Columbine how to use strategic internal communications to help employees embrace change...

SUCCESSFUL CHANGE MANAGEMENT

How to use Strategic Internal Communications to Help

Employees Embrace Change

All copyrights reserved

WHY IS CHANGE MANAGEMENT

SO CRITICAL FOR

ORGANISATIONS TODAY?

• Change is constant yet often unpredictable.

• Re-organisational change/s occur on average every 2 years.

• People are less committed to a company than previous generations

(change jobs every 3-5 years).

• Management does not mitigate personnel risk of change.

• People don’t have much say, are not heard and their issues are

ineffectively addressed, or at all.

• How individuals relate to values, culture and brand of a company is

often misunderstood.

• Effective leadership and management is lacking to align people with

mission, vision and strategic objectives of a company.

• Communications is still largely regarded as a non-strategic and purely

operational function.

• Employees are not sufficiently aware and part of the change/s.

The Rationale for Change Management

Prosci Change Management Triangle

Leadership/sponsorship

Project Management

Projects

meet objectives

Projects

finish on time and on budget

Return on investment realised

Change Management

• Organisations are created by people not by profit.

• People make business happen not products or services alone.

• People are the core of organisations and should be their most valuable

assets.

• People are the guardians of a company’s brand proposition and reputation.

• People are key to the sustainability of business.

• People are integral to achieving competitive advantage.

Yet how many companies truly realise this?

The reality is… very few.

The #1 obstacle to success for major change projects is employee

resistance and the ineffective management of the people side

of change.

People are the key

Identifying Change and Communication Effectiveness

Identifying Change and Communication Effectiveness

WHY IS COMMUNICATION SO

CRITICAL TO CHANGE

MANAGEMENT?

Our Philosophy

“In today’s fast-paced constantly

changing and increasingly competitive

business world, communication is the

critical enabler to engage,

manage and lead people in organisations

to increase productivity, improve

performance and deliver better

results that achieve business

sustainability.”

• Provide clear direction to navigate complexity.

• Inform, involve, and empower employees.

• Foster teamwork and collaboration.

• Strengthen the Employee Value Proposition (EVP).

• Achieve employee engagement.

• Create a shared experience.

• Establish a sense of ownership.

• Equip leaders and managers with tools and skills to

be effective facilitators of change.

• Increase performance to deliver results.

• Improve bottom line ROI.

• Must be sustainable to be effective!

To be effective Change Management and

Communication must

What happens during change?

Blocking and resistance

Focus on obstacles

Magnify problems

Irritation

Aggressiveness

Depression

Looking ahead

Change in attitudes

Some positive view

of future

New

motivation

Do or die situation

The Classic Change Curve

Denial phase Reaction phase Adaptation phase Reorientation phase

RE

AC

TIO

N

TIME

Executive

management

Middle management

React + un-

certainty,

passive

resistance &

low motivation

React + uncertainty,

insecurity & active

resistance, low

productivity

React + certainty but

non-commitment &

self-vested decisions

React more

decisively,

reasonably &

responsibly &

Different reaction to change at

different levels of organisation

Everyone reacts - but not simultaneously and not in the same way

Operational level Administrative & support level

RE

AC

TIO

N

TIME

What happens during change?

What happens as a result of Change?

NEGATIVE POSITIVE

Insecurity and fear Greater clarity

Lack of direction Some direction

Less trust in leadership New relationships

Low morale Cultural and climatic change

Low productivity New motivation

Absenteeism Increased capacity

Retrenchment Diversity

Resignations Solid core*

Loss of talent and capacity New opportunities

Labour action More robust team

• Involved from the outset with a clear mandate.

• Partnership and change management.

• Integration of communication with other activities.

• Change communication strategy and plan to guide entire process.

• Leadership and management co-operation and endorsement.

• Management is visible, approachable open and spokes persons are

trained on key messages.

• Introduce dialogue as early as possible and follow up with action.

• Information simple, clear, factual, honest, consistent, regular, timely.

• Use communication channels and media appropriately.

• Co-operate with external stakeholders: press, labour, government,

industry.

• Give regular feedback and show progress of change/s.

• Constantly monitor communication to identify progression and

corrective action.

The Role of Communication during Major Change

Critical success factors for Communication in Change

Critical success factors for Communication in Change

Simple and clear ‘why,

what, when and how’

Verbal and written Initiate dialog

Repeat why, what, when and how

Obtain feedback

Continue to

obtain feedback

Confirm changes +

positive responses

Tell success stories

Advise outcomes

of change and

celebrate

achievements

Continue dialog

Different communication needed at different stages

what, why, who, how, where and when

Denial phase Reaction phase Adaptation phase Reorientation phase

RE

AC

TIO

N

TIME

Communication during change

• Understand how people respond.

• TELL PEOPLE WHAT IS GOING ON!!!

• Give people an opportunity to voice their concerns.

• Listen and respect people’s concerns and emotions.

• Respond to the WIFM on a human level.

• Empower employees to make decisions.

• Encourage employees’ participation.

• Enable employees to be creative and innovative.

• Allow employees ownership of their change process

• Tie in with values, culture and brand.

• Recognise employee’s contribution.

• Celebrate achievements.

Critical success factors for Communication in Change

Involving and engaging employees

Addressing Resistance to Change

Resistance is a common reaction to change.

• Many factors and reasons behind why employees resist change.

• May not relate to the change itself.

• May manifest in negative behaviour and damaging action.

• Communication is an enabler to address resistance but can not

solve the cause!

• Face to face coaching

• Mentoring

• Group dialogue

• LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN

• Place the employee at the centre of the solution, empower.

