Change Winners: What They Do That Makes A Difference?
by Beth L. Evard, Craig A. Gipple
Beth L. Evard is a leadership coach, organizational psychologist and the founder of Success through People. With Craig A. Gipple, of Leadership Solutions, Inc., she is co-author of Managing Business Change for Dummies® (Hungry Minds) — July, 2006
"Change winners weren't born with special genes. Along life's journey, they absorbed knowledge from others; they tripped over, experimented with, and struggled to unlock the wisdom of successful change leadership. Because two-thirds of changes fail (how else would the 'flavor-of-the-month' become standard company jargon), more change losers than winners appear to be managing organizations. This means, however, that at least one-third of leaders are change winners. So, the question becomes, 'What are change winners actually doing that the losers aren't?'
"Change winners remember that it is the people who implement change - not the leader, not the consultant, or the latest wiz-bang-theory-of-management. These leaders know that when employees find their work-world stability disrupted, they'll instinctively resist. We all naturally resist anything that creates uncertainty. And it is this very resistance to change - overt or covert - that causes organizational failures.
"Fortunately, just recognizing that uncertainty is a major cause of employee resistance is a big step toward success. The human brain doesn't like uncertainty. So, when the ambiguity of change strikes an organization, people begin experiencing fear, anger, stress, depression, conflict, work errors, and absenteeism (to name a few) - all of which can sabotage change.
"Winning leaders both consciously and unconsciously manage changes in ways that minimize people's uncertainty, and therefore, their resistance. If leaders understand and accept the key issues that cause uncertainty (and resistance), then common sense will guide their planning and personal actions.
"Seven of the most critical issues that winning leaders successfully manage are briefly discussed below:"
ISSUE 1: EMPLOYEES DO NOT SEE THE NEED FOR CHANGE
"'Things are working well around here. I've got happy customers, so I can't see any reason to fix something that isn't broken.'
"When employees believe that change isn't needed, this perception typically arises from two main causes. First, leaders assume that people see the work world similar to the way they see it, and so management fails to package their communication for multiple frames-of-references. Second, leaders believe that great ideas should sell themselves - but in reality they need a marketing plan just like the latest movie.
"The truth is that everyone interprets the world differently - through different eyes, different ears, and different minds. What seems so obvious to leaders may appear unnecessary, misdirected, or even damaging to employees. What appears as something good for the business, may appear as a loud message of employee failure - 'I must be doing something wrong or I wouldn't be needing to change.' To support a change, people must hear a clear, logical, and meaningful (to them) discussion of 'why we need to do things differently?'
"The good news is: Once employees understand how the change will make them more successful, the greater their cooperation - and the less chance for resistance."
ISSUE 2: EMPLOYEES DON'T KNOW HOW THE CHANGE AFFECTS THEM PERSONALLY
"'Nobody is talking to us. None of us know what's happening. Stress and confusion make for short tempers and increasing conflict.'
"People accept ideas or purchase products because of an intellectual and emotional connection, as well as knowing how their lives will improve. So too with selling change initiatives to employees. Leaders can't force employees to 'buy in' - that only leads to resistance, usually covert sabotage. Therefore, leaders must put on their marketing hats and systematically sell that change.
"Most leaders skillfully produce the first step in a change marketing plan - creating the high-level, blissful, big pictures. Regretfully, that's where they usually stop. It's these next steps that are so crucial to implementation success. Leaders must also show each employee what that change means to them individually - both the positive and negative impacts. How does their work change? What's happening with compensation and benefits? Do they have to learn new skills? Each change brings with it its own list of personal and personnel issues.
"The good news is: Providing ongoing opportunities for employees to discuss their personal concerns and potential problems with management helps remove uncertainty and focuses employees on implementation. As uncertainly lessens, so too does resistance."
ISSUE 3: EMPLOYEES DOUBT MANAGEMENT'S COMMITMENT
"'There's a lot of talk around here about how we're all suppose to be managing costs better, but it doesn't seem to apply to [the leadership team]. They just keep on working the way they've always done, but telling us that we need to do better.'
"That old saying, 'Don't do as I do, do as I say,' is wishful thinking. In reality, employees operate from two more realistic versions: 'You don't do it, we don't do it;' and 'When you do it, we'll do it.' When leaders do not personally implement changes, employees get the message that they can just wait it out and 'this one will go the way of all the others.'
