Per4mance Magazine

LEADING EXPERTS IN HUMAN PERFORMANCE

WITHIN THIS ISSUE

Change in action:

Three client experiences Page 13

Navigating the winds of change Page 2

Creating a safe environment

for change Page 5

Welcome to Per4mance

Change is a topic that never goes away. Whether it’s in business, sport or just our own personal lives, change is always happening.

Back when I was an elite swimmer there was a lot of change with regards to our training methods; there became much more of a focus on diet, far more rigorous training regimes and the use of sport psychologists. These changes were quite difficult to get used to at first but they made the difference between success and failure on my way to an Olympic Gold Medal.

The same is true in business. Often organisations will go through a large structure or culture change, or a merger with another organisation in order to improve performance and reap greater rewards in the future. However, these changes are often difficult to push through and are met with resistance from employees.

At Lane4, we believe that change is essential in order for organisations to thrive. In this edition of Per4mance magazine you’ll find an array of tips and advice in order to make change a success in your organisations.

As always, we hope you find these articles useful and thought provoking, and if you do have any thoughts or questions on any of the topics covered then please feel free to get in touch.

Contents

Navigating the winds of change2

© Lane4 Management Group Ltd 7/2014. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including copying and recording, without written permission from the copyright owner, application for which should be addressed to Lane4 Management Group Ltd. Opinions expressed in Per4mance magazine are not necessarily those of Lane4. Whilst every effort has been made to verify statements of fact by contributors, no responsibility is accepted for errors or omissions by them. All frameworks & models are the property of Lane4 Management Group Ltd.

Published by

Lane4 Management Group Ltd St Marks House, Station Road Bourne End, Buckinghamshire SL8 5QF United Kingdom

+44 (0)1628 533 733

www.lane4performance.com

For further information, please email [email protected]

5 Creating a safe environment for change

11 What’s on people’s minds during change?

9 Relentless evolution in sport & business

13 Change in action: Three client experiences

16 How to avoid mid-table mediocrity…

19 Leading change communication

Adrian Moorhouse Managing Director, Lane4 Group

@Lane4Group Lane4 lane4performance.com

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Navigating the winds of change

While competitive pressures are forcing organisations to

deliver change faster and more fundamentally than ever before, research suggests that only a few are managing it successfully1. Our own research found that for every 10 change initiatives undertaken, four will fail, five will produce some of the desired results and only one will be truly successful2.

Poorly managed change is not only common, it is also costly - for the people involved and for the bottom line. Employee productivity typically falls between 25% and 50% during large scale change and it is proven that an inability to manage change impacts on financial performance. Nearly two thirds of companies lose market share in the first quarter after a merger.

So why do so many change programmes fail?

While many explanations have been given, most evidence points to our tendency to ignore, defer or underestimate the significance of people issues during change3.

This article explores how leaders can manage change effectively, what the major challenges and enablers are in building engagement and how organisations can dramatically increase their chances of success during change.

HOW TO LEAD CHANGE SUCCESSFULLY

Our approach centres on the process of leading change through engagement. By truly engaging people, organisations are able to change with greater speed and success. The leaders’ role is critical in this, but so often leadership issues are among the most common barriers to change4. Leaders need to get to grips with the underlying dynamics of organisational life and, for some, this may require a fundamental and philosophical shift.

Change is a complex process; it occurs in uncertain conditions and progress is inevitably affected by unknown factors. Our process for building engagement is therefore comparably dynamic. It is not a step-by-step guide, but rather inter-related core components that should be continually addressed.

Change and how organisations manage it defines organisational life. Some organisations transform themselves with agility and efficiency, while others are crippled by resistance and inertia.

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Lane4 Change Framework

Engagement sits at the heart

We encourage leaders to approach engagement as a mindset rather than a tick-box or a line on a project plan. It must be developed at the level of buy-in (people understand the need for change), meaning (people care about the project and its success) and capacity (people are equipped to take part and make the change a success).

This can be achieved by focusing on five key areas:

Developing and communicating the story

Developing a strong and coherent story is critical to building engagement. The story answers the questions that all employees will be asking: why do we have to change; why should I care; and what’s in it for me? Stories that engage people with change include a compelling vision, a strong purpose and clearly articulated business drivers. How the story forms is also important; when people are

able to contribute, it can create higher levels of perceived control and greater engagement.

Enabling the people

The people component of our framework looks at the skills needed to engage with and effect change successfully. These skills include technical aspects (role capability) and psychological aspects (psychological fitness and trust in relationships). Leaders must also tap into the natural relationship networks that exist in every organisation. These informal aspects of organisational life are an important channel through which people make sense of change, and move towards engagement.

Shaping the process

The success of any change initiative is determined to a large extent by the process through which it is introduced and implemented. This includes effective communication, transition management, change tactics and a

co-creative approach that takes into account the psychological impact of change. The more opportunities people have to contribute and feedback on the process, the greater the probability of securing engagement.

Leaders must also pay attention to whether the formal elements of the organisation (e.g. systems and structures) are aligned with the initiative and how effectively they are able to influence the informal elements of the organisation (e.g. personal networks and politics) to build support for the desired changes.

Understanding organisational context

The three components of the story, the process and the people are set against the backdrop of the organisation’s context. In other words the commonly held beliefs, attitudes and values that exist within an organisation. Understanding organisational culture is essential

Employee productivity typically falls between 25% and 50% during large scale change

3 @Lane4Group Lane4 lane4performance.com

THE CORE COMPONENTS OF CHANGE

to the design and implementation of any change programme because it profoundly influences employee attitudes and behaviour. It affects how employees react to change, how the story can be best developed, and how best to equip the people involved to manage the demands of change.

Getting to grips with organisational culture

One of the simplest ways for leaders to do this is to have conversations that surface the taken-for-granted assumptions about how the organisation works. For example, what themes are present in the informal conversations that happen over lunch or at the water cooler? What are the organisation’s unwritten policies and procedures? Who are the organisation’s heroes and villains?

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• Do not underestimate the significance of people issues during change - engagement is key to success.

• The leader’s role is critical to driving engagement, but they must share the same vision and communicate a consistent message so they don’t become a barrier.

• Develop a compelling vision for change that is not only emotionally engaging but also rationally engaging.

• Upskill the people in your organisation so they are equipped to deal with the change.

• Pay attention to both the formal and informal elements of the organisation, and give people the opportunity to feedback on the process.

• Truly understand the organisation’s culture and identify its key influencers before you start a change programme. This way, you’ll know who you need to get on board to make it a success.

TOP TIPS FOR LEADING SUCCESSFUL CHANGE

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What stories resonate? How do people react to mistakes? What language do people use? What types of humour prevail? What are the organisation’s well-known ‘secrets’? What are the real criteria that limit or advance people’s careers?

The insight gleaned from these conversations is invaluable to business leaders when designing a culturally sensitive change programme.

1 Berman, S. et al., (2008). Making Change Work. IBM Corporation, New York; Korsten, P. et al., (2008). The Enterprise of the Future. IBM Corporation, New York.2 Lane4 (2009). Emerging Stronger: Strategic Insights for Leading in Tough Times.3 E.G. Harding, D. & Rouse, T. (2007) Human Due Diligence. Harvard Business Review, 85, 124-131; Krug, J. (2003). Why Do They Keep Leaving? Harvard Business Review; 81, 14-15; Lane4 (2009). Emerging Stronger: Strategic Insights for Leading in Tough Times.4 Lane4 (2009). Emerging Stronger: Strategic Insights for Leading in Tough Times.


Creating a safe environment for change

During change, it’s essential leaders understand that any organisational or personal change initiative will not be successful unless they build their employees’ capability to engage and participate.

Companies must consider both the technical and psychological

capabilities their employees will need to manage the change and also succeed in the ‘new normal’ way of working.

In building capability, HR teams need to be skilled at identifying and asking how they can enable people in change:

• In the ‘new normal’, what technical skills will employees need to succeed and progress and how will the organisation support their development?

• To what extent do people understand the emotional and physical impact of going through change?

• What opportunities are there for people to make sense of the change together?

Answering these questions goes a long way towards equipping employees to be successful in a changed organisation.

But the glue needed to hold this together is often overlooked - trusting relationships.

Do we, as employees, have a sufficiently trusting relationship with our managers and colleagues to feel safe enough to let go of the old ways of doing things and willingly embrace the new way of operating?

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WHAT IS TRUST?

Trust is a concept that is often

taken for granted. What does

it mean to trust other people?

A formal definition of trust is

“the willingness of a party to

be vulnerable to the actions

of another party based on the

expectation that the other

party will perform a particular

action important to the trustor,

irrespective of the ability to monitor

or control the other party”1. In

simple terms, when we trust

someone we put our faith in them

to do the right thing by us. 1 (Mayor, David & Schoorman, 1995).

When we have a trusting relationship, we feel more able to try new things, waste less time covering our back and worry less about politics. In a situation of organisational change, if we trust our leader, we are more likely to share information with them and to commit to engaging in change.

Being in a trusting relationship at work is not easy; it is also about working through differences, and disconnections - it is tough and real, but allows both parties to grow and change as a result.


To illustrate the link between organisational culture and

effective trusting relationships at work, we’ve identified three stereotypic non-relational work cultures - whilst these may not reflect your own work culture, you might identify some aspects of how relationships and trust are viewed in your business:

Hierarchical cultures

These depend on layers of leadership and power to control and manage employees. Often, building relationships is not a valued practice in this type of company, so relationships that do exist are often one way which enables a leader to have control over a subordinate. In this culture, conflict is supressed or conducted with aggression; employees sustain relationships by keeping substantial parts of their experience out of their work relationships - they find it hard to bring their “true-self” into the workplace.

Pseudo-relational cultures

These companies appear to value relationships, but fail to establish the practices that promote connection and trust at work. In this type of organisation, employees describe the work place as “nice”. Being nice is about being polite or courteous - it is superficial. In pseudo-relational cultures there is a pretence about trusting relationships.

Survival cultures

These are workplaces which are consumed by crisis and distress. In these cultures, employees are chronically overburdened by the demands of their job. They are so busy that building and sustaining trusting relationships is seen as a poor use of time. This becomes even more likely if the organisation has no processes or values in place which support relational and trusting behaviour. Survival becomes the focus rather than growth, and the impact is burn-out and stress.

What you can do to build trusting relationships:

• Make relational practice something which is valued in your organisation as you go through change. Challenge the Board and other organisational role models to recognise the value of trusting relationships to the success of organisational change.

• Recognise that all relationships go through connection and disconnection as they grow and develop. Accept that conflict is one way to create the possibility of change. Provide leaders with the skills to handle conflict and disagreement through understanding and listening to employee concerns about change.

• Identify role models within the company - those who build great relationships which foster energy, engagement and growth. Use them to form networks of leaders who value trusting relationships.

• Consider your motives for building a trusting relationship with your employees. Most people focus on credibility and reliability. A person may trust what you say (credibility) and do (reliability), but distrust your motives (self- orientation) and style of dealing with them (intimacy). Being trusted involves being great on all four aspects of trust.

What stops us building trusting relationships?So if trusting relationships are so important to successfully navigate change, why do we still feel unable to have trusting relationships in a work setting? One reason for us not to trust others at work may result from the practices that occur in our work settings and the resulting organisational culture within which we work.

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• Ensure leaders are consistent. They can’t give an ‘off the record’ opinion in team meetings and expect people to toe the formal line. Leaders also need to be in sync with each other and present an aligned message on key issues.

• Make sure your leaders can be seen. Poor (or no) communication creates suspicion. This may involve being in the same place as employees, but leaders need to use technology creatively to be seen by and to communicate with employees working in virtual environments e.g. through social media channels.

• Check how secure your employee feels in their role, in your opinion of them and of the company. The higher the stakes, the less likely people are to trust.

• Question if you lack trust in a co- worker based on a lack of similarity or shared values between you. People trust those who are most similar to them e.g. similar values, membership of defined groups, shared personality traits. If your organisation is going through change

then pay attention to trust

As you think about and plan your organisational change initiative, let go of thinking of employees as individuals who exist in a vacuum in your organisation. Replace this with a picture of each person who operates in your organisational culture and is connected to their colleagues, subordinates and leaders through a bond of trust and relationship.

Small steps can start to transform employees’ experience of change through valuing trust and connected relationships in your business.

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Those who find themselves leading their field must quickly learn

that adaptation is not necessarily a reactive process (changing to counter the actions of a competitor or meeting a client’s new demands) but must be a pro-active process built into a team’s culture and mindset.

To achieve continued success in a competitive environment, an organisation must attempt to maintain momentum, dictate play, and at times, change the game itself.

Successful companies like Apple embed a self-adjusting culture where change is expected and innovation is embraced,1 leading the industry by

Relentless evolution in sport & business

Sport and business worlds are in a state of relentless evolution. Success can depend on a team’s ability to adapt and maintain vision in complex, shifting environments.

telling the consumers what they want to buy, before they even know it!

According to the ‘sigmoid function’ business formula, over time, a team’s performance moves through learning, growth and decline cycles.2 If leaders monitor their position on their ‘growth curve’ they can leap into a new phase of learning before performance starts to plateau. Those organisations that choose to avoid the uncertainty and anxiety associated with such ‘leaps of faith’ may be putting themselves at risk of stagnation and decline.

For example, in 2012, former photography leaders Kodak filed for bankruptcy after their management

team was accused of holding on to obsolete assumptions and never fully grasping how the world around them was changing.3

Psychologist, Carol Dweck describes how, in order to stay on top, performers need character, humility and self-awareness.4 This is known in academic circles as incremental implicit theories5 or, as we would say, a growth mindset.

Those who have a growth mindset disregard the notion of fixed traits and natural talent and instead focus on the transformative power of exposure, learning and practice.

“Collective character triumphs over talent” GRAHAM HENRY, FORMER ALL BLACKS HEAD COACH

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Studies reveal that people with a growth mindset approach the challenge associated with change as a learning opportunity, view effort and discomfort as necessary on the path to new mastery and therefore have confidence they can adapt in volatile environments.6

These characteristics have been displayed over the last two decades by the team at Pixar Animation Studios.7 In the evolving world of computer graphics, where success never came easy, the team had to take chances and constantly re-learn and practice with new technologies to get it right.

According to their recent documentary, Chief Creative Officer, John Lasseter, possessed an impressive attention to detail and a love for learning that inspired those around him into a growth mindset.

According to Biddle and colleagues6 people with a growth mindset display task-orientated behaviours and are more likely to adopt goals related to bettering themselves, rather then proving superiority over others. This can be seen in one of the best sports teams in the world, the All Blacks rugby team. In James Kerr’s book, ‘Legacy: What the All Blacks can teach us about the business of life’, he describes how each team member is given responsibility over a systematic series of actions on and off the pitch and is then required to feedback to the rest of the team on the processes involved in their performance.8 This is perhaps why former head coach, Graham Henry selected players on character, authenticity and humility.

Indeed, recent research into culture change in elite rugby teams by Cruickshank and colleagues9 highlights the importance of managing a ‘to and fro’ power flux with players and creating 360-degree feedback loops, where each team member is involved in the feedback processes.

As Graham Henry stated, handing over responsibility creates trust amongst team members and the sense of relatedness helps individuals to lend themselves to a bigger cause. This works when feedback is received as information that can be turned into action, without resentment and without ego. Receiving and providing this honest feedback requires humility and character from the whole group and, when achieved, it empowers each individual as an agent of change.

After a period of stagnation and poor results in 2004-5 the All Blacks looked to change their philosophy and approach, going on to record a 100% win rate in 2013 and cementing their reputation as one of the best sports teams in the world.

Like Apple and Pixar, they understand that staying on top of the game is about changing before they have to; knowing when to axe their star performer, blood new talent or change the game plan completely.

Their mantra is now “when on top of our game, we must change our game.”

If businesses are to thrive amidst the shifting complexities in today’s technological era, it may be wise to appoint a team with the character and mindset to embrace change, to monitor growth and leap into new phases of learning earlier than usual, to focus on the processes involved in bettering one-self, to empower team members to take responsibility of small steps to change and to encourage honest feedback loops that provide correction without resentment.

As renowned business strategist, Aries de Geus states, “learning faster than your competitors is the only sustainable competitive advantage in an environment of rapid change and innovation.”10

1 www.economist.com/node/93026622 Handy, C. (1994). The Age of Paradox. The Random House UK Limited. 3 blogs.wsj.com/source/2012/02/26/the-demise-of-kodak-five-reasons4 Dweck, C. S. (2000). Self-theories: their role in motivation, personality and development. Philadelphia, PA: Psychological Press.5 Dweck, C. S., & Chiu, C., & Hong, Y. (1995). Implicit theories: Elaboration and extension of the model. Psychological Inquiry, 6, 322-333. 6 Biddle, S. J. J., Wang, C. K. J., Chatzisarantis, N. L. D., & Spray, C. M. (2003). Motivation for physical activity: Entity and incremental beliefs about athletic ability. Journal of Sport Sciences, 21, 973-989. 7 www.empireonline.com/features/secret-of-pixars-success8 Kerr, J. (2013). Legacy: What the All Blacks can teach us about the business of life. Constable: London. 9 Cruickshank, A., Collins, D., & Minten, S. (2013). Culture change in professional sports team: Shaping environmental contexts and regulating power. International Journal of Sport Science and Coaching, 8, 271-290.10 Geus, A. D., (1997). The living company: Growth, learning and longevity in business. Nicholas Brealey Publishing: London.

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As you can see from our infographic, people factors are

the biggest barrier to change. To understand why, we need to look at how the brain responds to change.

Evolution has wired our brains to be cautious about change. When we encounter anything new or unexpected, the brain automatically assesses whether it presents a threat to our survival or a potential reward. This happens at an unconscious level, so resistance to change isn’t necessarily a conscious act; it’s often a deeply rooted, evolutionary survival instinct.

When we feel threatened (physically or psychologically), the brain launches the well-known fight or flight response.

A series of physiological changes are triggered, and the brain prioritises processing of emotions at the expense of more rational functions like problem solving, creative thinking, and processing new information or ideas - important functions for engaging with change.

What’s on people’s minds during change?

Change is notoriously difficult. We already know that for every 10 change programmes only 1 will be truly successful. But why does this happen and what are the barriers to change? In this article we address the issue of people factors during change, using neuropsychology to assess how people react.

Statistics from Lane4 research from 363 leaders in 2009. 1 Amiot, C., Terry, D., & McKimmie, B. (2012). Social Identity Change During an Intergroup Merger: The Role of Status, Similarity, and Identity Threat, Basic And Applied Social Psychology, 34, 443–455.2 Eisenberger, N.I. & Lieberman, M.D. (2005). Why it hurts to be left out: The neurocognitive overlap between physical and social pain. In K. D. Williams, J.P. Forgas, & W. von Hippel (Eds.), The Social Outcast: Ostracism, Social Exclusion, Rejection, and Bullying (pp. 109-127). New York: Cambridge University Press.

WHY?Only 2% of organisations stated that they had prepared for challenges they faced

36% organisations reported being too slow to respond

Productivity falls by 25% - 50% during large-scale change

25% of leaders believed organisations would emerge stronger by focusing on innovation

Change & Innovation

Only 5% cited innovation as a priority

BARRIERSMost challenging barriers to change:People factors 36%Leadership factors 34%

People barriers to change:Employee resistance 53%

25%leaders

leadership 34%p

eopl

e 36

%

employeeresistance

53% Leadership barriers to change:Inadequate communication 30%

30%

in

adequate comm

unication

12lane4performance.com

What can trigger a threat response?

For more information and practical recommendations for managing change in a brain friendly way, read Lane4’s White Paper “Managing Change: Insights from Neuropsychology.”

A number of key areas have been identified1, including:

• Uncertainty - The brain likes certainty because we’re continuously (but largely unconsciously) searching the environment for information that will help us predict what will happen next as a matter of survival.

