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Leadent featured in Accountancy Age - 01.02.2007

This article originally appeared in Accountancy Age in February 2007

"New Year resolutions: sticking to your guns"

Have you stayed true to your resolutions? Tracey Devlin shows how companies can get better at sticking to theirs.

Losing weight, stopping smoking and spending less - we all make New Years' resolutions that sometimes we are not ready to embrace. This is as true for organisations as it is for individuals. Yet many organisational change initiatives, like most New Years' resolutions, are lucky to survive past Valentine's Day. In today's high-tech business environment many assume that project failure is mostly down to technology or software. The reality is that in today's world technology works. It's the people in an organisation that really make change happen. In any change programme there are always loud voices and strident opinions - both pessimistic and positive.

Stuck in a rut
'Resolution breakers' are typically those employees who have been doing things in the same way for years, who have not experienced significant change. They are particularly prevalent in large organisations and typified by a reactionary attitude that can be best expressed by the phrase 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. The comments of these assumed pessimists can be heard at team meetings, around the water-cooler or in the pub after work, and while they may appear to be flippant, throw-away remarks they soon build up to cause a general resistance to change and a picture of widespread discontent. For many organisations, this 'noise' remains the barometer of how employees are feeling about the organisation's latest project.

Whatever the context, individuals remain the indicator by which many companies measure employee acceptance towards a particular change initiative. Change initiatives, in the majority of cases, are implemented to improve efficiency and thus increase profitability. So it is easy to see how the inability to cut through this noise can have a significant effect on the bottomline. Most organisations are familiar with the need to address change management issues associated with large-scale business, technology or organisational projects. There exist a number of accepted approaches and tools to engage with key stakeholders - be it employees, customers, regulators or other third parties.

Yet project delays, and even failure, are common. Research shows that seven of the top ten reasons for failure are people-related - and that this may be because organisations are targeting their change management efforts based on the voices of a few or on a limited number of aspects of change.

In a bid to solve this problem and help those responsible for implementing the project there are tools available that test an organisation's readiness for change across what is considered to be the seven critical elements of change.

The reason these tools work is that they give a broad framework within which project managers may constantly assess attitudes over the time period of the change initiative. This continuous approach is crucial as, like most New Year resolutions, employees are often willing to accept the benefits that a proposed change will bring but sometimes struggle with the realities of implementation. Such tools cut through these mists of subjectivity to provide sharp, quantified data.

With many organisations committing substantial investment to change initiatives, it makes sense to have a 'harder', fact-based approach to managing change and ensure a greater chance of returning that investment. A further benefit is that the elements identified can be applied to measure real change readiness across the board, from the shop-floor employee to the chief executive at corporate headquarters. The result is that a complete picture of an organisation and its appetite for the change proposed can be built, and problem areas can be easily identified. Consequently it is possible to build a targeted action plan for the deployment of conventional change tools and engineer a smooth and successful change for the better.

Positive approach
As is so often the case, the key to overall success is an approach that is driven from the top down and from the bottom up, supporting the stragglers and responding to any criticisms of the project. Furthermore it is important to point out the benefits emerging as the initiative progresses, like telling the dieter how good they are looking.

Positive encouragement can make a vital difference in helping people resist the temptation to fall into old bad habits. We recognise from our experience that the larger the organisation the harder it is to ensure that employees receive the personal touch. Yet, paradoxically, it becomes even more important as large-scale gossip and grumbling can rapidly morph into all out opposition to the proposed project.

Though it may sound trite, it is important to remember the employee/employer relationship is just that, a relationship. Consequently, for lasting change to occur project managers need to engage rather than dictate; running an organisation like a dictatorship will lead to resentment and reduced returns.

Effective change can only be based on a partnership between staff and management moving towards a common goal of greater efficiency. The result should be greater job satisfaction, a happier workforce and a considerably healthier bottom line. It doesn't get much better than that.

SEVEN STEPS PROGRAMME
Management consultancy Leadent recently developed a diagnostic software tool that tests a company's readiness across seven critical elements of change:

• Compelling case - understanding the need for change. It should not be a decision taken without full consultation.
• Clear strategy - the project destination must be a specified goal.
• Defined plan - how to get to the destination.
• Available resources – are the means obtainable to get to the destination? It is important that initiatives are practical.
• Skills and capabilities - are the necessary skills available to deliver the project?
• Readiness to act - people's motivation. Convincing employees of the benefits they will feel once a project has been completed and strong support along the way is crucial?
• Measures/communication - how the team feels about its performance and progress.

Tracey Devlin is head of the public sector division at Leadent, a management consultancy.

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