Helping Employees Embrace Change
In the current economic climate, organisations are constantly looking for ways to do things quicker, cheaper and better. This means that as well as dealing with worries about job security and finances, employees are also having to cope with changes to the way that they work. These increased stress levels often result in equivalent increases in the level of resistance to change.
Whilst some organisations invest in change management training for their managers, few take the time to offer workshops for front line staff who are often the focus of the changes. This edition’s Case Study looks at an organisation who saw the importance of helping their employees to ‘embrace change’
North Wiltshire District Council is one of four district and county councils that are the process of merging into one organisation by 1st April 2009. Some parts of the organisation are already heavily involved in the changes (particularly those whose areas are merging first), but others have had little or no involvement to date. Training modules had been organised for managers across the councils to help them manage change in their areas.
However, it was felt that there was a need for some workshops for all employees to help them to embrace change and become involved in the process, so that they could have an impact on what ultimately happens to them and their jobs. This was felt to be particularly relevant because at the start of the assignment the neither the new structure, nor the locations where staff would be working in future had been finalised – leaving employees in a state of limbo, having to cope with a lot of unknowns. And as a wise man once said “The misery of uncertainty is worse than the certainty of misery”
It was in this atmosphere that Pearlcatchers were asked to design and deliver four workshops that were to be interactive and fun and offer employees the opportunity to explore their feelings and concerns about dealing with the changes ahead. After a short, funny introduction session, we immediately split delegates into groups of 3 or 4 to explore their personal experience of change. Our intention was to help them to see that change can often have positive effects, so we used a series of ‘appreciative inquiries’ to tease out their happier experiences. To keep energy levels high, they moved around to different groups, with our facilitators giving an update on the previous question before moving on – in this way we involved people in a ‘whole group discussion’ without the nerves of being the first person to speak in front of twenty others! The questions we asked were
Think of a change you have experienced that was very positive. How did it feel
What specifically made it a positive experience
What learning can you take and apply to other change experiences
Next we moved onto a live recreation of Spencer Johnson’s iconic ‘Who Moved My Cheese’ using our actor / facilitators to play the little men and mice, with the lead consultant as narrator and key slides to back up the main points of the story and its messages. We then split delegates into four different groups to discuss what the story meant to them and which aspects of the different characters they would identify with themselves – and others. After briefly talking through the key drivers of each character, each group were then asked to discuss the character of the actor they were working with. They were asked to consider the advantages and disadvantages of their character when dealing with change and to then offer them advice to help their character to better handle change. After feedback from each group, individuals spent a little time considering whether any of these tips many useful for them when dealing with change in future.
The focus so far had been on the individual’s reaction to change. However, for people to truly embrace change in the workplace, it is necessary for them to understand a little about the need for continuous improvement in organisations and then to link this back to individual challenges. We started this section by asking delegates to consider what are the main barriers that they come across when going through change. We then explained that there are two main types of barrier – organizational and personal and listed up the delegates’ suggestions, splitting into these two categories.
We then told a story about a pike is separated from minnows by a glass divider and after battering its snout against the divider, eventually gives up – even when the barrier is removed. We explained that barriers can be real or imaginary, rigid or flexible and then introduced them to the expression – “God grant us the courage to change the things we can, the serenity to accept the things we can’t and the wisdom to know the difference” - which we use as the basis of our process of managing change and stress. In groups delegates brainstormed ways that they could help to change or minimise one of their barriers.
After lunch we started with an energiser where a ball is thrown from one person to another until everyone has thrown / caught. This then becomes a process with each person having a number – which they are asked to improve themselves. When they are comfortable, the facilitator then makes a major change to the process and asks them to try again. This is a great exercise for examining the difference in your reactions when a change is your choice versus something that is imposed – and also how quickly you can learn to adapt
We then briefly introduced delegates to the transition curve people experience during change and the emotional stages of change and map these onto it. To demonstrate how people are affected by these emotions we played a short game – The Wedding Reception from Hell – where delegates become guests at a wedding, each at a different emotional stage. They have to guess which stage each person is at and we then provide some tips on helping themselves and others at each of these stages
We then talked through the basic theories of resistance and that it is quite natural for people to resist change. The actors then played aseries of scenarios based in a fictional organisation going through change, where the employees were showing various forms of resistance. After each role play we discussed that type of resistance and afterwards each group was given a character (including the manager) and asked to coach them to be able to deal with change a little better. We then replayed the sketches quickly to see the difference that a few small changes can make.
For the final session, we looked a little more about ‘embracing uncertainty’ using the work of Susan Jeffers on the wonderful possibilities that life can deliver if you are open to them. This session challenges delegates as to whether they would really like to know everything that is going to happen to them – from the ending of a film they are going to see, to knowing how and when they will die. We talked briefly through some of the key points and provided much greater detail for delegates to take away and think about on their own
We finished with our Postcards from the Future exercise, where we used guided visualisation to get delegates to think of themselves one year in the future when they have coped well with the current changes. We then asked them to note on their postcard of what the future looks like and what they have done to get there. This then leads into a section of personal action planning for them to consider what they now want to do to help them cope better with the current (and future) changes. Feedback was universally positive, with a summary of comments detailed below:
“Thought provoking with time for reflection. Inspiring talk – motivational. Engaging the whole group. Enjoyed the use of actors/actresses – a great way to learn and a fun take on embracing change. Very mature, professional group of trainers / facilitators. The course was a day well spent! Quite emotional at times but has made me question why I am afraid of everything – and taught me to be proud of what I have achieved and to be less afraid in the future. Brilliant day, thank you. “