Confused about change management in your organization, you are not alone. Transformational change is difficult to achieve, but some companies have successfully implemented change throughout the length and breadth of their organization. So, this beg the question, what is the secret behind a successful transformation change and why do some companies identify leadership as the catalyst for creating the environment conducive to change.
Jack Welch, Anne Mulcahy, and Al Dunlap all successfully delivered change in their organization. Some can argue that their approach was different, but one cannot question their success managing change.
What is the secret?
Adopting a long term vision
This vision is a critical success factor for managing change. Companies that commit to the process are more likely to experience a greater acceptance than those who implement short term or damage control practices. To create that great place to work, the CEO and senior management must show a strong commitment to active communication and a commitment to the company vision and values. But equally important, a commitment to ensure that the vision and values of the company are lived and experienced throughout the entire organization.
Leading Accepting Responsibility
The CEO along with senior individuals in the organization have to take the responsibility and lead the change by example. To be more specific, the CEO and a change project team, consisting of all managers as well as, a representative from the different departments can formulate to act as change agents for their respective department and by extension the organization.
Communicating the Change
The team must plan, execute, evaluate and monitor the change initiatives to ensure the strategy of the organization is strategically aligned with the vision, mission, and structures of the company. It is important to note that the change team must understand what needs to be planned and what can emerge. Additionally, a communication plan must be developed since without that effective communication strategy and a genuine effort to make communication an integral aspect of the change; the whole change process may result in failure. Communication is that vital link to ensure that an organization change process is successful.
Understanding the Organisational Culture
Although changing an organization’s culture continues to be a highly challenging and often elusive endeavor according to Levin and Gottlieb. The team must be cognizance of the people issues since this can be an active enabler or an insurmountable obstacle to implementing the change in many organizations. Focusing solely on the hard factors and totally neglecting the softer issues can render the whole change process useless.
It is important to note that any new CEO trying to change the culture of the organization wholesale will run into difficulty. It will be more feasible to get groups of people to change their way of work and teach others how to enact such behaviors. Anything otherwise can prove to be very unproductive and even destructive to the entire change process.