Successful organizational change requires a vision that details the reason for change, how it will impact employees, and what the end result will be. People need to have a clear line of sight that helps them see how things will change and how the company will be better once the change is implemented effectively.
Instead of simply telling employees that change is coming, leaders can effectively communicate a clear vision for change by repeating the vision in numerous forums, including in meetings, one-on-one discussions, and emails. A strong vision inspires people to action.
As people become more comfortable with the vision for change, they will have time to embrace it and support it by changing their behavior. Functional and frontline leaders are uniquely positioned to ensure the involvement of the whole workforce. They touch all levels of employees and can help ensure that key messages about change are consistently delivered throughout the company.
In fact, one study found that one of the most important factors of successful organizational change efforts was the effectiveness of mid-level managers. With the consistent support of all leaders, key messages are reinforced rather than diluted or lost. Organizational leaders can further drive the effectiveness of company change efforts by enlisting change agents who can also support and champion change. These informal leaders support change and lead by example, showing others how to approach change and how to develop a mindset that is less resistant to change.
When people see change agents and peers participating in change efforts, they may be more likely to join in. Effective communication not only helps people understand change and how it will impact them, but also keeps change efforts on track.
Managers are also, unfortunately, the most overlooked group in an organization when it comes to developing the skills that make the difference between change failure and success. These include communicating, interpersonal skills, team building and coaching. Managers must understand the strategy and then translate it in a way that is relevant for each employee. What to do: Every manager should receive the tools and knowledge to truly understand the business, including what changes are needed and why.
They need to know their role and many need to up their game in working with people, especially in times of change. Finally, they need to understand how their team delivers results and how it affects the strategic outcomes the organization is driving toward. Resistance is a natural part of the change process; it is impossible to avoid it entirely and better to embrace it.
Each time you allow resistance to have a voice in the room, you minimize its voice outside the room. Help create forums for people to challenge the change, discuss the change and then be engaged in the solutions for successful changes they can make in their roles. What to do: Set the expectation that resistance is a normal part of change; that it is actually expected. Being really curious about resistance and how to honor it will help you create even stronger plans for executing on strategic change.
To do that, capture those successes and communicate them broadly. What to do: Convert the early wins, no matter how small, into success stories people can understand. These stories let people know what you want more of in the organization and allow others to reflect on whether they could do anything similar. These stories also reinforce that small contributions really do matter. Dialogue is the oxygen of change. Creating methods to enable ongoing dialogue at all levels of the business demonstrates a commitment to the change that is authentic and healthy.
However, those conversations need to be continued and reinforced. What to do: Potential ways to sustain important conversations and help manage change for the long-term include town hall forums or manager meetings.
Success should not be fuzzy. When your people understand the size of the prize and how their contributions matter, they are more motivated to achieve the desired results. Everyone should be visualizing the same thing, and they should be in lockstep on how to achieve it. What to do: As part of your sustainment activities, you should regularly report on organizational progress toward the defined targets. Having a positive leader who actively guides the organization through change and participates visibly throughout the lifecycle of change is the greatest contributor to success.
The importance of sponsorship was cited four times more frequently than the next contributor to change success. Active and visible sponsorship means the sponsor is:. The graph below shows a clear correlation between the effectiveness of sponsorship and the likelihood of meeting project objectives. Projects with extremely effective sponsors were more than twice as likely to meet their objectives than those with very ineffective sponsors.
An intentional and defined approach to managing change provides the structure necessary to stay on track. It earmarks adequate time for meaningful activities and allows space to identify and address gaps throughout the project lifecycle. Using a formal approach also makes processes repeatable for consistent application of change management on more initiatives throughout the organization.
Key words that emerged when participants described this best practice included:. How organizations use a structured approach varied in the research.
Again, the research reveals just how much applying a structured approach contributes to success. Change management practitioners often struggle against the misconception that change management is "just communications.
Beyond frequency, participants cited these factors as important to success:. This approach, updated in Kotter's book Accelerate , involves the following eight stages: 3. These changes can stem from demographic shifts, social trends, new technology, market or competitor changes, or new government regulations.
The leaders should explain that a potential crisis or major opportunity is imminent, and they should encourage frank discussion throughout the organization. Creating a sense of urgency that the status quo is no longer acceptable is essential to gain the workforce's energetic cooperation. Members need substantial authority based on position, expertise, credibility and leadership, as well as effective management skills and proven leadership abilities.
This coalition must learn to work together based on trust and set a common goal. Many guiding coalitions build trust through offsite meetings, joint activities and conversation.
An effective vision is imaginable, desirable, feasible, focused, flexible and communicable, according to Kotter. Creating an effective vision takes time and can be a challenging process, but the end product provides a clear direction for the future. Key elements in effective communications include simplicity, use of examples, multiple forums, repetition, explanation of apparent inconsistencies and two-way communication.
The group should model the behavior expected of employees. Four categories of important obstacles are:. To maintain urgency, leaders should create conditions that support early successes and visible improvements.
The key is to actively search for opportunities to score early achievements and to recognize and reward those who made these accomplishments possible. Good short-term wins have unambiguous results, are visible to many people and are clearly related to the change effort.
