How employee engagement can drive buy-in for organizational changes

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- Strategy - Enterprise Technology - Network and Infrastructure - Industry

How employee engagement can drive buy-in for organizational changes

Larry A. MathiasBlackwell Consulting ServicesMay 8, 2009

w w w . b c s i n c . c o m 2 Ragan Corporate Communicators Conference 2009

Agenda

• What is Change Management?

• What is ADKAR?

• Types of Internal Communication

• Type of Organizational Changes

• Differences between Corporate

Communication and Employee

Engagement

• Grapevine

• Questions


What is Change Management?

―A structured approach to transitioning

individuals, teams, and organizations from a

current state to a desired future state.

The current definition of Change Management

includes both organizational change

management processes and individual change

management models, which together are used to

manage the people side of change.‖

Source: Wikipedia


Why You Should Care

• Best practices show that communication is the #3

contributor to success of a change implementation.

Source: Prosci, Inc.

Source: Organizational Dynamics, Jim Markowsky

• Conversely, 92% of large

change efforts fail because

of leadership issues,

organization (culture)

issues or ―people‖ issues


Why Change Communications Fail

Source: Mark Shadle, President, Central Region, Edelman

―One of the biggest reasons that change efforts fail is that

they start with management thinking that people will care

much more than they actually do. They think that if they

broadcast or communicate the benefits, people will rush

to embrace the change and become champions.

The fact is, people care most about what affects them

personally and what they can control. Management needs

to make a rational argument for change, but also an

emotional appeal as well.‖


Why Change Communications Fail

• People want to know what the proposed change is

all about and why things have to change.

• People want to know how the change will be good

for them personally—not just good for the

company. They also want to know if they will be

able to master the new skills the change requires.

• People want to know the nitty-gritty

implementation concerns such as system

alignment, best practices, and the daily mechanics

of making the change happen.

Source: David Witt, Ken Blanchard Companies


Other Reasons Why

Change Communications Fail

• Communication is not tailored to specific

audience

• Companies begin communicating too late

• Companies do not understand what mode

of communication will be most effective

during change

• Companies avoid talking about outcomes

(too much ―fluff‖ and not the ―future state‖)


The Shift Started in the Mid-1990s

―…15-20 years ago very few businesses had someone in the

company with 'Internal Communications' in their title. Today

almost all FTSE 100 firms do. And Fortune 500 too.‖

David Ferrabee, MD Change and Internal Communications

Hill and Knowlton London6 July 2006

Emphasis on internal communication spurs IABCJanuary 26, 2009

―…Companies and institutions have been putting increased

emphasis on internal communications in recent years….‖


Reaction"I will react to this change – If I must"

Testing"I must absorb this change”

Negative perception"I feel threatened by this change"

Compliance"I have to do it this new way”

… or compliance

Change Commitment Curve

Change can be achieved

through commitment …

Positive perception"I see the opportunity in this change"

Engagement"I see the implications for me/us"

Understanding"I know why and what will change”

Awareness"I am being told about something"

Testing"I will put myself at stake for this change"

Action"I will act to achieve this change"

Commitment"I want to do it this new way"


What is ADKAR?

• ADKAR Model

– Awareness of the need for

change

– Desire to participate and

support the change

– Knowledge on how to change

– Ability to implement required

skills and behaviors

– Reinforcement to sustain the

change

Jeffrey M. Hiatt (2006)

ADKAR: A Model for

Change in Business,

Government and our

Community


Prosci‘s Change Management Process

Awareness

Desire

Knowledge

Ability

Reinforcement

Desired outcomesC

han

ge

ch

ara

cte

ristic

s

Org

an

iza

tion

al a

ttribu

tes

Define your change

management strategy

Prepare your change

management team

Develop your sponsorship model

Phase 1 – Preparing for change

Develop change management plans

Take action and implement plans

Phase 2 – Managing change

Collect and analyze feedback

Diagnose gaps and manage resistance

Implement corrective actions and

celebrate successes

Phase 3 – Reinforcing change



Managing Change

ADKAR phases of

change

Change Management

Tools

Communication

Sponsorship

Coaching

Resistance mgmt.

