15. Creating a Change Capable Workforce

7/25/2019 15. Creating a Change Capable Workforce

1/12

Developing the 21stCentury WorkforceTM

Creating a

Change-CapableWorkforce

By Linda Moran, Ph.D. and Chris Blauth


2/12


3/12

CHANGE as a central element in anorganizations survival strategy needs littleelaboration. Most organizations today arecontemplating or implementing one or more

change initiativeswhether incremental orradicalinvolving the whole organizationor selected parts, conceived to block threatsor seize opportunities.

Not even iconic brands like Coca Cola can reston their laurels. On the occasion of its 120thanniversary, that companys CEO said, Todayconsumers invite us into their homes more than abillion times a day ... We understand, however,that what has sustained us these first 12 decadeswill not be sufficient for the future.

Whatever form these initiatives take, organiza-

tions have a lot riding on them, and they knowit. In fact, well over half of the change leadersin a recent AchieveGlobal survey agreed thatthe ability to change is an organizations maincompetitive advantage.

Whats interesting, given this view, is howunsuccessful so many change initiatives are.According to some estimates, as many as 85percent either fail completely or fall far shortof their original promise.

Although leaders may cite peoples in-bornresistance to change to explain away failure,

this excuse no longer carries the weight it oncedid. It is true that employees are much moredisaffected and skeptical than they used to beabout almost everything. Still, nearly everyemployee these days can tell you that changeis the name of the game, the only constant,or even in some cases a primary competitivedifferentiator.

As one manager said in our survey, Peoplearent stupid. They see how fast the world ismoving today. They feel it in their own lives. Ifthey see that it makes sense to do things differ-entlyand if theyre invited to participate

theyre more than willing to join in. They justneed to know what to hang on to, and whatto let go of.

What are the new challengesfor leaders?To learn more about the realities of makingchange happen in the first years of the twenty-firstcentury, AchieveGlobal gathered and analyzedtodays best thinking about how organizationscan succeed. It then conducted an analysis

of this thinking, and from it designed a Web-hosted survey that explored key trends ingreater detail.

The survey was completed by more than400 change leaders at all organizationallevels from a cross-section of industries inseven countries. To this data was addedthe individual experiences of AchieveGlobalconsultants and facilitators who have helpedthousands of organizations initiate andcomplete successful change initiatives overthe yearswith goals as diverse as increasingsales, invigorating customer service, andimproving leadership.

What emerges is a picture in which successfulchange is much more than a step-by-step

methodology guided by special change agents,producing reams of data via a parallel changemanagement infrastructure. Success is also,and often primarily, about tapping into eachpersons ability to changeand from thoseabilities creating a change-capable cultureinvolving everyone from executives to thefrontline workers.

It turns out that most change initiatives todayare so frequent, far-reaching, overlapping,open-ended, and deeply embedded in anorganizations daily operation that itsextremely difficult to manage them successful-

ly as discrete projects. At any one time, thesame employee could be involved in adaptingservices to meet new customer demands,working on a newly formed team to cutoperating costs, and learning the e-mailsystem of a new parent company.

Against this backdrop, its clear that the leaderstoday face daunting new challenges that callfor a new understanding of changeand newskills for making it happen.

Internal ImpedimentsAt the same time, respondents underscoredthe forces that can block effective change:

Focus only on the strategic.

Executives can spend so much time on thestrategic components of a change that they failto communicate the message employees needto hear. In the words of one manager, Mostcommunication has been at the vision andstrategy level. The impact on day-to-dayactivity has yet to be communicated effectively;therefore most people arent engaged.

Todays Most CommonChange Initiatives

Organization-wide restructuring

Downsizing/changing job roles

Radical strategic shifts

Culture change

Reengineering/business processredesign

Technology upgrades/systemimprovements

Mergers and/or acquisitions

1


4/12

In a related comment, an individual contribu-tor identified the problem as not explainingto employees what the change is going to be,how it is going to be done, how long it will

take, but most of all, what do we, as employ-ees, gain from this change.

Failure to listen to frontline employees.

