Retained UK recruiter on Change - a check up

Analysis of the latest thinking on change reinforces what, by now, most managers already know…

MESSAGE RECEIVED

The studies are different, but the story’s the same: 

• a recent survey of some 10,000 American employees finds that the three biggest barriers to successful change remain: 
  • lack of management support and visibility
  • employee resistance
  • inadequate management skills
    
    
• a Warwick University study maintains, meantime, that three of the five key success factors for change are people-centred: 
  • commitment
  • culture
  • communication
     
• of 1,312 UK managers who responded to an Institute of Management survey, 62% say their organisations have gone through some sort of change or restructuring in the past year, and maintain that such changes have led to: 
  • job insecurity (65%)
  • lower morale (64%)
  • loyalty (49%)

In other words, people can make or break change and change can make or break people. MINDSET REQUIRED Admit your people are your "predicament", and the key is to see change from their point of view: 

• what’s it for?
  give them a logical, compelling reason for the change initiative; do not just tell them what you’re going to do, tell them why

• why the hurry?
  in the absence of a crisis, a sense of urgency must be created to drive the change; option A: threats (‘do this or else’), which will have them operating out of fear; option B: positive incentives (‘do this, and we’ll be able to …’) which will have them operating out of hope

Shock treatment  At a company retreat for the top 100 executives of Philips Electronics, CEO Jan Timmer handed out a pretend press release stating that Philips was bankrupt. Thus securing their undivided attention. But their undivided support?  

• what’s wrong with how we do it now?
  create a sense of dissatisfaction with the status quo; guide them like a guilty conscience e.g. ‘what’s holding you back?’

• what’s in it for me?
  make no mistake about it, they’ll be working out the extra workload; you need to work out how to make it worth their while – e.g. money, responsibility

Short changed?  In June this year Goldman Sachs’ 34 UK partners learned that they will each receive some £45m as a result of the bank’s decision to float. Change management commentators advised some largesse also lower down the ranks…  

• for how long?
  to prevent change initiatives from heading the way of most new resolutions, employees will need something with which they can identify and which clearly shows progress, e.g. a tangible (project chart) or symbol (mini milestone celebrations)