| Course | HRM 595 Human Resource Capstone Course (HRM/595) |
|---|---|
| Week | 4 |
| Paper type | HR change management plan |
| Length | about 1,238 words, 5 double-spaced pages plus title page and references |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | University of Phoenix |
| Program | MBA |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HRM 595 Week 4
Moving a Field-Proud Company From Tenure Pay and Reactive Hiring to a Planned Workforce: The Change Management Plan for Prairie Crest Wind Services
[Student Name]
University of Phoenix
HRM/595: Human Resource Capstone Course
Week 4 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Prairie Crest Wind Services and all people and data are composites written for a model paper.
This capstone's composite Des Moines turbine maintenance company has completed an alignment analysis, a forecast and a gap analysis. The priority changes are clear: replace tenure-based pay with pay for skills and certifications, raise per diems, build a hiring pipeline with community colleges, create a career path from technician to lead to supervisor, develop supervisors as leaders, install an HR information system and bring the HR director into strategy. Every one of those changes touches something employees value, whether a paycheck, a supervisor's authority or a familiar way of getting things done, so the plan must respect what people stand to lose while showing what they stand to gain. This paper sets out the change management plan.
The Case for Change
The case rests on data from earlier weeks. Growth requires about 340 technician hires a year, nearly double current capacity. Early-career turnover of 31 percent drives most hiring. Availability penalties of $1.9 million last year were traced mostly to short-handed crews. Technicians themselves ranked pay for certifications and career paths as the changes most likely to keep them.
What Research Says About Successful Change
Stouten et al. (2018) integrated scholarly research and popular management models and identified evidence-based steps for successful change: diagnose the problem with data, assess readiness, implement through a series of smaller changes, develop and support change-ready leaders, build social networks for support, communicate a sound vision, use participation and sustain change through institutionalization. Their review cautions that popular models omit important steps, such as diagnosis and readiness, that research supports.
Organizational Culture
Prairie Crest's culture values safety, loyalty to crews and supervisors, practical skill and tenure. Technicians are skeptical of office initiatives. Any change seen as coming from headquarters without field input will face resistance. The plan therefore works through the field's own leaders and values.
Linking the Plan to the Diagnostic Model
The gap analysis used Burke and Litwin (1992), who argued that changes in transformational factors such as leadership and culture are needed for lasting change, while transactional changes in systems and practices alone tend to fade. The plan reflects that distinction. Skill-based pay, the hiring pipeline and the HR system are transactional changes, but they will not hold unless executives come to see HR as strategic and supervisors see developing people as part of their job. Those are the transformational shifts the plan must produce, and they are slower.
Stakeholder Analysis
Early-career technicians gain from skill-based pay and career paths. Long-tenured technicians may fear losing tenure-based advantages. Lead technicians gain status as trainers. Supervisors gain development but must take on coaching and people management. Operations managers gain staffing but must share decisions with HR. Executives gain workforce data and must invest. The HR team gains influence and faces new expectations.
Anticipated Resistance
Long-tenured technicians are the most likely to resist skill-based pay, fearing that younger technicians with certifications will catch up or that their experience will be undervalued. Some supervisors may resist added people responsibilities. Some operations managers may resist HR's role in workforce decisions, viewing it as interference.
What Research Says About Reactions
Oreg et al. (2011) reviewed six decades of quantitative studies and concluded that employees' reactions to change depend heavily on how it is introduced: participation, information and trust in leaders predicted more positive reactions, while perceived threats to job security and pay predicted resistance. For Prairie Crest, the implication is that the pay change must be designed with technicians, explained in detail and paired with clear protections, or it will be read as a threat no matter how good the design is.
Responding to the Pay Concern
The pay design will count experience as a skill: technicians with long troubleshooting histories can certify at higher levels by demonstration rather than coursework. No technician's pay will decrease, and those above their new skill level will keep current pay while having a path to certify upward. A design group of 12 technicians, half of them with more than ten years' service, will help define skill levels.
Supervisors as Change Agents
Supervisors are the most trusted voices in the field. Twenty respected supervisors, chosen by peers, will serve as change agents. They will be briefed early, help shape details and lead crew discussions. Their participation addresses supervisors' own concerns and gives the changes field credibility.
The Roadmap: Phase One
Phase one, in the first six months, delivers quick wins: per diems raised to market, two recruiters added, a community college partnership launched and monthly turnover reports to operations leaders. Quick wins show that the changes benefit the field and build credibility.
The Roadmap: Phase Two
Phase two, from months six to 18, pilots skill-based pay and the career ladder in Iowa, the largest state operation. The pilot includes about 280 technicians. Supervisor development begins with the first cohort of 25. The HR information system is selected and configured.
The Roadmap: Phase Three
Phase three, from months 18 to 36, extends skill-based pay and the career ladder to all states with adjustments from the pilot, continues supervisor cohorts, launches the blade repair academy and moves workforce reporting fully into the HR system.
Communication Plan
Communication will run through crews. Supervisors will discuss each change in crew safety meetings, which technicians already attend and trust. A short video from the chief executive will explain the case for change in plain language. A question line will route questions to HR, with answers published weekly. Pilot participants will share their experience in later phases.
Leadership Roles
Executives will visit sites during the pilot, ask technicians about the changes and act on what they hear. The HR director, now part of the executive team, will report quarterly on workforce metrics. Operations managers will co-own hiring and turnover targets with HR, aligning their incentives with the plan.