Involve Employees through Communication to

Achieve Engagement

• Enquire and elicit input and feedback from employees

• Inform, invite contribution from staff to make a difference

• To reach employees on three levels:

cognitive (think), emotive (feel), behavioural (act)

• Win hearts and minds… and hands of organisation

• Alignment to business objectives

• Achieve long term benefit versus short-term gain

• Positive impact on organisational culture

• Ripple effect to impact external stakeholder interactions

• Improve brand position, competitiveness, sales.

• Manage reputation and brand proposition.

• Realise business benefit in ROI – 3 x bottom line.

Identify and address employee concerns

• Appreciative enquiry

• Storytelling

• Message Maps

• Journey Visioning

• Action Teams

• Critical Conversations

• Conversational Leadership

• Symbology

• Social Media

Build Trust

• Executive leaders – advocate and demonstrate (“show the

way”)

• Opinion leaders in the business - influence

• Senior managers – catalyse the business proposition

• Line managers – make it real and relevant

• Human Capital Development – drive

• HR specialists – implement and manage

• Communication specialists – facilitate and support

• Mentors and coaches - empower

• All employees – endorse and deliver

Communication can no longer be hierarchical, but must integrated

into organisational environment and existing structures to be

effective.

• Align the change progression with the brand proposition = relate back

to the business and corporate positioning.

• Understand what matters to employees.

• Respond to their values and beliefs.

• Build a people centred EVP.

• Develop key themes and messages around this.

• Involve employees in this process.

• Use visual iconography to depict the brand.

• Use photographs and video clips with authentic content.

• Use symbolism to reflect the brand.

• Demonstrate brand recognition in action (leaders, managers).

• Recognise and reward brand fulfillment.

• Applaud achievements

• Celebrate successes.

An integrated and aligned brand approach

• Establish an individual identity for change project to align with brand

• Create a logo and avatar (dynamic icon)e.g. symbol that evolves with

change.

• Create a specific site/page on intranet and up-date regularly

• Change newsletter & dedicated sections in general internal comms

• Create a roadmap & work aids that tell parts of the change story

• Establish/strengthen brand affinity programme.

• Create & leverage employee suggestion scheme for feedback.

• Create a platform for employee originated communication.

• Performance achievement awards

• Values and culture recognition incentives

• Corporate governance and empowerment awards

• Team building and social activities.

Creating a Change Communication programme

• Executives

• Senior managers

• Middle/ line managers

• Supervisors

• Change Agent Network

• Coaches

• Facilitators / trainers

• HR specialists

• Communication

• Mentors and coaches

• All employees

Communication Role Players

• Themes

• Key messages

• Timing

• Content

• Context

• Adapted for each stakeholder group

• Modified for each target audience

• Track, monitor response and obtain feedback

• Measure and gauge effectiveness.

• Identify concerns, issues, develop appropriate timely response.

• Determine corrective actions.

Message Management

• E-mail

• SMS

• Intranet

• Electronic screens

• TV

• Notice boards

• Newsletters

• Memos/letters

• Tabloids

• Pamphlets

• Banners

• Competitions

• Feedback and incentive schemes

• Grapevine

Traditional Communication Channels

Traditional Communication Methods … no longer

work

• We are bombarded with emails on a daily basis.

• We delete a minimum of 25% of our emails without

reading them

The risks are:

• They are not read, i.e. deleted without being read

• Not read on time

• Information may be received after the fact.

• Not responded to on time

• Incorrect or no response action taken.

• Cost in time and resources.

• Creates lack of awareness and misunderstanding

• Could result in unnecessary issues .

New Communication Methods to Communicate with and

Engage Employees

Source: IABC Research Foundation and Buck Consultants Employee Engagement Survey

New Communication Methods to Support

Change Management

Use of social media and social media tools is on the rise:

Linked In, Facebook, Twitter, My Space, Yammer, Flickr

microblogs, RSS, Wikis, polls, podcasting, meet ups

• Online chat forums and discussion boards

• Online face to face virtual communication via SKYPE and

video casts

• SMS

• Corporate: Net Communicator

New motivation

Questions:

Do I share the same values?

Do I really want to stay? Employees observe

management

behaviour to assess

words = action

Real ‘buy’ in

& stay vs. go

decision

Reorientation phase Post-change phase Evaluation & commitment + buy in

POST CHANGE REACTIONS

RE

AC

TIO

N

TIME

Sustaining the change

Positive affirmation

messages

Engage and dialogue

Line management time Recognise, reward and

celebrate the individual

Involve the person in

meaningful work and

career path –

demonstrate the

benefits

Reorientation phase Post-change phase Evaluation & commitment, buy in

POST CHANGE REACTIONS

RE

AC

TIO

N

TIME

Maintaining Communication

To listen, identify and respond to concerns, issues, commitment to address these in time

Who We Are

• Specialist corporate communication consultancy focussing

on internal and employee communication.

• Network of associated consultants.

• Broad base of knowledge, skills and experience.

• Pool of resources across communication disciplines.

• Expertise in leadership, management consulting,

organisational development, change management, human

resources, coaching, mentoring, and communication.

• Level 4 BBBEE accredited company.

What We Do

• Assist leaders to engage employees to share

corporate vision and mission.

• Enable senior managers to elicit feedback from

employees.

• Empower line managers to obtain support from

teams.

• Inspire employees to develop passion and purpose.

• Enhance innovation and continuous improvement.

• Motivate employees to boost morale, increase

productivity and performance.

• Involve employees to improve their value

proposition.

We work with leading companies to enhance communication between people in

organisations to enable employee engagement that motivates staff, increases

productivity, and drives performance to deliver better results and achieve

business sustainability.

(t) + 27 (0) 11 880 8137

(f) + 27 (0) 11 880 8138

(m) + 27 (0) 84 880 8138

(e)info@columbine.co.za

www.columbine.co.za