Strategic Change Management Practices at Kenya Power Pension Fund

Abstract

Change management involves improving the alignment among an organizations‟ environment, strategy and organizations‟ design. This study sought to establish the strategic change management practices at Kenya Power Pension Fund. The study used both primary and secondary data. An interview guide was used to acquire primary data from KPPF employees and Trustees whilst secondary data was obtained from the pension fund‟s documents. The data collected was analyzed using content analysis technique to obtain a qualitative description that manifests the content of the data collected. The study established that Kenya Power Pension Fund underwent various strategic changes to align the organization to the changing competitive environment by effectively managing change. The key business strategic changes that had occurred at the Fund include closure of the Defined Benefits Scheme, establishment of the Defined Contribution Scheme and adoption of Quality Management System (QMS) and procedures through ISO certification. The people dimension of change included change in communication techniques, staff trainings, monitoring and evaluation. Strategic change management practices adopted by the pension fund included top bottom approach to communication, good corporate governance, stakeholder involvement, employee participation during change and organizational structure. The study found out that there were several challenges faced by the Fund during management of strategic change. The challenges were however not detrimental to the implementation of the change process. The main challenges include lack of designate change champion, lack of change model, resistance to change, public culture, resource challenges, restrictive regulations, structure inflexibility as well as system inefficiencies. To address the above challenges, the study recommends that Kenya Power Pension Fund designates a change champion, develops a change model, vibrantly communicate change and effectively engage employees and other stakeholders during change. The study also recommends training of employees to reduce resistance to change and enhance the pension fund‟s culture. Diversification of investments to maximize returns as well as closely manage consultants to get value for money is required. Lastly the Fund should also place emphasis on pensioner‟s education and adaptation to the organizational changes to increase acceptance.