Training for the Change
Supervisors will be trained to explain skill-based pay and certification paths. Technicians will receive guides showing how to move up the ladder. HR staff will be trained on the new system and on consulting with operations.
Measuring Adoption
Measures include the share of technicians enrolled in certification paths, pilot satisfaction, supervisor cohort completion, HR system use by managers, early-career turnover and time to fill. Safety incidents will be tracked to confirm that growth and change do not harm safety.
Risks and Contingencies
The plan faces three main threats. A slowdown in wind contracts could reduce growth and make the hiring pipeline look excessive; the pipeline will be built to scale down by pausing the second community college cohort. The pilot could reveal flaws in the skill levels; the design group will revise them before expansion. And a serious safety incident during rapid growth could undermine trust; the safety manager will review onboarding capacity monthly and can slow hiring if training seats fall short.
Sustaining the Change
Changes will be built into policy, pay structures, job descriptions and performance reviews. Supervisors' reviews will include crew development and retention. Annual reviews will adjust the plan.
Conclusion
Prairie Crest's HR changes touch pay, authority and familiar ways of working in a culture that values tenure, safety and crew loyalty. Research-based steps, honest treatment of losses, supervisors as change agents, a phased roadmap with quick wins and a pilot, communication through crews and measures of adoption give the changes the best chance of taking hold.
References
Burke, W. W., & Litwin, G. H. (1992). A causal model of organizational performance and change. Journal of Management, 18(3), 523-545. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639201800306
Oreg, S., Vakola, M., & Armenakis, A. (2011). Change recipients' reactions to organizational change: A 60-year review of quantitative studies. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 47(4), 461-524. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886310396550
Stouten, J., Rousseau, D. M., & De Cremer, D. (2018). Successful organizational change: Integrating the management practice and scholarly literatures. Academy of Management Annals, 12(2), 752-788. https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2016.0095
What the HRM 595 Week 4 instructions ask
Week 4 of the HRM 595 capstone generally asks students to create a change management plan for implementing their HR recommendations. Typical requirements include the case for change, the change model used, stakeholder analysis, anticipated resistance and responses, the roles of leaders and change agents, communication and training plans, a phased timeline and measures of adoption and success. Many prompts ask students to address the culture of the organization. Use change research to support choices, show how the plan fits the organization's culture, plan for the transition period as well as the end state and cite sources in APA format.
How this HRM 595 Week 4 example is built
A field-proud wind service company that values tenure, safety and crew loyalty will not easily accept skill-based pay or HR's new role, and the paper plans the change around those values. It draws on an integrative review of change research that identifies evidence-based steps. Stakeholders include technicians, supervisors, operations managers and executives, each with different gains and losses. Long-tenured technicians who fear the new pay model receive a guarantee. Supervisors are engaged as change agents. A phased roadmap starts with quick wins, such as higher per diems, then pilots skill-based pay in one state. Communication runs through crews, using safety meetings technicians already trust. Measures track adoption, turnover and safety, with a check that the incident rate does not rise while so much changes at once.
HRM 595 Week 4 grading rubric: where the points go
Strong capstone change plans fit the organization's culture rather than applying a generic model. Faculty credit a clear case for change tied to data, use of research on change effectiveness, a stakeholder analysis that names gains and losses for each group and a phased roadmap that sequences quick wins, pilots and full rollout. Plans that treat resistance as legitimate and provide transition protections show judgment. Engaging respected insiders as change agents, communicating through existing channels and measuring adoption demonstrate implementation skill. A realistic timeline, named owners and APA citations complete the work. Faculty also reward a plan that links back to the gap analysis, showing which gap each phase closes, and one that budgets time for the organization to absorb change rather than stacking every initiative into the first year.
HRM 595 Week 4 help: mistakes to avoid
Students often choose a famous change model and walk through its steps without adapting them. Fit the plan to the culture. Another gap is overlooking those who lose under the change, such as long-tenured employees under a new pay system. Name the losses and plan protections. Students also treat communication as a one-way announcement. Plan dialogue. Avoid launching everything at once; pilot first. Remember that supervisors are often the most important change agents. Plan measures of adoption, not only final results. Finally, include what leaders must do personally, since employees judge commitment by leaders' actions. Tie each phase to the gap it closes so readers see the logic.
Related HRM 595 sample papers
Other HRM 595 week samples
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- HRM 595 Week 3: Gap Analysis
- HRM 595 Week 5: HR Tools, Technology and Data
- HRM 595 Week 6: Training, Development and the HR Plan
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HRM 595 Week 4 questions, answered
What does HRM 595 Week 4 usually cover?
It usually covers the change management plan for implementing the capstone HR recommendations: the case for change, stakeholders, resistance, change agents, communication, a phased roadmap and adoption measures.
Where can I find a free HRM 595 Week 4 sample paper?
This page holds a full change management plan for a wind service company's HR transformation, with margin notes explaining each choice. Send your capstone details for a free first draft of the change plan.
Which change model should I use in a capstone?
Any well-supported model can work if it is adapted to the organization. Many students use Kotter's steps or Lewin's model, and recent reviews of change research identify evidence-based practices that can strengthen any model.
How do you handle employees who lose under a change?
Acknowledge the loss honestly, involve them in designing the change, provide transition protections such as pay guarantees and give them a path to benefit from the new system.
Why pilot an HR change before full rollout?
A pilot tests the design in real conditions, reveals problems before they affect everyone, produces evidence and stories that persuade others and builds confidence among those affected.
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