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On a recent trip to
Papua New Guinea, I had
a really embarrassing
experience. One morning
a young PNG woman came
to the office with her
hair beautifully
braided. It looked
lovely and I told her
so. I even asked her
where she'd had it done.
Can you imagine how I
felt when I discovered
that the young woman's
child had just died and
she was wearing her hair
in braids as a symbol of
profound grief and
mourning.
How often do we make
false assumptions about
other people based on
our own culture and
experiences? And even
more importantly, how
often do we fail to
recognise and understand
how individuals deal
with grief and change in
their personal lives or
at work.
When organizations go
through change, for
example a restructure, a
merger, downsizing, the
installation of new
information technology,
outsourcing, a shift to
customer focus or a new
location - many
employees experience a
sense of loss. This is
obvious if it means
losing a job. Yet often
the reasons for the
sense of loss are not
clear but the effects
may be just as profound
- both for the
individual and on the
organization's bottom
line.
Imagine working with
the same people for a
number of years. Without
warning, their roles,
but not yours, are
outsourced. Or your team
is disbanded and you
find yourself in a new
department and location.
For some of us, still
having a job would be a
relief and we may even
be excited about the
future. But the impact
of unexpected and
unwanted changes like
these varies from person
to person and is often
mixed.
What we know is that
most people go through
four emotional changes
when they experience a
major shock. Test these
stages against how you
experienced a major
change e.g. the death of
a family member or
friend; a divorce; the
loss of your job; a
major change at work; a
confronting medical
procedure.
1. Disbelief and
denial
Initially the change is
met with disbelief and
denial.
"It won't happen to me."
"No, they won't close
the plant - they'll find
a way through the
problems, they always
have." "If I just keep
my head down, it's be
business as usual soon."
2. Anger and blame
Next, it is common to
see anger
and blame. In workplace
change at this time some
employees will actively
resist the changes
saying things like: "Why
should I change? Is this
how they treat us after
we've worked our butts
off?"
What is more risky is
withdrawal and lack of
concentration. In this
high risk period, watch
out for an increase in
accidents, drop off in
quality, absenteeism,
corruption or fraud.
3. Reluctant
Acceptance
As people work through
their anger, they move
to the third stage where
they reluctantly begin
to accept the changes
and start to
explore their
role in it. You'll hear
things like: "There's
just too much to do now
- how am I going to get
it all done?" "OK let's
try it but who's doing
what now?" " I'll never
learn this new system -
I need training."
4. The final stage
When employees
commit to the
change, they start
focussing on the future
instead of dwelling on
the past. They have a
clear sense of their
roles and where they are
going.
What are the
implications of these
emotions when we are
planning and
implementing
organizational change?
1. During Denial
Do everything you can to
minimize the shock. Plan
ahead. Give them plenty
of information - let
them know what the
changes will be, who
will be affected by them
and how. Give them your
best estimate of the
likely timeframe -
remembering that these
things always take
longer than originally
planned.. Give them
chance to prepare
themselves and let the
changes sink in. You
cannot over-communicate
now.
2. During Resistance
Listen to what people
have to say. Empathize.
Don't tell them to snap
out of it or pull
themselves together.
People don't want your
solutions, they just
want their responses and
reactions acknowledged.
Denying their feelings
will only drive the
resistance deeper and
make it last longer.
3. During
Exploration
Now people need
practical encouragement
and support. Provide
training. Involve them
in planning and setting
goals. Focus on some
short term wins to get
early runs on the board
-show the benefit of the
changes. People will
respond well if they can
see the positive impact
of the change.
Watch out if the
changes do not provide
any immediate observable
benefit. Then there is a
real likelihood that
people will sink back
into resistance and may
even undermine your
change strategy
completely.
4. During Commitment
Now that you are through
the transition, set
about consolidating the
change. Implement an
appropriate cultural
change program.
Recognise and reward
people who are
responding well to the
change. Be careful to
not inadvertently reward
any behaviour that is
inconsistent with what
you're aiming for.
People move through
the emotional stages of
change at different
rates. That's why these
transitions can be hard
and counter-productive.
Sometimes it is
impossible to tell
people too much ahead of
the change because of
market forces. But if
people are in denial, or
are angry or resistant,
productivity will be
low. You might see a
short term spike in
response to the change
but it is likely to be
short lived until these
stages are worked
through.
Design and plan your
change management
strategy to recognise
and support the
transition phase. Do
this and you will reduce
the impact of the
inevitable drop in
productivity. More
importantly you will
gain the on-going
commitment of your
people.
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Bronwyn
Ritchie's
