Managing Change

The Internet, mergers and acquisitions, and a highly competitive and growing business landscape have changed the structures of many businesses. Companies that succeed and survive in today's marketplace must anticipate change, adapt, and thrive.

But change — whether it relates to management

structure, fast growth, or radical changes in your industry — can be difficult to manage, especially when your employees don't have a clear understanding of what's going on or how it affects them. To help employees through any transition, you'll need to take a proactive role in managing and communicating change to your staff.

Be up front with employees. Make sure that employees first learn about changes from leaders rather than through the grapevine. If your employees hear rumors around the water cooler about restructuring, spin-offs, or new products, or read speculation in the local business media, your job of communicating change will be much more difficult. Employees are more likely to see change as a threat under these circumstances. After all, resisting change is natural — it's human nature to avoid the unknown and maintain familiar patterns. Overcome this resistance by talking to your employees before rumors start to fly.

Involve key communicators. While having the CEO speak to the entire staff in a company-wide meeting sounds like a good idea, he or she may not be able to share enough details to satisfy employee questions at all levels. Let your company's front-line supervisors address each of their employees and answer their questions. Giving employees the high-level vision and the hands-on detail will help them better understand and accept potentially upsetting news.

Create an effective message. Consider the specific informational needs of executives, middle managers, supervisors, and employees, and tailor your message to fit each audience. Communicating the reasons for the change is a good idea, but don't stop there. Often companies communicate only what's happening at the corporate level and neglect the things that are really important to employees, such as how the change may affect their future.

Remember, employees don't think about the company the way executives do. They want to know about things that you may find unimportant, such as how future plans may affect their personal work area. Whoever communicates change to employees needs to understand their concerns.

An effective message should also explain how your employees' day-to-day duties directly impact the company's performance, and should touch on the values and pride of the employees. A direct, face-to-face interaction can help reinforce positive attitudes, inspire employees, and help them adapt to the change.

Listen to your employees. Employee feedback is critical in managing change. Holding focus groups with employees is a great way to gauge reaction and monitor the progress of change. You also can encourage employees to provide feedback through e-mail or the company intranet. This shows them that you care, and provides a forum for employees to share their thoughts (by name or anonymously), which is hard for some employees to do in person.

Communication is the cornerstone to successful change management. Talking to your employees is not a one-time event, and you need to reinforce your message by communicating it early and often.