"No matter how much leaders care about a change effort and how articulately they describe their vision, people focus on actions. What managers actually do declares how much they support the new direction. Those actions that are not consistent with the change not only stimulate and strengthen resistance, but raise issues of dishonesty, mistrust, and anger.
"The good news is: Clearly demonstrating personal commitment though day-to-day behavior increases success of the change while minimizing resistance."
ISSUE 4: EMPLOYEES DON'T KNOW WHO DOES WHAT AROUND HERE
"'I just got an e-mail on my Blackberry from a peer blaming me for not doing something I didn't know I was suppose to do. I'm still not sure it's my responsibility.'
"Changes often require the modification of work processes and employees' roles and responsibilities. When people lack a clear, common understanding of these modified processes and responsibilities confusion, frustration and conflict flourish. All of this leads to a natural reduction in work quality and productivity, as well as creating stronger resistance to the change.
"Putting it simply, when employees lack a common understanding about how work gets done - it often doesn't. When job and process confusion reign, accountability belongs to no one and no one feels accountable. Errors are made, dates are missed, customers are unhappy and many things just fall through cracks - including the change.
"The good news is: Clearly defining processes along with roles and responsibilities, as an essential part of planning, reduces confusion, conflict, and resistance. With this statement, we assume that the newly designed processes and responsibilities are not stuffed in a binder gathering dust, but are thoroughly discussed with employees and modified as needed.
ISSUE 5: EMPLOYEES HAVE ALREADY EXPERIENCED TOO MANY FAILED CHANGES
"'Here we go again. It's a new quality effort that's supposed to fix the last one that didn't work.'
"Over time, changes that are announced and then fizzle create the "flavor-of-the-month" culture. Employees expect future changes also to fade or fail. Therefore, they see no logical reason to support something that won't succeed. Their lack of commitment (or outright resistance) makes their expectations a self-fulfilling prophecy.
"In a flavor-of-the-month culture, leaders have an uphill battle proving that they are serious and that this change is here to stay. You might say that leaders' credibility is on the line. With each failed change, employees' trust and respect in management erodes even deeper.
"The good news is: After announcing a change, leaders can demonstrate their focused commitment to that effort, present a doable implementation plan, and maintain ongoing oversight. In addition, they can honestly talk with employees about the past failures and show how this change is different.
ISSUE 6: EMPLOYEES ARE ALREADY PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY EXHAUSTED
"'Give me a break. We've got a new matrix reporting relationship, a new e-mail system, and now we've got to change how we report expenses. I wonder when they think we're supposed to get our real work done? No wonder everyone's out sick.'
"Employees have only so much physical, mental, and emotional energy to expend, both at home and on the job. They have, you might say, only one energy bank account. And from that one account, they cope with a never ending list of demands such as childcare, downsizing, aging parents, new reporting relationships, family illnesses, re-engineering, financial difficulties, and back-stabbing peers. Whatever the causes, people may reach a point of stress overload where they feel they just can't cope with one more change. So, great management ideas often meet strong resistance because employees have nothing left to give.
"Well intentioned leaders, in their drive to make sure that their organizations perform well, often pump out ideas for improvements without recognizing the negative impact on their people. Some of those ideas are 'nice-to-do'. Other ideas are critical, high impact, and in the category of 'must-do-in-order-to-survive'. Trying to implement all these ideas, regardless of how critical they are, leads to stress overload, resistance, and multiple change failures…
"The good news is: Introducing only the most critical change efforts, while reducing the 'nice-to-do' ones, helps ensure that employees have the physical, mental, and emotional energy necessary for the changes they have to face.
ISSUE 7: EMPLOYEES THINK CHANGE IS POORLY PLANNED
"'I'll grant you that this change is a good idea, but so far all we've got is chaos. Management doesn't know what they're doing or who should be doing what, when.'
"Employee perception of poor planning arises from several situations. The planning may be incomplete. The plan can be full of errors or omissions, or based on faulty knowledge and assumptions. It could be a good plan, but not communicated well.
"Poor planning naturally leads to an out-of-control change effort - unexpected problems arise, tension intensifies, confusion spreads, conflict escalates over job responsibilities, and unhappy customers abound. Poor planning not only damages the credibility of the leadership - it causes employees naturally to avoid investing their time, talent, and energy into something that has "failure" written all over it.
"The good news is: A sound plan, well communicated to and openly discussed with the employees, helps ensure that they support the change."
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