Change happens within business all the time, new initiatives are brought in to respond to a more competitive marketplace or government legislation forces businesses to change the way they operate like now as the world is grappled in the shackles of NCOVID 19 pandemic.
Generally, even if there was no coronavirus still, whatever the change is it needs to be dealt with efficiently by everyone in the business otherwise it could cause the business to become less productive and lose market share.
A strategy needs to be put in place to make sure that the new ways of working actually take hold within the business. When developing that strategy here are some key points to think about to make it a success particularly during this pandemic COVID19 times and generally to keep the employees more productive during any transition.
Is communication easy?
Is it easy for senior management to communicate details of the new working practices to employees? Employees need to know all the details about the change so they can get on with everything they need to do to make sure the change goes smoothly. If they aren’t kept informed they will feel less empowered and motivated to make sure the change goes well.
The employees need to be able to give feedback about the new ways of working. If it is easy for them to discuss what they think about the change and how it is or isn’t working for them they will normally feel more empowered and be able to do a better job.
Training
A well thought out and comprehensive training scheme needs to be put in place so that all employees are completely up to date with everything they need to know to be able to implement the new way of working. The training needs to be flexible so that it takes into account feedback that is constantly being collected from employees.
Using feedback
Collecting feedback from employees is only one part of the process of making sure that change takes hold within a company. The next step is to actually use that feedback and show employees that it is being used to make things better. Feedback will make the whole process of change better because it can be adapted to make everything more efficient.
If employees see that feedback is being acted upon they will know that what they say makes a difference. This will motivate them more to be able to report back about what they think because they know they have the ability to be able to affect the way things are working.
How are different people affected?
Groups of people are affected in different ways by change. How these various groups are affected makes a difference to how things should be implemented and how a plan is drawn up.
Engaging employees in change doesn’t have to be difficult for a business to cope with.