Its no secret that frontline employees are oftenbest qualified to identify the operationalchanges that will produce the greatestimprovement. Still, as one respondent in theU.K. complained, Senior management arereluctant to listen to frontline staffs opinionson how to improve the organization, andinstead listen to consultants who know little ornothing of our organizations operations.

Lack of employee buy-in.

Failing to listen to employees can underminetheir buy-in, which in turn can lead to employeeresistance. In our experience, though, employeesdont resist change, per se. What they resist isfeeling undervalued or excluded; managers theydont trust; and being told to change withoutbeing told why. Theres a tendency for middlemanagers to think they can wait out the CEOand therefore not change, said one employee.Taken to extremes, this behavior can turn intoovert efforts to sabotage a change initiative.

Getting lost in the data.No change initiative can succeed withouttimely data about whats going well and

what isnt. On the other hand, number-crunching alone doesnt necessarily yielduseful information. More importantly, itcan take time and energy away from

thinking about the human aspects of achange.

Actions that makea positive differenceU. S. and international respondents in oursurvey agreed on several actions that supporta change initiative.

Adjust rules, rewards, policies, andprocesses to promote the change.

In any organization, a single change can havea ripple effect. Sales organizations know, forexample, that if they want to turn sales forceorder-takers into trusted advisors, they needto look at how salespeople are compensated.Here are some responses to these rippleeffects noted by respondents:

We added head count so our outside repscould spend more time with each client, thusadding to our customer satisfaction andretention.

We consolidated multiple processes intoa single process across locations anddepartments.

We streamlined the e-mail process toreduce confusion and unnecessary noise

in the system.

With one change

after another, change

fatigue can leave

employees feeling

unfocused, unsupported,

disengagedor even

hostile or resistant.

2

In the past, leaders ...

Counted on periods of stability betweenmajor changes.

Assumed that change took time.

Treated change as a process with abeginning, middle, and end.

Saw change management as a specialized job.

Applied a similar approach to every initiative.

Saw change as linear, one phase after another.

Gained support by communicating a clearbusiness case.

Succeeded by delivering value to customers.

Today, leaders

Face one change after another,or several at once.

Need quick wins to build momentum.

See constant change as the permanentbusiness landscape.

See change management aseveryones job.

Tailor an approach for every initiative.

See change as non-linear, with multiplephases occurring at the same time.

Gain support by communicating truths thathave an impact on effort and emotions.

Deliver value by responding quicklyto threats and opportunities.


5/12

Create individual responsibilitywith clear expectations for behaviors

and results.

To make change a reality, its not enoughfor departments or teams to have goals.Individuals need to know whats expected ofthem. This need for clear expectations wasunderscored by several respondents whendescribing their change:

Ownership of responsibilities was madeclearer.

We increased accountability with morefocus on strategy in decision-making.

We are trying to assign major performanceexpectations to individual leaders in theorganization. Without this ownership,

important expectations will not be realized. We implemented a matrix organization,

where the key directors report directly tosomeone at corporate.

Develop and distribute easily-

understood metrics and

performance indicators.

Related to setting clear expectations forindividual employees, this activity focuses onproviding information that lets people knowhow theyre doing. We are trying to makeprocesses more understandable by [the people

who use them], wrote one respondent. Weretrying to change the structure and clearly defineall job functions to increase efficiency and decreaseoverlap, wrote another. Finally, a respondent saidher international company adapted performanceindicators to incorporate the different worktechniques from all different cultures to bringthe whole company more together in its thinkingand productivity.

Provide people with frequent, useful

information about the change.

During any change people have questions

and concerns, even if they dont express themdirectly. So its important to continually clarifywhats happening. As one respondent said abouthis companys restructuring and staff reduction:[We needed] to ensure current business processeswere still maintained ... [This was] imperativefor business continuity not only for externalcustomers but from an internal employee perspec-tive of clarity of roles and responsibilities.

Many, many respondents identified commu-nication as key to their success, whetherthey described it as constant communication

with employees, communication at alllevels, consistent communications of thegoal, or clearly communicating the changeto all levels of the organization.

Encourage people to speak out about

the change.

