How Do You Support Change?

John F. Kennedy once said, “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”

Every day, in hundreds of change situations happening in the workplace, the actions of leaders at all levels are risking the promotion of atrophy. This is simply because many managers are ill-prepared to address the changing landscape of the business world. Just as change is a law of life, so it is in business.

In and of itself, change is prevalent in any organization. But this is compounded by the changing demographics of the workforce, on top of other issues – such as management of strategies for new revenue growth, planned culture shifts, and initiatives to contain costs.

Imagine the impact to your organization if your managers ignored these issues!

Typically, your environment evolves into a turmoil of rumours, backbiting, lack of focus, conflict, employee anxiety, lack of energy in service to customers, and a breakdown of trust between superiors and their staff.

Can your organization sustain a competitive advantage under this scenario? Not under the usual circumstance of supply and demand.

Building Change Managers

It is not enough that people are promoted, or enter management ranks without understanding the impact of change. Change-ready managers are respected and effective, are able to motivate others to be receptive to change, and to build collaborative environments.

The fact is that people don’t leave companies – they leave bad bosses who are ineffective and not respected. These bosses can’t retain employees, and they certainly can’t motivate the ones who stay. A company can have great pay and benefits, but also have managers who are poisoning the well because they simply don’t know how to manage change.

Supporting and Motivating Change

One of the main conditions for the support of change is the degree of motivation among individuals. We have learned a lot about how individuals either hold on to the status quo or embrace taking the road to change.

Managers who understand the distractions and emotions of their team members, in association with changes, will be better prepared to support and lead them through it. The right training for managers gives them the tools to understand: first the change, its interpretation, and then to facilitate the acceptance of the new way in place of the old.

Change-ready managers will communicate more effectively with their employees, encourage greater participation, and empower them to be able to embrace the change.

Training Managers to Become Change Ready

As in life, the law of change for business is constant. That’s never been truer than it is today. Implementing a training program to make your employees change-ready will not only make them great bosses, but it will also build teams of greatly empowered employees who are ready for change.

“Without change there is no innovation, creativity, or incentive for improvement. Those who initiate change will have a better opportunity to manage the change that is inevitable” William Pollard (1828-1893)

A Supporting Change learning program can empower your leaders and first line managers to:

• Understand why change happens, how people react to it, and how they need to be supported through the struggle
• Involve team members in change initiatives by promoting their understanding and ownership of change and its benefits.
• Plan for individuals or work groups to support the change process and reinforce personal and organizational goals.

And now, if this article was of interest to you, you can get further information on our Supporting Change online program, by visiting NorquestOnline.com or by Clicking Here