Leading Change and Engagement
No matter how well defined your strategy, today’s VUCA climate means there will increasingly be challenges that require an agile response. Both the planned for changes – such as, digitisation, new systems platforms, mergers or acquisitions – and the unplanned.
Key to success is your ability to respond and take your people with you in ways that retain customer and employee engagement and loyalty.
Change management as it is traditionally applied is outdated. We know, for example, that 70% of change programs fail to achieve their goals, largely due to employee resistance and lack of management support. We also know that when people are truly invested in change it is 30% more likely to stick.
1 Jul 2015 – Changing change management | McKinsey
Investment in how change is led dramatically improves successful implementation. Our People Engaged Change framework is at the heart of how we help organisations build their capability to adapt, and experience the benefits this brings.
Not all change is equal and not all colleagues are impacted equally. A Colleague Journey Map segments colleagues and plots the change events they will experience. Using a RAG system draws attention to which segments are impacted most and when.
We facilitate this relatively quick and simple exercise, enabling you to address specific requirements – putting greater emphasis on colleague segments who need it most and saving time and money on unnecessary initiatives. Capacity crunch points become apparent, with plans refined to be ambitious and achievable.
This is a collaborative process that indirectly strengths understanding and relationships between teams whilst ‘working on the work’.
Colleague Journey Mapping increases engagement as people increasingly trust leaders’ judgement and feel they are in touch with the grass roots of the organisation. Challenging outcomes are then more readily accepted.
This is best done as a ‘brown paper’ exercise so you can see, at a glance, all the segments and how change is impacting each
People want to know what a planned change means for them in practical terms – what is going to be different and what will be the same? They want to be reassured that important stuff has been considered. How is it going to impact customers? How will I get my job done? Will my critical tasks take longer?
Our Day in the Life workshop is an experiential, energising session where teams walk through (physically or virtually) their new model day and what it means in terms of processes, systems and handoffs.
We make this as sensory an experience as possible, depending on what the change is and how much design has taken place. For example, what will people’s workspaces look sound and feel like? Can they have a play with new systems and processes?
Giving people the opportunity to experience what is coming and the space for challenge and questions speeds up acceptance and flattens any performance downturn of change. It also flags subtle but critical improvements to make ahead of change implementation.
‘Live illustration’ can capture the Day in a Life output for on-going use and evolution as the change progresses
Being able to lead your people through change whilst managing your own concerns and uncertainty is a core skill for all leaders and managers.
We design and facilitate Leading Change workshops that build the skills and confidence, mindset and behaviours necessary for successful change leadership. These include
- Developing understanding of emotions experienced during change and how to navigate these effectively
- Building trust with colleagues and stakeholders
- Overcoming resistance to change
- Building resilience in themselves and others
Brilliant change leaders deliver effective change that sticks. They create a culture of continuous improvement and innovation, generating benefits for colleagues and customers alike.
Establishing cross-functional peer coaching strengthens networks and opportunities to learn from one another
We offer a set of digital frameworks and tools for anyone involved in change. From assessing change readiness, to realising the benefits, via mobilisation, implementation, embedding and review. We customise these to fit your existing change frameworks and can make them available as an app, if required.
Our tools and frameworks are quick and easy to use and can be used on a standalone basis, or in combination with one another.
The toolkit provides non-change practitioners with the means to plan and implement change consistently and effectively, in ways that take your people with you. The tools speed up change acceptance and realisation of benefits.