The research indicates that employees needfrequent opportunities to express themselvesabout the changeto encourage their thinkingand surface their fears and concerns. Onerespondent saw this activity in terms ofcreativity: We were trying to bring a greatercreative force and energy to the company.Many employees had had their creative ideasfor growth shot down by previous manage-ment that only wanted to stay with tried and

true initiatives.

Stay in tune with the realities of change

(including workload, time commitments,

and non-value-added work).

One of a leaders most importantand appre-ciatedactivities during any change initiativeis determining what work no longer needs tobe done, or needs to be done in a differentway. Employees whose managers are willing toadjust their workloads are much more likely tosupport a change, and the change itself is morelikely to succeed. Two respondents spelled out

what they did to promote the success of theirinitiatives:

With a reduction of budget we were forcedto become more efficient with the resourceswe had. This was only possible by reducingthe current workload of all staff.

We eliminated online sales, curtailed domes-tic expansion of underperforming units, andcurtailed expansion of foreign units withoperational problems to solve.

Demonstrate commitment to make

change happen.

Its inevitable that people look to the executiveteam to figure out just how serious the organi-zation is about a change initiative. Severalrespondents in the survey singled out executivesupport as key to their organizations success:

The top executives pushed this new cultureand stressed its importance.

[There was] commitment at the top.

Executives expressed, modeled, andreinforced the need for change.

Dont expect the pace

of change to slow

down. Instead, expect

constant changes

adjustments, and

modifications.

3


6/12

It comes down to 10 key practicesMany organizational activities can promotea successful change. But in a world where

changes are frequent, overlapping, anddeeply embedded in daily operations, howdoes an organization go beyond success withan isolated change to become permanentlychange-capable?

As we analyzed our primary and secondaryresearch, reflecting on three decades of experiencehelping thousands of organizations to change,we found that the engine for changethe energy,drive, and willingness to changelay notprimarily in any change methodology, but inthe sum of leadership behaviors. We thereforeidentified 10 key practices that embody these

behaviorshigh-impact actions that separatesuccess from mediocrity or failure. When leadersat every level apply these practices, theirorganization becomes change-capable.

We arranged these recommended practicesunder the three hallmarks of a change-capa-ble organization:

Activate capability

Communicate for results

Monitor mechanics and mood

Under each hallmark, we grouped several prac-

tices corresponding to activities that surveyrespondents identified as needing improvementor as important to success.

Hallmarks ofActivating ChangeHallmark 1:Activate capabilityThis hallmark encompasses leadership prac-tices that tap into the ability to change thatexists in every individual.

Expand awareness of business realities.When leaders explain the realities driving achange, employees are more likely to embracethat change. A vivid awareness of businessrealities helps employees see the need forchange, reduces resistance, builds ownership,communicates urgency, and motivates focusedeffort. In other words, as one manager put it,Managers need to let employees in on whattheyre worried or excited about. Its the basisfor everything that happens.

Spotlight strengths and successes.

Instead of spending all their time getting a fewindividuals to buy into a change, leaders gainmore traction by leveraging individuals andactivities that support the change: earlyadopters, current successes, and the relevantstrengths of every team member. This counter-intuitive approach generates confidence andmomentum and defuses pessimism, buildingcapacity for larger-scale change. Success willspeak for itself if you let it, as one respondentindicated.

Embrace experimentation.

Effective change leaders assume that everyonecan learn new and complex activities, even ifthey dont succeed immediately. Helping

people learn from their mistakes fosters anenvironment that embraces experimenta-tion. As leaders encourage learning andinnovation, they build employee confidenceand commitment to change.

Encourage meaningful involvement.

The key word here is meaningfulinvolvingindividuals in ways that leverage their uniqueabilities and aspirations, thus building overallchange capability. Involvement for its ownsake can backfire in delayed decisions (toomany people), disillusioned employees (Allthey want is my buy-in), or anger over wasted

time (I can t get my other work done!).Leaders need to think carefully about who toinvolve, when to involve them, and how todraw the best from each individual.

Hallmark 2:Communicate for resultsTo reduce the ambiguity of change, effectiveleaders fill information gaps and use dialogueto generate energy and momentum.Communicating well requires two practices,which together promote collaborative effortand acceptance of the change.

