For too long those working in change have felt like lone voices. We are often individuals or small groups leading the approach to new ways of working and shifts in culture. It’s an impossible task because the numbers don’t stack up. High volumes of change taking place in every part of the organisation cannot be supported by 3 or 4 (if we are lucky) change professionals. How do we get more people involved in change in the workplace?
I am working with 3 global leaders of learning and development, who realise that capability building and getting more people involved in change in the workplace is core to solving this problem.
What has driven them to embrace change management as a core skill? This desire for change capability is driven by three factors:
The challenge is to excite and enthuse people to want to learn how to manage change. I do not pretend to have all the answers, but these are some of the messages that are creating the most interest in getting involved in workplace change through the capability-building programmes I deliver:
It sounds obvious, but if change is everywhere, and we want more people involved, then an ability to manage change is not optional, it is an essential.
For your ambitious and high-potential team members, make the link between senior management positions and change management.
All your executives have experience of change and transformation. They will have been impacted by, taken part in and led numerous changes in their career, so ask them to share their stories.
This is good for everyone, as it is a reassuring message about the constancy of change. But – it also creates a strong link between career success and change capability which will mean you get more people involved in change at work.
Your senior leaders will have enough stories between them to showcase the breadth of change expertise, which runs from having a “big picture” strategic view of what needs to change to a tactical ability to design and create changes and ensure they move successfully into operational use.
When new joiners arrive, describe their role as “transforming” – explain their current responsibilities but make it clear that they will be involved in improving and adapting how they work to meet the ever-changing nature of business.
This frames change as a core responsibility (make sure it is backed up by their role description which includes reference to the expectation that they will lead themselves through change and support their colleagues with change) which will help to get them involved in work place change right from the start.
Learning about how we react to change, supporting others through the anxiety and uncertainty of change and finding ways to build resilience and motivate others to change have two benefits. They create a resilient team and build an individual’s ability to cope and thrive during change.
If we have talented junior managers who do not want the responsibility of managing others, then more of our management training will need to address emotional intelligence.
We need to make coaching/supporting others feel achievable. A lot of the contents of change training is targeted at building these interpersonal skills, and the inclusion of content drawn from neuroscience and positive psychology makes the subject interesting and relevant to work and home lives. I have never had anyone find the neuroscience that underpins how we react to change boring, so the inclusion of the latest thinking about change management guarantees excited, enthusiastic learners.
For more information about building the capability for change, read this
If you want to roll out a learning and development programme within your organisation to get more people involved in change in the workplace, review this 20-session self-paced master class for ideas and contact me to discuss examples of programmes I am running for other organisations.
