How to Implement Meaningful Change in an Organization
Change is one element that determines how successful a business is. Companies that are able to change along with consumer, industry, and economic demands tend to be more successful than those that are not. As a result, your organization needs to be adept at implementing change in order to drive business operations. Having employees take ownership of the changes and commit to implementing and maintaining them improves your odds of continuous growth.
Gain Commitment Through Ownership
Leaders’ degree of ownership in the change determines how well they commit to implementing it. People are more likely to protect, develop, and maintain something they own than something they do not own. Also, people who are committed to something have a psychological investment that drives proactive action. By encouraging leaders to set clearly defined targets and be held accountable for the results, they feel greater ownership in the changes being made. Providing incentives along the way helps employees remain committed to implementing the objectives they set.
Invest a Proper Amount of Time
Commit a set amount of time to implementing and maintaining the changes. Have a change leader or their direct reports participate in meetings about critical milestones. As active role models, they need to use personal, relevant, compelling stories to reinforce why the changes are important. The stories should evolve as the demands on staff evolve in order to keep people engaged in implementing the changes. The change leader and direct reports also need to encourage leadership to remain actively involved in implementation.
Prioritize Initiatives
Determine which initiatives need to be addressed first to avoid spreading company resources too thin. Begin by understanding the size and nature of each opportunity, its timing, and any obstacles to delivery. Rigorously assess the risks associated with each change based on probability and severity. Include unintended outcomes that can put off implementation or cause issues with safety or regulatory compliance, customer or talent attrition, or benefit leakage. Then, factor in mitigation strategies like preemptive measures, contingency plans, and monitoring. Rack and stack the initiatives according to their risk-adjusted values. Based on the information and risk the company is willing to accept, have leaders make informed decisions about which changes to implement and when.
Allocate Proper Resources
Provide enough skilled, motivated people to implement and manage the changes. Clearly define expectations and responsibilities in line with available resources. Ensure that each employee’s duties focus on their areas of specialty and align with their functional, managerial, and technical skill levels. Provide ongoing coaching and real-time feedback.
Implement Change with Marco Management Solutions
As a division of Marco & Associates, Chicago’s leading accounting and finance recruiting and consulting boutique, Marco Management Solutions specializes in placing the professionals you need on an interim basis. Our consultants work to understand your company’s unique needs to implement meaningful change and ensure effective management of operations. Get in touch with us today.
