Effective Change Management is the Key to Ongoing Business Success

Business is driven by change. First, the driver was transport – lorries, trains, ships and planes. Today, evolving technologies make change management vital. The commercial world is much like a giant arena in which companies, like sportspeople, compete for a share of a purse. Runners have spiked shoes to help them gain traction, and cyclists wear Spandex to overcome friction. Not surprisingly, businesses also rely heavily on technology in their effort to gain a competitive edge.

After steam and electricity, the next big boost for businesses came with the invention of television and an opportunity to show off their products live in the homes of millions of potential consumers. However, there was comparatively little reaction when the Boston Computer Exchange launched the world’s first e-commerce website in 1982. Nevertheless, a spark had formed, and in the mid-1990s, it set online shopping alight with the launch of Amazon and eBay.

However, the first test of the ability of businesses to adapt to change in recent times came with the outbreak of COVID-19 in December 2019. For many companies that were flexible enough to change and a few opportunistic entrepreneurs, the pandemic provided unprecedented opportunities, while those unable to adjust suffered heavy losses. Overnight, working from home became not just acceptable but essential.

In the long term, online shopping and banking could be the kiss of death for cash and will likely result in more bank branch closures. More significantly, perhaps, the coronavirus served as a wake-up call for everyone. It reminded us that change is inevitable and ongoing and often occurs with little warning.

What is Change Management?

Perhaps the simplest definition of managing change is compiling a set of strategies an organisation can adopt in collaboration with its stakeholders to help the transition from its current mode of operation to embrace the changes necessary for a more productive or profitable future regimen. That’s a bit of a mouthful, but it boils down to anticipating and recognising change and being ready to capitalise on it.

It is easy for a company to become gridlocked by rigid, outdated goals. Adopting a more flexible philosophy opens the option to modify those goals and develop the alternative strategies required to achieve them. Ultimately, change is all about people, their attitudes and behaviours, and the process of changing them is best assigned to a specialist change management consultant.

The following are the key elements for managing change within an organisation:

• Preparation: During this phase, managers and staff must be convinced of the need for change and its benefits to them and the company before preparing them culturally and logistically to pursue and implement change. Psychometric testing can be helpful during this stage to identify those who may require further training.

• Planning: Having established the readiness to change, the next step is to develop a strategic change management plan. The plan should include these four steps:

• Set strategic goals consistent with the desired change.
• Define the key performance indicators (KPIs) that will be used to measure progress.
• Appoint those responsible for each stage of the change process – once again, psychometry results can help ensure the most appropriate choices.
• Define the scope of the project.

• Implementation: At this point in the change management process, managers will need to focus on empowering their employees, encouraging them to use their initiative and celebrating short-term wins while helping them anticipate and overcome potential roadblocks.

• Embedding the new paradigm: Backsliding is a constant risk, especially during transition. Now is the time to establish the organisational structures, controls and reward systems necessary to sustain the change process.

• Reviewing, analysing and adjusting: Plans are seldom perfect. The route to success lies in reviewing what they achieve, analysing their results to identify the cause of any shortfalls and modifying those elements of the strategy needed to optimise their outcome.

The Benefits of a Change Management Programme

A well-designed plan enables a smooth transition from old to newer and better ways. It has the potential to benefit everyone: the company, its employees and, by extension, the customers. Perhaps, most significantly, the planning process is a reminder that change is inevitable and that to survive and thrive, companies must also change.

At Orgro, we employ an action-research approach to work with organisations to identify and adopt changes vital to their future success. If you’d like to get in touch, we can help your company adapt to tomorrow’s business world.