The rate of organizational change has accelerated dramatically over the past ten years, for many different reasons. Show
Sometimes workplace change must occur rapidly and without employee consultation, like during the COVID-19 pandemic. In other situations like mergers or acquisitions, changes are confidential until the contracts are signed, and the press release is published. Corporate leaders trying to manage increasing change confirm that failing to do so adequately can be costly: Employees upset by change are generally less productive. This blog covers how to successfully implement workplace change and help employees positively cope with change. Approach Workplace Change With EmpathyTo help your employees through the process of change and encourage them to support the change, you must first understand the emotions they may be experiencing at each phase. As soon as you announce a change to your organization, employees’ emotions will range from fear to relief and even excitement. An array of emotional responses is expected depending on the type of change and why it’s occurring. It’s important to remember that change is personal, and you must earn your adopters one by one. Each employee’s degree of resistance will be determined by how severe they expect the change’s impact to be on them. Coming to accept it will depend on how much resistance they have, their coping skills and their support system. When change and uncertainty swirl inside and outside the workplace, follow these tried and true methods to help employees embrace change and strengthen their resilience. Create a Compelling “Why” for Every ChangeRegardless of how you believe employees will react, you must set an honest, positive and compelling narrative for the changes you want to make before any anxiety, confusion or rumor take root. Studies suggest that this is where most leaders fall short in communicating change. Momentum can fall flat when employees feel their leaders are not clear enough about what they hoped to achieve through change or their role in implementing the change. Remember that the best way to gain the highest level of compliance and buy-in is by actively empowering your employees. What to do:
Communicate How the Change Will Be Implemented and Keep Employees UpdatedAfter you introduce a proposed change, employees need to understand their role in the new structure Defining clear roles for all involved employees allows each person to understand their level of accountability and who is responsible for facilitating communication throughout the change process. Once individual roles have been defined, you can set milestones and check-in schedules that help establish a rhythm of communication for everyone within the organization. Just as change is personal, so are learning and reception styles, so consider more than one change communication channel. Some employees may find it meaningful that communications come from multiple sources, such as management and HR. What to do:
Remove Barriers and Reward AcceptanceAs with any new product, idea or change, you’ll always have early and late adopters. Identify your early adopters and reward desired behaviors instead of chastising negative ones. Don't be afraid to ask early adopters how you can make it easier for others to follow suit. When you’ve established how new processes will work, remove the pressure of committing them to memory right away by providing employees with job aids or instruction guides as a point of reference to aid in assimilating into the new workflow. What to do:
Generate Short Term WinsRemember, change takes time – sometimes months, sometimes years. This time frame can be discouraging to employees, and you may find it challenging to keep the optimism and enthusiasm for change alive. Until the change is actually embedded in your organization’s culture, it will remain vulnerable to resistance. According to the Kotter method, a widely adopted approach for managing organizational change, the final stage for successful change is linking the change to corporate culture through norms of group behavior and shared values. What to do:
Coping Strategies to Help Your Employees Through Workplace ChangeShare the following tips with employees in a well-being newsletter or encourage your mid-level managers to leverage them in one-on-one meetings with employees. Face your fears.Instead of letting them swirl around in your mind all day, write down your biggest fears or anxieties resulting from this change. Talk through these fears with your co-workers to see if others might be sharing them, and then create a plan for how you will address the fear should it come to pass. Just knowing you have a plan can help to ease the anxiety. Be part of the change.Try to adopt an attitude of excitement and view the change as an opportunity to learn a new skill, gain some leadership experience, or meet some new people. Reduce stress and anxiety.To make rational decisions during what appears to be a time of chaos, focus on your health. If left unchecked, unwanted change can lead to a surge in stress-related hormones that can disrupt your sleep, appetite and productivity. Care for yourself by:
Creating a culture of wellness that encourages employees to be mindful of these strategies and more year round, instead of solely through periods of change, can ease the burdens on senior leadership, human resources and management. Improve Employee Resilience and Reduce Change-Related StressIf operations are changing due to COVID-19 or your business is undertaking significant transitions like a merger or acquisition, you’re bound to hit obstacles along the way, and some employees may feel more change-related stress than others. Help employees cope with unforeseen challenges and changes with our new coaching program: Navigating Change. Navigating Change was developed by Cleveland Clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic to help support employee health and well-being during times of uncertainty and change. Participants focus on maintaining a healthy diet, exercise routine and learning coping strategies for stress, whether brought on by personal or professional matters. Learn more about Navigating Change and other personal health coaching programs. → Resources: Gartner. Change Management. Accessed December 10, 2018. Harvard Business Review. How to Communicate Clearly During Organizational Change. Accessed December 10, 2018. Kotter, John. (2014). Accelerate: Building strategic agility for a faster-moving world. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press. Forbes. 10 Ways Managers Can Help Employees Adjust To Change. Accessed November 27, 2020. Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Communicating with Employees During a Crisis. Accessed November 27, 2020. Which tool is most important when a supervisor is determining the work to be done setting priorities and ensuring that the work is completed?Chapter 2 Principles of Business. Are managers responsible for getting the work of an organization?Managers are responsible for getting work done through others. We typically describe the key managerial functions as planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.
Is characterized by the ability to channel its creative juices into useful outcomes?Innovation is the process of taking a creative idea and turning it into a useful product, service, or method of operation. The innovation organization is characterized by the ability to channel its creative juices into useful outcomes.
For which level of management are conceptual skills particularly important?Conceptual skills tend to be most relevant to upper-level thinking and broad strategic situations (as opposed to lower-level and line management). As a result, conceptual skills are often viewed as critical success factors for upper-managerial functions.
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