Fearing Change Doesn't Make it Go Away. Action Does

The rules of corporate survival are being rewritten. Fast. Faster than traditional HR Departments can keep up with. Roughly 11,000 business leaders globally agree that “we are witnessing seismic changes in the workforce, the workplace, and the technologies used in the world of work”. It’s also why it’s made good business sense for big players like Deloitte, EY, PWC, KMPG, BCG, etc to open change management advisory arms. HR Departments that are surviving have become more focused on People Management and less focused on enforcing tiresome rules & regulations. Companies big and small are overhauling performance reviews, instituting coaching, decentralizing decision making, and rethinking merit pay. 

So in the wake of all of this change why do Strategic People Leaders still tell me:

“We’ve always done it this way, so execs won’t feel the need to change.”

“My people don’t do well with change.”

Or my personal favorite, “We’re not one of those innovative companies. We don’t need to do that. We’re fine as is.”

Change Happens, No Matter What.

If you intend to be profitable but choose to ignore the disruptions going on, then this great share from Anna Forsberg is for you…

For the skeptics out there, think about Kodak and Blockbuster. They did nothing wrong. No big blunders like Enron. Just didn’t change. Did you know that Microsoft came up with tablets before Apple? Culprit again…not changing. A more recent example brings us to restaurants. Restaurant back offices are notorious for status quo and literally changing nothing, and yet they’re now finding themselves scrambling to set up tech. Turns out consumers dislike talking to people. So much so that Seamless makes a cool 30% per check for taking that one, single step out of what once seemed an impenetrable process. 

Then What Do We Do? 

So what should we as Strategic People Leaders be doing? We need to embrace the constancy of change and become better at leading people through it. Change is permeating every aspect of work. As the organization’s designated resource for humans it is our responsibility to arm them with the right tools. And this means enlisting everyone to be a part of the process. As Dr. Robert Schaeffer, Organizational Transformation thought leader tells us, treating organizational life as “ordinary times” and “change times” will not lead to success. That’s because ordinary times are change times. Now more than ever change time is all of the time.  In actuality “Leaders should view change not as an occasional disruptor but as the very essence of the management job."

We need to embrace the constancy of change and become better at leading people through it. 

So let this empower you. Let it help drive more employee communication so you can glean powerful insights. After all, nobody knows your competitors and consumer trends better. Let it inform how you restructure employee development to fill organizational gaps. People want to learn, and are eager to give it back to the organization. Let it allow you to create fluid performance and compensation processes that tap into the extrinsic and the intrinsic. People like to get paid, but after 30 days money loses its value and intrinsic motivators keep them going. You know the need for these things and it’s reached a point where others are doing this, not just the experimental progressives. 

Let it allow you to create fluid performance and compensation processes that tap into the extrinsic and the intrinsic.

If you’re still not convinced of the need for change during your organization’s inevitable maturation, think of it like potty training. As a person gets older potty training is an absolutely mandatory part of maturing. Nonetheless, it’s difficult on the parent and certainly hard work. There will be accidents. There will be extra laundry. There may even be a time when a nightmare finds a toddler in your bed. About an hour later you’ll wake up wondering what is that smell and why is the bed so damp? But guess what? Once they’re potty trained you’ll never have to worry about it again. You’ll be able to stop hand holding and instead move on to those more sophisticated matters you joined HR for in the first place! All because you helped them mature.

If you’re not sure where to start take a look at the links or shoot me a message. We’ll grab lunch or hop on the phone to talk about whatever you’ve got on your mind. Psychology research, best practices, brainstorming ideas, whatever you’re in the mood for. But whatever you decide, remember that nothing magical happens when you don’t change things.  

**All opinions expressed in this post are my own.**