Training

Awareness

Desire

Knowledge

Ability

Reinforcement



Types of Internal Communications

• Informational

– Aimed solely at

sharing information

– No action required



• Inspirational

– Aimed at building

pride in the

organization

– Little or no action

required



• Engaging

– Aimed at

driving a

change in

behaviors

– Action

required


‗Connecting the Dots‘ (Line-of-Sight)

Work by technologists throughout

Allstate Protection Technology

(APT) has helped produce our

outstanding second quarter

results.

In announcing corporate earnings for

the second quarter last week, Allstate

Chairman, President and CEO Ed

Liddy attributed net income of $1.034

billion, in part, to sophisticated

underwriting and pricing technology

that helps find an attractive price for

customers offering high lifetime value

-- technology that was developed

internally by APT employees.


Where Do You Start?

• Assess the impact on people

– Organizational (re-org, merger, downsizing,

acquisition, new products or services)

– Process

– Technology

• Assess the significance of the change(s)

– Developmental

– Transitional

– Transformational


Types of Organizational Changes

• Developmental Change

– Enhancement of current systems, processes or skills

• Transitional Change

– Creation / implementation of new products, services,

systems, processes, policies or procedures that

replace existing ones

• Transformational Change

– Existing state is being forced to die, while new state is

still unknown; new state requires a fundamental shift in

mindset, organizing principles, behavior and/or culture

designed to support new business directions

Source: Linda Ackerman Anderson and Dean Anderson


Symptoms of Poorly Managed Change

• Negative messages

• Employees lose interest

• Employees leave the organization

• Increased absenteeism

• Unplanned obstacles

• Funding disappears

• Sudden shift in executive priorities


Employee Resistance

• Employee resistance

…is the norm, not the exception

• Even when things are bad, there is a

―comfort‖ with how things are today

• The goal of organizational change

management is not to eliminate

resistance, but to minimize the impact of

the resistance


Successful Change Management

Successful change

management leads

to:

– Greater speed of

adoption

– Higher utilization

rate

– Greater

proficiency



Why Do People Resist Change?

• ―What‘s wrong with the way we do things now?‖

• Loss of control

• Lack of trust

• History of poorly managed change

• Lack of clarity on expected outcomes

• Threat

• Fear of failure

• Surprise factor

• Size of the task


Change and Transition ProcessWhile change occurs externally, individuals go through

transition internally in order to accept the change.

Transition

State

Current State

Future State

Source: William Bridges


Communicating During Transition

• People adjust to the same change in different ways

and at different speeds (people transition differently)

• Transition does not occur in a smooth, linear fashion

• People will think first about what they have to give up

• Transition is necessary for buy-in and commitment

• People will be concerned that they do not have

enough resources

• If you take the pressure off, people will revert back to

their old behaviors


Corp. Comm. vs. Employee Engagement

Focus

Frequency

Vehicles

• Viewed as [one-time] event • Viewed as a process, with various

communication activities occurring as

employees move along the change

acceptance curve

• One-to-many vehicles (blast emails,

companywide presentations or

videos, and newsletter articles)

• One-to-one vehicles at multiple stages of the

communications process, including face-to-

face meetings with managers

• Focused on informing employees

on “what’s going on”

• Focused on engaging employees in “what’s

changing” and “how it impacts me”

Corporate Communication Employee Engagement

Communication Awareness


Corp. Comm. vs. Employee Engagement(continued)

Direction

Context /

Tone

Measurement

• Usually comes top-down, and

geared for one-way

communications flow

• Encourages two-way dialogue

• Context of the message is in terms

of organizational view

• Frequently worded to communicate

key messages in “safe” language,

minimizing impacts to the

organization

• Context of the message is in terms of the

individual employee’s perspective

• Designed to provide the opportunity for

impacted employees to ask questions,

contemplate the message, talk to their peers

to discuss the impacts, and then ask

additional questions.

• “Participatory” metrics (evidenced

by attendance at a meeting, page

views to an intranet page, etc.)