Provide information others need.

Employees need timely, relevant informationabout the reasons for a change, its implemen-tation, and its effect on individuals. Skilledleaders also take account of the emotionalimpact of change, showing sensitivity in everydimension of their messages. The directortook every opportunity to relate the change toalmost everything we did, according to onerespondent. It wasnt overkill because weneeded a lot of reassurance that we wereheaded in the right direction.

CHANGE

CAPABILITYActiv

ate

Capability

Commun

ic

ateforResults

Monitor Mechanics and Mood

Hallmarks ofActivating Change

4


7/12

Encourage candid feedback.

Besides providing practical information,change leaders gauge how employees under-stand and interpret that information. In directdialogue, these leaders find out what employeesreally think and feel, promoting positiveaction, greater involvement, and desiredresults. But as one respondent pointed out,sincerity is fundamental: You can alwaystell when a leader is really interested in whatyou have to say, versus going throughthe motions.

Hallmark 3:

Monitor mechanics and mood

With one change after another, changefatigue can leave employees feeling unfo-cused, unsupported, disengagedor evenhostile or resistant. By monitoring the detailsof implementation and the shifting emotionsof employees, effective leaders can addresslogistical challenges and budding resistance toa change. These practices improve leadershipcredibility, which encourages trust and growschange capability in individuals and teams.

Make progress clear to all.

Change works best when the people involvedshare responsibility for daily activities andlonger-term outcomes. To encourage thatownership, successful leaders develop andregularly publish simple measures that makeprogress clear and help others identify neededcourse corrections. These leaders give peopleeasy access to information about change resultsas well as frequent opportunities to discusswhats working and whats not.

Coordinate resources.

While resource allocation is nothing new, itsespecially vital during a change. Employees knowwhen leaders support or fail to support them.Effective change leaders exercise creativity inmeeting these evolving needsby renegotiating

or modifying plans to redirect scarce resources.

Revisit systems, practices, and policies.

In the uncertainty and confusion that changecan stir up, people often seek security in existingstructures or processesa serious issue when theyconflict with the new direction. Effective changeleaders identify and adjust or remove establishedstructures that slow progress.

Respond to resistance.

Leveraging the energy and strengths of employeeswho support change helps over time to reducethe frequency and impact of resistance. Effectiveleaders attend to early signs of resistance and takeprompt action to address them with firmness andcompassion.

Executives and individualcontributorsBecause change is everyones responsibility inan organization, these same hallmarks andpractices apply not only to managers andsupervisors but, with some modification, toexecutives and individual contributors as well.

The executives role.Our secondary and primary research clearlyidentifies executives as the architects oforganizational change. Since 70 percent ofchange initiatives originate in the executive suiteor boardroom, top leaders not only establishthe strategic direction, but also establishthe climate for implementation, both of whichhave a decisive impact on outcomes.

For this reason, we identified a fourth hallmarkand related practices exclusive to executives:Frame the change. To prepare the entireorganization for a successful changeand

promote long-term organizational changecapabilityexecutives must:

Identify and communicate the businessreasons for the change.

Be candid about the risks and rewardsinvolved.

Lay out in broad terms what needs tohappen by encouraging participation,identifying key tasks, setting timelines, andestablishing a sense of urgency.

While these practices are the province ofexecutives, they, no less than managers, needto demonstrate all the hallmarks and practicesof change capability, as well as coach theirdirect reports through the peaks and valleys ofmore or less constant organizational change.As one HR leader pointed out in our survey,To make change happen, executives have todo more than make plans and track progress.They need to get out of their offices so peoplecan see them living the change in everythingthey do. In the final analysis, thats the onlyway employees will realize how important itis for the change to really pay off.

Change is more than

a process; its thenormal environment

in which all business

now operates.

5


8/12

No longer is every

change completely

isolated or linear,

one phase after

another. Instead,

leaders grapple

with discontinuous

change


9/12

Individual contributors.

No change initiative can succeed long-termwithout the endorsement and participation ofindividual contributors. Because theyre closeto the actual work of the organization, theirknowledge and creativity in solving problemsand getting things done are invaluable. Further,if they dont feel committed to the change andmotivated to get fully involved, they can slowdown or thwart a change initiative.