It is important to use the early successes as a foundation for larger challenges and to revise all systems, structures and policies that do not fit the change vision. HR can consolidate gains by hiring, promoting and developing employees who can implement the transformation vision. Additionally, the change process can be reinvigorated with new project themes and change agents. A large global retailer uses this model to increase the speed and impact of change initiatives while reducing the downturn of performance, thereby achieving desired outcomes quicker.
Organizations can have a clear vision for changes and a technically and structurally sound foundation for making changes, but the initiatives can still flounder due to obstacles that arise.
Employee resistance and communication breakdown are common obstacles faced during major organizational change. Successful change starts with individuals, and failure often occurs because of human nature and reluctance to change. Employees may also lack the specific behavioral traits needed to adapt easily to changing circumstances, which could decrease employee engagement and effectiveness and put organizational productivity at risk.
How organizations treat workers during a change initiative determines how successful the change—and the organization—will be. There are six states of change readiness: indifference, rejection, doubt, neutrality, experimentation and commitment. Organizations about to embark on a transformation should evaluate workforce readiness with assessment instruments and leader self-evaluations to identify the areas in which the most work is needed.
Leaders should have a solid strategy for dealing with change resistance. Some actions to build employee change readiness include:. Sometimes decisions about major organizational changes are made at the top management level and then trickle down to employees. As a result, why and how the company is changing may be unclear. According to a Robert Half Management Resources survey, poor communication commonly hinders organizational change-management efforts, with 65 percent of managers surveyed indicating that clear and frequent communication is the most important aspect when leading through change.
To avoid this problem, HR should be involved in change planning early to help motivate employees to participate. Effective communication promotes awareness and understanding of why the changes are necessary. Employers should communicate change-related information to employees in multiple forms e.
To avoid communication breakdowns, change leaders and HR professionals should be aware of five change communication methodologies—from those that provide the greatest amount of information to those that provide the least:. Experts estimate that effective communication strategies can double employees' acceptance of change. However, often companies focus solely on tactics such as channels, messages and timing while failing to do a contextual analysis and consider the audience.
Some of the specific communication pitfalls and possible remedies for them are the following:. Executive leaders and HR professionals must be great communicators during change. They should roll out a clear, universal, consistent message to everyone in the organization at the same time, even across multiple sites and locations. Managers should then meet both with their teams and one on one with each team member.
See Say What?! Honing Communication Skills at the Top. Leaders should explain the change and why it is needed, be truthful about its benefits and challenges, listen and respond to employees' reactions and implications, and then ask for and work to achieve individuals' commitment. Employee resistance and communication breakdowns are not the only barriers that stand in the way of successful change efforts. Other common obstacles include:. Change management experts have suggested that unsuccessful change initiatives are often characterized by the following:.
Successful change management must be well-planned, well-timed and well-integrated. Other critical success factors include a structured, proactive approach that encompasses communication, a road map for the sponsors of the change, training programs that go along with the overall project and a plan for dealing with resistance. Change leaders need to be active and visible in sponsoring the change, not only at the beginning but also throughout the process.
Turning their attention to something else can send employees the wrong message—that leaders are no longer interested. Organizational change comes in many forms. It may focus on creating new systems and procedures; introducing new technologies; or adding, eliminating or rebranding products and services.
Other transformations stem from the appointment of a new leader or major staffing changes. Still other changes, such as downsizing or layoffs, bankruptcy, mergers and acquisitions, or closing a business operation, affect business units or the entire organization. Some changes are internal to the HR function. In addition to the general framework for managing change, change leaders and HR professionals should also be aware of considerations relating to the particular type of change being made.
The subsections below highlight some of the special issues and HR challenges. A merger is generally defined as the joining of two or more organizations under one common ownership and management structure. An acquisition is the process of one corporate entity acquiring control of another by purchase, stock swap or some other method. This rate of failure is often attributed to HR-related factors, such as incompatible cultures, management styles, poor motivation, loss of key talent, lack of communication, diminished trust and uncertainty of long-term goals.
Successfully implementing a layoff or reduction in force RIF is one of the more difficult change initiatives an HR professional may face. Tasks HR professionals will need to undertake include:. Filing for a business bankruptcy and successfully emerging from the process is generally a complex and difficult time for all parties. HR may have to cut staff, reduce benefits, change work rules or employ a combination of such actions. A major strategic concern during a Chapter 11 bankruptcy is retaining key personnel.
Compassion, frequent communication and expeditious decision-making will help reduce the stress an organization's employees are likely to experience during this difficult organizational change. Showing genuine respect for people and treating them with honesty, dignity and fairness—even as difficult decisions are being made about pay, benefits and job reductions—will drive the success or failure of an organization post-bankruptcy.
Businesses make the difficult decision to close all or part of their operations for many reasons, including economic recession, market decline, bankruptcy, sale, a realignment of operations, downsizing, reorganization, outsourcing or loss of contracts.
HR professionals will play an integral role during such business closures, from developing the plan for the closure through the final stages of shutdown. Some of HR's major responsibilities during this type of organizational change are listed below:.
For several reasons, including cost savings and freeing staff to focus on more strategic efforts, an organization may decide to outsource HR or other business functions.
0コメント