Effecting Successful Change Management Initiatives
Effecting Successful Change Management Initiatives
In recent surveys, CEOs report that up to 75% of their organizational change efforts do not yield the promised results. These change efforts fail to produce what had been hoped for and yet always produce a stream of unintended and unhelpful consequences.
These leaders develop clear strategies around re-design, restructuring, new efficiencies, and so on, hoping to get everyone to share their vision and create change programs around these strategies. However, more often then not, they end up fighting fires and crises. People don’t want to change. They don’t believe in the change. They often feel demoralized by change initiatives.
Author and lecturer, Dr. Peter M. Senge, in his book, “The Fifth Discipline: the Art and Practice of the Learning Organization,“ says that, “This failure to sustain significant change recurs again and again, despite substantial resources committed to the change effort; many of which are bankrolled by top management, talented and committed people driving the change, and high stakes. Executives feeling an urgent need for change are right; however, organizations that fail to sustain significant change end up facing crises. By then, their options are greatly reduced and even after heroic efforts they often decline.”
Harvard Business School Professor, John Kotter, who is widely regarded as the world's foremost authority on leadership and change has said, “The most general lesson to be learned from the more successful cases is that the change process goes through a series of phases that, in total, usually require a considerable length of time. Skipping steps creates only the illusion of speed and never produces satisfactory results.” As well, he says, “Making critical mistakes in any of the phases can have a devastating impact, slowing momentum and negating hard-won gains.”
What Drives Change?
Some of the drivers of change:
· Mergers & acquisitions
· Innovation
· Technology
· Restructuring/re-organizing
· Declining sales and/or market share
· Globalization, expansion and growth
· Sense of urgency
· When 75% of the leadership is honestly convinced that business as usual is no longer an acceptable plan.
Why Do Change Initiatives Fail?
Leaders buy and sell companies. There are mergers and acquisitions. They expand globally. In the traditional Change Model, we know that employees move through the phases of denial, resistance, exploration and commitment when a change occurs. However, too often, management fails to recognize that adjustment to change takes time. They very quickly expect employees to move from the denial phase to the commitment phase and fail to recognize that each individual will go through all of the phases at different paces. It is never uniform.
Consequently, management may end up dealing with employees that may be burned out, scared or frustrated and who don’t work well together. These are the employees who may long for “the past” and who don’t like the merger. They hate the new company and a crisis emerges. In these situations, leaders often look for blame. There is no control…only a crisis. They have moved into acceptance and left their employees behind. I once heard one healthcare company executive say to me, “We’re under so much stress that all we do is look around the organization to find somebody we can shoot.”
There are so many things that we, as management do, that create a crisis in the management of change. We may not do these things intentionally, however, the result of these actions is generally the opposite of what we’d hoped for.
Things we do that create a crisis in the management of change:
· Not engaging all employees
· Managing change only at the executive level
· Telling people they have to change, we’re in a crisis
· Sending staff on a change program and expecting change to occur
· Not honoring the past
· Not giving time for staff to vent first and then change
We’ve spoken about some of the reasons for change. We must understand and accept the fact that no two change processes look the same. It is unlikely for change management techniques to manifest themselves in the same way twice. Each change is different, each organization is different and each department is different. Furthermore, we are not the same today as we were even 5 years ago because the circumstances right now are different. The customers are different. The structures are different. The drivers of change are different. If change were this easy, we wouldn’t be struggling with the issue of strategic change management. It would be apparent. We will have seen it work and know we could duplicate it.
So how do we move from crisis to control?
1. Accept that change is a process
First, recognize that change is a process and to move from crisis to control, we must follow the process. We must engage everyone in the change. It is not complex but it is a journey.
2. Move forward step by step
When companies strive to restructure or gain greater efficiency, experts warn that moving too quickly or failing to carefully implement changes can be detrimental to the process and ultimate result. But in the words of John Kotter, “Skipping steps creates only the illusion of speed and never produces satisfactory results” and “Making critical mistakes in any of the phases can have a devastating impact, slowing momentum and negating hard-won gains.
3. Assess potential risks and generate motivation
First, executives or other players in the organization need to assess potential risks and stir up a sense of urgency among workers and stakeholders in order to generate the motivation to spur change within the firm. However, this sense of urgency has to be strong enough and perpetuated by outside analysts, consumers, and other voices in order to propel change forward.
4. Form a powerful guiding coalition
Once change is identified as the best solution to market share, profit losses, or other catalysts, leaders throughout the organization have to band together to guide the transformation process, and these leaders can include board members, consumers, union leaders, executives, chairmen, and others.
