Welcome to guest blogger Myra Cocca!
Running a division or an entire organization or company is tough, but when it is going through significant changes, the challenges become even greater. And today, given business dynamics, what organization isn’t going through a lot of change?!
While the temptation is to help “the organization” go through change, as a leader you must also help “the people” through the change: your employees, vendors, suppliers and other audiences that the change impacts. After all, people change (or not, as the case may be) organizations.
The facts bear it out: Companies that keep their employees engaged are able to withstand change better. According to research done by Towers-Watson in 2009/2010, companies that communicate with courage, innovation and discipline, especially during times of economic challenge and change, are more effective at engaging employees and achieving desired business results.
Here are some practical recommendations when guiding people, notably employees, through change:
- Listen.
- Assess employees’ readiness for change.
- Establish milestones and measurements.
- Identify change agents, skeptics and critics.
- Provide counsel to leadership on the realities.
- Identify your key messages about the change. These messages should help employees understand the forces of change – “the why.” They should also identify challenges and opportunities – the “what’s in it for me” (WIIFM) – for employees.
- All of the above are planning steps to communicating the change. When communicating, repeat key messages using many communication tools. One important tool is storytelling. Concrete stories about how the change is making a difference are powerful and can help reinforce the behaviors you want to see.
- Celebrate milestones. Celebrate people!
Many change models are available to guide you through significant change. Research done by John Paul Kotter, Harvard Business School professor and an authority on leadership and change, offers eight steps to change. As a communicator, I particularly value Kotter’s emphasis on establishing an urgency for change. This is so important, especially when radical change is needed to quickly turn around a company. In his model, he also focuses on the importance of establishing a vision and generating short-term wins for change efforts.
Communicating change is difficult – no question about that. But, with some practical steps in hand and perseverance, your organization will be a step ahead.
IronStrike, www.IronStrike.biz, helps executives, companies and organizations navigate change through effective employee and leadership communications.