• Threats to social status - We’re constantly (again, largely unconsciously) assessing our standing in relation to others around us. In mergers, premerger organisations are rarely equal in terms of status. Employees from the lower-status premerger organisations tend to feel more threatened, report higher stress levels, poorer job adjustment, lower identification with the new organisation structure, and are more likely to perceive that the merger was implemented unfairly.1

• Social exclusion or disruption - Humans are social animals. Our need to socialise is as strong as our need for food or water, and that the brain responds to social separation in the same way that it does to physical pain.2

WHY?Only 2% of organisations stated that they had prepared for challenges they faced

36% organisations reported being too slow to respond

Productivity falls by 25% - 50% during large-scale change

25% of leaders believed organisations would emerge stronger by focusing on innovation

Change & Innovation

Only 5% cited innovation as a priority

BARRIERSMost challenging barriers to change:People factors 36%Leadership factors 34%

People barriers to change:Employee resistance 53%

25%leaders

leadership 34%p

eopl

e 36

%

employeeresistance

53% Leadership barriers to change:Inadequate communication 30%

30%

in

adequate comm

unication

Change in action: Three client experiences

We all know that change is never easy. But what are the things that you need to look out for when you’re trying to initiate a change programme in your organisation? We caught up with three Lane4 clients to discuss changes they had recently been through, any challenges they faced and how they overcame them.

Andy Brown,

Argos

What is your role at Argos and what are you responsible for?

I’m the Central Operations Director for Argos stores which means I lead the team that support our stores with day to day trading and I’m also responsible for delivering the Argos Transformation in our stores.

What are the changes that Argos has gone through recently?

As mentioned above the main change has been the Argos Transformation that we are currently going through. It’s a 5 year programme to transform Argos from its historical catalogue based business to a digital retail leader.

There are two key elements to the programme that impact stores. The first is how we operate. We are changing our processes in order to be able to respond to customers quicker and improve the service that they get in stores.

The second element is the re-fitting of the stores to have a much more digital look and feel. This includes changing the way that customers can order goods and collect goods in store including removing the old paper and pens but also changing the level of service our colleagues give customers.

What were the main challenges that you faced?

One of the main issues was the fact that Argos hasn’t really changed very much since 2004, so we’ve gone from a long period of stability to a 5 year period of constant change. Due to this we had to make sure that the people in our stores were change ready.

Another issue was the fact that we have 20,000 colleagues spread across 700 stores. The sheer size of the workforce and the remoteness of them made it challenging to communicate clearly the changes to everyone. Finally, although the stores wanted to change and saw the need for change, when things didn’t necessarily go as smoothly as they imagined they needed great resilience to see things through. It was a challenge for our leaders to balance the need for change with the need for performance.

How did you overcome those challenges?

We didn’t want the changes to be a top down communication, we really wanted the message to come from within the stores. To do this, with the help of Lane4, we trained 800 ‘Team Transformers’. These were shop floor colleagues who we wanted

to be our change champions in the stores. They were trained so that they could understand why the change was necessary and what the changes were. They were given the skills and, crucially, the confidence to be able to communicate and role model the changes to other colleagues in the stores. We also worked with the store managers to really utilise the ‘Team Transformers’, ultimately, we wanted to create really high performing teams within our stores.

Were there any unforeseen issues & how were these rectified?

I would say that there have been few unforeseen issues but we’ve actually seen some unforeseen benefits. The ‘Team Transformers’ have absolutely astounded everyone who has come into contact with them. The levels of engagement and confidence that they’ve exhibited have really had a positive impact on their colleagues. The fact that the change messages have been coming from their peers, in their language, and not from a faceless corporation has really made their colleagues embrace the changes. This has meant that we’ve been looking at ways we can keep using them throughout the five year programme.

If you could offer one piece of advice for other organisations going through a change, what would it be?

Believe in your people on the front line. Give them the skills they need to champion the change at lower levels of the organisation. It’s not just the leaders and managers you need to think about, everyone needs to be engaged in the change.13

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Collette Roche,

Manchester Airport Group


Before I mention some of the challenges, there were actually some real positives that came out of the process. We found that we were able to develop a really compelling communication story for change. Stansted had previously been owned by BAA, who had been more recently focussed on Heathrow Airport. But for us, Stansted was to be a ‘jewel in our crown’ and access to the growing South East market, so we had an engaging story to present to them.

With regards to challenges, we found it hard initially to win the trust and hearts of the people. The culture change we needed to make in Stansted was significant, as we needed to make sure that they felt comfortable, confident and empowered to do their jobs and really grow the business, which is key to our business plan. This is something that always takes longer than you think.


We came up with 5 steps to try and overcome the challenges:

• Created a compelling vision which explained the changes and energised everyone around one shared agenda, now known as ‘Transforming Stansted.’

• Set clear milestones and realistic goals. We knew the process was going to take time and we needed to manage expectations.

• We changed ‘with’ and didn’t force the change ‘onto’ Stansted. We wanted to create the feeling of ‘one team’ so that the people in Stansted really felt like they were part of the change and could influence the direction of travel.

• Looked to change the culture of the organisation. We did

this through encouraging two way open and regular conversations - an initiative now known as ‘The Big Conversation’. We also had help from Lane4 with the High Performing Team programme that was rolled out across the whole of MAG.

• Made sure that the physical aspects of the change were also completed. Things such as uniforms and re-branding the airport were all done quickly so that everything felt new and people felt like part of one company and not two separate ones.


Three things jump out. The first was the pace and speed at which the change happened; we tried to overcome this by having a clear plan and setting realistic goals and timescales. The second was realising how much it takes to unwind a culture; we overcame this through creating a compelling reason for change, having open conversations and making our plans visible around the organisation. Finally, the importance of building trust with our new colleagues took lots of time and effort; it has probably taken 12 months to get where we wanted to with this and I am sure we can do even more.


