Think your organization is in need of a crucial change? You’re probably right. And yes, it’s a lot of hard work—but Victoria McFarlane has got you covered with all the details about how to ace the process and come out on top.
Technological advances, as well as sociocultural, economic, political, legal, and environmental factors, are powerful forces driving the speed at which businesses must now adapt and change—just to survive in today’s complex and competitive business landscape. In an organizational context, however, change is also a significant force to be reckoned with. It can bring an organization to its knees, or it can lift it stratospherically above the competition. Being the first to market with an innovative new product is not always enough when your competitors may already be working on a product that is better and cheaper!
THE BENEFIT OF A COLLECTIVE RATHER THAN TOP-DOWN APPROACH TO CHANGE IS THAT EMPLOYEES IN THE LOWER LEVELS OF THE ORGANIZATION MAY FEEL LESS FORCED, AND THEREFORE ENCOURAGED TO PARTICIPATE.
The only real way to survive and thrive in today’s business world is to continuously create and innovate. This pace of change requires a new kind of leader: one who can prepare organizations for change, and help them cope as they struggle through it. The real work of leaders is in the preparation of an organization for continuous change. Leaders must prepare people to embrace change, and be motivated by it in order to create a self-feeding and continuously-improving learning organization. Organizational change requires the leadership of an emotionally intelligent leader, one who is able to inspire rather than order or direct. It is a complex process that one individual can rarely accomplish alone, regardless of how charismatic they seem to be. Successful organizational change requires a leader who can win support for change within all levels of the organization.
Most organizational change initiatives fail. Harvard professor and change guru John Kotter discovered the eight main reasons this happens, and reengineered them into the eight steps of change management. According to his model, leaders must shake up the status quo by creating a sense of urgency for change, and gain support by building a “guiding coalition” of trusted, credible people who are empowered to implement the changes needed. The benefit of a collective rather than top-down approach to change is that employees in the lower levels of the organization may feel less forced, and therefore encouraged to participate.
IT IS A MESSY AND ITERATIVE PROCESS THAT CREATES HEAVIER WORKLOADS, AND IT CAN AFFECT ENERGY AND MOTIVATION LEVELS.
Leaders must also create a compelling change vision—and communicate that vision. Painting an appealing picture of the future is paramount to the buy-in of the change. Engaging employees, and not just those in the C-suite, in the creation of the change vision generates more commitment than a strategy designed by top management alone. However, an inspiring vision is useless if employees cannot act upon it. Leaders must remove all structural and procedural boundaries to the change. This includes ensuring that all staff actually have the skills to perform within the changed environment.
Finally, remember that change takes time. It is a messy and iterative process that creates heavier workloads, and it can affect energy and motivation levels. Therefore, be sure to celebrate the small victories with your employees along your organization’s change journey.