It's no secret that organizations are undergoing an increasing degree of change.
We live in a world of constant change, from industry-specific changes like those brought on by new legislation to the general effects on the economy that affect us all, like the coronavirus epidemic, to the particular adjustments you're making in your own company to carry out your strategy, such as IT implementations or reorganizations.
If not managed appropriately, the increasing volume and frequency of changes may affect your team, your partners and even your clients.
We'll concentrate on the internal effects of change overwhelm and offer some practical solutions.
First, why should you care?
A Gallup survey indicates that 76% of workers report feeling burned out. Furthermore, change is a direct relationship between two of the top three factors observed accompanying burnout, overwhelming workload and poor communication by Management.
This is very real! You can't just think that your team may be having difficulties and put it on the back burner.. This burnout directly impacts your productivity, impact, efficacy and capacity to effect change.
Employees experiencing burnout are more than 2.5 times more likely to be looking for a new job and 63% more likely to call in sick.
You cannot afford to overlook change fatigue.
So what can you do about it?
1. Examine your transformation from an enterprise-wide perspective
Are you aware of the connections between each of your changes? Which divisions and departments are seeing several changes simultaneously or quickly, one after the other?
Most likely, you've already arranged your projects into programs, managed by a central Program Management Office that can help lead and manage the impact assessment effort.
Effective program managers will consider how all initiatives under their supervision will affect each department and team.
However, what about the broader effects on other programs? For instance, you might have three programs running at the moment: one might be upgrading supply chains, another is implementing a new CRM, and a third is changing hiring procedures because of new legislation. They all feel like distinct entities, it's likely that unique and discrete teams are working on them and they each have different sponsors, but they may all end up impacting your finance team.
Additionally, it's important to remember that change tends to be felt more on the edges. The the closer you are to the front line, the more probable it is that you will be impacted by multiple changes and that the individuals who deal with your clients will be the ones who face the brunt of the changes.
The first step is to create a department-focused heat-map by taking a broad view of the entire change environment inside your firm. This will enable you to identify any possible issues before they arise and allow you to address them.
2. Communicate and do it with skill and purpose
Sadly, poor communication is a common issue in most businesses. In fact, according to IBM, 72% of employees feel that they don't understand their business's strategy, and 74% of workers feel they are lacking on company news.
Its not enough to just explain to others what your change is about. Speaking "with them" rather than "at them" is crucial - and showing them is even better! Engage the individuals who will be impacted by the change as soon as possible and don't only tell them how it will appear when it is implemented and how they will benefit. Inform them about the steps that will get there as well and the support they will have along the way.
Be as transparent as you can, including with the unknowns - even if you feel uncomfortable. Living in the gray is part of the world of transformation. There will be far more members of your team who will be grateful that you are occasionally a human, that you can acknowledge that you don't know everything and that you might even be a little anxious about it, than there will be cynics who roll their eyes.
According to a recent McKinsey study on re-energizing organizations:
“…senior leaders can unintentionally make the situation worse when they are unaware of the disconnect between where they are emotionally and where their employees are, prolonging the disillusionment and exhaustion.”
Most of your team will feel far more included in the process if you meet them where they are and are honest about it. You need to temper this with the correct level of encouragement (it will assist nobody if you choose to reveal your complete lack of faith in the project on a stage unveiling your new product!), something that McKinsey terms "bounded optimism.".
It's beneficial to develop this habit. People will trust you more if you inspire them while remaining rooted in the most likely scenario. Their ability to change will grow, and your current modification will likely hold more successfully.
According to a recent Gartner survey , employees who expressed a high level of trust in their leaders were 2.6 times more likely to be capable of making changes than those who did not.
3. Set aside money for both finances and capability
We must admit the following: When it comes to change, both the finance available and the human capacity in your organization have a limit and both need to be budgeted for.
For most organizations, when leaders begin to think about a particular transformation that needs to occur, the first place attention is often focused is on the cost and the budget. Sometimes there are conversations about the availability of people to be involved. Very seldom, if ever, are there conversations about those being most impacted by this change at the outset.
Now with this "A ha" the next time you and your leadership team sit down to talk about transformation, you can include the impacted teams in the conversation. Bring your heat-map, bring your project management office leader to share information about the other changes occurring and how this will impact each unique team.
Lastly, the reality is that even with good prioritization, it's impossible to bring organizational change down to a level where every employee feels at ease. Fear of change is part of human nature and adapting to change is crucial to operating a successful business.
However, by thinking about change projects holistically, you may lessen the impact of change to your employees while improving your organization's capacity to plan for and adopt a new way of working to continue your business' journey on a path to success.