Don’t underestimate the time and effort required to change culture and behaviour. The easy part is changing structures and processes but it really does take time and effort on all fronts to fully change the culture and behaviour of an organisation.

What is your role at MAG and what are you responsible for?

My role is Group HR, IT & Transformation Director. I sit on the Executive Team and, primarily, I’m responsible for making sure the right people and IT strategies are in place to deliver the group’s business plan. I’m also responsible for overseeing the group-wide transformation programmes at the moment, whether they are people or system led.

What are the changes that MAG has gone through recently?

We wanted to move away from just running airports to being more of an airport management services company. A key milestone for us in achieving this was getting an investment partner, IFM and acquiring another sizeable UK airport, identified as London Stansted.

In February 2013 we successfully acquired Stansted. This came at the end of a 12 month planning process and, once our bid was accepted, we took over the running of the airport around six to eight weeks later.

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This wasn’t a decision that the South London Healthcare Trust wanted, so there was already some resistance.


An initial challenge we faced was the fact that the sites we were taking over were seen as failed organisations as part of a failed Trust. This meant that there were a lot of bruised egos and indeed mourning that we had to deal with. There was also the logistical issue of people now being split across a lot of sites but all working as part of the same team.

However, the main issue that we encountered was changing the culture of the old hospitals. Very quickly we realised that this was going to be a long process that could take anywhere between three to five years and not six to twelve months.


We developed new organisational structures to fit in the large number of new roles we were inheriting. Also, in order to manage the transition for consultants from the new hospitals coming into our organisation, we organised some peer to peer meetings where they could discuss any challenges they were facing and understand the new culture more clearly.

We did a lot of work on communication, making sure that there was clarity around values and standards. Finally, we made sure that

infrastructure projects were carried out quickly and to a high standard. This included things such as making sure the intranets were aligned and having one switchboard for all sites so that it really had a feeling of one organisation and not two separate ones.


I think that we really underestimated the amount of mourning for the old organisation when we took over. It was generally borne out of the fact that there was a different culture in our organisation and also the fact that people were having to go through a major shift in identity. They’d gone from being comfortable in their role in a small organisation to suddenly being out of their comfort zone in a much larger organisation.

In order to combat this we have offered a lot of people coaching to help them through the transition and discuss any issues they have. It’s still a work in progress but I think we’ve made some big strides.


You can be as well prepared as you like but there will always be surprises along the way. You need to be flexible and also be aware that it will probably be different to what you thought it was going to be like.

Sarah James,

King’s College Hospital

What is your role at King’s College Hospital and what

are you responsible for?

I’m the Associate Director of Education and Organisational Development. Largely responsible for all non-medical education and development, I also work with consultant medical staff to help with leadership development.

As part of my role I work in areas such as management development, organisational development, and appraisal and talent management for non-medical staff.

What are the changes that King’s College Hospital has gone through recently?

On the 1st October 2013 we acquired part of the former South London Healthcare Trust; namely Princess Royal University Hospital, Orpington Hospital, some of the services at Queen Mary’s Hospital Sidcup and some of the services at Beckenham Beacon. This resulted in us gaining another 2,500 staff.

It’s important to note that 18 months prior to the acquisition, none of this was in our organisational strategy. A Trust Special Administrator had recommended that we acquire these parts of the South London Healthcare Trust due to the amount of debt that they were in.

Alex Ferguson’s reign at Manchester United between

1986 and 2013 was, by a clear margin, the most fruitful period in the club’s history, and arguably that of any football club in the modern era. In an interview with Harvard Business Review1 Ferguson revealed his secrets of success. Among them was his ability to bring about change in the squad and plan ahead for the talent required to sustain success.

Nothing endures but change however, and after a period of significant stability, Ferguson retired after 27 years and David Moyes was appointed as his successor. Moyes inherited a comparatively weak, aging squad and one of his first moves was to dismiss the experienced United coaching team which Ferguson bequeathed to him.

His apparent lack of decisiveness in the transfer market, lack of conviction and inability to adapt to the new role are commonly quoted as key failings which cost him his job 10 months later, as United stuttered towards a 7th place finish in the Premiership, their worst in 25 years.

Change is no less inevitable in organisational life than it is in sport. Like elite football clubs, organisations are constantly subject to externally and internally driven changes and they must respond and adapt to survive.

How to avoid mid-table mediocrity……and why performance requires adaptability to change in both the sporting and organisational arenas.

However change is rarely simple. Lane4 research in 20092 revealed that 88% of organisations had experienced substantial change in the preceding two years, yet only 9% had been truly successful at managing it. In light of these stark facts, perhaps Moyes’ botched succession of Ferguson was less than a surprise.

We’ve identified a number of common reasons for change initiatives failing to reach their objectives3 - 70% of which are related to people and leadership factors. Similar views are shared by luminaries such as Blanchard4 and Kotter5. For example:

• Leaders fail to develop a compelling story of the reasons behind change.

• Organisational culture is not properly considered or leveraged.

• People are not prepared to accept, or are not committed to change.

• The workforce are not well equipped with the skills to make change succeed.

This positions Human Resources as a key cog in the machine of organisational change and practitioners may wish to examine many of the different ways they can contribute. Two particularly pertinent areas are that of:

• Ensuring the right people are in place to drive and implement change.

