People Driven Change
Accelerating change by leveraging individual participation and engagement
Building on best practice change and team management, people-driven-change leverages the participation and engagement of individuals from all levels of the business in the design, piloting and roll out of strategy and organisational change.
This results in
Better organisational solutions and implementation plans
Belief, advocacy and ownership of the transformation which drives momentum. Individuals are motivated to want to change and to work for change.
Benefits
Accelerated transformation and strategy implementation.
Faster and more cost effective embedding of behaviours, ways of working and build of capabilities.
Positive impact on employee satisfaction and motivation.
Improved business impact of planned changes.
Regardless of the change and programme management methodologies applied, it is people that drive success.
Change happens at the individual level – whether it’s the implementation of a new operating model or technology, changes to process or an improved customer delivery approach; business benefits are delivered because individuals embrace working in a different way.
This means the focus of transformation activity needs to be on driving employee behaviour change, ensuring individuals are capable of working in a new way and that the culture encourages them to do so, business benefits then follow. The speed at which benefits are delivered are, to a great extent, determined by how committed and capable individuals and teams are to adopting the changes.
This means the focus of transformation activity needs to be on driving employee behaviour change, ensuring individuals are capable of working in a new way and that the culture encourages them to do so, business benefits then follow. The speed at which benefits are delivered are, to a great extent, determined by how committed and capable individuals and teams are to adopting the changes.
People-Driven-Change is based around two principles.
Principle 1: When you design the organisational changes needed to deliver a transformation, implement strategy or embed new systems, the participation of people from across the business enables you to design fit for purpose solutions that are 'better'*. These solutions will be more likely to deliver the desired business outcomes and commercial results. When solutions that are recognised as making things ‘better’ are rolled out, people are more likely to adopt them into their daily routines. Similarly, involving people from outside of the core team in the design of implementation activity and plans, makes them more likely to be successful.
Principle 2: Involving and engaging individuals from all levels of the business when designing and implementing change builds belief, advocacy and ownership in the solutions, the activation plans and the overall business vision. This employee commitment accelerates and deepens adoption of the new behaviours driving business impact. Individuals who recognise the importance of what needs to be achieved, and who feel involved are motivated to want to change and to work for the change. They naturally become agents of change and a source of energy which fuels adoption.
Engage to build understanding and belief.
One of the major barriers to successful transformation and change is the lack of understanding and belief in the vision for the change.
Barriers may include a lack of:
An understanding at an individual level of where the business is heading, why, what the end point looks like, 'what it means for me' and 'what the benefits are for me'.
An understanding of the changes expected at an individual and team level including the behavioural shifts and new skill requirements.
Alignment at a leadership level regarding the changes, the programme of activity and the benefits.
Buy in across functions and teams to the vision, the steps to deliver the vision, and the need for the business to change and for individuals to change.
People-Driven-Change prioritises engagement with teams throughout the design and implementation process. Engagement includes regular multi-channel communication but goes beyond this as it is two-way, creative and inspiring. The active engagement of individuals may take many forms, it may fit around existing communication forums or require additional interventions.
It is always likely to start with the restating of the vision and the benefits of change - targeted at a granular level to the audience involved and aim to bring to life what the business and work will be like post the change. It emphasises the expectations and benefits of the change for both the business and individuals. Visible, senior ownership of the vision and change plan, usually by the CEO, is essential to demonstrate commitment and build belief. Equally, engagement activities are an opportunity for those who participated in the design, testing and piloting of the organisational solutions, to be involved and advocate change. This is even more important in building belief than senior endorsement.
Involving and engaging leaders and teams during the design, testing and piloting builds fit for purpose solutions and employee belief. This belief results in the accelerated implementation of strategic initiatives and the delivery of business benefits. Whilst there is a cost associated with this activity - mostly time - overall the benefits far outweigh any costs. Belief and business impact resulting from the engagement generates positive employee satisfaction, energy and motivation. Consider the alternative, launching something into the business that isn't seen as better, which isn't supported or owned which is likely to require a greater investment of time, effort and money to embed.
