I’m willing to be my last dollar that your organization has encountered some change in the last month alone. Change, unlike what many leaders think, is a quite a moment of trepidation with other employees. The main issue where change is concerned is not change itself, but rather, the level of uncertainty. I mean, if a change is favorable (say, your President says he’s going to give everyone a 20% pay raise) there’s not going to be much complaining. But there will always be repercussions and therefore one of the main reasons for change management to be done effectively.

I’m not suggesting that any organization has to be perfect because it’s literally impossible. But I do think it is possible to strive toward the vision of a well-adjusted organization.

Adjustment

One of the key things about measuring leaders is their ability to adjust. The better adjusted one is, it is also likely that they would be able to manage emotionally, handling problems that crop up along the way. The leader who is adjusting, however, needs to put himself/herself in difficult positions where adjusting makes a difference in the first place.

Technically, if everyone were well adjusted, there would be no problem with change. Unfortunately, this is never the case. Even if you do have well-adjusted people throughout the organization, might that translate into becoming so adaptive that some changes take place without really having a clear purpose?

Corporate Change Management

As a result of this, I believe that individuals within the top level management team has to be well versed in the art of change management. Sadly, this oftentimes refers only to systems changes or IT implementations. It is not. Change management often requires the CEO or Managing Director to be aware of the psychology of individuals. Uncertainty means there is a significant level of fear, anxiety and stress. This may also translate into feelings of resentment because they feel that management is not treating them right, even though this might not be the case.

Resentment is further fueled if the change is not understood by the targets of change. In almost all cases, success in change management is associated with an effective translation of the vision into a shared, overarching goal that people believe in. Yet, this is sometimes taken for granted because of the involvement in the operational detail surrounding the execution of change.

John Kotter, Harvard guru on change management, highlighted eight stages to change. In many change management training programs, these steps appear to be sacrosanct. However, I would like to suggest that these are still ideas that need to be considered in the light of your needs.

Here are a few questions you may want to ask prior to engaging in any changes.

1. What type of change is this? Is it the implementation of a new system? A shift of culture? A merger or acquisition?
2. Who are the teams involved in this implementation or change and do they know how to work with each other?
3. Who is going to be affected by this change?
4. What is the likely reaction to the change and what is the nature of the team? Are they predisposed to skepticism?
5. What is the style of leadership required to engage, initiate and enforce the change? Who are likely to be more suitable for each phase?
6. Is there a clear target, and has the message been clearly articulated? Who is the best person to initiate this message?
7. Who is the change leadership team and how is their network in relation to the target group? Do they have access to input form empirical psychological research as a starting point?
8. How is the measurement being done? A pre-test to assess the start state and a post-test or measure to assess level of success? Is this valid?

For more information about how to create the right conditions for changes to take place while fostering greater organizational cohesion and satisfaction, contact us for a discussion!