7 Tips to Prevent
Change Management Failure
Failure to Adopt to Change
Change is the driving force of most leading corporations today. Failing to adapt to change in a fast-paced, cut-throat industry can leave you behind. Most prominent organizations and top level executives know this, yet research has shown that for the past fifteen years, an estimated 70% of transitions in multinationals that involved change failed.
Global trends including the age of the Internet, globalization, rising technologies, government policies, and economic instability are just a few reasons why corporations are forced to drive change. If you want to be in the 30% of organizations that do succeed with handling change, customized change management coaching and consulting for your industry can make a huge difference.
Most successful organizations recognize that being proactive rather than reactive is what is needed to manage change.
Here are 7 tips to help you prevent change management failure in your organization that you can implement now
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Overcome anxiety with information and training.
Develop training to support change. Teams leading change management can help put nervous employees at ease by sharing plans of action for change through training and learning activities. Initiate and pitch ideas to develop your direct reports and help employees gear up for any new roles they might be stepping into.
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Establish a vision and solid plan of action.
Those with top executive leadership skills, including the CEO, senior executives and upper management must come forward and continue to be engaged in any important change initiatives. At the same time, those in charge of enforcing change must be ready to respect executive level decisions and overall vision.
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Spread change as a team effort.
Teams in charge of change management must disperse troops throughout the firm and prepare them to be promoters for the current organizational shift. This helps employees get in the right mindset to accept change as it occurs.
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Select a change leader.
Identify someone who has organizational change management experience. Look for someone within the firm or hire a change management and coaching consulting industry expert. An experienced individual who has helped others through important business processes or mergers and takeovers can be an indispensable asset to your company as it evolves.
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Communicate, communicate, communicate.
Be transparent with your staff and offer clear and effective communication to help them feel involved in the change process. Clearly demonstrate the positive outcomes of this transition and try to relate it to something they truly care about.
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Reward and praise.
Identify accomplished goals and key events in the change process with a pat on the back, praise, recognition and rewards. Publicly acknowledge those who’ve gone the extra mile and recognize and applaud team effort. Looking for ways to keep employees motivated and keeping employee morale high during the course of a change management program is crucial to its success. A merger, acquisition, or other change in management may call for both non-monetary and monetary rewards. A retention bonus is a one-time deal that can help you keep your best people in the game and performing well during periods of change.
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Be driven and stay the course.
Organizational change management depends on many factors for it to be successful. Only through continual encouragement and support from all parties involved can change be powered successfully. Do your part, however big or small, to make for a smooth and successful transition.
We’ve all heard of the age-old proverb, “The only constant in life is change.” Recognizing this and implementing it are two different factors. On an organizational level, many pieces need to fit together to help take a company through a successful acquisition, introduce an emerging technology, or enforce a new government regulation.
Joel Garfinkle is recognized as one of the top 50 coaches in the American coaching and consulting industry. If change management in your firm is making you anxious, restless, and unable to perform to your most optimal level, San Francisco business coach, Joel Garfinkle, can help. Contact Joel today for a customized change management plan that delivers!
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