Don’t Just Manage Change, Become Change Enabled!
I am not complaining, but as an organizational change management consultant (OCM), I have been asked back by one client 5 times over a 7-year period, another 3 times, and yet another 2 times. Every time I roll off, I take away more change management expertise and experience with me. Each time I am hired back, I can’t help but wonder, shouldn’t we be growing the organization’s internal capabilities so that they aren’t consultant dependent? How can we change the way we consult so that our work is less about managing change and more about making the organization change enabled? But most importantly, I realized that OCM needs to be a core capability of any successful enterprise to truly be competitive in today’s business environment.
The ability to manage change well has become critically important over the last decade. Ten-fifteen years ago it was not uncommon for a big organization to have 3 key initiatives a year. I was recently talking to an executive and I asked him “How many key initiatives do you have?” He replied, “52.” I asked, “Well, how many of them are top priorities for this year?” He replied, “All 52.” This is the reality of change for most organizations today. In addition, big changes used to be primarily driven by the C-suite. More and more, leaders at lower of the organization are being held accountable for making these changes happen. The need for OCM is speeding up so quickly, that it is time to bring it in house. This does not necessarily mean that organizations should hire a cadre of experienced OCM practitioners. Rather, building OCM capabilities within the organization has to be a critical initiative in and of itself.
The most effective way to bring OCM capabilities into an organization is by upskilling. Not with a one-size-fits-all approach, but by defining what OCM capabilities are required for each role and upskilling accordingly. What change skills do senior executives need at their level? What skills do managers and supervisors require to lead change for their teams? What skills do all employees need so that they can better participate in change? Upskilling will drastically increase adoption of those 52 top priority initiatives. Because everyone will understand what is happening in the organization, and to them, and will have the skillset to go through the change process understanding that the goal is adoption.
So, what new skills are needed in order to change enable your organization? Certain capabilities are needed across the board. Everyone should understand the basic concepts of change and tools; a common change methodology is ground zero for everyone.
Senior Leaders
Lead for change; how to be out there and be visible
Communicate in a compelling way
Nurture project teams and clear their path; projects get tricky!
Build relationships across the organization; it’s a rare project that does not have tentacles across an organization
Managers and Supervisors
Work collaboratively across the organization
Influence their people
Advocate for their people
Communicate with storytelling; people relate to and remember stories!
Create adoption mindset within their teams; this is not pressed on us, rather, we are part of the change process
Employees
Solve problems
Work as a team
Presentation and influencing skills
Train peers
Coach peers
Building a change enabled organization is not easy and it will take time and effort. Upskilling your organizational will require a heavy lift from HR and Learning and Development. However, when an organization is change enabled, there is less disruption, higher levels of adoption, and increased return on investment – for each one of those key 52 initiatives! Change enablement empowers everyone at every level within an organization to do what they do, better, and to gain more personal satisfaction from doing it.
Contact ChangeStaffing to learn how our consultants can help you upskill in order to build a change enabled organization.
A very special thanks to Gretchen Asher, Culture and Change Management thought leader and founder of The Essential CEO, for her thought leadership, and for collaborating with us on this blog.