• “Attitudinal” metrics (focused on

measurable changes in specific [desired]

behaviors)

Corporate Communication Employee Engagement


Sponsor Roadmap

Sponsorship

Awareness

Desire

Knowledge



Communicators Can Support Managers

Coaching

Desire

Knowledge

Ability

Reinforcement

• Develop audience-specific

key messages to help

managers properly and

appropriately cascade

information to their teams


Communicators Can Support Managers

Source: Prosci, Inc. – 2009 Benchmark Survey


Resistance Management Planning

Resistance mgmt.

Desire



Change Saturation Log

• It’s been written that “the only constant is change.” Effective employee engagement is more than a one-time event that informs employees of organizational changes; it’s an ongoing process aimed at moving employees through the various phases of the change adoption curve.

• In this practical session, you’ll hear how a Fortune 100 company used communications as the foundation for an enterprisewide change management initiative. Specifically, you will learn how to:

• Identify the six primary differences between corporate communications and change communications Help leadership cultivate coalitions and partnerships to overcome barriers between departments and organizational silos Develop coaching strategies that help managers properly and appropriately cascade information to their teams Recognize risks associated with change saturation and overload Create a program that uses “informal” leaders at the grass-roots level to help eliminate gossip and misinformation Don’t miss this opportunity to obtain real-world ideas for engaging employees and mitigating the risks associated with most change initiatives.

• Employee communications is just PR to an internal audience


How Do We Informally Solicit Feedback

and Communicate Concerns?

Source: IABC


Credibility of Source Matters



Controlling the Rumor Mill Before it

Destroys Your Effort!

Source: Dr. TJ Larkin and Sandar Larkin


Grapevine Kicks Into Gear

Conditions when you can expect the rumor mill to kick into

high gear:

1. When there is a lack of formal communication

2. When the situation is ambiguous or uncertain

3. When employees feel threatened, insecure, and

highly stressed

4. When there is an impending large-scale change

5. When the subject matter is of importance to

associates


Change Agent Network

• Employee Participation– Selected by either manager submission or volunteer application

• Characteristics1. Ability to convey information and engage peers in communication

and change management efforts

2. Trustworthy, open, honest (seen as reliable, credible and a ―go to‖

person)

3. Commitment to participate and see tasks to completion

4. Excellent observation and analysis skills

5. Risk taker, good judgment, ability to move forward even when

there is ambiguity

6. Enthusiastic, able to establish and maintain momentum

7. Ability to positively influence peers

8. Collaborative - capable of working with diverse

groups of people to bring them together


Change Agent Expectations

One-year commitment to:

– Communicate key messages to peers

– Encourage and support others throughout the

implementation of new policies and processes

– Seek out feedback from others; listen and dispel

rumors

– Gauge individual feelings and reactions

– Raise issues early so that the issues can be resolved

before they affect the successful implementation of

new initiatives

– Brainstorm solutions and recommendations

– Participate in Change Agent meetings and follow-up

activities


Helping Coworkers Through Change

1. DO demonstrate your own passionate commitment to the

change.

2. DO demonstrate your unwavering commitment to your

people.

3. DO give a mighty sense of purpose.

4. DO give the power to succeed.

5. DO give people a sense of connectedness.

6. DO give people meaningful rewards ... especially during

changing times.

Source: ©Dr. Alan R. Zimmerman

www.DrZimmerman.com

http://www.drzimmerman.com/


Resources

by Dean Anderson and

Linda Ackerman Anderson

www.beingfirst.com/

by William Bridges

www.wmbridges.com/

by John P. Kotter

www.johnkotter.com/

by Jeffrey M. Hiatt

www.change-

management.com/

http://www.beingfirst.com/

http://www.wmbridges.com/

http://www.johnkotter.com/

http://www.change-management.com/




Questions?

- Strategy - Enterprise Technology - Network and Infrastructure - Industry

Larry A. Mathias

Consultant

[email protected] Bloomington, IL - Cincinnati, OH - Chicago, IL - Miami, FL - Washington, DC

HQ - 100 South Wacker Drive, Suite 800 Chicago, Illinois 60606

ph 312.553.0730

41 Ragan Corporate Communicators Conference 2009 w w w . b c s i n c . c o m