Change Management – Success Factors |
| (Excerpts from the guide on how to manage change in an organization. Excerpted from the document written by Phil Harding. This guide is published on www.oursouthwest.com) |
The four factors for Success: pressure –
shared vision – capacity – action
Factor 1. Pressure for change (the top down approach) “Leadership is getting others to do what you want them to do because they want to do it” – Eisenhower Firstly there must, of course, be pressure for change-a driving force. The need for change has been identified, the decision to proceed has been taken, and this now needs to be communicated throughout the organization. Pressure for change be senior management commitment from the outset, but it may have come from customers or clients in a supply chain. It could come from a regulatory regime, the implementation of a particular system or policy or, (and this can often be the most effective source), pressure from the workforce itself. Who wants to work for an organization that has developed a notorious reputation for something negative? It is widely accepted that when people take a pride in the organization they work for, they perform better and will more readily put themselves out to help achieve corporate goals. Four success, however, regardless of where the original pressure came from, senior management commitment and drive for change is essential if momentum is to be maintained for effective implementation. The rest of the organization will need to be convinced of the need and the case for change – this is death with in more detail in Factor 2 (A clear shared vision). Only this can happen to good effect if senior management, including the people at the very top, are collectively behind the changes sought. “Our character is what we do when we think no
one is looking” Senior management must be see to be fully supportive by what they do and say – both privately and publicly, If, however, senior or management “talks the talk” by failing to back up their statements with action and a continuous commitment, progress can soon stall. Other conflicting or new priorities emerge and the momentum can be lost if senior management fail to remain fully supportive of the project. So, get senior management signed up top the change. And communicate this to all staff – giving them the opportunity to feed in their contributions and feel that they have joint ownership of the change being implemented. A new or improved policy can be the signal to staff that things are changing, and that they have a role to play in making this happen. It’s their agenda too. It’s in their interests and in the interests of the organization that the changes are made. This is where a clear, shared vision (Factor 2) is essential. Factor 2. A clear, shared vision “As a manager the important thing is not what
happens when you are there, For change to be effective, it needs to be implemented at all levels; embed deed in the culture of the organization. To keep colleagues with you and not against you they need to be motivated, and you need to understand what motivates them. You should never forget that change is a major cause of stress amongst the workforce. Staff will usually respond well to challenges (that they feel they can meet!); it’s fear of the unknown that raises stress levels. Getting staff motivated to support the changes that are to be implemented is therefore crucial for success. Staff, their mangers and senior mangers are all motivated by similar things. They do not, however, necessarily place them in the same order of importance. Theses ‘motivators’include pride, happiness, responsibility, recognition, security, success, and, of course, money. /the trick in successfully managing change and getting the commitment and support from staff is to provided these ‘motivators’ for your staff – or at least as many of them as possible. Here are some tips, questions and ideas to help you. PRIDE When was the last time you {or senior management} told or showed your staff how proud you are of what they have achieved? The performance of your staff can drop significantly if they feel unappreciated or taken for granted. Staff that take pride and some level of enjoyment in their work and working environment are much more likely to perform well and provide new ideas for improving the organization’s own well being. HAPPINESS A culture where laughter is permitted and encouraged can make all the difference in helping everyone get thought the day. A caring approach to your staff can reap many benefits; because if they know their employer cares about them as individuals then they will be more likely to care about the employer’s interests. Taking the approach of ‘treating others as we would wish to be treated ourselves’ is the ‘gold rule’ for strengthening and improving relationships between everyone at all levels in the organization. RESPONSIBILITY Giving people more responsibility is a demonstration of trust. If people feel they are trusted they usually respond by taking greater care and pride in their work. Is management then take responsibility when things go wrong? – Or does it have a blame culture? SUCCESS We all have slightly different views on what constitutes success. But there can often be common factors such as market profile, corporate reputation and product quality. A useful exercise here is, following a presentation on whey change is being undertaken, to ask staff, individually or in small focus groups, what they have as a vision for the company/organization and also for themselves as individuals. Good questions to get things going are: (i) What or where are you now? A facilitated discussion can tease out where ideas overlap and demonstrate where common ground exists and can be strengthened. Use the ‘Change Management Matrix’ at the end of this guide to reveal the current status within your organization.
Are your staff valued and made to feel part of the organization’s success? Even when times are hard? When was the last time you took time out to say ‘thank you’ to staff at all levels of the organization for their individual contributions? To ignore this important motivator would be a serious error; and could result in losing the support you need when implementing change. An effective approach employers can take is to treat its employees as its most important and valued customers. The employer is providing employment activity and wages; the employees purchase these with their effort. The spin-off is that the external customers benefits from a more highly motivated company to do business with. SECURITY “You do not lead people by hitting them over
the head Whenever change is being implemented the fear factor can set in. This can be the fear of change itself and its consequences such as the possible loss of job security or loss of responsibility or control. Continuous, honest and open communication is essential here. Change can take people out of their ‘comfort zone’ and raise their stress levels. The challenge is to demonstrate that the new ‘zone’ is even more comfortable and secure – or at least it will be once the initial short-term discomfort of implementing change has been overcome. MONEY “I am not interested in money. I just want to be wonderful” Money is of course an important motivator. Under-paid staff feel under-valued and are less likely to respond positively to change – especially if it means more effort for captivating outside interests, ‘work to live rather than live to work’, but we need to recognize that most full-time employees spend more of their waking hours at work than they spend on pursuing leisure interests or with their families. This means that providing the other six motivators is equally as important as paying a fair wage for a fair job work done. Finally, management and staff alike need to remember that, in the words of Henry Ford, “it is not eh employer who pays wages; he only
handles the money. Factor 3. Capacity for change (resources) “More business is lost every year through neglect
than through any other cause” Capacity here means resources and these are staff time and, where appropriate, money. To implement change you need to identify the resources that will be required before you proceed and make sure these are provided. Often, the cost benefits from implementing efficiency measures and waste minimization programmes can provide the financial resources for an ongoing programme of improvement. It is usually the organization’s own employees that have the information, intuition, ideas and instincts necessary for implementing change effectively. When given the capability and the opportunity to participate in improvement programmes, it is employees who often can find the greatest cost savings and efficiency improvements. Factor 4.Action “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence
“Energy is equal to desire and purpose” – Sheryl Adams
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