What Does ‘Change Management’ Mean, Anyway?
Change.
It’s that word that gives people hope just as much as it makes others cringe. Change can be difficult, life-altering, and stressful, to say the least. But sometimes, change is necessary.
In the workplace, changes are happening every day, and one of the most impactful changes to employee happiness and emotional health is organisational restructuring. Restructuring can involve a reworking of the setup of your company members or a complete overhaul of employee positions and sometimes employment. Recent literature-review by researchers in the UK looked at the impact of company restructuring on employee health and wellness, and the results were concerning.
Irrespective of job losses, the emotional impact of restructuring within the workplace was found to be mostly negative. That’s right: there are negative impacts associated with restructuring, even if no downsizing occurs and nobody is terminated.
Article: Restructuring affects staff well-being regardless of job cuts
So what does this mean for businesses and our happiness as an employee? Our understanding of motivation, purpose, and incentives in the workplace is continually evolving. While money is certainly a key factor in career choices, there’s a growing awareness that job satisfaction is more important to today’s workers. Which helps to explain why restructuring even with the absence of job loss can be so impactful on emotional health of employees.
Article: There needs to be more to work than money
Because disruptions to the normal work routine always carry some negative effects on mood and morale, they should be fully planned out and a policy of open communication applied within the entire organisation. This is known as change management and can have a huge impact on the success, failure, or debilitating effects of the changes you enact within your company.
What does it take to have a successful change within the workplace? Here are some tips:
- Create a business case for the achievement of continually-evolving stakeholder aims
- Closely monitor relational aspects such as assumptions, risks, and dependencies
- Enactment of effective communication strategies like explaining to stakeholders the why behind the change, the benefits of the change, and the details therein
- Use educational training to help facilitate the change effectively
- Counter resistance from employees
- Make counseling available if need be to address fears and anxieties of employees
No matter what changes are happening at your workplace, you can equip your team members with tools and strategies to better cope. Holding a HSG Culture Change Workshop at your workplace also rallies your staff around your new vision for the organisation, and promotes the open communication that is so critical to a successful transition.
We tailor our programs to suit your company’s specific industry and demographic. Whether you’re interested in changing culture in the workplace just within a particularly problematic department, or you want to improve the corporate culture across the entire organisation, we’ll partner with you to help you reach your desired outcomes.
Resolve conflicts, develop staff communication skills, increase morale and cooperation, and improve emotional health of your employees. Learn more about our Organisational Culture Change services.
