conversational forms to create the shared understandings required to enact change. This paper reflects on the learnings from a management development intervention based upon Ford and Ford’s typology where managers applied the conversational forms to initiate mental model amendment, thereby enabling planned change. Analysis of qualitative data collected during the intervention suggests that using different types of conversations in a structured manner enabled shared understandings regarding why change was required and what success looked like. Managers recognized that slowing down the conversational process led to more effective mental model amendment, facilitating behavioural change. The paper demonstrates how different conversational forms enable leaders to discuss a planned change from an individual and organizational perspective and elicit mental model amendment to realize change.

MAD statement

This paper explores a new approach to undertaking employee performance management to enable organizational change. The paper applies Ford and Ford’s (1995) conversational typology as a practice model for developing the conversational competencies of managers and leaders. The paper highlights the importance of taking account of employees’ and managers’ different mental models in order to enable planned change. It argues that it is not more conversations that is needed, but instead the capacity to recognize and utilize different conversational forms to realize mental model amendment to elicit behavioural change and thus achieve change. The paper outlines an intervention that applies this new approach to employee performance management training.

摘要

公共部门的有效性需要有计划的变革；然而，许多倡议都失败了。为了使有计划的变革取得成功，需要修改员工的心理模型以支持新的行为。实现这一目标的一种机制是员工绩效对话，它可以通过将新想法引入个人现实来引发行为改变。然而，许多对话未能就变革的必要性达成共识。福特和福特的 [对话在组织中产生有意变革中的作用。管理学院评论, 20(3), 541–570] 类型学确定了不同的对话形式，以创造实施变革所需的共同理解。本文反映了基于福特和福特类型学的管理发展干预的经验教训，其中管理者应用对话形式来启动心理模型修正，从而实现有计划的变革。对干预期间收集的定性数据的分析表明，以结构化方式使用不同类型的对话能够就为什么需要改变以及成功的样子达成共识。经理们认识到，放慢对话过程会导致更有效的心理模型修正，促进行为改变。

疯狂声明

本文探讨了一种进行员工绩效管理以实现组织变革的新方法。本文将 Ford 和 Ford ( 1995 ) 的会话类型学作为培养经理和领导者会话能力的实践模型。该文件强调了考虑员工和经理不同的心理模式以实现有计划的变革的重要性。它认为需要的不是更多的对话，而是识别和利用不同对话形式的能力来实现心理模型的修正，从而引发行为改变，从而实现改变。本文概述了将这种新方法应用于员工绩效管理培训的干预措施。