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SUMMARY

This is a time of tremendous change due to acqusition and streamlining initiatives. This summary outlines the steps required to make transition least painful for employees and retain the highest level of profitability.

SENSE OF FEAR, LOSS AND ANGER SETS IN
Of the four stages of change this division is in the RESISTANCE STAGE where all employees, including top managers and supervisors are experiencing a sense of loss:

A         loss of power
B         loss of control
C         loss of stability
D         loss of security
E         loss of direction
F         loss of connection with company history

These feelings are natural and should be managed to a termination point that transfers from resistance to engagement. At the same time management must realize that such change that you are going through is disruptive and causes great discomfort in the short run.  It requires a whole new mind set. However that is a part of natural progression. If it was not disruptive it would not be different from the past.

During this stage people will grumble, old timers will unconsciously sabotage progress, accidents and absences increase and resignations may occur. Top management who initiates the change sees signs of danger and sometimes reacts with the wrong solution. Work that should take 6 hours takes 10 hours due to misdirected focus and emotional employee response. 

WORKFLOW WILL EXPAND

One of the by-products of rapid change is that work which should take a certain amount of hours takes longer. Your managers may complain that they have too much to do and too little time under the new system. There are several reasons for it:

1.      They are forced to go out of their comfort zone and break old work habits. This is not easy and many managers continue the old work habits that they try to apply to the new system. This WILL NOT work and everything takes longer.

2.      They may not have the skill sets required under the new regime and need re-training.

3.      They focus on the negative “how we used to be” instead on the opportunity the new system provides. This distracts them from performing their best

4.      They may not be able to manage time properly because of the chaos created in their mind due to the changes. As a result everything takes longer

5.      They might be confused as to what is important and what is not because they are out of their comfort or expertise zone, lack direction from the top or are not used to a number of dotted line requests.

6.      Middle managers are pulled in a variety of directions and they don’t know which way to turn. Leadership, training and clear directions from the top are needed.

MANAGER REACTION VS. SUBORDINATES

OPPORTUNITY DRIVEN:  This manager will go forward and force the change on his/her subordinates irrespective whether they understand, buy in, or are ready for the change. These managers implement change by order and by memo and there are no options.  They will have a short-term success spike, followed with resignations and burn-out from subordinates.  In the longer term productivity may drop and a high turn-over will result. These are very good managers but they rely more on dictatorial tactics to push the change through.

AFFILIATION and EMPATHY DRIVEN

On the other side of the spectrum we will have those managers who want to be liked and treat their people with kid gloves. They will allow a slow pace of transition and will burn themselves out while trying to appease everyone. Their department will have lower productivity because resistance to this change will take longer than it should.

COMMUNICATION DRIVEN

Somewhere in the middle is your manager who realizes that the change has to be implemented in a timely fashion, with understanding that employees are going through a loss and that this loss has to be addressed before this resistance stage changes to engagement stage. This manager controls the length of that loss, implements communication programs to channel it within reasonable time limits and drives reasonable implementation of the engagement stage.

BRIEF SUGGESTIONS for strategy meeting

1. You should have a Change Transition Team.  Too many times only one top manager takes it on his/her shoulders to guide the company through this change.
2. All managers need to understand that the resistance stage is a natural stage when such rapid changes happen. Managers reaction to their concerns will either drive or put a break on success of their engagement. In a very recent Gallup poll it was clear that “key drivers for engagement are more about personal relationships that people have with their managers.” Engagement Strategies Magazine, Summer 2009.

3. H.R. manager or I should do a 3-4 hour session with small groups of managers and supervisors explaining what the natural human reaction is to this rapid change. It is vital that they understand the need for communication and how their subordinates react.

1. Learn how change affects the emotional well being of their employees
2. List the things that they are giving up in the “way it used to be”
3. Goodbye ceremony. Although at first top management sees this as unnecessary this little exercise does a lot for morale and helps in the transition. At the end of the above 3-4 hour meeting in the group the managers write down what they miss from the old company and in a ceremony they bury them in a time capsule or write them on balloons and let them go

 4   Then the GM needs to have a meeting with these managers in a small two- three hour meetings.

                  a.   Now that we let go of the old company….
b.   What are you going to do to be engaged in the new company?

5        Ensure that right people are in the right positions:

2. It is a tendency in a “family” oriented company to try and save everyone. We all know that some people are not meant to be in the position they are in. This is either because they do not have the skills developed or they are not a good fit irrespective of the skills. HR needs to match the skill of existing managers to the skills required. Institute training for those who are trainable, move others to different positions where they fit or move them out if there is no fit. Under the new system moving people out if they do not fit is acceptable. Conduct individual skill assessments as outlined by Pam.

6        Reward for the change. Show the individuals and  team that once they cross from resistance to engagement they will be rewarded.

7        Provide a prioritization and time management class for supervisors and managers.

8        Identify old work methods and throw them out

9        Measure work and nature of work load through an independent time-load study of several key people

10    Reduce all unnecessary meetings

A FEW ACTION ITEMS FOR MANAGEMENT:

1. Identify who is losing something, (see sense of fear at top of this memo)
2. Identify what behavior changes they will have to make
a. What they need to stop doing
b. What old habits they need to break
c. What secondary changes that their changes will cause
d. What new habits they need to pick up
3. In meetings with them have them identify what they miss.
a. Keep asking why
b. Have them identify specific losses
c. Bring their losses in the open

4. Once losses are identified, can you give them something to make up

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© Zigmund Sepanski 2010