Companies that understand the connection between preparing their people to accept change and an effective implementation of new initiatives are guaranteed to see their efforts rewarded and achieve the objectives sought. We know that with careful planning and the support of top leaders, organisations can help their people adapt to change and maintain their competitive advantage. However, poor management can have very serious consequences. According to a Leadership IQ survey of workers who remained after a workforce reduction, 74% of those surveyed said they had decreased their productivity and 69% that the quality of the services provided by their company had plummeted. In fact, it has been shown that when managers and staff are not willing to accept change, the consequences are absenteeism, lack of performance, decreased productivity, loss of commitment, reduction in customer loyalty, brand reputation, etc.

For one thing, most people do not have the necessary attitude to adapt to changing circumstances. On the other hand, another problem that we can find is that companies do not consider change management a key competence for their leaders. As a result, they fail in the attempt to provide adequate development for their employees, limiting themselves to offering them isolated courses that do not take into account the organisation’s environment or the business context, with little or no follow-up and few practical sessions.

With our superior change management courses, Applied Innovation is ready to help your organisation adapt to the inevitable changes it’ll be changing. Contact us now for more information about our services and how we can help you achieve your goals adapting to change in your organisation.

The strategy for effective change

Successfully implementing a strategic change management plan requires integrated planning into the processes before, during and after the change. If pre-change preparation is crucial, change implementation and follow-up actions are also very important.

Before

1. Understand the pre-change initiatives. To make an effective plan it is necessary to know what happened with previous situations of change. You have to work with managers and staff to learn what worked, what didn’t, and what gaps we must complete.
2. Involve managers. For the greatest success, it is imperative that leaders, including CEO, are clearly supporting the effort, they are the ones driving change in organisations. Human Resources has to demonstrate to its executives that managing change is not always going to be pleasant, but it is necessary to ensure alignment between the organisation’s talent management and the business strategy.
3. Identify people who can block or facilitate change. Part of the process involves an assessment to help people understand their strengths and weaknesses. In addition, the manager can use the results to create a team profile and discuss with them how individual attitudes can affect group dynamics.
4. Design a change process. The important thing is to point out the key areas where human capital can be affected. Launch initiatives to help adapt to changes.
5. Build an effective communication system. We must build the communication of change from everything we do, such as taking it into account in our manager performance systems and in our intranet publications.

During and after

6. Provide the necessary support to managers to direct their collaborators in change processes. It can be carried out in a group or in individual interactions. Sometimes it helps to keep managers together, because the process of executing change can be a very lonely experience. It is also recommended that you have individual meetings with each member of your team.
7. Offer coaching to managers who need complementary support. Provide adequate and necessary support and development to help drive change throughout the organisation. If they are unable to effectively communicate the vision and strategy, and thereby gain the commitment of their teams during the process, the change will not be successful.
8. Measure success. We must first know how we define success in each case and use an appropriate methodology to assess whether it has actually been achieved. For example, in some cases, it may be necessary to measure the ability of a manager to have an effective conversation about change with a collaborator, in which case a 360º of their interactions may be optimal. However, if success is defined by measuring the behavior of the organisation as a whole, then it may be appropriate to ask employees to complete an opinion survey before and after managing change.

Applying change management

For the people

It allows the success of people by supporting them in their process of personal change. For an organisation to change successfully, people must change. Ultimately, the success of each project relies on each impacted employee doing their job differently:

• Awareness of the need for change.
• Desire to participate and support change.
• Knowledge about how to change.
• Ability to demonstrate new knowledge.
• Reinforcement to sustain change.

In this area, change management can be used to:

• Facilitate individual change.
• Create a common language for change.
• Empower managers and managers.

Consciousness is the first milestone, knowing why a change is made, the nature of the change and the risk of not changing, are key to a successful change. A change is only successful when each affected employee has reached the five milestones described.

For a company

• Facilitates improving agility by incorporating change management as a capability in the organisation. To be successful in an environment of simultaneous and continuous change, organisations must grow their capacity for change, understanding that a mature capacity for change means:
• Change management is the norm in projects and initiatives.
• There are common change management processes and tools.
• Sponsors, middle managers, and front-line employees alike know and fulfill their roles to lead change.
• Making change management an internal competence dramatically increases the success of projects throughout the organisation and builds the capacity for organisations to succeed in the face of constant change.

Recommendations

An effective change management process requires preparation and a comprehensive effort that involves all levels of the organisation, led by top management. Today companies have no other option, change is a constant.

In order to be successful and thrive, they need people who can respond effectively, adapt to change, and perform optimally. Develop a plan with measurable goals. Identify and develop change management behaviors within teams. Implement a process that includes leadership support, development, effective communication, and measures of success. By following these steps, your organisation will have the agility necessary to meet the demands of change, ensuring the levels it needs to remain competitive and achieve strategic objectives, even in today’s tough economy.

Bear in mind that here at Applied Innovation we have a team of professionals with a unique combination of leadership and experience to prepare your people to adapt to change.