Look up this title on any research engine and the results will be innumerable. A recent entry in this very blog summarized the role of organizational learning in change management.
Let’s face it, change is tough, and even when you do everything the gurus say, the road will be rocky. One leader met with me in the middle of a major change and said, “I go home every night completely drained.” My reply, “That means you are doing it right.”
Fifteen years ago, I was asked to conduct a study on best practices for change. Some 100 interviews within 50 representative institutions and analysis of more than 5000 research entries surfaced a model we called “The Six Levers of Change.” Every five years we repeat a subset of that study, and the results are the same. Furthermore, nothing drastically new has emerged.
This leads to two questions: 1) What are the most successful practices? And more importantly, 2) Why don’t leaders follow the steps?
The six steps are quite straightforward.
- Leaders must be involved in the process, not delegate the change to “good ole’ Joe.” She must be involved in the training, focus groups, streaming videos, webinars, and status sessions. The topic must be on the agenda of every meeting: “So, how did this decision we just make support the change we are moving towards?” The leader must embody the vision of the change—a continuous beacon pointing the way forward.
- A change infrastructure must be built, including cascading work teams—where there is one member from a top change team who sits on each cascading team. This also means aligning all infrastructure systems to support the change—compensation, benefits, roles, financial processes, and so forth. We all have witnessed the consequences of proclaiming a more participative structure and still assessing people solely on individual contribution.
- Develop and roll out a comprehensive and combined communication and training program. Communicate when you train and train when you communicate. There needs to be both cross-functional sessions AND training within real work groups (so they can design new practices in real time). There is no such thing as over-communication during a change.
- Implementing new and focused recognition and rewards systems is mandatory. Besides aligning the compensation system to reward the new behaviors, folks should be acknowledged in innovative ways.
- Identify and track measures before the change even starts. Make results visible and post them everywhere.
- Include customers, stakeholders, and vendors in the process. All processes and procedures within change environment must be aligned.
Here’s the most important point that research has proven—and the answer to the second question: There is a statistical difference in success based on how many of the “levers” a leader chooses to implement. Thus, for greater success, all six need to be implemented. If a leader chooses to implement only four of the levers, the success of the project decreases by one-third!
On the surface, that seems like a no-brainer. Yet, when we look at the realities of organizational life, we readily know what happens. To follow all six steps takes more time and money. It means maintaining a high energy level over a sustained period of time. It requires keeping all players on the same page for up to two years. In other words, the resources begin to dwindle. To lead change, a leader must commit to the time and resources. The envisioned change—opportunity or threat—must be important enough to sustain the pain of change. A haphazard effort will lead to haphazard results.
Besides offering tools and guidance, learning professionals should assist leaders in being truthful. No change is a panacea. Every change comes with another set of issues that must be managed. No leader should be allowed to spread the message that the change will be “wonderful” without painting a realistic picture of the steep mountain that must be climbed to get there.
When leaders stand out front and only talk about the benefits of the change, he/she loses credibility as the organization struggles through the journey. Good leaders are there carrying the luggage during the trip—they don’t fade into the woodwork and leave the heavy lifting to “you all out there.” Often, this only means a gesture, like showing up in Chicago in the middle of winter with pizza for the team that is working overtime on making sure the change happens.
