How to Persuade Executives to Invest in People Change
Jo Ann Sweeney
Explaining Change Expert, Clarifying the Complex. Helping Stakeholders to Embrace, Understand, Believe & Support Change.
Before they agree to invest resources in the people side of digital transformation, executives need to believe there are business benefits for doing so.
Change takes time and effort for people who already have full time, demanding jobs. Executives know this. Here are six strategies that will help persuade executives the effort is worth making for their people.
Specify the investment needed
What do you mean by investment? Is it people with their skills and abilities, their time, or financial budgets.
Quantify the investment
When you are clear on what investment means, conduct analysis to identify how much time, how many people, what sort of people and finances you need.
Calculate the cost of doing nothing
Here you expose the pain executives will experience if their people don’t change. This includes finances – lost revenues, reducing profits, increasing costs, fluctuating share price – as well less effective people and assets, and diminishing market share, brand and reputation.
Estimate the benefits of investing in people
These benefits are the reverse of the cost of doing nothing. Here you show the difference investing in people will make to your organisation – growing revenues and profits, stable share price, reducing costs, more effective people and assets, stable market share, positive brand and reputation.
Highlight the timeframe
Reveal the number of days, weeks, months before executives will see these benefits for their teams, in their own key performance indicators, and for the organisation. Hopefully it is a quicker timeframe than they have previously experienced during change initiatives.
Issue a call to action
Clarify exactly what you are asking executives to do. Perhaps you want them to sign on budget, volunteer to become sponsor, show visible support, commit to promoting the change within their business units. Once they commit do hold them accountable.
Real Life Challenges for Transformation Leaders
Enjoy watching these videos in my YouTube channel. They are responses to questions I’ve been asked during our webinars and in conversations with change and transformation practitioners.
Tips for those struggling with silo working in their organisation, who want to develop collaboration with other teams to get the job done.
Winning respect is not about us, our skills, knowledge, experiences. It is about how we treat others. We earn respect when we treat others in ways they can relate to, that equates to respect for them.
Here are four things you can do to win respect amongst your peers, colleagues, leaders, customers and the other teams you work with.
Hear a technique for helping your team members understand how what they do each day relates to the wider business objectives that matter to executives and is what your success will be judged on.
Trusting Us As Their People Change Supplier
领英推荐
Sweeney Communications has recently become a preferred supplier to British Telecom. We are registered on Trust Your Supplier as a change management consultancy specialising in engagement, communication and training for the telecommunications, technology and energy sectors.
A global IT services and IT consulting organisation has also invited us to become a preferred supplier, a great honour.
What Has Jo Ann Been Up To
Our garden renovation in Sussex is now almost complete; just two bare root roses that arrived in London last week and will fill the remaining bare spots.
I will be planting them in pots before London’s predicted snow arrives this weekend. They’ll overwinter in our city courtyard before planting out in their permanent spots next spring.
November, and October, I’ve spent much of my time in Dubai training with delegates mainly from Saudi Arabia. They are positive, open-minded and looking forward to the future, as well as respecting their country’s past. Proud of their crown prince who they say is opening up opportunities for Saudis to develop their skills and abilities.
There is so much investment going into people, funded by the state. I compare this to most organisations, where funding for academic and professional development is for the few rather than majority of employees.
Overview of How We Work With Clients
As experts in the people side of digital transformation, we take your stakeholders from knowing little and resisting change, to willingly embracing new ways of working. Then you can deliver the revenue and reputation benefits your executives expect of transformation.
We’ve created an overview of how we work with clients for digital transformation executives.
Do have a read through then contact Jo Ann to begin exploring your challenges and how we can support you and your team.
Our Credentials
Sweeney Communications is a virtual stakeholder engagement consultancy based in the United Kingdom supporting change and digital transformation in the IT, technology and telecommunications sectors; the consultancy was formed in 1993.
Our associates are experts in their fields, with extensive experience in change management, stakeholder engagement, resistance management, training and corporate communications for multinational organisations.
We are known for clearly explaining technical and complex information so stakeholders understand both the detail and relevance to themselves.
Our results-focused approach ensures engagement and change activities achieve their objectives, meet stakeholder expectations, make best use of resources and deliver value to reputation and the bottom line.
About Jo Ann Sweeney FCIM FIIC MCIPR
Jo Ann Sweeney is a senior consultant and founder of Sweeney Communications. Typically she acts as engagement lead/ director for a client’s change programmes.
Clients value her deep understanding of audiences. She is experienced at segmenting and prioritising stakeholders according to their influence and attitudes, then tailoring engagement activities to take them on the journey from where they are to where they need to be in terms of involvement and commitment.
During her early career Jo Ann worked in communications and marketing for the New Zealand Post Office and British Telecom, as well as for the PR agency Leslie Bishop Group and direct marketer Moore Response Graphics.
She is a Chartered Marketer, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Fellow of the Institute of Internal Communications and Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.
Jo Ann has documented her experiences in the practical Explaining Change System (2012). Other publications she has contributed to include: