Change Management

Some 20-25 years back everything was stabilized, no movement. The top management used to formalize and finalize the strategy and targets and the whole company used to move on a straight line. No frequent acquisition, mergers, etc. But if you see today there are very frequent acquisitions, mergers, and diversifications etc. In this scenario, companies are bound to change their style and everything very frequently. This is the change and as everybody knows that change is always difficult to introduce. Its human psychology that it resists the change, firstly it thinks things as everything is going smoothly in this way why does he need a change? Secondly, even if he is convinced that this change is for betterment it’s still difficult to adopt. More than anything the change management is about the psychological aspect.

Before considering going for a change management, first check for few things. Check why do you need a change? What is the required change? How this change is going to help your organization? Finalize a time frame and step by step program for the implementation of this program i.e. when it should start and end and how to introduce the change so that you face the minimum of resistance and other hassles, meaning calculate the risk involved.

How to plan for a change to be introduced to the organization? This comes as a BIG question to any organization. First and foremost, as this change plan is going to get implemented directly to the employees who are human beings, so the HUMANITY ASPECT should must be there. The more of this, the lesser the resistance experienced. This is the psychological aspect of change management.

Another psychological aspect, as the lower level employees see towards their superiors and want to be in their position. So they best way to start the change implementation is to START FROM THE TOP OF HIEARCHY LEVEL. Then going down step by step and assuring that it’s introduced and implemented comprehensively. If the flow goes in this way, the lower level employees will be inspired and would see the change with a positive mindset. So let the BoD first gets adapted to these changes, then the CEO and so on…

For monitoring the change introduction and implementation, make a small team of employees who will act as MENTORS AND LEADERS during the whole process. Let this team select employees at different required levels through whom they can introduce the change to the particular level of employees. These people will be those who are more in contact with the particular level of targeted employees. The top most level of the group will be ultimate owner of the whole process and going down these employees will be the owner for the particular step.

Many a times the employee is not completely aware about the change and the corresponding impacts of the same. Make sure that the message is conveyed completely and organize AWARENESS SESSIONS for the sake of better diffusion of the message in the company environment. This will help you in avoiding and controlling any misconception or rumors spread across the organization. As implementation of a change is a critical issue in itself.Sometimes this change gets encountered with the culture resistances as well. It’s always advisable to handle this delicate and sensitive issue with DUE DILIGENCE AND NO NEGLIGENCE. It’s always good to access the cultural risk in advance and plan the change accordingly. Try to take the culture as a sacred thing and maintain a nice distance from it. If in any unavoidable circumstances you are unwillingly subjected to such a situation, then before addressing it try to gain some knowledge about the particular culture as it will help you in justifying your point after listening to the other party patiently.

Always try to be accessible to every individual to satisfy their query. If your budget allows, create an online forum on your organization’s website like ASK YOUR MANAGEMENT or something similar and don’t obligate them to disclose their identity. This will enable them to interact with you and you in turn will be getting the feedback. This will make them feel connected to the management and will be easier for them to adopt. Also, do specify a Turn Around Time for it like 24 working hours or something.

To conclude, it always seems easier to think for introducing a change but before finalizing it first finalize the risk factors and plan to encounter them. Any change should be productive and make sure that during the course of change implementation, the productivity is not hampered. The mentors and leaders should explain the ease with which they already adopted the change and how it is helping them. They should always try to solve and explain things with the examples mentioning themselves.