Positive steps to help embed change

With so much attention on the bottom line, it’s easy to overlook the basics of how to effectively make sure employees are on board to constructively adopt change.

RoleplayUK are very experienced in helping clients to do just that – over the years we’ve worked with a variety of industries and sectors and have seen how the right approach can make all the difference to the long term success of embedding a change programme. We’ve detailed some of the fundamentals below to get you started but for further help on the specifics, please give us a call.

Involve your employees and set them clear objectives

A top down approach rarely works. As soon as a need for change is identified to meet business objectives, start gathering opinions of what employees (and any union representatives) feel needs to change to reach those objectives. Use their suggestions and feedback to set clear achievable (and measurable) goals. Be sure to follow through by communicating agreed objectives clearly.

Support employees to embrace change

Always easier said than done. Encourage employees to define their contribution to the organisation in terms of skills they bring to the team rather than the job they do. This way they’re in a far better position to apply those skills to a new role or change in the way the organisation works and positively embrace new opportunities.

Some employees may feel that they cannot work with the proposed change; but they will still need positive support. Work with them to identify roles where they can continue to add value and ensure that they feel supported in moving on.

Managers will need specific support too. Don’t take it as read that they will have the necessary leadership skills to implement a change initiative and remember that a disillusioned manager can be very corrosive to a team. Consider supporting leaders with practical skills coaching to practise the new demands put upon them and how to integrate the change throughout their team.

Take time to listen to opinions

Negative hearsay and rumours can have a disastrous impact of the acceptance of a change initiative – even if they’re unfounded. Anonymous portals can be a great way of monitoring opinions and give you the opportunity to ‘nip negativity in the bud’ or change your approach to address real concerns.

Achieve your goals

To ensure long term success, you need to follow through with your decisions and implement your change goals. If parts of a plan remain unfinished, employees will feel less committed to the programme and feel that they can pick and choose which elements to adopt. That said, maintain a degree of flexibility so that you can bend if certain issues present a real sticking point.

Keep the glass half full

Positivity is infectious, the more enthusiasm you can inject at every level, the better the results are likely to be.

You can find more information on how we’ve helped individual clients successfully implement change in our case study examples.

For any further advice – please ask.