5. Create a shared vision for corporate change
The group then coalesces to create a shared vision for corporate change, and this vision should go beyond the normal five-year forward looking plan generated at most firms annually and be easily communicated and clear. A clear vision should also include transformation steps that are coordinated and propel the organization toward the overall goal, and these visions should be communicated in not only words and speeches, but also actions of managers, supervisors, and executives. The transformation of a company should also include short-term goals that can be tracked to show executives and workers that progress is being made toward the ultimate vision and that the long journey will be worth it, even in spite of short-term job cuts for instance. Experts warn, however, that transformations can take between five and 10 years to complete, and should not be declared as complete until the company culture has transformed to meet the vision. Leaders will know to tackle other processes and structures reflecting the old culture of the firm and to engrain the new behaviors and procedures into workers in order to make the change complete.
6. Communicate that vision
Leadership should estimate how much of the vision is needed, and then multiply that effort by a factor of ten. A transformation effort will fail unless most of the organization understand, appreciate, commit and try to make the effort happen. The guiding principle is simple: use every existing communication channel and opportunity.
7. Empower others to act on the vision
Remove obstacles there may be to getting on with change. This entails several actions. Allocate budget money to the new initiative and free up key people from existing responsibilities so they can concentrate on the new effort. Allow people to start living the new ways and make changes in their areas of involvement. Nothing is more frustrating than believing in the change but then not having the time, money, help or support needed to effect it.
8. Plan for and create short-term wins
Real transformation takes time therefore; the loss of momentum and the onset of disappointment are real factors. Actively plan to achieve short-term gains which people will be able to see and celebrate. This will provide proof that efforts are working and adds to the motivation to keep going.
9. Consolidate improvement and keep the momentum for change moving
A premature declaration of victory can kill momentum, allowing the powerful forces of tradition to regain ground. Keep in mind that new approaches are fragile and subject to regression. Use the feeling of victory as the motivation to delve more deeply into the organization: to explore changes in the basic culture, expose the systems relationships of the organization that need tuning, and to move people committed to the new ways into key roles.
10. Institutionalize the new approaches
At the end of the day, change sticks when it seeps into the bloodstream of the corporate body and becomes “the way we do things around here.” This requires a conscious attempt to: show people how the new approaches, behaviours and attitudes have helped improve the organization and when the next generation of leaders believe in and embody the new ways.
Conclusion
Change requires dedication and must be driven by high quality leadership who demonstrate their commitment to its success. The rewards for those organizations that manage their change efforts well have improved their competitive standing and positioned themselves for a far better future.
Effecting Successful Change Management Initiatives - To learn more about this author, visit Michael Stanleigh's Website.
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Despite all the rhetoric, books, effort, and money thrown into change efforts, most organizational change efforts fail. Arthur D. Little and McKinsey & Co, have studied hundreds of organizations that entered into change initiatives and have found that about two-thirds fail to produce the results expected.
In recent surveys, CEOs report that up to 75% of their organizational change efforts do not yield the promised results. These change efforts fail to produce what had been hoped for and yet always produce a stream of unintended and unhelpful consequences.
These leaders develop clear strategies around re-design, restructuring, new efficiencies, and so on, hoping to get everyone to share their vision and create change programs around these strategies. However, more often then not, they end up fighting fires and crises. People don’t want to change. They don’t believe in the change. They often feel demoralized by change initiatives.
Author and lecturer, Dr. Peter M. Senge, in his book, “The Fifth Discipline: the Art and Practice of the Learning Organization,“ says that, “This failure to sustain significant change recurs again and again, despite substantial resources committed to the change effort; many of which are bankrolled by top management, talented and committed people driving the change, and high stakes. Executives feeling an urgent need for change are right; however, organizations that fail to sustain significant change end up facing crises. By then, their options are greatly reduced and even after heroic efforts they often decline.”
Harvard Business School Professor, John Kotter, who is widely regarded as the world's foremost authority on leadership and change has said, “The most general lesson to be learned from the more successful cases is that the change process goes through a series of phases that, in total, usually require a considerable length of time. Skipping steps creates only the illusion of speed and never produces satisfactory results.” As well, he says, “Making critical mistakes in any of the phases can have a devastating impact, slowing momentum and negating hard-won gains.”
What Drives Change?
Some of the drivers of change:
· Mergers & acquisitions
· Innovation
· Technology
· Restructuring/re-organizing
· Declining sales and/or market share
· Globalization, expansion and growth
· Sense of urgency
· When 75% of the leadership is honestly convinced that business as usual is no longer an acceptable plan.
Why Do Change Initiatives Fail?
Leaders buy and sell companies. There are mergers and acquisitions. They expand globally. In the traditional Change Model, we know that employees move through the phases of denial, resistance, exploration and commitment when a change occurs. However, too often, management fails to recognize that adjustment to change takes time. They very quickly expect employees to move from the denial phase to the commitment phase and fail to recognize that each individual will go through all of the phases at different paces. It is never uniform.
