In the spring of 2020, like many organizations, our organization had to make swift changes in response to the Covid-19 pandemic which resulted in temporary shutdown and layoffs. The organization decided to create online learning offerings to our employees in place of previously facilitated safety meetings. The goal was to keep employees engaged and let them know that they were valued. It was important to let employees know that layoffs were temporary and they still had a future with the company while at the same time providing valuable refresher training.
The technology, content, and implementation were carefully planned even with limited time and resources however, there was little planning and communication for the people who would be affected by the change. The second step in Biech (2007)’s CHANGE model is to harmonize and align leadership, this step was missed with little to no communication or consultation with leaders across the organization who would be responsible for managing their people’s participation. The result, leaders did not understand why this change was necessary because they were not aware of the vision or goals of the organization with this change. Many leaders only saw that they were being asked to complete extra work during this stressful time because the vision of creating a community of engagement through this initiative was not shared with them. Locations with leaders who had this sentiment experienced very low participation rates.
Change requires strong, aligned leadership (Biech, 2007) and without that, success of a change project is at risk. Sometimes, change happens or needs to happen quickly, and important steps can be missed. There is significant value in the application of a change models such as Biech’s CHANGE model or Kotter’s 8 Step model to ensure that all the steps required for successful change are considered. In the future, my recommendation to the organization is that no matter how small a change is or how quickly it needs to happen that an effective change model is applied and followed in the change process.
References
Biech, E. (2007). Models for Change. In Thriving Through Change: A Leader’s Practical Guide to Change Mastery. Alexandria, VA: ASTD [Retrieved from Skillsoft e-book database] https://royalroads.skillport.com/skillportfe/main.action?path=summary/BOOKS/22651
Kotter JP. (2008) A Sense of Urgency. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press; 2008. https://www.scirp.org/(S(vtj3fa45qm1ean45vvffcz55))/reference/ReferencesPapers.aspx? Reference ID=1970793
March 7, 2022 at 11:56 am
Hi Melissa, thanks for your great example of how change efforts can be impacted by the lack of alignment across leadership. I agree that a big component that may have been missed was the communication plan. Biech (2007) emphasized that there is never too much communication in a change plan. This includes the big picture, the benefits (what’s in it for me), and the tailored messaging for individual teams. I think one of the perspectives that stood out to me in our readings was Biech’s (2007) reminder to ask if the change plan is moving too fast. As employees, we know that leadership has spent time working on a plan, but when they roll it out too quickly, we struggle to commit to it and that leads to greater chances of us falling off the wagon. I think this becomes even more challenging when we are pressed for time to make a change like transitioning to remote work or vice versa during the pandemic. Do you think there is a good strategy to implementing a change within a tight timeframe while gaining commitment from various teams?
Biech, E. (2007). Models for Change. In Thriving Through Change: A Leader’s Practical Guide to Change Mastery. Alexandria, VA: ASTD [Retrieved from Skillsoft e-book database] https://royalroads.skillport.com/skillportfe/main.action?path=summary/BOOKS/22651
March 28, 2022 at 8:50 am
Hi Jolee,
I completely agree. Too often, it seems we are rushed when making changes and the effects are detrimental to the success of the change. I think it comes down to prioritizing what ‘needs’ to happen and in our organization the people affected by the change have not been prioritized. I think that prioritizing the people over the logistics may pay off in the long run because with people on board and motivated to make the change there will be a more collaborative effort to make the change happen and that collaborative effort will help things move along more quickly. I agree with you, checking in with people on how the change is feeling to them is really important and should be done often throughout the change.
One strategy in Biech’s model that stands out to me is creating a strong vision, sharing the vision and allowing others to share in the vision rather than just telling them about what the change will be. This acknowledges the ‘what’s in it for me?’ and can create needed motivation and excitement for change. I think that is what has resonated the most with me in this course is that we have to prioritize people in our change projects.
Melissa