• Optimising the organisational culture as a tool to drive and embed change.

Developing coherent strategies to tackle these issues can go a long way toward making change stick, and HR practitioners and leaders should give each of these topics careful consideration before initiating change.

WHAT DOES ALL THIS HAVE TO DO WITH HR?

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Lane4’s Potential4 framework provides a comprehensive model for identifying whether people have the characteristics required to deal with transitions effectively at an individual level:

• Ability encompasses a range of leadership competencies. In the context of change this means ensuring others understand the reasons for change; care about the outcome of a change; and feel they are equipped with the skills and resources to be successful. Leaders also need to be able to quickly process new information, pick up new skills, and interact effectively with others.

• People with a Learning Mindset take on new perspectives, grow and adapt through change. They embrace safe risk-taking and accept different viewpoints, seek and reflect on feedback, and practice new skills to improve their performance.

• Resilience helps people to cope with setbacks and think clearly when the going gets tough. Change is rarely a straightforward process and those with Personal Resilience are most likely to persist with changes and see them through to the end in spite of mistakes or setbacks.

Together, Learning Mindset and Resilience are the key facets of adaptability in individuals6. Adaptable people change their behaviour and cope well with changes going on around them, and organisations should seek to recruit or develop these capabilities in populations who are engaged with change.

Blindly assuming that the existing talent base is capable of delivering on a vision would be folly. In his time at United, Ferguson constantly evaluated, evolved and refreshed his team to ensure they were able to cope with and succeed through the challenges ahead.

Similarly, organisations need to be clear that they have the right people in place to drive change and to deliver on their objectives. As you can see below, it is necessary to be aware of which roles will require different talent and skills, in order to ensure future holders of these roles are carefully identified, developed and placed.

Managing talent for change

IDENTIFY FUTURE REQUIREMENTS OF CHANGE

IDENTIFY THE SKILLS/TALENT REQUIRED TO IMPLEMENT

CHANGE

AUDIT THE CAPABILITY OF EXISTING PEOPLE TO DELIVER

THIS CHANGE

UPSKILL OR RECRUIT TO MEET THESE REQUIREMENTS, IN

ADVANCE OF CHANGE

INITIATE CHANGE

@Lane4Group Lane4 lane4performance.com

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Per4mance Magazine

1 hbr.org/2013/10/fergusons-formula/ar/1 2 Lane4 Research Report (2009). Emerging Stronger: Strategic Insights for Leading in Tough Times. Contact [email protected] Warriner, K. (2009). Effective Transition Management. Lane4 White Paper. Contact [email protected] www.kenblanchard.com/img/pub/Blanchard_Mastering_the_Art_of_Change.pdf5 www.sykehusapoteket.no/Upload/Topplederprogrammet/Litteratur/2.1%20Leading%20Change%20-%20Why%20Transformation%20Efforts%20Fail%20by%20JP%20Kotter.pdf6 Lane4 Management Group Ltd. (2014). Adapt of Fail. Per4mance Magazine - Lane4 Publication. Contact [email protected] 7 Walsh, K. (2013). Organisational Resilience: How to change before you have to. Lane4 White Paper. Contact [email protected]

In considering these points, the conscientious HR practitioner or leader may wish to reflect on a number of questions:

• Do you know what knowledge, skills and capabilities are required to lead change in your organisation?

• Are you confident in the capability of your managers to lead change effectively?

• Does the existing talent pool have the knowledge, skills and capabilities to succeed in the ‘new’ organisation?

• Do your managers look for opportunities to try new things during change?

• Do your managers cope well when things don’t go to plan?

Those answering “no” to any of these questions should give some serious thought about the talent the organisation has at its disposal and how it can be better managed to maximise the chances of success during change.

Arguably one of Moyes’ greatest mistakes was getting rid of an established and experienced coaching team at United who understood the way things were done at the club and could have advised him on how to go about influencing others and implementing change. This cultural aspect of organisations is frequently overlooked in day-to-day management, let alone in times of change and often the culture can be critical to the success of an initiative. A culture which is resistant to change can be a big obstacle and this needs to be carefully contemplated and addressed at the outset. On the other hand a culture which is accepting of and positive about change can be a powerful tool in delivering the desired strategic, operational and commercial outcomes.

Organisational resilience is key to organisational adaptability which encourages openness to and uptake of change, as well as helping to consolidate it at a later date. Our research on resilient organisations shows they are particularly adept at behaviours such as:

• Anticipating - Understanding and being open to what the future may hold.

• Sense-making - Looking beyond the obvious or self- serving explanations to explore alternative perspectives and solutions.

• Noticing - Picking up on the small errors and anomalies that often get ignored or accepted.

Managing organisational culture for change

These behaviours can be embedded in the culture of an organisation by enshrining them in the organisational values and through reinforcement in structured ways - for example through performance management or reward structures. They can also be reinforced informally, through modelling by senior leaders, through support and encouragement in informal conversations, and importantly, through celebration of the benefits of the new way of being.

We have examined two key areas where HR has a pivotal contribution to make in order to prepare and support their organisation to adapt to change. Although it may not be immediately obvious to an organisation’s leadership, HR needs to be involved in terms of identifying and managing talent, and in helping to shape organisational culture to ensure the best chances of success.