Thats why managers and supervisors need tocheck in with them frequently: Do theyunderstand the need for the change? Do theyfeel involved? Do they have the resources theyneed? Do they have opportunities to offer feed-back about how the change is goingand isthis feedback listened to?

New practices for a new landscapeTaken together, our research findings confirmwhat appears to be a major shift in howorganizations today are approaching change.As most leaders recognize, periods of stabilityare now the exception, not the norm, becauseconstant change is the permanent businesslandscape. These leaders know that to succeedin this landscape they need quick wins to buildmomentum and achieve desired results. Nolonger do change specialists alone overseediscrete change initiatives with a beginning,

middle, and end. Instead, its a permanent partof every leaders role not only to managesometimes competing initiatives, but to buildlong-term change capability in every employee.

No longer do effective leaders apply a stan-dard approach to every initiative. Instead,they now assess the proposed change, thecontext of other changes in progress, andthe readiness of the people involvedandtailor communication and implementationprecisely to those circumstances.

No longer is every change completely isolatedor linear, one phase after another. Instead,leaders grapple with discontinuous change,applying resources and stoking energy tomaintain momentum in the face of newdirectives and competing demands.

No longer can leaders expect widespreadsupport simply by articulating the bare-bonesbusiness case for change. Instead, these leadersbuild a sense of urgency as well as a deepsense of ownership, throughout the organiza-tion, of both the day-to-day implementationand the ultimate outcomes of change.

No longer can organizations rely solely onleveraging their existing strengths to delivervalue to their customers. Instead, successfulorganizations now cultivate the ability in all

employeesindividual contributors, supervi-sors, managers, and executivesto respondquickly and effectively to emerging threatsand opportunities.

While the recommendations emerging fromour study represent a practice-based ratherthan a phased approach to change, the hall-marks and practices in reality support ratherthan conflict with any step-by-step changemethodology. In fact, our study and resultingrecommendations highlight specific ways thatpersonal leadership promoting individualinvolvement can multiply the impact of almostany phase-based methodology.

7


10/12

Books and professional articles

Auster, Ellen. Strategic Organizational Change:Building Change Capabilities in Your

Organization. New York, N.Y.:Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.

Bossidy, Larry and Ram Charan. Execution:The Discipline of Getting Things Done. NewYork, N.Y.: Crown Business, 2002.

Bridges, William. Managing Transitions:Making the Most of Change. Reading, MA.:Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1991.

Buckingham, Marcus. The One Great ThingYou Need to Know ... About Great Managing,Leading and Sustained Individual Success.New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, 2005.

Conner, Daryl. Managing at the Speed of

Change. New York, N.Y.: Random House,1992.

Dealy, David M. and Andrew R. Thomas.Change or Die: How to Transform YourOrganization from the Inside Out. Westport,CT.: Prager Publishers, 2006.

Deutschman, Alan. Change or Die. FastCompany, May 2005.

Drucker, Peter F. and Peter M. Senge. Leading ina Time of Change: What Will It Take to LeadTomorrow (video and viewers workbook). SanFrancisco, CA.: Jossey-Bass, 2001.

Elving, Wim J.L. The Role of

Communication in Organizational Change.International Journal, 2005.

Gavin, David and Michael Roberto. ChangeThrough Persuasion. Harvard BusinessReview, February 2005.

Harvard Business Essentials (misc. authors).Managing Change and Transition. Boston,MA.: Harvard Business School Press, 2003.

Jackson, Alan and Harry L. Sirkin. The HardSide of Change. Harvard Business Review,October 2005.

Katzenbach, Jon R. Real Change. TheMcKinsey Quarterly, 1996.

Kotter, John P. (1996). Leading Change.Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

Kotter, John P. and Dan S. Cohen. The Heartof Change. Boston, MA: Harvard BusinessSchool Press, 2002.

Lawler, Edward E. III and Christopher G.Worley. Built to Change. San Francisco, CA.:Jossey-Bass, 2006.

Lawson, Emily and Colin Price. ThePsychology of Change Management. London:McKinsey and Company, 2003.

