Anyone who has worked in organisations long enough will be familiar with the concept of the change programme. Whether in response to a crisis, such as a turnaround situation, or a growth opportunity as with a corporate takeover, the change process is well established.

 
A classic change management plan might look like this: make it essential, make it ready, make it happen, make it stick. Guide people through the need for transformation. Get people ready by planning. Execute change and monitor progress. Then do something to stop people slipping back into old patterns of behaviour.

In the post banking crisis business landscape, change remains a significant factor in organisational life, but often feels and looks different to before. Organisations are under pressure. People are increasingly required to work faster, harder, for longer hours, with smaller budgets. And instead of a linear, orderly process with well-managed, highly-planned stages, employees are experiencing change as a kind of organisational maelstrom, buffeted in different directions by an array of forces.

The change response

Understandably, people fear for their future. In the short term, if left unmanaged, the turbulence, volatility and uncertainty people are experiencing can have a significant adverse impact on performance, individual and organisational.

People respond to this type of pressure in different ways. Some cope by immersing themselves in activity. But, lacking a sense of purpose and direction, their efforts are inefficient, unproductive and wasteful. There is a huge amount of revving the engine, but not a great deal of movement from the wheels.

Others become increasingly self-interested. They focus on self-preservation, cease to believe in the collective interest, and fail to look after their organisation or team members. A few are simply paralysed by the complexity of the changes they face.

Or people just work harder and harder. They are diligent, goal oriented, and work in a way that is aligned to the organisation’s needs. But they fail to adapt and develop new ways of working to cope with increased workloads. They easily become overworked, energy depleted, stressed, burnt out, and thus ineffective.

Finally, there’s always a group of employees that greet change with cynical world weariness. They continue to work, but withdraw their discretionary effort. They may even in a passive aggressive way, obstruct, resist and agitate against new ideas and ways of working.

The new change management

Managers must learn to recognise these types of behaviours. They must deploy change management strategies that help alleviate the stress and pressure employees face at the moment.  The objective is no longer one of providing distinct change management interventions. The business world is in a constant state of flux. Managers and employees should be equipped with the tools that help them build on-going resilience in the face of change. Organisations must become more creative, flexible, and agile. Adaptation to change must be relentless.

• Assume that people are unclear about what the future looks like, and therefore unclear about what their role is within that future. Reduce uncertainty by being as unequivocal as possible about what is happening in the organisation. Outline the short term objectives both for the immediate team and the broader organisation, even if unpalatable for some. Don’t leave a communication void that can be filled by innuendo, rumour and gossip.
• As well as detailing what is happening, explain why it is happening.  In challenging times of change people find it more difficult to understand the connection between their activities and the overall objectives of the organisation.  There is sense of disquiet where people start questioning their fundamental sense of purpose. Managers must forge a sense of shared meaning and purpose, making it quite clear how people’s work activities make a real difference.
• Don’t be afraid to acknowledge and deal with the strong emotional response to change. With the rapid transformations many people are experiencing it is easy to become socially isolated, cut off from fellow workers. People become attached to organisations, to an ethos, a way of doing things, attached to the fabric and the culture of a place. Reactions to periods of disconnection are not always rational, but frequently emotional. Don’t ask, "What do you think about these changes? Ask, "How do you feel about these changes?"
• Rebuild social connections through person-to-person interaction. It is easy to become over reliant on electronic media when trying to get the change message across. We may think it an efficient use of time, but using electronic media dehumanises the process, and is probably not that effective. We are human and we still crave personal contact. There is a strong desire to connect with other people, so create the time to do things face-to-face. Stand up in front of people, talk with them, listen to them.
• Enlist the help of the team. Make all employees complicit and invested in dealing with change. This is only possible with a good understanding of what drives and motivates team members. Align individual and organisational values. Create the sense of shared purpose necessary to navigate difficult periods of uncertainty and turmoil.
• Remember too, that in this haste to change, save money, and embrace austerity, we may forget to celebrate the small successes that happen along the way. We may forget the need for feedback and recognition at work, for a sense of enjoyment and even fun.

Chris Welford leads Serco Consulting’s Organisational Psychology and Change service line