Managing  Change

The four factors for Success: pressure – shared vision – capacity – action

Factor 1. Pressure for change (the top down approach)“Leadership is getting others to do what you want them to do because they want to do it” – Eisenhower

Firstly there must, of course, be pressure for change – a driving force. The need for change has been identified, the decision to proceed has been taken, and this now needs to be communicated throughout the organisation.

Pressure for change could be senior management commitment from the outset, but it may have come from customers or clients in a supply chain. It could come from a regulatory regime, such as Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC), the implementation of an Environmental Management System or, and this can often be the most effective source, pressure from the workforce itself.

Who wants to work for a company or an organisation that has developed a notorious reputation for polluting the environment or exploiting its suppliers? It is widely accepted that when people take a pride in the organisation they work for, they perform better and will more readily put themselves out to help achieve corporate goals.

For success, however, regardless of where the original pressure came from, senior management commitment and drive for change is essential if momentum is to be maintained for effective implementation.

The rest of the organisation will need to be convinced of the need and the case for change – this is dealt with in more detail in Factor 2 (A clear shared vision). Only this can happen to good effect if senior management, including the Chairman and Chief Executive, are collectively behind the changes sought.
“Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking” – H Jackson Brown (Jnr)
Senior management must be seen to be fully supportive by what they do and say – both privately and publicly. If, however, senior management “talks the talk” by failing to back up their statements with action and a continuous commitment, progress can soon stall. Other conflicting or new priorities emerge and the momentum can be lost if senior management fail to remain fully supportive of the project.

So, get senior management signed up to the change. And communicate this to all staff – giving them the opportunity to feed in their contributions and feel that they have joint ownership of the change being implemented.

Forward-thinking companies are already signed up to becoming more sustainable through resource efficiency, using cleaner technologies, minimising waste and embracing the principles of producer responsibility. But being more sustainable in its broadest sense also means attending to social responsibilities as a good employer by, for example, encouraging fairness at work; helping staff to develop their skills; introducing green transport plans; being a ‘good neighbour’ that is responsive to the local community; and as an ethical trader. That is the positive message that needs to be communicated throughout the organisation.

An environmental policy (whether new or improved) can be the signal to staff that things are changing, and that they have a role to play in making this happen. It’s their agenda too. It’s in their interests and in the interests of the organisation that the changes are made. This is where a clear, shared vision (Factor 2) is essential.

Factor 2. A clear, shared vision

“Businesses are nothing more or less than organisations of people trying to get to a jointly defined future” – Professor Howard H Stevenson, Harvard Business School

“As a manager the important thing is not what happens when you are there, but what happens when you are not there” – Ken Blanchard

For change to be effective, it needs to be implemented at all levels; embedded in the culture of the organisation. To keep colleagues with you and not against you they need to be motivated, and you need to understand what motivates them. You should never forget that change is a major cause of stress amongst the workforce. Staff will usually respond well to challenges (that they feel they can meet!); it’s fear of the unknown that raises stress levels. Getting staff motivated to support the changes that are to be implemented is therefore crucial for success.

Staff, their managers and senior managers are all motivated by similar things. They do not, however, necessarily place them in the same order of importance. These ‘motivators’ include pride, happiness, responsibility, recognition, security, success, and, of course, money. The trick in successfully managing change and getting the commitment and support from staff is to provide these ‘motivators’ for your staff – or at least as many of them as possible. Here are some tips, questions and ideas to help you:

PRIDE
“Follow where your enthusiasm takes you”

When was the last time you [or senior management] told or showed your staff how proud you are of what they have achieved? The performance of your staff can drop significantly if they feel unappreciated or taken for granted. Staff that take pride and some level of enjoyment in their work and working environment are much more likely to perform well and provide new ideas for improving the organisation’s own well being.

HAPPINESS
“A happy team is an effective team”

A culture where laughter is permitted and encouraged can make all the difference in helping everyone get through the day. A caring approach to your staff can reap many benefits; because if they know their employer cares about them as individuals then they will be more likely to care about the employer’s interests.

Taking the approach of ‘treating others as we would wish to be treated ourselves’ is the ‘golden rule’ for strengthening and improving relationships between everyone at all levels in the organisation.

RESPONSIBILITY
“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit“ – Harry Truman

Giving people more responsibility is a demonstration of trust. If people feel they are trusted they usually respond by taking greater care and pride in their work. Is management prepared to delegate responsibility and provide the back-up? Will management then take responsibility when things go wrong? – Or does it have a blame culture?

SUCCESS
“Success in your life is not a single achievement. It’s all that you do with others and for others”

We all have slightly different views on what constitutes success. But there can often be common factors such as market profile, corporate reputation and product quality. A useful exercise here is, following a presentation on why change is being undertaken, to ask staff, individually or in small focus groups, what they have as a vision for the company/organisation and also for themselves as individuals. Good questions to get things going are:

(i) What or where are you now?
(ii) What or where would you like to be?