Regardless of how well-managed, organisational change will always be challenging and it may be some time before you get to don your party hat (or lift the premiership trophy again…). Nevertheless yours is the opportunity to make an influential contribution to ensure positive change in your organisation - and avoid your organisation ending up languishing in mid-table obscurity!


We frequently work with leaders and internal communications

teams faced with the challenge of communicating during periods of change. This could be something as significant as a restructure, engaging people in a new strategic direction, the launch of a new vision and values or a specific initiative.

In our research into change, the most compelling evidence as to why change programmes fail points to the tendency to ignore, defer or

Leading change communication

Change is never easy - and there are always news stories around to prove the point. For example Theresa May was recently heavily criticised for her blunt threats to reform the Police Federation. The common feature of this and many other similar stories is the way in which change is communicated. But it’s not just these high profile public figures that can learn valuable lessons when it comes to communicating change. Leaders play a crucial role as the protagonists for change in all organisations.

underestimate the significance of the people issues during change. More specifically poor communication is cited as one of the most disengaging aspects of change.

So how can organisations take their people on the journey with them when they embark on a change?

The first mistake organisations and leaders often make is simply telling people about a change but waiting too long to actively engage them in

it. It is rare that you communicate anything that you don’t want people to act on or do something differently as a result. But often people can be left feeling that change is being ‘done to them’ rather than feeling like they are actively part of it.

We have identified three levels of engagement required to move people to action for any change. Sometimes we refer to this as UNDERSTAND, CARE, CAN as the three key steps to creating shift:

Poor communication is cited as one of the most disengaging aspects of change

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GET THE MESSAGE RIGHT WITH A COMPELLING STORY

Firstly you need to get buy-in, helping your audience to understand the need to change. It is the role of the leader to develop a story that does this. The leader has an important role in communicating and to ensure they are developing an impactful story for change.

Change needs an inspiring vision to give it momentum; it needs to embrace transparency, hard data and evidence; it needs to feel realistic and achievable; and it needs to show respect for what has worked well in the past.

There are times when the change might not always have a positive outcome for the individuals involved; for example, a planned restructure could result in redundancies for employees. However a leader must still consider what the change means so that they can help them to remain resilient and ensure their personal transition is as smooth as possible.

• Create an inspiring vision - If people are going to change they need to know why.

• Share the facts - Use data and evidence where possible.

• Tell the story even if it is not a happy one - Not telling story at all is often worse.

• Respect the past - People need to see the change building rather than replacing.

LEADERS CAN MAKE OR BREAK CHANGE

Leaders and managers make or break change in the way they communicate. They need to work very hard to be seen to be on the same wavelength as their colleagues; to be respected as role models of consistency in at least saying and doing the same thing; and they must demonstrate courage and honesty in their communication.

Once people understand the rationale for change it will be important that they care about it or at least feel connected to it on an emotional level. This can often be the most challenging aspect of engaging people because we can often feel uncomfortable and cautious about change. In this instance leaders need to make the story for change as compelling as possible. It is also important that leaders help people to make sense of what change might mean for them on an emotional level.

• Make communication meaningful - Make sure that communication is tailored to the audience.

• Align your leadership - All leaders within an organisation need to be ‘on the same page’. Sharing the same vision even during fast paced change.

• Role model - Saying the right things is one thing but doing the right thing is also critical.

• Be prepared to have courageous communication - Leaders must be ready to have tough conversations, deliver difficult messages and demonstrate transparency where ever possible.

BehaviouralEngagement

EmotiveEngagement

RationalEngagementBuy-in

“I understand the need to

change”

Meaning“I care about

this beinga success”

Capacity“I am equipped

& have the opportunityto take part”

UNDERSTAND, CARE, CAN

Per4mance Magazine


Communication needs to feel genuinely two-way and meaningful to give it credibility; it needs to share what is known wherever possible and be frank about what remains uncertain; it needs to recognise that both formal and informal dialogue have key, and complementary, roles; and it needs leaders to be seen to be actively listening to what is said.

Theresa May could have invested time listening to the concerns of Police Federation members, rather than simply telling them in a speech: “If you do not change of your own accord, we will impose change on you.”

This final stage of communication is what creates behavioural engagement which means employees need to feel equipped to act on messages.

Normally change is a gradual process and people are usually more engaged if they feel that they can play their part of building the change. This is where a two way communication flow is important.

• Listen - People need to make sense of change and will want to have a voice.

• Communicate as much as possible - Take every opportunity to keep people updated and be as visible and accessible as possible.

• Remove uncertainty - Tackle feelings of uncertainty by providing frequent updates being prepared to disclose what the ‘known’ and the ‘unknowns’ are.

• Pay attention to informal communication - Engage with the messy informal conversations even if it feels uncomfortable.

CREATE A TWO WAY COMMUNICATION FLOW

In most organisations constant change is a daily reality and people will almost always be resistant.

Leaders cannot afford to ignore their critical role in communicating change and they must take real ownership to play their part. By following the steps outlined in this article, leaders should be able to help their people begin to engage with the changes in their organisation.

However, real shift takes place when employees are put at the heart of a change and can play an active role in shaping it. This is not always possible but it is a good mindset to have when leading change.

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