When change happens within a business, sometimes the most important area of failure relates to the people aspects of change. Change mostly fails because the “people bit” of changes is not addressed?
What is the “people bit” that management need to consider?
The “People Bits” are:
- People’s Mind-set
- Emotional reactions
- Behaviour
- Degree of engagement
- Acceptance of change & commitment to it
- Management politics and cultural dynamics impacting the change tends to be ignored, neglected or mishandled
Change within the business can be introducing new processes and the way things will now be done. It can be a new System’s being introduced (implement a new process), employee’s performance being evaluated, a new policy that hasn’t been effectively communicated but is being implemented.
If the human side is so important, why is it sometimes forgotten or handled badly?
Some companies are run in ways that ignore the human dynamics and the cultural fit. The very process of change can be overwhelming. Managers are under pressure from the project or lack the experience required. When managers themselves lack the commitment or when expectations are not made clear enough the change effort is weakened.
It is good to note that a lot of the things that are going on in companies are happening at an emotional level; they aren’t just facts and figures but a level beneath that. If there is nobody who understands that emotional level of the business, many things won’t be done as effectively as they could be. When making decisions that affect a big change, the question needs to be asked “how is everybody going to feel about this?”.
If your business is approaching a major change and need support in this area, please get in touch with Core Resource on geraldine@coreresource.ie