(ask teams to apply these questions to the company as well as themselves)

A facilitated discussion can tease out where ideas overlap and demonstrate where common ground exists and can be strengthened. Use the ‘Change Management Matrix’ at the end of this guide to reveal the current status within your organisation.

RECOGNITION
When the leader’s work is done, the people say
‘We did it ourselves’ – Lau Tzu

Are your staff valued and made to feel part of the organisation’s success? Even when times are hard? When was the last time you took time out to say ‘thank you’ to staff at all levels of the organisation for their individual contributions? To ignore this important motivator would be a serious error; and could result in losing the support you need when implementing change.

An effective approach employers can take is to treat its employees as its most important and valued customers. The employer is providing employment activity and wages; the employees purchase these with their effort. The spin-off is that the external customers benefit from a more highly motivated company to do business with.

SECURITY
“You do not lead people by hitting them over the head –
that’s assault, not leadership” – Eisenhower

Whenever change is being implemented the fear factor can set in. This can be the fear of change itself and its consequences such as the possible loss of job security or loss of responsibility or control. Continuous, honest and open communication is essential here. Change can take people out of their ‘comfort zone’ and raise their stress levels. The challenge is to demonstrate that the new ‘zone’ is even more comfortable and secure – or at least it will be once the initial short-term discomfort of implementing change has been overcome.

MONEY
“I am not interested in money. I just want to be wonderful”
- Marilyn Monroe

Money is of course an important motivator. Underpaid staff feel under-valued and are less likely to respond positively to change – especially if it means more effort for little or no increase in either pay or recognition – or both! Many, especially those with captivating outside interests, ‘work to live rather than live to work’, but we need to recognise that most full-time employees spend more of their waking hours at work than they spend on pursuing leisure interests or with their families. This means that providing the other six motivators is equally as important as paying a fair wage for a fair job of work done.

If your company is already highly profitable, staff may not have a strong inclination to reduce operating or production costs by, for example, switching off equipment when not in use – especially if the shareholders rather than their own pay packets benefit from cost-saving measures. However, informing staff of the environmental impacts of the organisation (for example carbon dioxide emissions or waste volumes going to landfill) and how staff have an important role in reducing these, can be an effective motivator – especially as environmental awareness continues to increase amongst the general population. The positive feedback to staff of reductions in harmful environmental impacts can increase this motivation (“Haven’t we done well, can we keep this up and do better?”).

Staff suggestion schemes, with financial rewards for employees, need to be handled sensitively. Make sure you do deliver the rewards that you promise. Better still, let a percentage of costs savings (subject to a capped limit perhaps) go towards supporting a local charitable cause that has been chosen by staff. This can motivate those who are not unduly concerned with environmental issues, but who may have local community interests.

Finally, management and staff alike need to remember that, in the words of Henry Ford,

“it is not the employer who pays wages; he only handles the money. It is the product that pays wages”.

Factor 3. Capacity for change (resources)

“More business is lost every year through neglect than through any other cause” – Jim Cathcart
Capacity here means resources and these are staff time and, where appropriate, money. To implement change you need to identify the resources that will be required before you proceed and make sure these are provided. Often, the cost benefits from implementing energy efficiency measures and waste minimisation programmes can provide the financial resources for an ongoing programme of improvement.

It is usually the organisation’s own employees that have the information, intuition, ideas and instincts necessary for implementing change effectively. When given the capability and the opportunity to participate in improvement programmes, it is employees who often can find the greatest cost savings and efficiency improvements.

In addition to this wealth of in-house expertise, bringing in a ‘fresh pair of eyes’ from the government’s energy/environmental business support programmes (via the ‘Environment and Energy Helpline’ on 0800 585 794) is a resource that can prove invaluable. The government also has funding schemes (interest free loans, grants, enhanced capital allowances) that companies can use to help resource their improvement programmes – details can be found on the BUSINESS page of www.oursouthwest.com.

Factor 4. Action

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit” – Aristotle
Having got the other three factors in place (pressure, a clear shared shared vision and capacity) you now have to implement the planned change.

“Energy is equal to desire and purpose” – Sheryl Adams

Keeping up momentum is what matters here and implementing the

PLAN – DO – CHECK – ACT

management methodology is essential to maintaining the effectiveness and appropriateness of the change. Good monitoring and analysis of the resulting data is essential. Make sure you continue to keep employees informed of progress – the ‘Change Management Matrix’ at the end of this guide can help you do this.

Source: http://www.oursouthwest.com/SusBus/mggchange.html