Consequently, management may end up dealing with employees that may be burned out, scared or frustrated and who don’t work well together. These are the employees who may long for “the past” and who don’t like the merger. They hate the new company and a crisis emerges. In these situations, leaders often look for blame. There is no control…only a crisis. They have moved into acceptance and left their employees behind. I once heard one healthcare company executive say to me, “We’re under so much stress that all we do is look around the organization to find somebody we can shoot.”
There are so many things that we, as management do, that create a crisis in the management of change. We may not do these things intentionally, however, the result of these actions is generally the opposite of what we’d hoped for.
Things we do that create a crisis in the management of change:
· Not engaging all employees
· Managing change only at the executive level
· Telling people they have to change, we’re in a crisis
· Sending staff on a change program and expecting change to occur
· Not honoring the past
· Not giving time for staff to vent first and then change
We’ve spoken about some of the reasons for change. We must understand and accept the fact that no two change processes look the same. It is unlikely for change management techniques to manifest themselves in the same way twice. Each change is different, each organization is different and each department is different. Furthermore, we are not the same today as we were even 5 years ago because the circumstances right now are different. The customers are different. The structures are different. The drivers of change are different. If change were this easy, we wouldn’t be struggling with the issue of strategic change management. It would be apparent. We will have seen it work and know we could duplicate it.
So how do we move from crisis to control?
1. Accept that change is a process
First, recognize that change is a process and to move from crisis to control, we must follow the process. We must engage everyone in the change. It is not complex but it is a journey.
2. Move forward step by step
When companies strive to restructure or gain greater efficiency, experts warn that moving too quickly or failing to carefully implement changes can be detrimental to the process and ultimate result. But in the words of John Kotter, “Skipping steps creates only the illusion of speed and never produces satisfactory results” and “Making critical mistakes in any of the phases can have a devastating impact, slowing momentum and negating hard-won gains.
3. Assess potential risks and generate motivation
First, executives or other players in the organization need to assess potential risks and stir up a sense of urgency among workers and stakeholders in order to generate the motivation to spur change within the firm. However, this sense of urgency has to be strong enough and perpetuated by outside analysts, consumers, and other voices in order to propel change forward.
4. Form a powerful guiding coalition
Once change is identified as the best solution to market share, profit losses, or other catalysts, leaders throughout the organization have to band together to guide the transformation process, and these leaders can include board members, consumers, union leaders, executives, chairmen, and others.
5. Create a shared vision for corporate change
The group then coalesces to create a shared vision for corporate change, and this vision should go beyond the normal five-year forward looking plan generated at most firms annually and be easily communicated and clear. A clear vision should also include transformation steps that are coordinated and propel the organization toward the overall goal, and these visions should be communicated in not only words and speeches, but also actions of managers, supervisors, and executives. The transformation of a company should also include short-term goals that can be tracked to show executives and workers that progress is being made toward the ultimate vision and that the long journey will be worth it, even in spite of short-term job cuts for instance. Experts warn, however, that transformations can take between five and 10 years to complete, and should not be declared as complete until the company culture has transformed to meet the vision. Leaders will know to tackle other processes and structures reflecting the old culture of the firm and to engrain the new behaviors and procedures into workers in order to make the change complete.
6. Communicate that vision
Leadership should estimate how much of the vision is needed, and then multiply that effort by a factor of ten. A transformation effort will fail unless most of the organization understand, appreciate, commit and try to make the effort happen. The guiding principle is simple: use every existing communication channel and opportunity.
7. Empower others to act on the vision
Remove obstacles there may be to getting on with change. This entails several actions. Allocate budget money to the new initiative and free up key people from existing responsibilities so they can concentrate on the new effort. Allow people to start living the new ways and make changes in their areas of involvement. Nothing is more frustrating than believing in the change but then not having the time, money, help or support needed to effect it.
8. Plan for and create short-term wins
Real transformation takes time therefore; the loss of momentum and the onset of disappointment are real factors. Actively plan to achieve short-term gains which people will be able to see and celebrate. This will provide proof that efforts are working and adds to the motivation to keep going.
9. Consolidate improvement and keep the momentum for change moving
A premature declaration of victory can kill momentum, allowing the powerful forces of tradition to regain ground. Keep in mind that new approaches are fragile and subject to regression. Use the feeling of victory as the motivation to delve more deeply into the organization: to explore changes in the basic culture, expose the systems relationships of the organization that need tuning, and to move people committed to the new ways into key roles.
10. Institutionalize the new approaches
At the end of the day, change sticks when it seeps into the bloodstream of the corporate body and becomes “the way we do things around here.” This requires a conscious attempt to: show people how the new approaches, behaviours and attitudes have helped improve the organization and when the next generation of leaders believe in and embody the new ways.
Conclusion
Change requires dedication and must be driven by high quality leadership who demonstrate their commitment to its success. The rewards for those organizations that manage their change efforts well have improved their competitive standing and positioned themselves for a far better future.
Effecting Successful Change Management Initiatives - To learn more about this author, visit Michael Stanleigh's Website.
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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