Palmer, Ian, Richard Dunford and Gibb Akin.Managing Organizational Change. Boston,MA.: McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2006.

Pascale, Richard Tanner and Jerry Sterning.Your Companys Secret Change Agents.Harvard Business Review, June 2005.

Reale, Richard C. Making Change Stick:Twelve Principles for TransformingOrganizations. Park Ridge, N.J.: PositiveImpact Associates, 2005.

Salovey, Peter and David Caruso. TheEmotionally Intelligent Manager. SanFrancisco, CA.: Jossey-Bass, 2004.

Schaffer, Robert H. and Ronald Ashkenas.Rapid Results: How 100-Day Projects Buildthe Capacity for Large-Scale Change. SanFrancisco, CA.: Jossey-Bass, 2005.

Senge, Peter. The Fifth Discipline. New York,N.Y.: Doubleday, 1990.

Smith, Ian. Achieving Readiness forOrganizational Change. Boondura, Australia:LaTrobe University Library, 2005.

Stone, Beverly. The Inner Warrior: DevelopingCourage for Personal and OrganizationalChange. New York, N.Y.: Palgrave Macmillan,2004.

Tsoukas, Haridimos. Why Language Mattersin the Analysis of Organizational Change.

Journal of Change Management, 2005.

Vakola, Maria and Ioannas Nikolaou.Attitudes towards Organizational Change:What Is the Role of Employees Stress andCommitment? Employee Relations, 2005.

Washington, Marvin and Marla Hacker. WhyChange Fails: Knowledge Counts. Leadershipand Organization Development Journal, 2005.

Watkins, Jane Magruder. Appreciative Inquiry:Change at the Speed of Imagination. SanFrancisco, CA.: Jossey-Bass, 2001.

Zimbalist, Ron Alan. The Human Factor inChange. Lanham, MD.: Littlefield Press, 2005.

8


11/12

About the researchThe AchieveGlobal ChangeManagement Survey

The overall objective of the quantitativeportion of the change management research wasto explore the current change management land-scape worldwide in order to determine the pre-vailing practices and attitudes toward managingorganizational change today.

Specifically, the questionnaire was designedto answer the following questions:

What does Change Management mean?

What types of changes are organizationsaround the world implementing?

What is important to a successful organiza-

tional change implementation? What challenges are organizations

experiencing related to managing change?

What are the points of view on changemanagement?

The survey had a final sample size of 408, withrespondents form around the globe in a cross-section of industries, including:

Services Manufacturing Retail Financial/insurance Transportation Utilities Public administration Education Healthcare Government

About the authors

Linda Moran, Ph.D. Linda is a recognizedexpert in large-scale organizational change,leadership development, and high-performanceteams. She has more than 20 years experiencehelping organizations with multi-culturalorganizational change, designing team-basedorganizations, change management, customerloyalty, and executive development. Her recentAchieveGlobal clients have included Chanel,Federal Emergency Management Agency(FEMA), Novartis, Avalon Bay, PENNDOT,OCB, Navy MWR, Michelin, and Toyota.In addition to her consulting work, Linda isthe co-author of several books on teamsincluding Self-Directed Work Teams: The NewAmerican Challenge in 1990 and BeyondTeams: Building the CollaborativeOrganization in 2003.

Chris Blauth. Chris is active in the research,development, testing, and marketing ofAchieveGlobals leadership and sales trainingproduct systems. He was responsible forlaunching Genuine Leadership,AchieveGlobals flagship leadership trainingsystem, as well as Web-based reinforcementsfor Professional Selling Skills. Chris holdsa BS from the State University of New York atBuffalo, and an MBA from Canisius College.He is a member of The Society for Human

Resource Management (SHRM) and theAmerican Management Association (AMA).

9


12/12

Developing the 21stCentury WorkforceTM

8875 Hidden River Pkwy, Suite 400Tampa, FL 33637-1034Tel: 1.800.456.9390Fax: 813.631.5796

www.achieveglobal.com

2008 A hi Gl b l I N M01185 2 0 (04/2008)

Documents

15. Creating a Change Capable Workforce