Effective engagement in organisation change and business transformation
Engagement. What is it and why do it? This article complements Meg Brodie’s excellent one on the effective strategies for managing complex transformation, using real world, worked examples.
We’ve all been there. A change programme starts, and it’s all about ‘the customer at the core’ and ‘ensure focus while driving efficiency, effectiveness and value’. But the end state and the route to get there seem opaque – random business-improvement word generators being used in meetings and emails with no backup.
The why is unclear, but clearly ‘vital’
the what is vague, but apparently ‘transformative’, and
the how and when continually change, but delivery is absolutely ‘at pace’!
We also often see the experience of the people being ‘transformed’ as negative and, ironically, they are blamed for being ‘resistant to change’.
This needs to change. And proper and genuine engagement can help. Let me share two examples from my experience.
Two pieces of data
In one large programme, involving 3,000 people and several business units, my team and I led a major change to ways of working – not a technology project; it was wider than that. To involve everyone was not possible but we needed breadth as different areas were delivering different things – from major infrastructure to soft change to information management. We asked for nominations, we went looking for volunteers and we tapped our personal networks. This had to be a piece of work that was developed by all for the benefit of all or it would lack credibility.
Through the development phase, we documented active engagement with more than 300 people across the organisation at all levels through:
one-to-ones,
setting up special interest groups (SIGs),
developing local implementation plans,
testing as we went
When we finally launched, with many small-scale briefings, we also surveyed the people, and the result was startling. 2000 people came to our briefings, almost 20% (a good percentage) of whom sent back surveys and 99% said that they understood the reason for the change – these were terrific results for our team.
In another change programme, this time within a business unit but still involving more than 100 people, independent enterprise-wide people surveys were conducted throughout the duration of our work.
Our engagement scores followed the classic Kubler-Ross profile where morale / engagement scores dip and then – hopefully – recover through and after the change. In the rest of the organisation, over the same period, engagement declined. This showed the value of strong engagement activity to continue to support people and help them through change.
While people were feeling low and disengaged with the business (Parent Organisation), people we were involved with (Business Unit undergoing Change) felt engaged and grew in morale. We must have done some things right! With effective engagement, any changes stand a far better chance of success.
Steps to effective engagement - what can work for you
Not all lessons and projects are universal. However, they’re worth considering and customising in most situations, including yours. Here’s what worked for us, and what might work for you too.
Trust the experts, build with the business – as the change team, do not hide yourselves away and come up with ‘ta-da’ moments and solutions. Work with the experts; the people knowledgeable in the business. Listen genuinely and openly address their concerns.
Design and develop as a shared and open activity – this allows you to do much of the ‘heavy lifting’ for engagement, knowledge sharing and change initiation in the development phase. By the time you hit the launch, people know about the work, understand it and many are likely to have been involved.
Involve different types of people in steering groups. It’s easy to work in a small group, deal with a fewer people and populate the steering group with friends; everyone nods along but implementation is poor. The alternative, and often more successful approach, involves a more challenging process where all sorts of people interact and challenge each other at every level. It requires more effort but leads to better collaboration, mutual understanding, and stronger commitment from everyone involved.
Understand the value of interaction with transparency – there is immense value of face to face; you can have Sharepoint pages and clever e-mails but people-centred works. Be available, be honest, declare weaknesses and vulnerabilities, and gain trust. From the very beginning, commit to transparency with those affected by change, as well as external stakeholders. Share the outcomes of all reviews, updates on various approvals, internal weaknesses, etc. The journey of change should be shared with an affirmation of what is being done about them, how team members might be affected and how they could contribute.
Try lots of things – in the first example there were SIGs, attendance at team meetings, 1:1s and many other activities. In the second, there were regular Team Briefs, frequent open Q&A sessions, Director 1:1s, self-assessments at all team events. Some worked and others didn’t and what will be effective will differ from place to place. But the effort being made will be clear and the openness will be appreciated.
There are two more elements that deserve a special spotlight because they aren’t often considered to be part of the ‘engagement’ equation. It’s not just about what you say to people and when you say it, but you must have the fundamental building blocks of success. So …
Focus on a quality product. Effective engagement should support you to deliver a product that ‘makes sense’ to the people affected – that, in turn, builds further engagement as you go into implementation and embedment.
Pay attention to resource. Change and its enabling engagement cannot happen without sufficient resource. Engagement needs resource – to interact, to obtain information, to support experts. Change as ‘part of the day job’ is a non-starter.
Engagement isn’t easy but is vital to delivering effectively. But that’s just my advice…remember:
‘Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.’
Good luck as you forge your own path!