Engaging employees to achieve improved organisational performance during change

Change is a fact of business life; it’s about doing things differently and this means ensuring employees understand the need for change and the process to achieve it. Any kind of business change activity presents pitfalls, but can also provide a golden opportunity to get closer to employees through relevant and timely communication. This can prevent circumstances brought about by change from having more of a negative impact than they need to.

Take a look at the 6 KEY LEARNINGS from the survey we carried out with 25 senior managers and employees of blue chip companies. The aim in carrying out this survey is to provide communicators and business leaders with an overview of some key issues involved in the change process and to offer insightful information on aspects which can often be overlooked, specifically in the area of communications.

1. Listen! Ask! Draw out deep rooted concerns: There is no perfect way to communicate change. It is uncomfortable and adapting to change is difficult. One of the biggest barriers to change is people’s behaviour because long-held habits die hard; therefore there is a key requirement to generate welcome acceptance and willing participation. Give people the opportunity to share their concerns, ask questions and offer ideas.

2. Tell them, tell them again and keep telling them: The more you involve people in the process the quicker you will win hearts and minds and the sooner you will achieve improved organisational performance. If people feel removed or isolated the more likely they are to become internal saboteurs or cynics. Once insecurity is heightened – you’ll waste a lot of time trying to back-track to a place of order.

3. Managing the trickle down effect is critical: The importance of strong leadership and the cascade process should not be underestimated. The further down the organisation you get the more diluted and fragmented the message can become. Critical to the success of your change programme is the behavioural example that leaders demonstrate and ‘live’. Inspirational but simple briefing packs, and guidance notes are an essential part of communicating downwards – don’t leave it open to individual interpretation!

4. People, who need the most care, probably get the least: Change affects people in different ways and therefore a uniform approach simply won’t do. Very often people who are dramatically affected do not feel as though they have been treated fairly or with any tact and empathy. There is a widespread belief that top management make decisions which affect people lower down the chain with whom they are relatively ‘out of touch’ anyway – and so it appears that there is no consideration of outcome.

5. Management are affected too: The one common link in any change process is that everyone, including management is affected. Managers are often seen to be instigators of change but they too can suffer extreme stress because of it. Once changes are put in place, management may often feel alienated which can be very de-motivating when it’s taken much hard work to build their division or team in the first instance

6. Trust is fragile: Once people lose trust or confidence in the management of the company it is very difficult to rebuild it. Underlying nervousness and potential insecurities can take months and even years to go away completely, by which time there’s probably another major change on the way! The sooner people support the change initiative the more productive the company will become. In other words create trust by being honest.

If you think you would benefit from a copy of the full report please email  andrea.thompson@marmaladeconsulting.com