How Leadership is Key to Successful Change Management

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Leadership’s Role in Change Management

 

Change is inevitable, but leading change effectively takes skill and preparation. As a leader, how you manage organizational change can make or break your team’s ability to adapt. Without the right change management leadership, even changes aimed at improving your business can fall flat or create unintended consequences.

That’s why successful change management requires committed, engaged leadership. Leaders must champion the change vision while also supporting employees through the challenges inherent in change. Rather than dictating change from the top-down, change leadership means communicating transparently, listening to concerns, and helping the team understand the rationale behind change. It means equipping employees with the training and resources to make the transition smooth.

In this blog, we’ll explore 2 proven change management models to guide your team through transitions large and small. You’ll learn how to assess change readiness, mitigate resistance, inspire buy-in, and lead the charge in times of transformation. With the right leadership approach, you can turn obstacles into opportunities and implement organizational change that drives positive outcomes.

 

Table of Contents

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    ADKAR Model

     

     

    The ADKAR Model is a framework to guide employees through change by focusing on their personal reactions and needs. ADKAR stands for the five key stages employees go through during organizational change:

     

    Awareness

    Employees first need to be made aware early on of the upcoming change and why it is being implemented. Leaders should clearly communicate details of the change along with clear rationales in a transparent manner. It may require several awareness discussions rather than just one initial announcement. Consider using multiple channels like meetings, emails, intranet posts.

     

    Desire

    With awareness comes questions and even resistance. Leaders now need to spark employees’ intrinsic desire and motivation to get on board with the change. Connect the change to outcomes the employees care about – how will it make their jobs easier, further their careers, or help the organization in its goals? Have honest conversations to understand concerns then demonstrate how those are being addressed. Desire often stems from a belief that the change is necessary and beneficial on some level versus being arbitrarily imposed top-down.

     

    Knowledge

    Equip staff with the proper training, coaching, and informational resources to know at an individual level how to make this change happen. Break down specifically what they will need to do differently or learn. Identify capability gaps to be addressed. Knowledge engenders confidence in one’s ability to function in the new system.

     

    Ability

    With knowledge in hand, employees can actively practice and build skills through the change transition. Leaders should provide the time, resources, and organizational support for staff to gain competence and comfort. Set incremental goals, run tests of new processes before full rollout. Measure progress through clear metrics.

     

    Reinforcement

    The change is implemented but leaders cannot then just walk away. Continue to monitor progress, offer encouragement and constructive feedback about what’s working well versus what may need tweaking. Reinforcement solidifies and anchors the change in employees’ routine behaviours. Make any necessary adjustments based on feedback and data.

     

    Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model

     

     

    Kotter’s influential 8-Step Model provides a useful roadmap for leaders guiding major organizational change:

    1. Create a Sense of Urgency

    The first step is to create a sense of Urgency. This is a chance to show your employees why the change needs to happen and develop urgency to get the change started

    • Spark motivation for change by linking it to real business drivers and goals.
    • Examine market and competitive realities to uncover threats or major opportunities that underscore the need for change to happen now.
    • Use stark, convincing data and transparency about organizational vulnerabilities, combined with success stories from those who have already embraced change.

     

    2. Form a Powerful Coalition

    Next you will want to form a Strong Coalition. You can do this by grouping together your key employees in the organisation into dedicated cross-functional teams with shared commitment, influence, talent and expertise to steer the rollout.

    • Leverage respected leaders across business units to be public champions who motivate subgroups to buy into change.
    • These teams will need strong leadership. It is vital they have accountability and collaboration skills to work with other teams across the business.

     

    3. Create a Vision for Change

    The third step is Create a Vision for the change. Having a clear vision will help employees fully understand the reason for change.

    • Develop a vivid picture of the expected future state once change initiatives reach fruition.
    • Outline where the organization is headed, how it will get there, and clarify roles of every level in making vision a reality.
    • Keep vision simple, inspirational and achievable to motivate and coordinate teams.

     

    4. Communicate the Vision

    Next you will need to Communicate the Vision effectively. How you communicate your vision is as important as the vision itself. You will need to think about how best to get the message to all staff at varying levels.

    • Tailor messaging to various audiences but make sure details align to overarching vision.
    • It may take several different styles and methods of communication, so leverage multi-channel communications with consistency and transparency.
    • Personally address concerns about impacts of change by relating it meaningfully to “What’s in It for Me” at individual employee levels.

     

    5. Remove Obstacles

    The fifth step in the model is to Remove Obstacles that may be in the way. By doing this, it makes the process move forward much easier and prevents any misunderstanding or problems in the final steps.

    • You can do this by checking to see if you have the right structure, tools, staff and finances in place to make this change happen.
    • Evaluate any gaps or inadequacies in staffing, structure, systems and other resources required to deliver on implementation.
    • Identify pockets of resistance to change and underlying causes, whether practical or emotional.
    • Develop plans to uplift capabilities where needed, and provide extra guidance/incentives to resistant groups.

     

    6. Create Short Term Wins

    Next is to create Short Term Wins for your team. Success and seeing results is a great way to motivate employees to keep going and even working harder to implement the change.

    Create short term achievements that are easily seen and rewarded. Choose some low hanging fruit goals with high visibility and impact when met. If you don’t do this and concentrate only on the big picture / end result, it could demotivate employees and cause frustration and ultimately failure.

    Rewarding the people who have helped meet targets and keep the change moving forward will encourage them to do more and others to step up.

     

    7. Build on the Change

    The seventh step in Kotter’s model is to Build on the Change. If you have hit one goal perfectly, why not try and hit the same goal multiple times to see if the change is actually working, or if it was a lucky win. Each achievement gives you an opportunity to build on what has been done correctly and show what may need some improvements to succeed.

    Use metrics tied back to goals to continually assess what’s working well versus poorly. Run controlled tests.

    • Encourage feedback from frontlines to understand failures or barriers facing supporters trying to embrace change.
    • Leverage successes by expanding their breadth and depth across the org. Learn from setbacks.

    Continuous improvement is a key factor on ensuring the success of change.

     

    8. Anchor the Changes

    The final step is to Anchor the Changes in corporate culture. For your change to work out you must make sure it is being used on a daily basis, not just initially.

    • Publicize connections between change program wins and uplift in key performance metrics.
    • Embed adapted processes, systems and values so they take root beyond the initial rollout.

    Reference change narrative when introducing unrelated new programs or policies so it remains an integral part of organizational culture.

     

    Watch our YouTube video on 5 Ways to Lead Through Change here:

     

    If you are interested in Change Management or Leadership and Management training please contact Sales Training International on +44 (0) 1704 889325 or email info@salestrainingint.com for more information.

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