As companies go through an organizational change, such as an update in business processes, cultural changes or company structure, managing changes among employees and adjusting processes to fit these changes can be challenging. You may be wondering, what is a organizational change management? To help streamline changes, many companies rely on proven Organizational Change Management(OCM) strategies and hire outside advisors to benefit from their experience with change management consulting.
What is Organizational Change Management?
Organizational change occurs when a company transitions from its current state to a desired future state. When change occurs in nearly any aspect of a company’s operation, it can be met with resistance. To help ensure these necessary changes are successful, companies can take steps to ease employees’ concerns and facilitate change in a way that promotes the forthcoming benefits. A systematic approach to OCM can encourage employees at all levels in an organization to adopt new skills and behaviors. Setting expectations and giving employees the tools they need to improve communication can help everyone in the long run.
Successful OCM strategies include the following:
Agreeing on a Common Vision
It is not enough for management to agree on an idea. It is essential to have all members of an organization on board with the proposed vision of the future to achieve true success. Ideally, there should be no competing initiatives, as they can delay or stop progress. While there may be plans in place to improve performance, address key issues, or seize opportunities, it is ultimately the people in an organization that have to deal with the change. If these individuals are unable or unwilling to adapt to change, these initiatives will likely be unsuccessful.
Leadership Actively Communicates the Vision
Routine and active communication among organization members is needed to reach a vision successfully. This type of communication requires strong executive leadership and the ability to sell the case for change. A great vision is only as good as the way in which it is communicated. In addition, the short-term and long-term vision should be communicated across the organization. The vision should be simple enough that it can be understood right away. If employees do not understand the vision, efforts should be taken to review it for clarity.
Employee Education Plan
How employees interact with a vision and ideas can make a big difference in working toward success. It is important to develop and implement a process for educating employees on how their day-to-day duties may change in order to ensure the team is \educated about what will happen in the near future. Ideally, there should be a plan that involves as many people as possible, as early in the process as possible. Training is usually needed to build knowledge about changes to come and to teach skills that may be required to succeed in the future. This training should be based on the unique skills needed to support the change.
Rewards and Recognition
The process does not stop once the new changes have been implemented. At this point, it is vital to monitor the progress of a vision. This involves monitoring how employees are adapting to the new changes. Employees should be recognized and rewarded when they are successful in their changing roles. These rewards can be social or monetary, but should provide enough incentive to motivate individuals to continue successfully with their new responsibilities. Rewards strategies have been proven effective in improving recruitment and retention, boosting employee engagement, and aligning an organization’s investment in their team with their business plan.
Hiring a Change Management Advisor
Change can be slow, and unsuccessful, if the proper measures are not taken to push an initiative forward. To speed up the process and increase the likeliness of achieving the vision, many companies now turn to change management advisors. OCM strategies are often needed to meet all of the requirements of change. A change management advisor can provide influence and guidance from start to finish, and will partner with project managers and other key individuals within the organization to keep progress at a steady pace.
Acquire Change Management Consulting Services
Today’s businesses are under constant pressure to improve the efficiency and overall quality of their operations. As a result, change management consulting services are often a critical component to the success of their vision. Whether a company is trying to achieve minor process improvements or has big plans in place to make major upgrades to systems and technology, change is required to reach these objectives and deliver a positive return on investment (ROI). An experienced change management advisor can help with all change management project needs. For more information about OCM or to inquire about change management consulting services, call the experts at Hartman Executive Advisors.
