Making Change Work
Making the changes
Plan the introduction of the change in detail.
Aim to avoid last minute problems, which can result in employees feeling negative or doubtful about the change. Even those employees who are happy with the proposed change can quickly lose faith if the whole thing appears to be going wrong.
Ensure that any resources or training to cope with the change is in place ready for the big event. If changes are going to be introduced gradually then produce a timetable.
Throughout the process keep the channels of communication open. Keep employees up-to-date with progress. If problems do occur then explain why and what you are going to do to rectify them.
The aftermath
The changes are now in place. Hopefully the majority of the team are happy and working well. But your job is not over yet.
Those affected will have responded to the changes and you may have to take action as a result. Human nature being what it is, individuals affected by change will respond in one of three ways. They will:-
- Accept the change.
- Resist the change.
- Ignore the change.
The easiest response to handle is obviously the employee who accepts the change. Those who have accepted the change will need continued support to ensure that they continue to embrace the change until it becomes the norm.
The employee who resists may well become disruptive and will almost certainly need care and attention. You will be able to identify the resister, as they will almost certainly be making negative comments. You need to get to the root of their resistance, as it may be something that can easily be rectified. Very often resistance is due to fear of the change and with a little extra help and support this can be overcome.
The employee who ignores the change is actually going to be your toughest challenge as their attitude is "this doesn't affect me" and they carry on as normal. This type of response can result in an employee ignoring new operational procedures or even taking short cuts in processes. You will have no choice other than to confront the employee with the aim of forcing the issue. If they still fail to respond then you may have to resort to the company's disciplinary procedure.
Kotter's eight step change model - **
John Kotter's book, 'The Heart Of Change' (2002), presents a model for understanding and managing change. Each stage acknowledges a key principle relating to people's response and approach to change, in which people see, feel and then change.
Kotter's eight step change model can be summarised as:
- Increase urgency - inspire people to move, make objectives real and relevant.
- Build the guiding team - get the right people in place with the right emotional commitment, and the right mix of skills and levels.
- Get the vision right - get the team to establish a simple vision and strategy, focus on emotional and creative aspects necessary to drive service and efficiency.
- Communicate for buy - in - Involve as many people as possible, communicate the essentials, simply, and to appeal and respond to people's needs. De-clutter communications - make technology work for you rather than against.
- Empower action - Remove obstacles, enable constructive feedback and lots of support from leaders - reward and recognise progress and achievements.
- Create short-term wins - Set aims that are easy to achieve - in bite-size chunks. Manageable numbers of initiatives. Finish current stages before starting new ones.
- Don't let up - Foster and encourage determination and persistence - ongoing change - encourage ongoing progress reporting - highlight achieved and future milestones.
- Make change stick - Reinforce the value of successful change via recruitment, promotion and new change leaders. Weave change into culture.