What is change management?
When we refer to organisational change, we typically mean the actions a company takes to modify a major component of its organisational structure. This can be changes made to a company’s technology or infrastructure, an internal process or hierarchical structure, or even the corporate culture and vision. A distinction is typically made between transformational and adaptive change.
- Transformational change: This type of change usually happens on a large scale and can have a significant impact on an organisation. Examples might be launching a new company division or opening an overseas branch.
- Adaptive change: Adaptive changes in organisations are typically small or gradual changes that help the company evolve. This can mean hiring new team members, designing a new process in a department or updating an existing company policy.
Not surprisingly, managing such change – especially transformational change – can be challenging and is often met with resistance among the workforce or even executives. Change management is the process of navigating the organisation through these uncertain waters and guiding adaptive or transformational changes to successful completion.
Related: How to Manage Employees
Designing an effective change management plan
Here are 10 tips to consider when drawing up your company’s change management plan:
1. Ensure clarity around why change is necessary
Before proceeding with any major organisational change, make sure all your staff understand the underlying reasons and your vision for the change. Clearly define your objectives, the desired outcome and the anticipated benefits for staff and company from the outset. Make sure you stress any expected positive impact to get everyone on board.
2. Put together a strong team
Having a dedicated team in place to oversee the change process is crucial. Try to put together a group of workers with a blend of relevant skills, from project management and communication to leadership. This team – guided by a nominated change manager – can serve as the interface between the executive leadership and your workforce, ensuring that everything stays on track and any concerns are promptly addressed.
3. Foster effective communication
As in most business areas, open and transparent communication is a crucial component of any change management process. It’s worth drafting a communication plan that stipulates what information will be shared with employees and other stakeholders, via which method and how often. For example, you may choose to update everyone through emails, newsletters, in-person meetings or your company intranet. This proactive approach can help you avoid speculation and miscommunication and their potential negative effects.
4. Drive employee engagement
It’s no secret that workers who are involved in corporate processes and decisions are more engaged than those who feel as though everything is decided over their heads. If you involve your staff in the change process from day one, they are more likely to support your decisions and be positive about the changes introduced. After all, being involved means they are likely to feel a sense of ownership and empowerment – and staff who feel valued are more likely to be committed to seeing the change process through.
Related: How to Motivate Your Employees
5. Provide training and support
People often resist change because they fear the unknown. In an organisational setting, you can mitigate such fears by putting in place a solid training and support program that will give your staff the necessary know-how and skills to deal with changing processes or systems. To be effective, such training should be ongoing and cater to different learning styles and levels of experience and knowledge. You may also want to consider a one-on-one mentoring program or invite external providers to give specialist talks in order to best support your staff. The important thing is that your workforce feels supported along the way.
Related: 5 Steps to Creating an Effective Training and Development Program
6. Manage resistance
As frustrating as it can be, resistance to change is natural and to be expected. The underlying reasons may range from worrying about losing a job, being faced with an increased workload or simply experiencing a sense of losing control or self-worth. It’s important that you acknowledge such fears and reassure your staff. Give them a safe space to voice their concerns and genuinely listen. Staff need to feel that their voices are being heard. This, and ensuring they understand the benefits of the change you’re trying to introduce, will help break down any barriers and resistance.
7. Seek out feedback
Dialogue with your workforce is always important, but especially during times of change. Feedback is an invaluable tool in any change management process. Try to set up a structured feedback process that allows your staff to openly share their thoughts and make suggestions. They are on the front lines, so their first-hand accounts are often invaluable. Naturally, you should be willing to make adjustments on the basis of the feedback received. This will demonstrate that your company values continuous improvement and is committed to making the transition as smooth as possible by involving everyone from the ground up.
Related: Employee Satisfaction Surveys: What They Are and Why They’re Important for Your Business
8. Celebrate small successes
Despite everyone’s best intentions, major change can be overwhelming. So, it may be a good idea to celebrate smaller milestones and wins along the way. Acknowledging even minor successes can boost employee morale and motivation – which is exactly what you want in times of change. You can support your team by verbally praising their efforts, hosting team celebration events or even offering small incentives such as cinema tickets. Recognising your staff’s efforts is likely to foster a positive attitude towards the change and encourage their ongoing commitment to the cause.
9. Lead by example
Leadership is always crucial, but especially so when it comes to change management. Strong leaders should model the attitude and conduct they expect from their staff. Their commitment, enthusiasm and willingness to adapt to change will set the tone for the rest of the company. If workers see their superiors actively embracing and championing change, they are more likely to follow suit. The power of leading by example should, therefore, not be underestimated.
10. Monitor and evaluate progress
Although you may breathe a sigh of relief once the change has been implemented, the change management process still isn’t over. Ongoing monitoring and evaluation are important to ensure that your desired outcomes are actually being achieved. This may take the form of collecting KPI data or gathering employee feedback, for example. Use any data gathered to make any necessary adjustments as needed on an ongoing basis. This will also help you be better prepared for potential future change initiatives.
Related: Employee Key Performance Indicators: A Guide to Setting and Measuring Them
Employers seeking to navigate the challenges of the rapidly evolving business world won’t get around the need to develop an effective change management process in their organisation. By keeping in mind the 10 tips in this article, companies can increase the likelihood of implementing change successfully by fostering a culture of agility and openness towards continuous improvement.
